Jaguar had a great show at Axpona 2026. Axpona is the largest HiFi show in the US, located in Schaumburg, IL (about half an hour from Downtown Chicago), and an easy one to get lost in. As a visitor, you won’t see everything unless you start at the top of the Mount Everest-like hotel and stay on schedule for the entire weekend. It’s hard to find people in the crowd, so don’t count on bumping into your friends and contacts, and in 2026, the crowd was especially large.
This year was Jaguar’s first time exhibiting at Axpona. With the US War in Iran starting 6 weeks before the show, it didn’t seem right to act like everything was business as usual, so Jaguar did a playlist of Protest songs for the weekend.
We estimated that we had about 600 visitors over the weekend. The malfunctioning elevators kept a certain number of visitors away on Saturday, the busiest day; when the elevators falter, the incentive to explore rooms on the 16th floor is reduced. We’re extremely grateful for the guests we did get. If you were one of those who came by, thank you. You may have also entered our show raffle. We had approximately 155 visitors enter the raffle, and the winner of the Acoustic Sounds UHQR record album was Dan L, from the Chicago area. Dan was surprised to have been the winner, and he’s into vinyl, which was very cool.
We were flattered by and grateful for the positive comments we received for the sound in the room. Check out this quick video of the room, and a list the gear in the system:
Axpona 2026 – System List
Turntable & Tonearm: Klaudio Magnezar Turntable & Tangential Tonearm – The Klaudio Magnezar is a magnetically-levitated, direct-drive turntable, designed and engineered in the Seattle area, and manufactured in South Korea. This is a one-of-a-kind turntable, with some of the most unique engineering we’ve encountered. The 40 lb platter floats on air, and has no bearing or contact with the plinth beneath. The platter is also filled with water, so as it spins up the centripetal force of the liquid improves the stability of the platter speed. This Magnezar was Klaudio’s automatic clamping model… as the arm is lifted, wings automatically emerge from the spindle to clamp the center of the album and a clamp emerges around the platter to secure the outer ring of the record.
Klaudio’s Tangential Tonearm has been in development for 8 years, and the engineering is as unique as that of the turntable. This is a 12″ tonearm, containing a total of eight bearings, and some very intricately machined parts. This is a linear tonearm… as the cartridge passes over the record, the head shell will twist at a precise ratio, ensuring that the stylus remains straight in the groove, for the entire record.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/magnezar-turntable-by-klaudio
Cartridge: Phasemation PP-5000 – Phasemation is a Japanese company that makes some of the world’s finest phono cartridges and exotic tube components. The Japanese favor a very nuanced / detailed sound with linear bass. The PP-5000 is Phasemation’s flagship cartridge, which uses a Diamond Cantilever for the last word in sonic precision. However, if you’re on a tighter budget, check out Phasemation’s PP-200 Cartridge; one of Jaguar’s clients is a mastering engineer, who’s using the PP-200 in his studio (for test pressings), and he raves about the performance.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/pp-5000-phono-cartridge-by-phasemation
Phono Preamplifier: Phasemation EA-2000 – The EA-2000 is one of the most elite phono preamps on the planet, featuring separate control units, power supplies, and step-up transformers for each channel. This is an all-tube unit, including the power supply. ThEA-2000 is the ultimate statement in vinyl playback. However, at a lower price point, consider the dual-chassis EA-1500, which started shipping in April of 2026.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/ea-2000-phono-amplifier-by-phasemation
Power Amplifier & Preamp: T+A A 3000 HV & P 3100 HV – T+A gear is engineered and manufactured in Hereford, Germany, to exacting quality standards. During the past four decades, T+A became on of the largest high-end audio companies in Europe, but they only entered the US market a few years ago. HV signifies T+A’s flagship model components. Everything from T+A is German through and through, and made in pursuit of perfection.
Jaguar was fortunate to show T+A’s HV Power Amp and Preamplifier combo. We had the current production HV amp, but T+A is about to start shipping their new reference A 3100 HV power amplifier around June. The A 3000 HV has long been considered one of the great reference amplifiers, but T+A engineers say the A 3100 will feature a more efficient power supply, and increased power/watts in the Class A range. Compare the sound of the A 3000 HV in the Axpona 2026 video above, to the YouTube clip of the Vitus SIA-025 in our Blog post for Capital Audiofest 2025; the Vitus will have more of a tube-like character and the T+A is more linear. It should be noted that the soundstage of the Vitus is much larger in the Capital video, due to the larger room, a different recording played, and much cleaner power at that show, rather than because of the amplifier performance.
