AXPONA 2025: Exceptional Loudspeakers Under $50K

Explore the highlights from AXPONA 2025, showcasing remarkable loudspeakers under $50k. Discover innovative designs and sound that impresses audiophiles.

A Comforting Event Amid Uncertainty

In an increasingly unpredictable world, the fact that AXPONA 2025 played out exactly as expected was something of a comfort. Old friends and familiar brands converged on Schaumburg from around the globe, filling the air with the sounds of excitement: “Hey, now” boomed through the halls, while nearby steakhouses grilled up prime fare for the winers and diners.

Despite the bustling atmosphere, there was one notable surprise in my category—the relative lack of significant product introductions. The ongoing tariff yo-yo has created a chaotic environment where exhibitors are left guessing the final prices of their products. This uncertainty isn’t ideal for new launches, prompting many exhibitors to delay their announcements until Munich, in hopes that the trade situation stabilizes.

Nonetheless, I’m thrilled to report that there were still some noteworthy under-$50k speaker debuts. In fact, in a trend worth celebrating, most of those were in the sub-$10k price range. Here’s what caught my eyes and ears.

Most Significant Speaker Introductions

Unlike many other Vandersteens, the new Quatro CT EVO ($23,900) can be directly connected to any amplifier.

The release of any new Vandersteen is an occasion, and that may be even more true for the $23,900 Quatro CT EVO. Richard Vandersteen likes to design speakers that require a high-pass filter in front of them, which complicates setup. The Quatro CT EVO, however, can be directly connected to any amplifier. This model features internal subwoofers, with dual 8” side-firing woofers powered by a 300-watt Class B amp. At the show, the latest Vandersteen shone with the company’s natural house sound—completely opposite to the bombast found elsewhere. Despite being placed far apart, they imaged beautifully. The Quatro CT EVO should be an easy sale.

The Dynaudio Confidence 20’s enclosure is made of a novel foam composite and is available in passive ($13k) and active ($24k) versions.

Denmark’s Dynaudio has been on a roll lately, and at AXPONA, the momentum continued with the launch of two impressive newcomers. The Contour 20 Black Edition wowed me with its refined, transparent sound and $8k price tag. Don’t confuse this model with the standard Contour 20; they’re entirely different. The bulk of the Black Edition’s innards come from the also-new, slightly larger, and more expensive Confidence 20. While most speakers at this price point are made of wood, the Black Edition’s enclosure is constructed from ½”-thick braced aluminum.

Though the Black Edition is limited to a low end of 42Hz, the greater internal capacity of the Confidence 20 allows it to reach 33Hz. The enclosure is made of a novel foam composite. The speaker is available in both passive and active versions at $13k and $24k, respectively. During the event, the active version showcased deep, powerful bass and highs that were extended, sparkly (but not bright), and smooth.

ampsandsound’s aptly-named Sasquatch ($17k) looks like a sub but is actually a full-range speaker.

Ampsandsound is best known for its namesake products, yet the aptly named Sasquatch ($17k) may change that. With a front dominated by an enormous 18” woofer, you'd be forgiven for mistaking Sasquatch for a huge subwoofer. However, this is very much a full-range speaker. Complementing the woofer, which is good for 30Hz, is an elliptical horn-loaded mid/tweeter. Together, the two drivers yield an impressive sensitivity rating of 99dB. With sensitivity like that, you can drive the Sasquatch with as little as 8 watts, which is exactly what ampsandsound did. Like many dynamic/horn hybrids, the Sasquatch sounded bold and dynamic while achieving a perfect balance between the drivers.

The Morel 634 ($11k) had some of the best sound at the show in the competitive circa-$10k price range.

To my ears, the Israeli company Morel hit it out of the park with its $11k model 634. The new speaker takes its place as the firm’s flagship, and its sonics are worthy of that title. Indeed, the 634, along with the Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Edition and the recent Acora MRB ($8k), represents a new wave of superb speakers in the circa-$10k price range. The 634 inhabits a svelte, room- and spouse-friendly tower that houses dual 6.5” woofers, a 6.5” midrange, and a dome tweeter. Powered by Hegel electronics, it produced astonishing bass and a punchy musicality that was quite enchanting.

Part of an entirely new line, the PMC Prophecy 7 ($10k) looks great and has many tech goodies for audiophile nerds.

PMC’s Prophecy 7 isn’t just a new speaker; it’s part of a new mid-level line from PMC designed to blend lifestyle and audiophile attributes. For fans of modern design, the $10k Prophecy 7 takes the form of a slim contemporary tower. For audiophiles, it boasts some impressive technology. For instance, the low frequencies are internally routed through a long transmission line with a special dispersing vent in front, designed to produce clearer bass. The 5.5” LF driver delivered good crisp bass at the show, although room limitations restricted extension. The speaker also features sophisticated waveguides for the midrange and tweeter, resulting in an unusually wide sweet spot.

Audacious Debuts

After 30 years of building speakers in Germany, Auer Acoustics made its U.S. debut at AXPONA. Based on the $45k V2, driven by nonpareil Soulution electronics and wired with Crystal Cable, I’d say the company knows what it’s doing. The V2 is a 3-way sealed design that spans the octaves from 30Hz to 40kHz. The handsome enclosure is made of extremely dense layered tankwood, resulting in clean and neutral sound with good spatiality in all dimensions.

MoFi designer shows off the beefed-up crossover (right) in the new Source Point 10 Master Edition.

