Header image: PS Audio's James Herod does what it takes to wire up a system. Anyone who has set up an exhibit at an audio show can relate!
I and a number of my peers had been eagerly anticipating T.H.E International Audio Show New York 2025, held at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights/Meadowlands hotel in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey on October 24 – 26. One of the reasons for the anticipation was that the New York area, incredible as it may seem considering the amount of audiophiles in the region, hadn’t had an audio show since 2022. (I’ll leave the reasons why to other reporters.)
Also, this was the first New York-area show under the auspices of the T.H.E. Show organization, which is headed by the extremely capable Emiko Carlin. She has a great deal of experience and has done an outstanding job in managing previous shows in California and elsewhere. But no one had any idea of what the inaugural T.H.E Show New York would be like.
I won’t be coy: it was a successful and fun event. According to the show directory, there were almost 40 exhibit rooms with more than 100 brands and dealers represented, along with a seminar/event space, and an outdoor area for IASCA (International Auto Sound Challenge Association). A number of new products made their debuts. There was a party on Friday night, a film festival with a huge Legacy Audio surround system, and a Saturday night concert with Emiko, T.H.E. Show ambassador Mike Leach (both of whom turned in excellent sets of mostly original music), and the extraordinary guitarist Larry Mitchell. So, the show had critical mass in terms of feeling like a show. In fact, there was enough to cover that I’ll be splitting my show report into two parts. And I’m sure that, try as I might have, I missed some gear.
The smaller hotel rooms posed some setup challenges for some exhibitors, who were heroic in their determination to overcome their limitations. I got to the show the Thursday before it started, and witnessed a number of exhibitors while they were setting up. The main consideration for those with active displays was deciding whether to place the speakers against the long wall or the short wall in the smaller rooms. If placed along the long wall, the amount of seats would be less than if placed along the short wall, but the speakers might sound better. More than one manufacturer tried the speaker placement both ways.
The exhibitors were often clever in accommodating the rooms. Here's a Technics SL-50C turntable ($899, also available as the SL-40CBT with less-expensive Audio-Technica cartridge and Bluetooth connectivity in place of 78 RPM speed for $899) the resting on a fixed-in-place wall shelf as an isolation base!
That said, I thought the overall sound of the rooms was anywhere from good to stunning. It’s a trend that I have been seeing over the past few years at audio shows. In the past, you’d go to a show, stick your head into a room that sounded just plain bad, and not even bother going in (or as a member of the press, hope that the exhibitor didn’t catch your eye). Not here.
The layout of the rooms made them easy to navigate, with two floors of hotel/exhibit rooms, an area of larger suites with easy access off the lobby, and a lower-level section with really big ballrooms. The elevators worked quickly and flawlessly. This is of crucial importance, and I’ve been to some shows with horrendous elevator bottlenecks and waiting times. (No one misses waiting for the elevators at CES when the high-end exhibits were located at The Venetian.) If you wanted to get your cardio in, the stairs were easily accessible.
The restaurant/bar was right in the middle of the lobby and there was the usual convenient breakfast buffet, although surprisingly, if not astoundingly, there was no lunch served – the restaurant was closed in the middle of the day! (A word to hotel management – talk about leaving money on the table!) To be fair, there was an area in the lobby where you could buy food like muffins, snacks, coffee, drinks and so on.
I know the question is hanging in some readers’ minds: why have the show in New Jersey instead of New York? I asked Emiko and she told me that the cost to do a show in Manhattan is prohibitive. New Jersey is easier to get to for people in the state and surrounding areas. And as a resident of Long Island, I can tell you that LI would be a terrible location, because driving into and off of Long Island has become complete and utter torture. (I encountered traffic driving home at 10:00 on Saturday night, which has become par for the course – “rush hour” is now approaching 24/7.) Mass transit would be pretty much impossible.
The usual show report caveats: one should never make definitive judgments about the sound at shows. Exhibitors at audio shows sometimes have to work with less-than-optimal rooms, power, and internet (and it never ceases to amaze me how many of them rely solely on Wi-Fi for their audio source and don’t have any kind of backup, leaving them dead in the water if the Wi-Fi glitches). I have significant hearing loss at this point, so, although I still pride myself on my listening acuity, I cannot approach the show from the perspective of a full-time audio reviewer. The sound in a room can differ according to one’s listening position, sometimes drastically.
All that said, there was a lot of good sound to be heard, and a boatload of great gear. The vibe was upbeat among attendees. As Emiko and company noted in the show directory: “Our goal is to introduce [a] vibrant, inclusive, and connected atmosphere…we’re here to create something truly special – a new kind of audio event that serves not only the Eastern seaboard, but also welcomes visitors…from across the United States, Europe, Asia, and beyond.”
