SCHAUMBURG, IL, March 16, 2024 -- AXPONA (Audio Expo North America), the largest consumer audio show in North America, returns to the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and Hotel April 12-14. The show attracts nearly 300 exhibitors featuring 700 brands coming from 40 different countries including dozens of first-time exhibitors making their debut at the 2024 show.  ​

“AXPONA is a great event with knowledgeable customers who appreciate high quality records! We can't wait check out some great equipment too,” said Steve Young, Record Wonderland.
“The greatest value of exhibiting at AXPONA as a manufacturer is the opportunity to meet face-to-face in person with our end users. Starke Sound looks forward to shaking hands, talking, and, most importantly, listening to the attendees to get to know them on a more personal level so we can improve our products and satisfy their needs,” said Scott DeLoache, Starke Sound Inc.
​
"Sierra Sound is a distributor of products such as Benz Micro phonograph cartridges and AMG turntables, who will be introducing a new model at AXPONA. We want to use our exhibit room to highlight our strict focus on analog audio with a multi-source vinyl-only selection of music, including some material outside the realm of traditional audiophile music. We hope to connect with analog lovers of all stripes, to share our love of this wonderful medium,” said Michael Fajen, Sierra Sound.
 
“We decided to join the exhibitors at AXPONA because we sell high quality vinyl, original pressings, and people who invest in high end audio equipment look for that. We especially have a large selection of Japanese Pressings, they are known for their quality,” said Geert Jonckers, PictureSleeve45s.

"Even before starting our company, MACO™, we had the goal to one day present at the biggest audio show in North America. Two years after being established, here we are. It's been quite a ride, and we couldn't be happier!,” said Deborah Ann, MACO Acoustics.
 
“Johnny G Collectibles thinks being a vinyl exhibitor at AXPONA is a great way to expand our business. We look forward to meeting the attendees,” said John Grzegorczyk, Johnny G Collectibles.
 
Returning exhibitors include Bowers & Wilkins, DALI, Estelon, Focal Naim North America, Geshelli Labs, Legacy Audio, Luxman, Magico, Quintessence Audio,  Sennheiser, SOTA, Stenheim, Vinnie Rossi, and YG Acoustics, among others.  
 
In addition to incredible new products debuting at AXPONA, the show also features three jam-packed days of incredible sounds, technology, and presentations. AXPONA’s state-of-the-art venue will feature 200 Listening Rooms, an Expo Hall featuring the ever-popular Record Fair and Master Class Theater, a dedicated Ear Gear Experience featuring the best of the best headphone gear, a robust Seminar schedule, and Live Music nightly.

Open to the public, AXPONA offers a variety of ticket options for attendees.

TICKETS:

1  Day - $28 online, $35 onsite
2  Day - $47 online, $65 onsite
3  Day - $55 online, $95 onsite
Gold Pass -$150 online
Gen Z  Pass - $10
 
All general admission tickets grant access to the exhibits including Listening Rooms and Exhibit Hall, as well as educational seminars, live music, and special events. 
 
AXPONA opens Friday, April 12 10am-6pm; Saturday, April 13 10am-6pm; and Sunday, April 14 10am-4pm.
 
For more information on ticketing and ticketing options, please visit www.axpona.com/register
 
ABOUT  
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AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) is North America’s largest event for audiophiles, manufacturers of high-end audio equipment, musicians and music lovers. The three-day experience features 200 high fidelity listening rooms, providing guests the enviable opportunity to experience the newest technology in high-end consumer audio products. Attendees are encouraged to go from room to room and sit, listen and compare the various systems. The Expo Hall and Ear Gear Experience play host to thousands of products and accessories from cables to headphones to LPs and SACDs.  Beyond the exhibits, AXPONA includes live musical performances and educational seminars with industry experts and demonstrations. 
 
For more information including updates on AXPONA’s exhibitors and schedule, visit axpona.com call 203-307-2691. 

