AXPONA 2025: Premium Loudspeakers Priced at $50,000 and Beyond

Explore the highlights from AXPONA 2025, showcasing premium loudspeakers priced at $50,000 and above, featuring stunning sound and design.

Introduction to AXPONA 2025

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. Happily, this year that somebody was me. Fifty grand may seem like a high floor for a show report, but if you’ve been to AXPONA (or bother to read this article), you’ll know that the number of very expensive loudspeakers on display in Schaumburg is beginning to approach High End Munich levels. There are a lot of pricey transducers out there—and some of them showed extremely well.

On the other hand, too many speakers were bitten by the rooms in which they were being shown. Sometimes it was because the spaces were too small; sometimes because they were too large; sometimes because they were just plain weird and intractable. In ballrooms or hotel rooms, I lost count of the number of transducers that got bright, shouty, and abrasive in the upper mids and treble on fortes. It was a virtual epidemic.

I’ve organized this report by floor, starting with the large ground and lobby-floor rooms and working my way up to the smaller rooms at the top of the hotel (the sixteenth floor). As is always the case, I’m sure I missed some displays; I’m also sure that I got some names and prices wrong. My apologies in advance to those manufacturers I’ve overlooked and for any errors. I’m just one guy with a camera, a cellphone, and a briefcase full of blues, jazz, and classical. I do my best, but mistakes are going to happen.

Enjoy the show!

Nirvana A: Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene Ultra

Joseph Audio showcased its $52k three-way four-driver Pearl Graphene Ultra floorstander, driven by Doshi Audio electronics, sourced by J.Sikora table, and wired by Cardas. Despite being a little shouty, forward, and abrasive on vocal fortes, the Pearl Graphene Ultra had superb delicacy on cymbals and decent though slightly loose and underdamped bass. Midrange was lifelike on Blossom Dearie’s “Do I Love You,” but still piercing on transients.

Nirvana B: Credo Cinema LTM

The $200k Credo Cinema LTM multi-driver line source was powered by EMM Labs electronics in a very large room. Once again, the sound was piercing on vocal fortes and slide guitar transients.

Nirvana C: Acora Acoustics VRC

Acora Acoustics presented its huge, five-driver, granite-enclosed $218k VRC, augmented with rears, center, sub, and driven by CAT electronics. It had a huge depth of stage on “Avalon,” and the speakers seemed to disappear. Their sound was dark, sweet, vast, and beautiful, with minimal piercing qualities on transients, even on “Coal Train.” A true contender.

Utopia D: Wilson Benesch Omnium

Wilson Benesch’s £100k Omnium, a tall, slim, seven-driver floorstander, was driven by Audia Flight electronics. The sound was very open, with lovely treble, a huge stage, and notably good decay. However, the center image on vocals was a little diffuse due to the speakers facing straight forward in a giant room, and bass was slightly thumpy and cool in timbre.

Prosperity: Marten Parker Quintet Diamond

The $54k, two-and-a-half-way, five-driver Marten Parker Quintet Diamond floorstander, driven and sourced by Luxman, boasted a neutral balance, surprisingly natural timbre on female vocals, and fine definition in the bass—a good showing.

Euphoria: Acora Acoustics VRC

Another pair of Acora Acoustics’ $218k VRC floorstanders, driven superbly by VAC tubes, was impressive. The bass went incredibly deep, midrange timbre was gorgeous, and the overall balance might have been a bit dark, but the staging and imaging were stunningly lifelike. This was the best AXPONA sound yet and certainly a Best of Show contender.

Schaumburg C: Stratton Element 12

The $65k Stratton Element 12 two-way stand-mount was driven by Burmester amplifiers. This was a very good-sounding small system, which took me by surprise given the speaker’s configuration in a larger room. The Stratton had dense dark tone color, good bass, and a very attractive treble.

Schaumburg D: Estelon Extreme Mk II

Estelon’s $296k Extreme Mk II, with its five drivers and a marble-composite enclosure, was driven by Vitus Signature Series electronics. The sound was open with powerful, extended bass, but also suffered from that common upper-midrange brightness and aggressiveness on fortes, which improved significantly when the settings were adjusted.

Schaumburg E: Dali Core

Dali’s $120k Core floorstander surprised with a rich sound—dark in color in the midband and treble, slightly vague in center imaging, but very listenable with decent resolution.

Schaumburg F: Stenheim Reference Ultime Two

The five-driver Stenheim Reference Ultime Two, biamped and driven by VTL monoblocks, proved to be just as wonderful sounding in 2025. This system exhibited super solidity, rich tone color, outstanding bass, and phenomenal dynamic range, making it another Best of Show contender.