Full disclosure: I obviously work with PS Audio and do occasional work for Audience, so I must recuse myself from commenting about those rooms, other than to note that PS Audio was showing its recently introduced PMG Signature Series components, and Audience featured the world premiere of its Bellare floorstanding loudspeaker.
On with T.H.E. Show:
Gingko Audio introduced a speaker kit called the MooVu. The kit ($499) includes custom 6.5-inch woofers, 1-inch soft-dome tweeters, OFC internal wiring, crossovers, and hardware. To house the components, the user can build DIY enclosures, or cabinets are available separately from Iwistao Minimart for less than $350/pair delivered, in redwood, jujube, and brown maple, making the cost for a complete MooVu pair around $750. Assembly is relatively easy, as the crossover boards are already made, and no soldering is required (you can if you want). If you’re not into DIY, Gingko offers completed hand-crafted pairs at $2,495.
The MooVu speakers (named in honor of Gingko owner Vinh Vu’s dog) looked handsome with understated satin finishes, and sounded sweet and inviting and impressive – perfect for budding audiophiles or those of us on a budget.
Gingko Audio's MooVu speaker kit offered a lot of sound for the money.
Here are the components in the MooVu kit, along with some assembly and testing tools. No soldering required!
Las Vegas-based distributor Supreme Acoustic Systems had two rooms at the show. I was impressed by both, and I’ll focus on the smaller room in this installment. The executive summary: This room was exceptional. It was based around the Albedo Agadia speakers ($33,250/pair) and Soulnote electronics (A-2 version 2 integrated amplifier, $9,420; D-2 version 2 DAC, $9,085; E-2 version 2 phono equalizer, $9,910; X-3 clock generator, $5,285 and Z-3 network transport, $15,855). Interestingly, the DAC does not use oversampling “to maintain the purity of the input waveform.” The analog source was a Bergmann Modi air-bearing turntable with Thor arm (18,100) with a Hana Umami cartridge ($3,950).
Well, I thought this room did everything spectacularly right. Shelby Lynne’s presence in singing “Just A Little Lovin’” was almost spooky. I thought I never wanted to hear Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Tin Pan Alley” ever again at an audio show, but the clarity and dynamic articulation of his super-clean Stratocaster playing were flabbergasting, as was the weight of the bass and drums. Bass, midrange, treble, you name it; this was a system I could live happily ever after with.
The 2.5-way floorstanding Albedo Agadia speakers utilize what they call a Helmholine System, which employs tuned Helmholtz resonators to control the bass. The speakers also feature ceramic drivers, heavy steel damping and support plates, a point-to-point hand-wired crossover among other refinements. These speakers and the Soul Note electronics – designed by former Marantz Japan employees – exhibited, well, supreme synergy.
This was one of two Supreme Acoustic Systems room and it certainly lived up to its name. Those wooden platforms with the round pieces are AGS (Acoustic Grove Systems) room tuning units, also available in a horizontal configuration.
Another superlative room, though in a different way, was the Cessaro Horn Acoustics exhibit. Forget any notion you might have of “horn sound” – this room, based around the Cessaro Opus SE speakers ($65,000/pair) was warm, spacious, just gorgeous. No question that the British SW1X tube amplification had something to do with that (SW1X MPA V Special 300B amplifier, $37,836; SW1X PRE III Classic preamp, $28,041). If the sound was maybe a touch more romantic than analytical, so what? It sounded like music, and do we want to listen to systems that sound like music, or systems that sound like laboratory instruments? Through the Cessaro system, vocals and instruments had palpable presence and weight.
The analog sources included the Cinnamon Galle phono stage ($32,995), Cinnamon Galle step-up transformer ($8,250), TW Acustic Raven LS-3 turntable and Raven 10.5 tonearm ($25,000 and $6,000), and Fuuga MC moving-coil cartridge ($10,995). Digital was provided by a Cinnamon Galle Model 2 DAC and Galle NT network transport ($32,995 and $11,995). I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the appearance of the Cinnamon components, which feature cast-metal enclosures with an organic rough-hewn look that is totally distinctive and for me, very appealing.
The Cessaro Horn Acoustics room was a delight.
An aside: I’ve been wondering about the effects of spiking speakers lately, ever since I got a new pair of floorstanders that to my ears sound way better on rubber feet than spiked, a finding that surprised me. In talking with Norman Varney of AV Room Service, who was adamant in insisting that spiking your speakers is the wrong approach, and they (and other audio components) should be decoupled instead. What I heard with my new speakers is that the imaging, resolution and soundstage improved with spikes, but the bass and midrange thinned out, and I prefer the sound without spikes. Your mileage may vary as they say, but it’s worth trying different approaches and seeing which one you like.