Machined from a hefty Aluminum slab, this rugged utilitarian design employed an Orion speed control and a Schroeder CB Tonearm fitted with a ZYX MC phono cartridge. Slated to retail for $20,000 when it's released, it sat on a wooden isolation platform atop a stainless steel stand  linked to a Doshi preamplifier, Doshi stereo amplifier and Doshi phono stage. The last component is "a killer piece", according to Griego; it allows for remote control loading of the phono stage to suit different phono cartridges.  This system delivered sumptuous sounds to a pair of Usher Audio UA-50 Anniversary loudspeakers ($7,800) atop Sound Anchor stands via Dyrholm Audio speaker cables. Power Distribution was handled by PS Audio, connected via Clear Audio cables. ​

Employing a core-less 75-watt motor, Griego says, "You don't get lobing from the poles of this motor like you will from say a 24-pole motor." Measuring wow and flutter from the encoder ring allows you to know absolutely what is happening. Measuring from an album becomes meaningless, he asserts.

​By employing an encoder ring with 315,000 lines, the speed control extends accuracy down to six to seven digits, "...controlling at the millisecond level"; and with its three torque rings, the speed remains at a steady 33.333. 

This prototype turntable employs the same aluminum platter that the SOTA Millenia and Cosmos turntables use.

The warm vinyl glow of Errol Garner's piano, rich in tone and timbre, shines against the light cymbals and hi-hat in this 1959 blues ballad mono recording of "Avalon" despite the abundance of pops and clicks.

Next, a pristine pressing of the Dixie Dregs' 1979 album, Night of the Living Dregs, rocks the room with its frenetic first song on Side One. Blaring electric guitars, violins, keys, an organ, and drums trade leads energize and impress. On Side Two, a fast-picked electric guitar, accompanied by a snare, raises the energy to another level.  Mesmerizing dueling leads with a violin draw follow. The crowd roars! 

Dramatic strings, woodwinds, and horns fill the room with "The Bash", an adaptation of Shostakovich Symphony No. 6 in B Minor. Ominous horns, a kettledrum flourish, and crashing snares lead the assault.

"That's heavy metal!" Griego exclaims with a smile afterwards.

"That was probably recorded on a two-inch tape by David Baker, who was a great recording engineer," offers the attendee who shared the record. 

​A deep and sonorous bowed bass is accompanied by violins renders a lovely version of "I'm in the Mood for Love" in a recording entitled, World Bass Ensemble, which is directed by music director,  Brian Smith.

"Brian Smith lives on the South Side of Chicago!" the African American guest who provided the record asserts with a smile. 

A more abstract song with more heavy bowing plays next.  The recording was purportedly made in Italy, but mixed at the Vanguard in New York City. 

The Art Ensemble of Chicago's Full Force album (ECM, 1979) entreats with Lester Bowie's rich trumpet lead, enjoined by a saxophone and an assortment of horns on Side B. The walking lead bass, blaring horns, snares, duck squawks, cymbal, and percussion  are all very lucid and present. 

Lester Blowie plays with a smaller mouthpiece for a tighter, more focused sound, someone volunteers. 

During a lull, Griego notes that he's good friends with the Doshi owners, adding that he likes giving business to small family-owned proprietorships like theirs. 

Norah Jones' Come Away with Me is vivid and lifelike with the double bass and Jones' piano and vocals on another pristine pressing. The electric guitar's comping and swells are a lovely touch. 

"The Karlson slot does for frequency what laser does for light," Meriweather says. 

When test frequencies were conducted at left, center and right positions in front of the speaker, plots of the results were virtually undistinguishable.  As a result, he says, the volume of the tweeter is the same at the front of the room as the rear of the room. 

Whatever the science is, the results are undeniable. Boasting a large, rich, and lush midrange, it blankets the room with a vivid saxophone and acoustic bass duet on a Ron Carter CD.  Minutes later, guests are treated to rhythmic drums, bass, and electronica with James Asher's Shaman Drums CD. ​

In terms of marketing, Meriweather says he's trying to reach the younger crowd. Currently, he's selling one to a 21 year-old YouTuber based out of Milwaukee.  That makes sense; very musical and immersive, they don't sound like many of today's more treble- and bass-forward audio products; instead, they bring a more Old World analog presentation. Judging from the response, these musical speakers will appeal to those who simply want to relax and enjoy the music. When they are released for sale, these Merryweather Air Disturbing Objects open baffle loudspeakers will retail for $1500 to $2000 per pair. 

