Axpona 2019 was a big success for Chord Electronics, Spendor and Jadis. Chord stole the show with no fewer than seven exhibitors using Chord DACs in their presentations. Bluebird Music impressed visitors with an affordable Chord/Spendor system which sounded truly excellent and Chicago dealer Kyomi Audio and JC Calmettes of Jadis hosted two excellent Jadis rooms. It was indeed ‘a really big show’.
Affordable Chord-Spendor System Delivers the Musical Goods
Visitors to Bluebird Music’s room 470 were treated to Chord’s outstanding entry level integrated, the $7,900 CPM 2650, driving Spendor’s $6,400 D7 loudspeakers, connected with Audience cables. This affordable combination delivered a knock-out punch way above its price point. Source components were the SME Synergy turntable and Chord Electronics’ new Hugo TT2 DAC and Hugo M Scaler which together offer state-of-the-art digital to analog conversion.
Chord Electronics DACs Chosen by Industry’s Leading Manufacturers
Axpona was a roaring success for Chord Electronics with no fewer than seven exhibitors using Chord DACs in their presentations. In their big room Raidho went all out and matched their high-end loudspeakers with a similarly high-end Chord Electronics system. Chord gear included: the Blu MkII / DAVE digital source and DAC, the CPA 5000 preamp and Chord’s famous SPM 1400 500 watt monoblocks; the ones used in all the studios. The SPM 1400s are the silver components on the floor in the right hand picture below. The Raidho-Chord pairing has excellent synergy and conveys authentic musicality and dynamics. If you missed this system you can hear it at Munich High End in May as Raidho will use Chord electronics again at that show.
Meanwhile, in the left image, Chicago Magico and Chord dealer F1 Audio selected the Chord DAVE DAC and Hugo M Scaler, probably the best digital source on the planet, to use with their flagship loudspeaker set-up. Not pictured are two massive Magico 500lb subwoofers – this was a serious Magico system and it benefitted from having the world’s best digital to analog conversion.
Jadis Impresses With Two Big Rooms At Axpona
Chicago Jadis dealer Kyomi Audio, and Jadis chief designer JC Calmettes, hosted two terrific Jadis rooms at Axpona 2019. The first featured the Jadis JA200 monoblocks and JP 200MC preamplifier with built-in phono. The second room featured Jadis’ SE845 triode push-pull monoblocks, JPS2 preamp and JPS3 phono stage with Raidho TD1.2 loudspeakers. Not surprisingly, the press loved both rooms.
The system sounded rich and detailed, with superbly transparent high frequencies.John Atkinson, April 2019
The depiction of depth and space was superb. ‘Soundstaging for days’, I wrote in my notes. I also loved the warm, smiling midrange core and the excellent bass tonality.Jason Victor Serinus, April 2019
Headphone Manufacturers Love Chord DACs
With Chord’s reputation for making the world’s best DACs and headphone amplifier/DACs is it any wonder you couldn’t walk down a single aisle at Axpona without seeing a Chord DAC?
It’s All Beautiful and Great Fun Until You Have to Pack Up
Left: close up view of the amazing Hugo M Scaler with DAVE DAC in short Ensemble rack in the Magico room. Right: another one in the books. See you next time!