AV Room Service offers a variety of EVPs (Equipment Vibration Protectors), acoustic panels, chassis damping strips, and other stuff including one product that can’t be debated in terms of efficacy: their new ESD Grounding Mat. Ever been zapped by static electricity when touching the metal of your audio gear, especially in dry winters? The electrostatic discharge (ESD) can actually damage sensitive electronics. Touching the ESD Grounding Mat ($49.95) dissipates the electric charge and makes it safe to lay your hands on your equipment. When I worked at Eaton AIL as an electronics buyer eons ago, you would not be allowed onto the assembly floor unless you’d completed a course in ESD. Frying your audio gear is bad enough – imagine zapping a component destined to go into an aircraft.
Sometimes it’s the little things that count. WallyTools showed a range of cartridge alignment and optimization products including the recently-introduced WallyLoupe ($160), a magnifier that lets you clearly see a cartridge’s cantilever while aligning it. Wish I had one of these decades ago.
The right touch: AV Room Service's ESD Grounding Mat plugs into a grounded outlet and provides protection from zapping your system.
Look sharp! (Or, for sharp objects.) Wally Tools' JR Boisclair holds a pair of WallyLoupe magnifiers for cartridge cantilever alignment.
And you gotta have something to play on all those high-end cartridges. Charles Kirmuss of Kirmuss Audio enjoys a pre-show moment before donning his lab coat. I can tell you that their record cleaning system works. In fact, it can work wonders on used records.
I know I’m starting to repeat myself in my room descriptions, but I did say that I thought the sound at T.H.E. Show New York was auspicious overall. A number of rooms were standouts for me, and New Jersey dealer GTT Audio had yet another. I played the Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra’s “Road to Hana,” an excellent recording, and it honestly sounded like the big band was right there in front of us, capturing the flavor of when I heard them at Birdland. You could not miss the liquid-sculpture appearance of the VIVID Audio Kaya K45 floorstanding speakers ($23,800/pair), which utilize a glass-reinforced composite material to achieve their seamless flowing-curved design, and alloy cone and dome drivers to deliver satisfying sound. The room’s electronics comprised the Mola Mola Kula integrated amp with optional internal DAC ($25,780), and a Roon core/network with a Dejitter It NUC X, Switch X and Wi-Fi X ($8,000, $3,500 and $850).
There weren’t a lot of headphones to be seen, with two exceptions: the absolutely gorgeous Music Teck in-ears, which truly look like audio jewelry (but the room was crowded when I was there so I didn’t get to listen), and JM Audio Editions, who offered a wide range of custom-tuned models from about $200 to $2,000. These truly are custom-made – each is one-of-a-kind and tuned to the customer’s preferences regarding tonal balance, user fit, and other parameters.( If the user decides to have them re-tuned at some point, JM Audio will do that for free.)
Interestingly, and unlike anything else I’ve seen, the headphones use what the company calls Fractal Fiberglass Porous Carbon, a Fractal Fiberglass Mesh and a Nautilus Fractal Spiral internal structure to “avoid excessive reverb or sound absorption” and “spread sound naturally and accurately around the user while maintaining the frequency integrity of the audio recording.” All I know is that the $999 headphones I heard was one of the best-sounding I’ve ever tried, clear, deep and articulate. Diana Krall’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” was sumptuous.
The JM Audio Editions guys with a bevy of their bespoke headphones.
A new importer and retailer, Las Vegas-based Decibel+, made their official launch at T.H.E. Show New York. The company brings in European audio brands Atlantis Lab (loudspeakers, France) and Neoson (Class A tube amplifiers, France) for the first time, along with AudioByte (digital products), Senna Sound (electronics) and Trafomatic Audio (tube electronics). Decibel+ is also affiliated with Supreme Acoustic Systems.
The Decibel+ room featuring the Atlantis loudspeakers looked as good as it sounded.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania dealer Now Listen Here fielded a number of new product introductions including the Backert Labs Optik Phono 1.1 preamp for DS Audio optical cartridges ($ $11,500), the REL Acoustics Carbon Special Black Label subwoofers ($4,999/each) and the Acora Acoustics MRC-3 speakers in a new exotic Lilac Marble finish that was actually illuminated from inside! ($23, 490; $15,990 in standard finish). It looked fantastic. The Optik Phono 1.1 can accommodate two DS Audio optical cartridges, possibly an industry first. This room was ultra-high-end all the way, with associated equipment like VAC Signature amplification, a VPI Avenger Direct turntable ($46,200 with arm), a Rockna Wavedream Reference Signature DAC ($26,900), and more. In my opinion this was the best sound I’ve heard from Acora speakers, super clean and detailed with excellent bass, and a huge soundstage with precise imaging. “Think” by Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard from the John Wick soundtrack made a powerful sonic statement.
Now listen to this! The Now Listen Here room was dazzling both sonically and visually, with the illuminated Acora Acoustics MRC-3 speakers and VAC electronics handling the big ballroom with ease. On the other end of the transducer spectrum, there's something very special about DS Audio optical cartridges. Hard to describe, easy to hear.
