AXPONA 2022 DAYS 2 & 3

(Note: This video was 'down' for a few days because of a "copyright strike": there was a small section of Bill Evans' "You Must Believe in Spring" in the background in one room and the publisher forced the video to be taken down until the sound was "muted.")

The crowds rushed in on day 2. It was good to see pent up show demand express itself though it was still a somewhat tentative affair, with many no-show companies and retailers. Traffic was lighter on Sunday, which is normal. It's impossible for one person (me) to cover an entire show, even in 3 days and I ended up missing a few rooms with turntables and a few other rooms I'd meant to see. Fortunately Stereophile sent a full crew with specific assignments so please visit there for detailed show coverage especially non-turntable related.

Even though vinyl is a significant driver in the audiophile world, the number of turntables on display was lower than expected and they didn't frame any "main events". That made finding new turntables on display "hit or miss" and I missed a few.

I'd like to see something at AXPONA I once saw in Europe: a large room with almost every major manufacturer displaying an "active" turntable. In real time attendees got to hear the same recording on each of the turntables. It was instructive!

My Saturday began with breakfast with Mo-Fi distribution's Norbert Schmied and veteran turntable designer Allen Perkins who showed me a prototype of a new arm to be introduced by Mo-Fi at Munich High End on a new top of the line turntable the company hopes to retail for around $6000. Unfortunately, photos were not permitted. Saturday afternoon I conducted a well-attended turntable set-up seminar.

I used a Power Vision S1 gimbal to shoot videos on days 2 and 3 and the results were a mixed bag as I'm still learning. Hopefully my skills will improve over time. By Sunday afternoon it was a "rush job" to visit the remaining rooms and some of the video coverage shows it. In too many other rooms no one was there to walk me (or consumers) through their offerings. Rooms should never be left basically unattended! Other rooms had both no one on duty and poor or no signage. What a waste!

I hope you enjoy the video