Article: AXPONA 2019 Best of Show

[johnwilk]

Agree the Vinnie Rossi room was great, enveloping, generous – if I were starting out and had the necessary in my pocket, and weren't a twitchy audiophile, that would be perfect. The Dynaudio Confidence 20s were something too, glad to have heard them. I became increasingly disaffected by vast boxes and cables like invasive pythons (not to mention monster loudspeakers playing small-group female vocal jazz, thwack, twang, brush), and the VR room was the antidote. Nagra plus Kharma was the best sound overall, but that's getting back into crazed audiophile territory.

[johnwilk]

Well, I can say a bit but these things are very subjective. Quite a few top-rated speakers seem to me tuned for maximum impact rather than coherent and integrated musicality. I felt the Confidences absolutely had that, to a really unusual extent, completely engaging even at a show, and they have remarkable bass too for their size. When it comes to the highest-end speakers I like Gamut which also have that integrated feel as opposed to Magico which initially impress but become tiresome to my ears. Sorry to be less than articulate in description, but if I had the money in pocket I'd go for the Confidences without hesitation unless I had an enormous room.