Audio Appetites Sated

The show resumed in the main room, and patrons continued sharing treasured vinyl over the SOTA, Doshi, and Usher system right through closing time. Bundled in his winter coat, scarf and cap, vinyl tucked under one arm, a smiling guest gushed about the quality of the equipment showcased at Chicago Audio Society meetings. 

"It's been very good this last year!" he quipped. Indeed it has.
​

I've heard it repeatedly: more important than loudspeakers, DACs, and other audio gear, the most important factor in getting optimum sound from your system is your ROOM! And nine pages into his tome, Get Better Sound, audio veteran Jim Smith nails down that point. However, he also adds, "Most of us don't have the luxury of selecting from several good rooms. We only have one, and it may not be wonderful. So the question becomes, how can I make my system play its very best with the room that I have?" And then in the balance of the book, he goes about addressing exactly that with the grace and aplomb of a wise and seasoned audio industry professional. ​

About Jim Smith

Jim Smith began his audio career tinkering with his stereo in the 1960s. Frustrated with repeated repairs, he began researching how to maximize audio performance. Then in 1970, he worked part time in an audio shop while attending college in Virginia. A few years later, he became assistant manager, then a manager at a nearby store, where he and another staffer turned it into one of Audio Research, Dahlquist, Magnepan and Advent's top sellers in the US. (gettingbettersound.com)

Early successes led to a meteoric career rise. In 1975, he accepted an offer to work with Audio Research Corporation in Minneapolis as their customer service manager and sales and marketing, where he wrote the installation manual for the Tympani 1D Magneplanar loudspeakers.  In 1977, he moved to Magnepan, where he became their national sales manager. There, he created a dealer training and installation program to empower high end dealers with greater knowledge, and also wrote installation manuals for a variety of Magneplanar speakers such as the MG-1s and MG-2s.  Then, in 1979, Smith became an entrepreneur, moving his family to Birmingham, Alabama, where he opened Audition, a high end audio retailer, which went on to become one of the top 10 stores offering top offerings like Mark Levinson, Goldmund, Quad, Linn, Thiel and Magnepan.  Moreover, his client base grew with his superb home installations (ibid).  Simultaneously, he threw himself into freelancing music concerts, recording special events and artists for public radio and producing recordings for various organizations. 

Momentarily disillusioned with trends and events in high end audio retail, Smith left the audio industry in 1993, but returned in 1999 as distributor of Avantgarde Acoustic horn loudspeakers. Then in 2000, he created a free 16 page booklet, 31 Secrets to Better Sound.  Well-received, this led to his publishing Get Better Sound, where he was able to better convey his vast knowledge acquired from over 35 years installation, voicing, and setup experience at homes, hi-fi shops, and large industry shows. It has become an influential industry best-seller that is backed with a money back guarantee! (ibid)​

Best Practices by the Pros Available for You in Your Living Room

One thing that struck home with his advice is that it resonates with those used by top-flight pros in the industry. For example, like PS Audio's Paul McGowan, Smith advises placing your electronics about halfway back along a sidewall, rather than upfront, in between your loudspeakers.  The reason? 

(1) Your components won't interfere with the soundstage as much.
(2) There will be less visual distraction. Therefore, it's easier to suspend your disbelief" that there's a musical event happening over there between the speakers.
(3) Most importantly, the point in the room where the bass is lease strong is probably in this area. So sound waves will impinge less on the sound of your components, especially if they are vacuum tube, or if you have a turntable to play LPs." (Get Better Sound, p. 78).

Jam Somasundram, the designer of the outstanding Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier and President of Quadratic Audio, uses this technique to great effect in his home listening room and laboratory, where he tests prototypes in his excellent reference system. In fact, while I was reviewing the HPA-1 amplifier, we struck up a friendship, and he encouraged me to relocate my electronics along the sidewall for these very reasons.  However, having invested a great deal in custom cabling for its current configuration, that would be cost-prohibitive -- and problematic on the home front, as my wife and best friend absolutely loves our expensive media cabinet there, and to relocate it would create undue stress.

