APR 12-14, 2024
The biggest US show.
- Thanks to all of you, swinging by.
- Thanks for the many individual “Best of Show” compliments.
- Thanks to our speakers, sharing their insights in the LINKWITZ parlor.
- Thanks to the outstanding LINKWITZ team, doing their best in showcasing Siegfried Linkwitz´ work in 2024.
After (over-)crowded LINKWITZ rooms during recent shows, we displayed in a bigger, double sized LINKWITZ suite. Both Rooms were equipped with LX521.4MG systems.
Our left-hand room, used economic, but well performing music sources.
Additionally, we displayed a top-notch reel-to-reel tape machine from Analog Audio Design (the TP-1000). It gave us an impressive demonstration what state-of-the-art analog sources can deliver, today. Excellent sample tapes were delivered by HorchHouse.
If you visit Munich, May 9th-12th, be sure not to miss our demonstration of TP-1000 with LX521.4MG, see here.
The right-side room showed a high-end turntable and a streamer, ca 10 times the retail price compared to the left room.
The outstanding replay quality with “economic” sources pointed to the relevance of the proper speaker system (LINKWITZ LX521.4MG). Even with a decent USB DAC in the 1300$ range, the results can be stunning (Laptop with HQPlayer5 as player and modulator stage for RME ADI-2 DAC).
Take home message:
Choose a well performing replay system (LX521.4MG ) with a source you can afford. Perform source upgrades from there.
Adding own “flavors” with tube preamps, equalizers, convolvers or effect machines (crosstalk cancellation) is optional.
New at AXPONA 2024:
LX521s that are n
ot only acoustically transparent, but visually transparent as well.
Four black circles, hoovering on top of each other.
Made from one monoblock of silent acrylic glass. Mitered, tempered, and polished many times in a special process. The inner tension of this material is now very low, knocking on the baffle reveals no sign of ringing. More pictures will follow.
The Panzerholz Alu Sandwich top baffle, an acoustically inert baffle. Resonances minimized, high weight and stunning look and feel.
Arctic white finish (same as PowerBoxes main case) or dark anthracite finish (same as PowerBoxes front).
LINKWITZ parlor talks
A new series of talks were launched at this year’s AXPONA: The LINKWITZ parlor talks. Industry experts gave insights into their work. This series of talks featured microphoning techniques and post-processing.
The audience got a deeper understanding from those fantastic fellows, that do their best to provide us with faithfully captured and sensibly post-processed music source material.
LINKWITZ parlor talks are being made available successively on our YouTube Channel. Subscribe and stay tuned.
Doug Fearn: Minimalistic Mic´ing for Better Recording
Doug Fearn sensitized the audience on how the recording techniques can affect the final presentation on loudspeakers. A/B comparisons of the very same performance let everyone experience the relevance of recording techniques. We are preparing to make these A/B downloads available to you.
The naturalness and spatial presentation of one microphone recordings was appreciated and preferred by most listeners, when we continued to demo A/B subsequently during the show.
After Doug Fearn´s presentation, we offered more of such one-mic recordings to the audience. NativeDSD.com provided us with gems from their collection.
This one-mic technique captures the natural acoustics of the room and the unique characteristics of the performance. It provides a more authentic and immersive listening experience.
LX521 renders the captured performance with their famous, unrivaled and uncanny sound stage presentation.
Capturing & rendering at its best. Video
Just after these LINKWITZ parlor talks @ AXPONA, nativeDSD.com released a dedicated one-mic sampler.
Check it out here: http://www.nativedsd.com/product/ndsd022-one-microphone-recordings-vol-1/
Kevin Gray, the master in the COHEARENT Records studio
Kevin, the master of mastering, gave us insights into the ideas and techniques for his label ‘Cohearent Records’.
He captures contemporary artists in a way that makes them appear with the magical sound of the earlier days of Jazz.
