Welcome back to my coverage of AXPONA 2026
I would like to take a quick moment to thank VERA-FI AUDIO LLC, manufacturer of some of the finest audio products and accessories, including the Vera-Fi Audio LLC Main Stream – Master Class Dynamic Parallel AC Line Conditioner a truly amazing noise suppression device, for sponsoring our coverage of AXPONA 2026 in a gesture of goodwill for the audio community at large, as they do not even show at AXPONA.
Swan Song Audio
Swan Song Audio is venturing into the world of 3D printing, in fact, everything in the room other than the VPI motor control was 3D printed including the Swan Song Audio Turntable ($4,000 for the print, donor parts extra) and the Swan Song Audio Directional Speakers ($17,000), which were driven by Swan Song Audio Monoblock Amplifiers ($14,000/pr) and Swan Song Audio DAC Preamplifier ($12,000), with a Swan Song Audio Phono Preamplifier ($5,500)
Pearl Acoustics/Linear Tube Audio/Shanling/Volumio
Pearl Acoustics were demonstrating a beautiful pair of Pearl Acoustics SG-L/CG Model One Loudspeakers ($12,000) paired with a Pearl Acoustics 7040 Solid State Power Amplifier ($8,500) and a soon-to-be-released Pearl Acoustics 170 SET Tube Power Amplifier (TBA). For sources, there was a Volumio Rivo+ Streamer ($1,529.58) and a Shanling Onix Zenith SACD Transport ($1,99.99) paired with an LTA Aero DAC ($3,950 run through an LTA MicroZOTL Preamplifier Level 3 ($5,950).
ORCHESTALLS/Unison Research/HiFi Rose
Always a treat, ORCHESTALLS had a scaled-down display this year, debuting their new ORCHESTALLS OCS700CS Maestro Loudspeakers (TBA) driven by a Unison Research Triode 25 Black Edition Integrated Amplifier (5,995) with a HiFi Rose RS130 Network Transport ($5,895) as source.
La Dolce Audio
DIY Open Baffle designs appear to be all the rage these days and botique amplifier manufacturer La Dolce Audio was demonstrating their La Dolce Audio Horn Level 1.5 Horn Baffle Loudspeakers ($6,696 for Flat Pack Baffles and components) with their magnificent La Dolce Audio Allegro Ua2.5v2 Integrated Tube amp (2,499) and La Dolce Audio HPA 2.3 Headphone Adapter ($599) which allows the Ua2.5v2 to act as a preamp and a pair of La Dolce Audio Allegro UA2.5m Monoblocks ($2,499.99/ea) designed specifically to work with Open Baffle speakers.
Arendal Sound/Hegel
If you are looking for quite impressive speakers at a budget, you couldn’t go wrong demoing the Arendal Sound 1528 Bookshelf 8 ($3,600/pair), which they were driving with a Hegel H600 Integrated Amplifier (13,800). On static display when I visited was the Arendal Sound 1610 Tower ($7600), which is their flagship speaker.
Bricasti Designs
Highlighting their new Bricasti Designs S7 3-way Speakers ($36,000/pr) with their new Bricasti Designs M1 VC D/A Converter ($12,000), Bricasti Designs rounded out their system with a full in house offering consiting of a Bricasti Designs M19 Reference SACD/CD I2S Transport ($10,000), a Bricasti Designs M5 Network Player ($2,500), a Bricasti Designs M1 Series II D/A Converter ($12,000), a Bricasti Designs M11 R2R Series II D/A Converter ($12,500), a Bricasti Designs M21 D/A Converter Platinum Edition ($19,000), a Bricasti Designs M20 Line Stage Preamp Argento Edition ($12,500), and a pair of Bricasti Designs M28 Mono Block Amplifiers ($36,000/pr).
AXISS Audio/DeVore Fidelity/Nagra/Yukiseimitsu Audio/Glanz/Phasemation
For jaw dropping beauty and a very homey room set up, Axiss Audio was show the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/Reference Speaker System($99,350 paired with two Bassmachine Subwoofers) which is available in a four piece or three piece set up, driven by two Nagra Classic Amp amplifiers ($42,350/pair) and a Nagra Preamp II-S Preamp ($27,900), while a Yukiseimitsu Audio AP-01EM turntable ($31,975) with two Glanz tonearms and Phasemation cartridges ran through a Phasemation EA-1200 tubed Phono Preamp ($16,975) provided source.
That concludes Part 7 of my coverage of AXPONA 2026, I would once again like to thank VERA-FI AUDIO LLC for sponsoring this coverage. Stay tuned for part 8.
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