Smith addresses that with Tip #71: What if you have no choice but to place your component rack between your speakers?  "Try to have the rack as close to the wall and the speakers as far out from the wall as possible," he says. "Reflections off the rack will still occur, but they'll usually be minimized in amplitude."

I have put that into practice, as well as numerous other recommendations, such as using a mirror to locate first reflection points to place acoustic treatments for best results, while taking care to not over-dampen the room.

Get Better Sound is a deep dive into best practices, addressing a myriad of topics, including:

• Home theatre or two-channel and the merging of the two
• Why you shouldn't voice subwoofers with bass as your primary reference
• Not having reflective surfaces before you
• How to get more from digital music servers
• Installing a wood floor on your existing concrete slab to improve sound
• Room treatments and what to do when you (and your partner) don't want your room looking like a hi-fi shop
• Setting up a grid for advanced room/speaker voicing installation
• Alternative speaker placement
• Tilting panel speakers for best sound
• Vinyl LPs and Vertical Tracking Angle
• Free or inexpensive setup tools
• Things to know and do before (and during) equipment comparisons
• Basic trouble-shooting when your dealer or technician isn't available
• Semi-pro setup tools
• Should you have your own dedicated listening room?
• And much, much more!

Sage Advice

Well-written and illustrated with a wealth of information, I found that I especially resonated with that last point, Tip#51: Should you have your own dedicated music listening room?  He gets straight to the point when he says, "Even if you want and can afford a dedicated room, there's something to consider if you don't live alone." On the plus side, having such an isolated space can make for optimal, distraction-free listening.  However, it can also be problematic if you live with others, as he duly notes:

"I learned that being home, but being relatively unavailable to family members, almost may have been worse than if I had been out at a bar somewhere...if you already have a dedicated room, or if you plan to have one, I suggest that you include your family members in the use of it from time to time. Failing that option, make sure that you provide sufficient time outside of the room in order to let your family know that you have your priorities in order."

The hi-fi hobby is often one that can become an obsession -- one that may not be shared by others close to us, and left unchecked, it can drive a wedge between significant and meaningful relationships. All too often, its pursuit has resulted in alienation and, sometimes, divorce.  That's a crying shame. 

I have a wealthy friend who built an expensive, dedicated listening and A/V room that now sits largely unused, as he spends more time with family and other pursuits. Others weren't so fortunate. 
​
Smith's brilliant technical observations and advice aside, I appreciate his conciliatory words of wisdom. Like him, having learned from the sins of over-indulgence, I have cultivated a closer marriage as I've worked on the art of compromise while enjoying this hobby that I love.

Hence, I highly recommend this treatise, an outstanding reference, a true user's bible on all things home audio.  If you or someone you care about wants to maximize their listening pleasure, this would make for an excellent stocking stuffer!

​Get Better Sound by Jim Smith

 $37.70 paperback and $47.70, hardbound, via Get Better Sound website.

Get Better Sound

https://www.getbettersound.com/

For the partnership, hifi music aficionado and Chairman of the Memphis Listening Lab Board, Jim Thompson, connected with Qobuz because he wanted anyone visiting the Lab to be able to hear music outside the physical collection with the highest fidelity possible. To accomplish that goal, Qobuz has outfitted all of the Lab’s digital listening stations with its service, and brought full Hi-Res streaming to the “SoundRoom,” the Lab’s main audiophile listening space, which Thompson (who also serves as President of EgglestonWorks speaker company) outfitted with state-of-the-art speaker and amplification technology. 

Currently, the Memphis Listening Lab’s collection consists of 35,000 45 rpm singles, 15,000 vinyl LPs, 25,000 CDs, 2000 books, and over 1000 unique pieces of musical history - all available to listen to and learn from for free. Now, over 100 million tracks in lossless and Hi-Res quality will be added to the library via Qobuz streaming. 

And take a listen HERE on Qobuz to an exclusively curated Hi-Res playlist featuring representative cuts from the Memphis Listening Lab collection.

Since both the Memphis Listening Lab and Qobuz are dedicated to music discovery, and the peak enjoyment of music fans, coming together to bring high quality streaming to the Lab was a natural move.