https://jaguaraudio.com/capital-audiofest-2025
We were also fortunate to have T+A’s P 3100 HV Linestage Preamplifier… this combo would satisfy any audiophile for half a lifetime. The P 3100 HV is very flexible with almost every kind of power amplifier, and is loaded with features, including an internal room EQ module. We didn’t have time to set up the room EQ for Axpona, but we will certainly set this up for a client in their home system.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/a-3100-hv-all-in-one-system-by-ta-hifi
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/p-3100-hv-all-in-one-system-by-ta-hifi
Speakers: Estelon YB MkII – Estelon’s YB model speakers can work very well in a small room, like a show hotel room, with excellent bass and a vast soundstage. The Estelon company’s owner has a PhD in acoustic science and these cabinets are designed with shapes modeled to maximize dispersion of vibration from the cabinet. These cabinets are constructed by injection molding a marble composite. The cabinet has no perceptible sonic signature and are extremely stiff, while the drivers are incredibly supple and capable of extreme detail. The elegant shape of the YB makes it one of our favorite speakers.
Interconnects: Kubala-Sosna Realization
Power Cables: Kubala-Sosna Realization
Speaker Cables: Kubala-Sosna Realization – Last fall, we switched out our reference system speaker cables for the Kubala-Sosna’s Elation, and we were very pleased with how they transformed our sound. This presented an opportunity to work with Kubala-Sosna at Capital Audiofest, where we used their Elation cables throughout the system, and again at Axpona, where we used their Realization cables. The company is located in New Jersey, and is run by Joe Kubala and his son, Gregg. These people are delightful to work with, for their customer service, and their cables are some of the best sounding we’ve ever heard. Kubala-Sosna offers a generous trade-in program, for customers who want to upgrade their cables, and Jaguar will also work with clients who have KS cables that they’d like to trade / upgrade.
https://jaguaraudio.com/brand/kubala-sosna
Power Conditioning: Puritan Audio Labs 156 NFR & Furutech GTO NFC D3 Power Distributor – This power setup is what we use in our reference system in Bellevue, and it’s very effective at show hotel room environments. Our mains cable goes into the GTO NFC Distributor (either a D2 or D3). Some manufacturers, like T+A and Vitus, recommend plugging their amps directly into the wall because they have power conditioning circuitry built into the amp’s power supply. The GTO gives us more available outlets before the power conditioner, while lowering the noise floor of everything connected, with its NCF anti-vibration technology. We connect the power amp and Puritan NFR power conditioner into the GTO, and use the remaining outlets for our grounding and power purification devices, such at the Akiko Corelli, and the Furutech Clearline. Source components, preamplifiers, and other devices are then connected to the Puritan NFR power conditioner.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/psm156-nfr-power-conditioner-by-puritan-audio-laboratories
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/furutech-gto-d2-ncf
Grounding & Enhancement: Akiko Audio Corelli, Puritan Route Master and Ultra-GMC, Akiko Speaker Improvers – We use grounding devices extensively in the high end systems we build. An environment like Axpona requires extreme measures to get good sound, but even in a more traditional environment, like the Jaguar listening space, pollution of your power during the afternoon and evening can dramatically degrade the performance of a highly-resolving system.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/route-master-power-conditioners-by-puritan-audio-laboratories
Speaker Isolation: HiFiStay Stella Double Swing 60 – We prefer to use the HiFiStay Stella isolation footers with high-end speakers (for less expensive speakers, we prefer the more economical IsoAcoustics Gaia). The Stella use precisely machined layers of metal, separated by ceramic bearings. The Stella Double Swing is the most ideal model for the YB speakers. When using these on hotel carpet, we use a 1/2″ cast acrylic slab under the speaker. Everything HiFiStay makes is finished so beautifully, it looks like audio jewelry, and the sonic performance is fantastic.
https://jaguaraudio.com/product/stella-series-isolation-footers-by-hifistay
Component Isolation Footers: AV RoomService – Equipment Vibration Protectors – Our system used the EVP isolation footers under the HV amp and preamp. The AV RoomService footers are less expensive, relative to most high end footers, but they’re extremely effective. The inside material is compressed fiberglass. The top and bottom will be covered with either felt or rubber; the felt are more ideal for an environment like a show, where you may be repeatedly adjusting and sliding the component, while the rubber are more sticky and should not be slid (to avoid damaging the footer).
Photography by Lee Shelly Photo
