AXPONA 2025

Welcome to Part 4 of my AXPONA show report series. At least two rooms at AXPONA 2025 featured SME turntables, including the Monarch Systems Distribution setups in Room 434. Monarch cofounders Jon Baker and Rich Mays present quality demos with attention detail and a sense of fun — and with a different theme each year.

This time around, there were custom-designed, vintage-style travel posters on the walls, one of which is seen above. Each poster featured a photo depicting the city/country of origin of one of the various international hi-fi companies Monarch represents, plus a QR code linking to additional company details. There was a shot of Lombardy, Italy for Chario; Elst in the Netherlands for Siltech; Alsace, France for B.audio, and so on.

Fittingly, boring music is banned — or at least discouraged. The Monarch team reliably brings a diverse record selection, but they are always open to spinning tracks from visitors’ albums (tired audiophile cliché albums excepted).

Mays (seen above) appreciates some Shriekback, so I seized the opportunity to have him spin “My Spine Is the Bassline” from their 1983 album, Care (Side 1, Track 4). Was the LP audiophile-grade? Not exactly. Did it matter? Not so much. The bass felt big and proper on the reverb-soaked track. The late David Geoffrey Allen’s bassline bounced and sounded three-dimensional — and boingy as ever. Vocals were weird, as usual.

This Monarch system, which also included Chario Academy Serendipity loudspeakers — the Italian maker’s flagships — driven by B.audio amplification (alongside digital sources), revealed those above-noted kinds of characteristics on the Shriekback recording. In spite of Care being circa early-1980s vinyl, this Allied pressing from Y Records/Warner Bros. isn’t terrible.

The turntable source was an SME Synergy MK2 turntable in the black finish, and it comes with the British maker’s Series IV tonearm outfitted with an Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge. The Synergy is aptly named. It sells as a full-package system ($36,789), including a built-in phono preamp created by Nagra specifically to match that included Ortofon cart’s specifications, a power supply, and speed control.

The system comes factory-configured, and is created for those who want to relax and listen, and not fuss with intricate setup requirements. It’s based on the SME Model 12 MK2 turntable’s design, so for those who already have a phono preamp or two or want to select a different cartridge and/or other components, the Model 12 could be a better fit.

A proprietary high-tech material with rubberlike qualities covered the platter for improved LP grip, coupling, and damping. The Synergy’s internal wiring, made of mono crystal silver wire, is from Crystal Cable. The SME Synergy MK2 turntable is a high-mass, small footprint design with an updated drive system for speed accuracy and stability.

Part 5 of my AXPONA 2025 show report will be coming soon!

Author bio: Julie Mullins, a lifelong music lover and record collector since age 10 who takes after her audiophile father, is also a contributing editor and reviewer on our sister site, Stereophile, for whom she also writes the monthly Re-Tales column. A former fulltime staffer at Cincinnati’s long-running alt-weekly CityBeat, she programs and hosts a weekly radio show on WAIF called On the Pulse.

For Ken Micallef’s video report on many of the various turntables he saw and heard at AXPONA, go here.

For our YouTube Short featuring cool gear from TEAC and Revox at AXPONA 2025, go here.

For Part 1 of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report, go here.

For Part 2 of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report, go here.

For Part 3 of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report, go here.

For Part 1 of AP editor Mike Mettler’s AXPONA: First Impressions series, go here.

For Part 2 of Mettler’s AXPONA: First Impressions series, go here.

For Part 3 of Mettler’s AXPONA: First Impressions series, go here.

For even more AXPONA 2025 coverage, go here on our sister site Stereophile.