Dan Mackta, Managing Director of Qobuz North America, said: “Memphis is one of the most important music cities in North America. People who love music flock to Memphis to soak up some of what’s in the water: Qobuz always makes a positive impact when we bring what to do right to the eyes and ears of music lovers like that.”

Jim Thompson of the Memphis Listening Lab added: “MLL and Qobuz are definitely kindred spirits, both dedicated to providing an unmatched musical experience. Our two organizations coming together makes perfect sense and allows MLL’s reach to extend well-beyond the city of Memphis. Qobuz is doing some really innovative things related to music exploration and discovery, which are also core components of MLL’s mission.”

The partnership also speaks to Qobuz’ “boutique in a super-store world” approach of providing premium experiences (both in-app and IRL) for its hardcore music-lover user base that they won’t find anywhere else. For two years running, Qobuz has hosted SXSW showcases for the most eclectic indie artists at the festival (this year, the showcase was written up as a SXSW highlight in Rolling Stone). They co-host an ongoing live-to-EP concert series with the Chicago label International Anthem on a regular basis at Brooklyn’s Public Records. Artists such as Dinosaur Jr., Anat Cohen, Christian McBride (Qobuz’ Artist Ambassador), and Circuit des Yeux have recorded and released music just for Qobuz. And they have the most exclusive editorial content of any streaming platform … just to name a few of their special initiatives.

For more information on visiting the Memphis Listening Lab (and listening to Qobuz there), check out their website HERE, and read more below.

About Qobuz
Founded in 2007 and a pioneer in high-quality sound, Qobuz is a French music streaming and download platform for anyone who wants to fully experience and share their passion for music. Available in 26 countries around the world, including Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, and Japan (for high-resolution download service only), Qobuz offers a range of exclusive editorial content written by a team of experts. With a catalog of over 100 million tracks, Qobuz also has the richest selection of high-resolution (Hi-Res) references on the market. Qobuz is a licensed Hi-Res Audio provider by the Japan Audio Society (JAS). For more information: www.qobuz.com.

About MLL 
Memphis Listening Lab is a curated collection of music and music history, a forum for music-related talks and performances, and a music education, appreciation, and experimentation space located in Crosstown Concourse. The Collection represents an incredibly wide spectrum of musical genres, all of which are free to the public for listening and learning enjoyment.

It was a mix of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" (make that blue-green). This past Sunday, August 27, 2023, retired capital equipment salesman and full-time audiophile Jeff Kenton hosted the Chicago Audio Society at his riverfront home in a far corner of Chicago's northwest suburbs. 

The weather had been stifling, hovering between the 90s and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (adjusted for heat index) for weeks, but at last, it broke. At present, there was a cool breeze, and it was mild and sunny in the 70s. 

​People are seated outside on a sprawling deck that looks out onto a pier, an elevated, canvas-covered boat, and the Fox River, and indoors they mill about various rooms and a kitchen stocked with tasty chicken sandwiches baked by Jeff's wife, Nancy, a soft-spoken and friendly nurse. In a screened-in porch, others are drinking strawberry daiquiris. And then, of course, there's Jeff's crowing achievement: an expansive blue-green room dedicated to two-channel listening and home theater. 

Something Old, Something New

Upfront in Jeff's domain, a towering pair of vintage blonde oak Infinity RS-4.5 dipole speakers captivates a small crowd with a velvety aural blanket that’s deep, detailed and natural. Employing ribbon tweeters and dual 12" drivers covered in sheer black grill cloth, they are highly modded; both speakers feature revamped crossovers, have custom large, rectangular openings cut into their inside top quarter panels, and are no longer sealed, but sport rear ports, making them “more musical,” Kenton says.  They sit atop customized outriggers made by a local carpenter that allow them to be angled slightly forward for optimal listening.  