Orchard Audio and Soundfield Audio unveiled a 1,200-watt 4-channel plate amplifier. A what? As they explain, a plate amplifier is a self-contained power amp module that mounts into a loudspeaker enclosure, typically on the rear panel. Their unit contains the amplification along with DSP and crossover controls, and signal inputs. This enables the designer to tailor the amp to the speaker drivers (especially with four independent channels available), and can simplify installation for the user. The Orchard/Soundfield amp uses Starkrimson technology, which employs gallium arsenide (GaN) transistors.
Here's the new Orchard Audio/Soundfield Audio plate amplifier revealed. On the left is the tablet used to control the music. The overwhelming amount of exhibitors used streaming audio as the source, often via the Roon interface.
The amplifier was installed in a Soundfield Audio 1212C full-range loudspeaker ($16,000/pair) with a planar supertweeter, 12-inch neodymium coaxial point-source driver with a ring radiator compression driver, dual 12-inch subwoofers and a rear-firing planar driver. Let’s just say that all this tech worked, rather convincingly. I planned to stay longer in the room but was interrupted, so I’ll be looking for the Orchard Audio room at Capital Audiofest.
I really enjoyed myself in the Technics room. True, they debuted their gorgeous new SL1200GME Master Edition turntable, which looks like it could survive a blow from Thor’s hammer (available January 2026 at a price to be determined). But the big draw for me was small in size – their SC-CX700 active networking loudspeaker system ($3,400/pair). The setup in the room was more like the “anti-tweak setup” – these modest bookshelf speakers were simply placed on two shelves that were part of the hotel room fixtures – yet sounded terrific, easily filling the room with honest true high-end sound.
A big part of that was because the speaker system has built-in room correction and sounded “right” in a number of different seating positions. The speakers are available in different Dinamica finishes, a suede-like microfiber material. This system is ideal for anyone who wants excellent sound without spending a fortune or bringing pallets of gear into their living environment.
My less-than-stellar photo skills were not up to the task of capturing these at the shows, so here's a Technics photo of their SC-CX700 system.
On the other hand, There were a number of outstanding large rooms with big speaker setups. By “big” I mean that the rooms had floorstanding speakers that were spread far enough apart and in a large enough space that they could give a credible impression and scale of a symphony orchestra. These included some of the rooms I’ve mentioned – Supreme, Cessaro, Now Listen Here, and others I’ll be covering in Part Two – along with Innovo Audio Designs.
I first noticed their Luxe T1 at last year’s Capital Audiofest for its exceptional sound and slim elegance, made possible by some, well, innovative driver design and engineering. See my interview with founder Yair Raz in Issue 219 for details. The Luxe T1 (beginning at $24,000/pair) is less than six inches deep, just 13 inches wide and around 51 inches high, yet filled a large ballroom with spacious, panoramic sound, truthful instrumental timbres and low-end authority, thanks to its eight proprietary elliptical bass drivers on either side, mated with a midrange, tweeter and tri-amplification. The orchestral classical track that Yair played for me at the end of the day was so spellbinding that I forgot to take notes and just lost myself in the music. Isn’t that what all this it’s all about?
I could not take a picture of the Innovo Audio Designs Luxe T1 that did them justice either, so here's one that they supplied.
Neil Blanchard Designs had one of those systems that did orchestral classical music with aplomb: the mass-loaded transmission lineTower 4T4. It delivered excellent delineation of instrumental timbres, with superb depth and soundstage and dynamics, even at lower levels. The cabinets and manuals can be purchased in kit form from their website, while the drivers and components are available from sources like Parts Express and Madisound.
I went to 2WA Group's listening area a few times and got to hear the big systems (more on that next issue) but somehow missed hearing one of my all-time favorite loudspeakers, the British Falcon Acoustics LS3/5A ($4,850/pair in burl walnut, rear; the Falcon F50 SE in European walnut are in the foreground, $2,490/pair). They're driven by Germany's SPL (Sound Performance Lab) Director Mk 2 - preamp/DAC ($4,700) and Performer S800 stereo amplifier ($4,350) and wired with Argent Pur cables.
Too bad – the LS3/5A is one of my all-time favorite speakers. I'll look for them at the next show.
IsoAcoustics showed their new GAIA Neo loudspeaker vibration isolators. They join the acclaimed GAIA lineup. As in previous shows, IsoAcoustics did a demo with two identical sets of speakers, one with the isolators and one without. Even allowing for the different speaker locations, the improvement in sound with the GAIA Neos in place was instantaneously obvious, with better bass, imaging and soundstaging.
Much more to come next issue! (I was on a tight deadline for this installment and there was a lot to see at the show.)
All images by the author unless otherwise noted.