As a continuation of Rudy van Gelder’s Hackensack, NJ recordings, but with modernized equipment. 
The whole chain is still all vacuum tube, from the microphones via the mic preamps to the cutter head amplifiers.
Kevin applied a minimalistic recording technique, so knowledge and experience rule.
Kevin Gray showcased Kirstin Edkins “Shapes & Sounds”, the debut album of Cohearent Records, is a milestone in sound quality on vinyl.
The just released “Hackensack West” by Anthony Wilson (Diana Krall´s guitarist) let the audience indulge into the music. This LP is available since a few days.
Jamie Howarth: De-wowing of master tapes
Jamie, multi-GRAMMY-winner, provided insights into his work at Plangent Processes.
He removes wow, flutter, and other artifacts from master tapes.
Hence, he played A/B samples. Before and after restoration. Ranging from Frank Sinatra to Phil Collins.
Jamie showed us not only the untreated vs. the de-wowed version in A/B, but also the difference C= A-B.
If A and B were identical, we would have heard nothing. As you can imagine, the difference C was all but silent. It was swelling in the rhythm of the original tape wow. This made Plangent Processes’ work obvious to everyone and brought up these aspects:
What did the engineers hear at the time of the original recording?
What was the artist’s intention?
During his talk, Jamie Howarth got into an interesting dialogue with Michael Fremer (Analog Planet) about these questions.
Again, we are preparing i.o. to make these A/B and C downloads available to you.
Once you’ve experienced these differences, you might wonder why we (as customers) still must download or stream untreated/unrestored music files that are withholding some of the original qualities and artist’s intentions.
Chris Connaker (AudiophileStyle): A Shade of Blue
Chris was introduced by Edwin Lo from Evosound. Chris presented the recent release “A Shade of Blue” by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. As a true enthusiast for Japanese Jazz recordings, he enlightened us with details of the Yamamoto Trio and of the recording. The concert happened at Gotanda Cultural Center, Tokyo.
Despite being recorded as a multichannel take for an additional Dolby Atmos release, sound engineer Hideo Irimajiri realized a 2-channel stereo version of this oeuvre. This comes with excellent quality and feel, and a holographic sound stage on LX521.4MG.
It’s impressive what 2-channel stereo can deliver today: A believable and deep illusion of musicians playing at the venue, without artificial spaciousness or unrealistic positioning of the instruments.
The loudspeakers themselves disappear. Music rules. Quite intriguing!
Chris Connaker: “The entire experience was a blast”
see https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/audio-shows/axpona-2024-best-of-show-and-wrap-up-r1268/
The turn out at the Evo Sound / Linkwitz event, where I discussed the latest Tsuyoshi Yamamoto album A Shade of Blue, was great. Evo Sound sold out of the album shortly after the event, but fortunately it can be purchased online from a number of retailers.
I really enjoyed sharing my favorite tracks from the album, and I’m very happy nearly everyone in attendance trusted me that they’d be rewarded for their patience on the last track, Last Tango In Paris. The track is a slow burn, and during an audio show people tend to get antsy because of all the “candy” luring them to the next demonstration room, but the drum solo five minutes into the track is legendary.
The Linkwitz loudspeakers really surprised me with their dynamics on this track.
The entire experience was a blast.
Links to some of our visitor’s videos and press interviews during AXPONA 2024. More to be added:
TheAbsoluteSound Who Were The Stand-Outs? | AXPONA 2024 Show Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1s12SK__j0
Audiophile Junkie, LINKWITZ teaser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWT-bFMlZhE
Audiophile Junkie, https://youtu.be/nPiHAzs1FH4?si=TCLwZXkkxgsbEAFq
Audiophile Junkie, LINKWITZ from 23:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzAJpCp94ZY
The Audio Belle Takes On AXPONA 2024! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSlHMErza1M
NativeDSD blog : https://www.nativedsd.com/news/final-thoughts-on-axpona-2024-with-linkwitz/