Now if you think vintage is king here, you'd be mistaken. The reference system also employs the latest PS Audio Air Lens digital streamer that "promises total galvanic isolation when streaming ethernet or WIFI, but only has HDMI out for I2S or Spdif/coax out," Kenton says via text. The sound, he writes, is "virtually identical on I2S with my externally clocked Uptone EtherREGEN into my lowly iFi ZenStream, but I have three external power supplies Vs. 1 on the PS." ​

A Korean Connection

Sitting across the table from Jong Gyu Kim, President of Zenith R&D Lab in Lincolnshire, IL, my wife Belle reads his name tag and asks, "Are you Korean?" He says, "Yes," and Belle utters some words in Korean. Eyes widening, he leans forward smiling. Belle informs him that she spent nine years of her childhood in Seoul, Korea, where her parents were missionaries.  As they converse, they discover that Belle's family had lived very close to where he grew up. Belle shares a story of how a pair of doctors--who were formerly playmates of hers in Korea (and whose father was an interpreter for her dad)--and several Korean churches helped raised substantial funds to replace a wheelchair accessible van for Belle's sister, who uses a wheelchair.  He shares a biblical verse from I Peter on his smart phone.  It feels like a holy moment. 

The Usual Suspects

Of course, later, as a lifelong audiophile, Mr. Kim shares photos on his phone of his home hi-fi and tells us about some of his other high end equipment and exploits.  We share more photos and stories. Later going inside, he plays an extraordinary recording of drums, a bowed bass or viola, and piano that mesmerizes us with its rich and vivid detail. Jeff Kenton grouses that it's not using his new DAC, but using the internal DAC of his Oppo HD player. No matter. It sounds amazing.

Like corporate golf outings, the hi-fi consumer audio industry has remained one of the last vestiges of a boy’s club, however in this present age, that’s slowly changing. And as with Fortune 500 companies, that's beginning to impact its leadership. For the first time on January 1, 2023, female CEOs broke the 10 percent barrier in terms of Fortune 500 CEOs; historically, it’s hovered around eight percent (Shrm.org). And in a 2021 survey of 70 music companies, 13.9 percent of the Presidents, CEOs, and chairs were women (annenberg.usc.edu). 

“I consider my Pass Aleph Zero the best amp I ever heard and owned,” Lukasz Fikus, owner of the wildly popular Lampizator audio brand out of Warsaw, Poland, wrote in a Facebook post. Specializing in vacuum tube-based DACs and amplification, he later qualified that statement via email, saying, "Remember: best SOLID STATE amps, not all amps." 

(You can read more about Pass Labs HERE.)

A graduate of UC Davis Graduate School of Management, Ms. Protopappas served as the Finance and HR Leader at Pass Labs and, prior to that, was senior finance manager at Oracle  and a senior financial analyst at Hewlett-Packard. 

Speaking with me over a Google Meet call, she granted me this interview.

On how she transitioned to president at Pass Labs: 

“It was a slow roll. As the story goes, I was born into the audio industry. My mom said that she found out that she was pregnant with me the same day that Nelson and Renee offered her the job of bookkeeper for Threshold. So, she worked for Nelson for many years. I babysat for the D’Agostinos when I was a teenager (Note: Dan D'Agostino was founder and lead engineer of Krell and went onto form his own high end audio company, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems), and now my mother is one of Nelson’s partners in Pass Labs. (Her name is) Barbara Sammut.

“Joe Sammut was Nelson’s partner in Threshold and in Pass Labs, too, and he worked for Krell for a lot of years.”

During her college years and career leading up to Pass Labs: 
​
“As an undergrad, I was at Sacramento State, and I got my MBA at U.C. Davis, and I spent 20 years in corporate finance. So I did 15 years at Hewlett Packard, doing all sorts of different kinds of things–-working with R&D, working with acquisitions, and other kinds of stuff, always in corporate finance. And then, I went to Oracle, a software company for four years, same, similar, doing corporate finance in the sales space. "​

On whether she has a good work/life balance at Pass Labs or if she’s working 80 hours a week:

(She laughs). “No, it’s a wonderful balance. You know, we’re up here. In Auburn, I live close by. My fun hobby has been raising service dogs for Canine Companions. And so the last three years, I’ve had a puppy with me that has come into the office that has got to be trained with all the employees and stuff like that, so it’s been fun, it’s been a nice relaxing place most of the time!" 
 
JA: Any last thoughts? 

