After the Warsaw show, Italian contributor Simone Ragionieri checked in. "It was fun and intense. I met several interesting people in the industry, both newcomers and long-time experts. I enjoyed hearing their views on gear, high-end audio trends, the relationship between them, the music and how they design or sell equipment. I was even thinking about writing a short report although given my limited time against my day job, it would be old news if and when I ever completed it. Instead here are some miniature mentions of things I saw which had me curious.
Ubiqaudiolabs / dCS / Wilson. Among all the big guns, this is the only one I cannot avoid to mention. A mighty experience, very well organized curated listening sessions with very limited participants at the time. I had a very long and nice talk with designer Andrej Lakner who shared his very original views on how amplifiers should be designed. I hope to visit them at their factory in Ljubljana shortly. They invited me and of course I would be glad to go, write a short report of my visit and ideally get their smallest amp to review.
Soft Collective / Zikra Audio / Lampizator. The speakers were unusual but I immediately recognized the feeling of the open-baffle presentation. Their designer Gunnar Hildén is a really friendly guy and the type enthusiast you would want to chat with forever. He also helped me with Michael from Zikra Audio who was not present but whom I contacted earlier proposing a review of his amplifier with no response. I should be able to talk with Michael today.
Ideon / Artisan Audio / Circle Labs. I went there to speak with George about an Axiom review which he courteously declined, proposing instead their Ayazi Max as an alternative. I am also interested in the Nuos. Vasilis Tounas mentioned that they are grateful to you as you were among the first to give them visibility and credit for their work with the original Ayazi. The room was a very pleasant listen and the Artisan Audio speakers also from Greece were a glorious view.
Analogue Alchemy / Devore. This was in relative terms the room I enjoyed the most. I will follow up my discussion with designer Zoran Velkoski with a review proposal of their tube-pre/300B-power combo which he seemed interested in.
Dartzeel. Another nice talk with a designer I admire. Let's skip the recent twists and turns of the company. He was introducing a speaker lineup starting with its middle-of-the-range model which I found very intriguing. Fit and finish were not on par yet with his usual standards probably because these were still prototypes.
OnWaTi / Destination Audio were another open-baffle exhibit coupled with tube gear. For me one of the very best sounds of the show. I'd love to test Destination Audio gear in my system although the owner was not present so I could not meet him. I'll drop them an e-mail.
Wadax / Schetl / Arya/ CS Port. I went there to talk to the guys of the Arya tweeter where I had a nice conversation with the company owner who also operates Bare Baffle, the distributor of CS Port which ultimately was the equipment that had me most curious. Unusual stuff all the way and an overall successful setup.
Riviera / Nogler / Diapason. Another beautifully assembled system which premiered the Nogler Audio turntable in the €100K ballpark plus arm/cartridge coupled with the newly introduced Riviera phono stage.
Virtual HiFi. I visited twice and they still insisted on playing music from YouTube at extremely loud volumes. That made me unable to understand their speakers' potential.
Grandinote. For the first time at a show I enjoyed their room whose minimalist setup with their all-in-one plus speakers performed quite nicely. I should visit them at their factor in early 2027.
Albedo / Mytek / Soulnote / Faber's Cables. The plus of this room was its location—within the Patio Bar of the Golden Tulip hotel. It made being there to chill out such a pleasant overall experience that it was hard to resist. Critically evaluating the sound of course wasn't even remotely possible.
These are some of the items on which I put out feelers. With a bit of luck, some of them should turn into eventual reviews…"
With Simone owning Diesis dynamic dipoles and tubes in LampizatOr and Riviera Audio Labs gear, we're not surprised how his curiosity guided him.