Innovation: Monitor Audio Hyphen

The $100k Monitor Audio Hyphen features 11 drivers arranged in a unique H-shaped form factor. Despite the noisy environment, they presented a neutral and natural sound, one of the few transducers that felt lifelike.

Connection: Sonus Faber Stradivari

The $50k Sonus faber Stradivari floorstander was driven by ARC monoblocks. Its dark balance was lush and dense in color, making it a Best of Show contender.

Perfection Boardroom: Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX

Wilson Audio’s $367k Chronosonic XVX produced a solid sound with good speed and impact on transients. Though it had a bit of wooliness in the bass, it remained quite listenable.

Third Floor: B&W 801 D4 Signature

The $55k B&W 801 D4 Signature, despite its compact size in a corner, offered a smooth and sweet sound, making it a pleasure to listen to.

Fourth Floor: YG Acoustics Hailey 3

The $63,400 YG Acoustics Hailey 3 was driven by Zesto tube electronics and impressed with its open, neutral, and lively sound.

Von Schweikert’s $59,000 VR.thirty was also in this floor, and shared a similar lively characteristic, making it another standout.

Fifth Floor: Cessaro Mendelssohn

The $65k Cessaro Mendelssohn hybrid loudspeaker showed great potential on piano, though it suffered from that familiar shoutiness on vocal fortes.

Bayz Audio brought its interesting $60k Courante 2.0 omni, which despite its quirks, was worth a long listen.

Sixth Floor: GIP 4165

The $82.5k GIP 4165 was played too loudly in a small hotel room, obscuring its decent timbre and dynamics.

TriangleART’s $65k Metis offered appealing sound despite the volume issues.

Seventh Floor: Fourier Transform

The $70k Fourier Transform was unique with its jungle gym-like design. It sounded great with free-floating images, although the bass could have been better.

Eleventh Floor: Albedo Audio Acclara SHS

Italy’s $82k Albedo Audio Acclara SHS developed a nice soundstage. Its tonal balance was dark and rich, making for a notably good-sounding room.

Rockport Lynx’s $78k model was also featured, providing detailed sound despite room limitations.

Twelfth Floor: Marten Mingus Quintet 2

The $91k Marten Mingus Quintet 2 was fast and finely detailed but overblown in bass within the small space.

Fourteenth Floor: Rockport Lynx

The $78k Rockport Lynx offered a splendid sound in its second appearance, proving to be one of the most natural-sounding setups.

Audio Note UK showed its large $65k AN-E/SPx Ltd. Field Coil two-way stand-mount driven by AN’s Meishu 300B integrated and sourced by AN digital and analog. For a two-way, the AN-E was surprisingly full range, with a seamless blend of hemp cone woofer and dome tweeter.

Fifteenth Floor: Magico M9s

The gigantic, $750,000 Magico M9s, housed in a complex enclosure, exhibited powerful low-end sound but struggled with upper-midrange aggressiveness.

MBL’s $91k four-way 101 E MkII omnis, driven by MBL 9011 amps and sourced by its outstanding C41 streamer, sounded astonishingly realistic on voice!

Sixteenth Floor: Avantgarde Mezzo G3

The $120k Avantgarde Mezzo G3 two-way floorstander with spherical horn tweeter and woofer and powered and DSP’d dual-12” bass, driven by Phasemation MA-2000 tubes, was just plain terrific. A BOS right off the bat. No horn coloration, dark gorgeous tone color, rich texture on voice and instrumentals, and a dynamic range and ease that were nonpareil. The Mezzo was also incredibly detailed, effortlessly differentiating previously undifferentiated background vocals on “I Heard You Paint Houses” from Sinematic. The best I’ve heard these speakers sound and a BOS contender.

Shop your favorite album cover poster at our store!

FAQs:

• What is AXPONA? AXPONA is an audio show where high-end audio equipment, including loudspeakers, is showcased.
• What types of loudspeakers were featured at AXPONA 2025? AXPONA 2025 featured high-end loudspeakers ranging from $50,000 to upwards of $750,000.
• What brands had standout loudspeakers at the event? Notable brands included Joseph Audio, Acora Acoustics, and Wilson Benesch.
• What is the significance of the Best of Show award? The Best of Show award highlights the most impressive audio systems presented at the exhibition.
• Where can I find premium loudspeakers? You can shop for your favorite album cover poster at our store here.