Article: AXPONA 2018 Show Report

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I can confirm the Stereophile report on the overworked staff at the big restaurant. Great food though, once we got it. Chicago has great beef! Overall our first visit to AXPONA was fascinating and exhilarating, though the layout and rooms were indeed not ideal. By the time we arrived after noon on Saturday there were no more of the printed guides available, but when I started whining about that they found a crumpled copy under a box somewhere for me. :-) So we were off to a good start, as finding specific displays efficiently would have been difficult without that little book plus frequent referral to the website.

 

We seem to have spent most of our time at different spots from everyone else reporting here, visiting the minimalist modern Pro-Ject distributor booth, the happy hipsters of Mr. Speakers at the long and always fully occupied Schiit Audio listening table, and the iFi booth which was absolutely fabulously radiant with inner Abbingdon energy. We scored an Audio Rescue Kit containing free earbuds from Periodic Audio, but the main expo hall was a terrible place to try listening to anything at reasonable volume levels, what with the large vinyl market at the center and blaring speakers all around, so we didn't plug into anything on that floor. Great stacks of wax were on offer though, and that was fun.

 

Upstairs we popped our heads in to see the higher-end shiny Schiit stack, then into the Elac room to hear part of a talk by Andrew Jones, and in another room sat for a pleasant demo of Anthem+Paradigm and McIntosh+MartinLogan products. Didn't have time for more than that. AXPONA was not my main reason for being in Chicago, but next year I'll try to schedule a trip around at least one full day at the show.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, rickca said:

Next time you go you have to make a pilgrimage to Mr. Beef.  It's a dive but a really memorable experience and the sandwiches are fantastic.

 

Thanks! Maybe we''ll invite the Mr. Speakers crew to Mr. Beef. I'll bring Mr. Wallet, and Mrs. Credit Card.

 

Late Saturday night we were a few blocks north enjoying the Improvised Shakespeare Company.

We're making that a regular thing too. Chicago is the land of great comedy as well as great beef!