Audio Insider, an AXPONA Podcast

AXPONA 2026 Seminars: Retail Reinvention: The Modern Hi-Fi Showroom

Specialty retail remains central to high-end audio—but expectations have changed. This discussion focuses on experience-driven retail, appointment models, demonstration strategy, CRM integration, and hybrid online/offline approaches. Dealers and manufacturers will explore how to create environments that convert serious listeners into long-term clients. Moderator: Julie Mullins, Contributor, Stereophile/Analog Planet Panelists: Brandon Bartee, AudioConcepts Wesley Katzir, Common Wave Hi-Fi Tyler T Mueller, Next Level HiFi Adam Wexler, Resolution Audio/Video NYC

This Audiophile Tube Amp Brand Makes Everything From Scratch

If you have ever wondered what it actually sounds like when a company spends 35 years refusing to cut corners, this episode is your answer. Adrian from Audio Note UK sits down and walks through a brand philosophy that is almost unheard of in this industry. No discontinued products. No MK2 making your purchase obsolete. No chips in their DACs. Just tubes, hand wound transformers, custom wound signal capacitors, silver voice coils, and a resistor ladder DAC that their head designer spent 12 years building from scratch because a chip was never going to be good enough. When Adrian says Audio Note makes everything from the power cord to the tip of the stylus, he means every word of it. This one gets into territory most audiophiles have never explored. The difference between a chip based R2R DAC and a true resistor ladder. Why 300B tubes have a cult following and what separates a great 300B amp from one that just sounds like pipe and slippers. The story of how Audio Note acquired the entire IP of legendary speaker designer Peter Snell. And why once you sit down and let an Audio Note system draw you in, most people say the same thing. This sounds like music.

The Audiophile Analogy That Changes How You Think About Vinyl Forever

If you have been sitting on the fence about moving from a moving magnet cartridge to a moving coil, this episode is going to push you right off it. Garth from Musical Surroundings brings over 40 years of high end audio experience to this conversation and what he breaks down about cartridge design, analog resolution, and the physics of why a moving coil just sounds more alive is the clearest explanation most audiophiles have ever heard. He compares it to the difference between a low res JPEG and a 60 megabyte TIFF file and once you hear it that way, you cannot unhear it. On top of that, Garth takes us deep into two of the most respected cartridge brands in the world, Clear Audio and HANA, and the stories behind both are genuinely fascinating. A nuclear physicist who founded Clear Audio because turntables were not good enough. A 56 year old Japanese company that quietly built cartridges for everyone else before finally putting their own name on one. And a turntable that weighs 770 pounds with a magnetically levitated platter that sells for $300,000. This is what it looks like when a lifetime obsession with music and sound collides with 40 years of industry knowledge in one conversation.

AXPONA 2026 Seminar - All Ears Welcome: Building a More Inclusive Audio Community

About This EpisodeThis episode features an exclusive presentation recorded live at AXPONA 2026. The audio world is changing—but is it changing fast enough? This session takes a frank look at diversity and inclusivity across both the industry and the hobby, exploring who feels represented today and who's still missing from the conversation. Attendees will dig into shifting demographic trends, cultural barriers that have shaped participation, and the growing efforts to broaden the community. Expect an honest discussion about what progress looks like, why it matters, and how the audio world can evolve into a space that genuinely welcomes every listener. Moderator: Angelas Cardas, Manager, Cardas Audio Speakers: Harry Kimura, Sound Quality Judge, IASCA Kat Ourlian, MoFi Electronics Anastasia Protopappas, President, Pass Labs

Every Audiophile Needs to See What Is Inside These Speakers

Rich from Monarch Systems sits down and unpacks some of the most engineering forward speaker and turntable technology in the world right now. We are talking speakers built with ceramic foam and copper foam inside the cabinet, spiderless drivers, glass cladding, and a modular flagship that was sold in only 10 pairs at a quarter million dollars. And then there is the turntable story that almost sounds too good to be true. Garrard, a company that started as a jeweler making crown jewels, is now rebuilding their legendary 301 idler wheel turntables from the ground up using original paint recipes, original rubber mat molds, and a brand new rubber formulation for the idler wheel that makes the whole thing run in complete silence. This is the kind of episode audiophiles share with each other. The level of craft, history, and engineering obsession packed into this conversation is genuinely rare and Rich clearly loves every bit of it. Whether you are a speaker person, a vinyl person, or both, there is something in here that is going to make you want to dig deeper.