AXPONA 2026

Axiss Audio, distributor of several high-end audio maker’s products, once again presented a plethora of wares across at least five rooms at AXPONA 2026. Due to crowding, timing, and other factors, I was only able to get into two of their rooms — but I did get to spend some time listening in relative peace in one of them: Room 1129. And it was a good one, to be sure.

Plus, there were a couple of new items in that room’s demo setup including the Phasemation PP-2200 MC cartridge, which supersedes the Japanese company’s PP-2000 cartridge. Here, the PP-2200 cart was attached to a Reed 3P tonearm with a Dark Teak wood wand (other custom woods, as well as Panzerholz, are also available) as one of two tonearms on the Reed Muse 3C turntable. The Reed tonearms also offer different finish options for both their aluminum and brass bases.

The Reed Muse 3C turntable’s second tonearm was the company’s own 5A tonearm, a more complex design with multiple pivot points that allow for more accurate tangential tracking (by maintaining more “correct” geometric relationships) as the stylus moves across the record’s surface to reduce tracking error. Reed calls it an “angling 90° tangential pivot tonearm.” On the end of this 5A tonearm, its wand in Light Teak, was a Reed optical cartridge that leverages technology from the popular Japanese optical cartridge maker DS Audio — and requires its own EQ technology as part of the phono amplification setup.

Phasemation supplied amplification throughout this Axiss demo system, including a tube-based Phasemation EA-1500 phono preamp, which supports a range of MM and MC cartridges — plus it offers optical cartridge compatibility. It reportedly uses no negative feedback and provides a step-up transformer inside for low-output MCs, and a power supply in a separate chassis. The EA-1500 is equipped with both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. It also has two mono modes as well as a demagnetization function, according to the company.

Next came more new, tubed amplification: the Phasemation CM-2200 preamp — amusingly, the CM stands for “Control Meister” — for which a remote control will arrive next year, I was told. The Phasemation MA-3000 monoblocks were apparently also new.

Complementing this Axiss setup was a pair of DeVore Fidelity O/96 speakers in a lovely custom “Figured Cherry” finish, Tara Labs Evo cabling, a set of three Nihon Onkyo Engineering diffusers, and a couple of new power and ground products from Telos Audio Design’s Foundation line.

When I dropped in for my visit, I caught some of the sweet strains of the 2024-released John Williams in Tokyo 2LP set on Deutsche Grammophon (featuring the Saito Kinen Orchestra) being played on the Reed Muse 3C turntable. At that time, the table’s straight 3P tonearm was in use, in order to demonstrate that new Phasemation PP-2200 cartridge. Given that Phasemation is a Japanese brand — made by Kyodo Denshi Engineering Co., Ltd. — this seemed appropriate. The highs stayed sweet-sounding, pure, and airy without any shrillness on flutes or piccolos. Strings were suitably placed in their own section within the rather expansive soundstage.

The young fellow running the room, who was with Phasemation (IIRC), also seemed pleased to put on something I’d brought along — namely, my 2024 Jacob Wendt Silver Street LP on Hayden. On the album-opening title track, lively rhythms and effortless snappiness combined with vivid imaging, and a solid sense of body came through. On brass instruments in particular, tonal colors seemed pretty true to life.

Given this Reed/Phasemation setup’s sense of ease and unforced dynamics, I left Room 1129 with the feeling that one could listen to this Axiss system for a long time without fatigue. The equipment’s aesthetics also showed an understated, un-shouting elegance.

And that’s all we have for AXPONA 2026. See you all again next year!

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on meeting with Sierra Sound co-founder Michael Fajen to get the lowdown on all the Sorane tonearms his U.S. distribution company carries, and why each one of the Japanese company’s three tonearm lines performs differently. This story first posted on May 12, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ firsthand look and listen at Tien Audio’s 10th Anniversary turntable, as well as the company’s TT5 turntable and Record Coupler. This story first posted on May 7, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on joining American Sound in their celebration of AirTight’s 40th anniversary, and also gets to check out an AirTight ATE-3011 phono stage, an Analog Relax EX700 phono cartridge, and an SME 60 turntable. This story first posted on May 4, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ audition of a system featuring a Well Tempered Lab Versalex turntable, Dynavector P75 Mk4.1 MM/MC phono stage, and Dynavector 20X-2A MC cartridge. This story first posted on April 30, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on SOTA’s many cool offerings at AXPONA 2026, including their flagship Onyx turntable; Quasar, Comet, Escape, and Moonbeam turntables; Pyxi phono stage; and more. This story first posted on April 28, 2026.

Go here for Ken Micallef’s video interview with Sierra Sound co-founder Michael Fajen and Aesthetix sales and marketing specialist Brent Hefley about the gear shown in the Sierra Sound room, which including the AMG Viella turntable with 12JT Turbo tonearm, Sorane SA-1.2 tonearm, and Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono stage — plus, we get an exclusive visit to “The Tonearm Garden”; this story first posted on April 27, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on a pair of American Audio & Video demo rooms at AXPONA 2026, with one of their systems featuring a Dual CS 529 turntable and Violectric PPA-V790 phono preamp, and the other featuring a Goldring GR3 turntable; this story first posted on April 23, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on a couple of Monarch Systems demo setups that included an SME Model 8 turntable and Loricraft Audio PRC6i professional record cleaning machine; this story first posted on April 20, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on the analog gear she encountered in some exhibit rooms that were put together in tandem by Technics and Nagaoka; this story first posted on April 15, 2026.

Go here for AP editor Mike Mettler’s report on an Acoustic Sounds listening session that deployed a Döhmann Helix One Mk III turntable, in addition to other high-end gear from Wilson Benesch, Supatrac, DS Audio, Audio Research, and Wilson Audio; this story first posted on April 14, 2026

Also go here for our sister site Stereophile‘s in-depth AXPONA 2026 coverage, which often includes video interviews with key manufacturer reps, product engineers, and equipment designers who were at the show.