"I'm hoping to keep Pass Labs great at what it has always been great at--making wonderful sounding products that our customers love!"

JA: Well thanks so much. Personally, I’ve loved the Pass Labs products at my house that I use for personal pleasure, for listening, and watching movies; my wife’s a big movie buff, so we love the quality it brings to the experience. ​

“Well that’s great. Have you had a chance to get into the HPA-1 yet?" (That's their headphone amp that’s currently in for review.)
​
JA: Yes, I’ve been listening and I’ve been comparing two different headphones right now – the Dan Clark Ether 2 and…(the Stealth). You can definitely hear the differences. I was curious (as to) what’s the difference between a $2,000 headphone versus a four, and you can hear some of that; it brings it out. It definitely has more weight to it than the headphone amp that I’ve been using, so I’m really liking that–-it's a really nice balance. It seems to reflect that house sound that Pass Labs brings to its products.
​
“Yeah, yeah, good!”  

And if that pleasant exchange with Anastasia Protopappas is a hint of things to come, who wouldn't welcome the fresh infusion of ideas and broadened perspective afforded by a more inclusive and holistic approach to the hobby and leadership of high fidelity audio?

Partnering with Ascendo, madVR Labs, Kaleidescape, Barco, Seymour-Screen Excellence and Officina Acustica, Trinnov’s demo theater brings together the industry’s top manufacturers for a true reference level immersive experience that will reveal the extraordinary audio and video performance available today at the highest levels of private cinema. 
 
WaveForming delivers a solution to the most challenging aspect of home cinema: eliminating the effect of room modes that makes accurate low-frequency reproduction difficult if not impossible. The product of more than 6 years of Trinnov research, WaveForming combines a new algorithm and new home theater design guidelines to effectively reduce low-frequency problems inherent to small rooms: the muddy sound produced by long reverberation times and the large variation heard among multiple seats. WaveForming resolves these challenges to produce unprecedented impact, clarity, and level of detail in the bass.
 
“We are truly excited to be able to present the astonishing improvements of Waveforming to the industry at CEDIA Expo,” said Trinnov Audio CEO and co-founder Arnaud Laborie. “Our new technology can elevate the performance of home cinemas to a previously unobtainable level. The challenge of accurate reproduction of low frequencies in small rooms has historically been addressed with band-aid approaches that do not resolve the underlying physical problems. WaveForming takes a fundamental approach that effectively eliminates the standing waves that are the persistent challenge.”

WaveForming at CEDIA ExpoWaveForming requires the use of multiple subwoofers on both the front and back walls of the room. The specific locations are determined by the room dimensions and the desired bandwidth coverage. As with any system, a higher number of subwoofers can generally give better performance, but WaveForming offers wide flexibility in terms of the number and placement of subwoofers.

Trinnov’s CEDIA 13.1.6 Dolby Atmos system incorporates multiple 21 inch Ascendo subwoofers to enable demonstrations of WaveForming’s performance when using widely varying subwoofer configurations. Trinnov WaveForming demonstrations will proceed as follows:

● The first demo incorporates a 3x2 configuration, consisting of three subwoofers in the front wall and two subwoofers in the back wall. This demonstrates the effectiveness of WaveForming with a relatively modest number of subwoofers and room modifications necessary for its implementation.

● Next up is a 12x2 configuration, which shows an even higher level of low frequency performance. With 12 subwoofers in the front wall and just 2 in the back wall, this will make it clear that the front and back subwoofer arrays in WaveForming do not have to be identical. Even with a much smaller number of subwoofers located in the back wall, WaveForming is highly effective.

● The final presentation uses a double bass array consisting of 12 subwoofers in the front wall and 12 subwoofers in the back wall. This shows WaveForming in its fully realized and uncompromised configuration. The demonstration content for this presentation uses the entire array of subwoofers, enabling listeners to experience the infrasonic capabilities of Ascendo subwoofers.

● Separate from the Trinnov demonstration, attendees will also be able to experience WaveForming in the Alcons Audio demo system in CEDIA Sound Room 9.