Whenever designer Andrew Jones works on a speaker, great results follow. At AXPONA, he launched the Master Edition of the MoFi SourcePoint 10. The main difference between the Master Edition and the now-discontinued regular SP10 lies in the crossover; Jones now uses air-core rather than steel-core inductors. The 10” concentric driver remains unchanged, along with its sterling sound. Price is TBD due to tariffs, but the previous SP10 cost an unbelievably low $3k/pair. There will soon be a kit allowing current SP10 owners to upgrade to the Master Edition, with that price also TBD.

Utah-based rbh introduced the Unrivaled SFTR/AX ($33k) active speaker. In a unique twist, the side panels are custom-made for each pair, allowing buyers to order them in any desired shape. This speaker is labeled active because the price includes an external 6-channel amplifier that feeds 200 watts to the AMT tweeters, 400 watts to the 8” midrange units, and 2000 watts to the dual 12” woofers in each channel. Leveraging the active crossover, rbh also includes a DSP-based equalizer. The sound at AXPONA was delightful: big, punchy, and crisp.

Another standout sub-$10k speaker was the Opera Quinta V.2 ($7k). As the top of the entry-level Classic line, the new model saves costs with wood-finish vinyl sides and faux-leather surfaces. You’d never know it wasn’t real wood veneer and leather over the enclosure’s HDF. Opera focused the bulk of the budget on sound quality, which was remarkable for the price. Among the speaker’s virtues are good balance, excellent coherence, and substantial detail retrieval.

Subwoofer specialist Perlisten has a new flagship for its S-Series, the D8IS (price TBD but “under $20k” each; available this summer). The highlight is its dual-opposing 8” carbon-fiber woofers, designed to cancel vibrations, and as a glass of water atop the speaker attested, it works. The package includes a 3000-watt amp and full EQ slope control. In the less-expensive R-Series, Perlisten also introduced the R8 (approximately $1500 each; available this summer), a small cube utilizing much of the same technology as the S-Series.

Rethm’s Maarga ($20k) is fully active and gives the user full control of relative volume and crossover points.

The Maarga (approximately $20k) from Rethm is a fully active speaker with unusual versatility. The dual woofers, in an Isobarik arrangement, are driven by a 600-watt Hypex Class D amp with a tubed output stage. The mid/tweeter is a concentric driver powered by a 12-watt Class A amp. Users have complete control over relative volume and crossover points and can bypass the mid/tweeter amp altogether to use their own.

In Other News…

SVS introduced a new sub, the 5000 R|Evolution ($2k each). The hefty unit boasts a single 15” driver with a 30-pound motor and dual voice coils. The internal amp can deliver 2000 continuous Class D watts and 5000-watt peaks.

Horn and horn/dynamic hybrids were big at AXPONA. Volti Audio’s Vittora ($50k) is a 3-way pure horn speaker featuring a 15” folded-horn woofer. With a staggering sensitivity of 105dB, the Vittora can be driven by as little as 0.1 watt! In terms of hybrids, Pure Audio Projects launched the Duet 15 ($7540), consisting of a 15” dynamic woofer and a horn mid/hi driver. Sold direct, the Duet 15 delivered a very open, unforced sound.

Clearly this new hybrid dynamic/horn speaker is from Klipsch. It’s called the La Scala and runs $15k.

Another horn/dynamic hybrid came from venerable Klipsch, which introduced the $15k La Scala. This speaker, with a 12” ported woofer and a horn tweeter, looks and sounds very much like a Klipsch. For $3500, you can buy it with an active crossover. Finally, a brand-new company, O Audio, launched the Icon 12 hybrid for $23,400. It features a 12” dynamic woofer and a horn mid/tweet, spanning the octaves from 28Hz to 20kHz.

Another trend in my category was active speakers. Along with those already mentioned, there was the ATC SCM 20 ASL ($10k+). This is the company’s smallest active speaker, and like all ATC products, every part is made in-house.

A company new to me, Kii, introduced the model 7 ($8k), which is not only active but can directly connect to Tidal and Qobuz. The speaker is Roon Ready and features side-firing woofers. Lastly, although jPorter of Texas has been in business for five years, this was its first AXPONA. There, it launched the Wellington Active Tower ($20k), featuring dual-opposed 9” mid/bass drivers and a transmission-line beryllium tweeter. The balsa-birch enclosure is customizable in any color you’d like.

I’ll close with the incredible Bacch DrC2 ($20k), a complete 3-D desktop system from Theoretica Applied Physics. From just two small speakers, you get realistic surround sound.

Best of Show

Best Sound (cost no object): Though Stenheim gave it a run for its money, the big Acora/VAC system was unparalleled in its ability to portray instrumental timbres, scale, and dynamics realistically. Spatially, nothing came close.

Best Sound (for the money): A tie between the little Acora MRB with the VAC Essence FoiQs ($38k total system) and the not-so-little mbl 126/C41/C21 trio (also $38k total). Both produced sound you’d never expect at this price point.

Most Significant Product Introduction: Rockport Lynx. Although $78k isn’t cheap, it’s a bargain for Rockport’s latest—and one of its best.

Most Significant Trend: Excellent under-$10k speakers. In the past, this price point has yielded mostly disappointments. Not this year. I heard at least half a dozen circa-$10k speakers I’d be happy to own myself.

Most Coveted Product: Stenheim Ultime 2. These speakers are well out of my price range, but if I could afford them, I’d buy them. They look and sound equally beautiful.

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