AXPONA 2022 Analog Show Coverage Days 2 & 3

The crowds rushed in on day 2. It was good to see pent up show demand express itself though it was still a somewhat tentative affair, with many no-show companies and retailers. Traffic was lighter on Sunday, which is normal. It's impossible for one person (me) to cover an entire show, even in 3 days and I ended up missing a few rooms with turntables and a few other rooms I'd meant to see. Fortunately Stereophile sent a full crew with specific assignments so please visit there for detailed show coverage especially non-turntable related.

Even though vinyl is a significant driver in the audiophile world, the number of turntables on display was lower than expected and they didn't frame any "main events". That made finding new turntables on display "hit or miss" and I missed a few in rooms not identified as "analog carriers".

I'd like to see something at AXPONA I once saw in Europe: a large room with almost every major manufacturer displaying an "active" turntable. In real time attendees got to hear the same recording on each of the turntables played through a high quality audio system. It was instructive!

My Saturday began with breakfast with Mo-Fi distribution's Norbert Schmied and veteran turntable designer Allen Perkins who showed me a prototype of a new arm to be introduced by Mo-Fi at Munich High End on a new top of the line turntable the company hopes to retail for around $6000. Unfortunately, photos were not permitted. Saturday afternoon I conducted a well-attended turntable set-up seminar.

I used a Power Vision S1 gimbal to shoot videos on days 2 and 3 and the results were a mixed bag as I'm still learning. Hopefully my skills will improve over time. By Sunday afternoon it was a "rush job" to visit the remaining rooms and some of the video coverage shows it. In too many other rooms no one was there to walk me (or consumers) through their offerings. Rooms should never be left basically unattended! Other rooms had both no one on duty and poor or no signage. What a waste! You'll know the rooms where someone was there to greet journalists and attendees and where thee was not.

On Stereophile's site, Jason Victor Serinus reports the numbers: 7498 unique visitors, plus 98 members of the press, 138 active exhibit rooms, and a large number of Ear Gear and marketplace exhibits. Decent numbers but considering the population of Chicago and vicinity, next year iit needs to break 10,000 attendees!

Seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and seeing and hearing what busy manufacturers have been up to was the main event, though most product debuts will be in Munich later this month. At the show I got to meet two contributing writers: Joseph Washek and Michael Lesser Johnson. It's nice to be able to connect a face and a person to a name! In a world dimmed by war, domestic political instability and the rest, hi-fi and of course music, which is the main event, provide some respite so enjoy! I wish AXPONA show dates didn't collide every year with Record Store Day.

COMMENTS
Glotz's picture

I agree about the dates surrounding RSD 2022. Fortunately The Doors released their LA Woman Sessions via their website right after RSD. It's sounds great, far better than most of the studio recording itself. The music is perhaps only for fans though.

Miles Davis' live 1985 album was thankfully delayed until June, I believe.

Have the dates been figured for AXPONA 2023?

Analog Scott's picture

I flew in from Atlanta early Saturday morning, got my rental car and went straight to a great record store for RSD that was opening at 8:00 AM. I was able to get most of the records I wanted. (they didn't even get the Art Pepper) and then drove to Axpona and got my badge by 9:30 AM. So it mostly worked out for me.

zimmer74's picture

What a drag, hope you can do the appropriate editing.

Intermediate Listener's picture

Don’t these people understand the copyright exception for fair use?

And do they really think Michael’s video is costing them sales?

eugeneharrington's picture

If anything, they are benefitting from the exposure the music is getting on these videos and undoubtedly this leads to more sales. It's really petty on the part of WMG. How on earth can you cover an audio show without music being heard in the background??? Something needs to be done about this. As for costing WMG sales, I think the opposite is true. Hope Michael can fix the video footage so that it can be viewed.

Anton D's picture

If I can find a bootleg of the video, maybe I can record a snippet of copyrighted music so as I can forgo having to buy that record, because that's what LP loving audiophiles are all about....listening to little bits of a record in low rez computer audio.

Glotz's picture

Well put! I needed a laugh today.. thanks man.

Anton D's picture

Do the exhibitors pay royalties for using demo music?

I know I never did. maybe I'm more of a scofflaw than I thought.

I guess there's a lotta things about me you don't know anything about. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand.
You don't wanna get mixed up with a guy like me. I'm a loner. A rebel.

zimmer74's picture

Michael, thank you for getting this back online. Love your coverage, even better than being there in person (in some ways).

openwork's picture

I appreciate your getting it back online, Michael. I really appreciate the coverage you provided in my project drive mad; it was almost as good as being there.

FrancoSarah's picture

Are you a Mobile Legends enthusiast looking to elevate your gaming journey? Enter Worst Injector, a cutting-edge skin injecting application tailored for MMLB players.

X