In addition to the Altitude32 in the Alcons Sound Room, Kaleidescape and K-Array will also use Altitude processors for their demo presentations. Kaleidescape will have three Altitude16 processors in booth 23017 and K-Array will have an Altitude16 in room C1308.

On Thursday, between 9 and 11 AM in Mile High Ballroom C, Trinnov CEO and co-founder Arnaud Laborie will present a class titled Next Generation Bass. He will explain room modes and their negative impact on room acoustics, along with discussing solutions integrators can implement to mitigate them in their projects. Laborie will also cover how WaveForming addresses and resolves the most challenging acoustical issues.
Highlights of the Demo SystemTrinnov Audio’s Altitude32, the unchallenged reference processor for immersive audio systems, is the heart of the system, providing 32+ channels of Atmos processing and the sonic benefits of Trinnov’s Loudspeaker/Room Optimizer with WaveForming. The system also includes an Altitude48EXT, which expands the system’s capability to 48 channels.
 
Trinnov Audio’s Amplitude16 powers the system’s ear and height-level loudspeakers on a 3RU chassis, each with a power rating of 200W/channel at 8 ohms and 400W/channel at 4 ohms. Going beyond, the Amplitude16 can also provide the integrator with the option to bridge any or all pairs of amplifier channels to increase the available power for specific channels. In bridged mode, the output increases to 800W/channel at 8 ohms and over 1,000W/channel at 4 ohms.
 
Ascendo Immersive Audio (AIA) will utilize their active subwoofers in the first-ever-heard-at-CEDIA infrasonic bass reproduction and demonstration of Trinnov’s WaveForming technology, powered by 120kW of ASCENDO DSP/Amplification. Completing the system, their coaxial point source loudspeakers on all channels combine high resolution, high sensitivity, and power handling with low distortion for a powerful, fully immersive experience at every seat.
 
Kaleidescape’s Terra movie server and Strato-C movie player will deliver the unparalleled, reference quality images and lossless sound that make it the industry’s leader for luxury home theater.

madVR Labs' all-new Envy Extreme MK2 video processor will deliver best-in-class dynamic HDR tone mapping, along with the debut of its groundbreaking MotionAITM – the world's first AI-based motion interpolation in a dedicated processor. With MotionAI, the Envy Extreme MK2 provides an unparalleled cinematic experience, combining the ultimate image clarity and detail with exceptional motion handling, all while still preserving the original cinematic look and honoring the director's intent.

 A 9,000 lumen Barco Njord CS laser projector is capable of up to 9,000 ANSI Lumens with 5K UHD resolution. Built around a high-capacity 2.37:1 aspect ratio 3-chip DLP engine, this projector has the power to illuminate large Cinemascope screens, delivering an unbelievably bright and detailed image with spectacular color fidelity for the most demanding clients.
 
Seymour-Screen Excellence brings best practices in both video and audio. A cinematic size and proper location, combined with the acoustic best practices of enabling the audio to be perfectly matched and located like the mastering studios, ensure there is no compromise in the experience. The Enlightor-Neo is the only acoustically transparent screen material with no minimal seating distance, audibly flat frequency response, and ability to resolve interpixel details.

The room was designed and built by Officina Acustica. Their modular fully custom Acoustic Interior Design system seamlessly integrates the best possible acoustics with stunning Italian interior design. Handcrafted in Italy, then built at the show in three days, Acoustic Interior Design is the fastest and most predictable way to build the world's best private cinemas and screening rooms.
 
Cables for the demo system are provided by Kordz, and the control system is provided by RTI.
 
About Trinnov Audio

Trinnov’s founders began researching high spatial resolution audio 20 years ago, well before today’s immersive audio formats were even conceived.

Today, the French manufacturer is advancing audio performance in homes, studios, and commercial cinemas with its world-renowned loudspeaker/room Optimizer and other proprietary technologies that are protected by over 50 international patents.
 
​With over 10,000 high-performance installations worldwide, Trinnov’s unique hardware and software platform enables first-to-market solutions and combats obsolescence, with each installation backed by industry-leading remote technical support. Prestigious customers include Technicolor, Fox, BBC, Globo, NHK, Toho, and UGC. For more information, please visit www.trinnov.com.