AXPONA 2025

Welcome to Part 8, the penultimate installment of my AXPONA 2025 show report. In the Schaumburg B Room, MoFi Electronics previewed their latest phono preamp, the MoFi Ultra Phono PRO, as a preproduction prototype on passive display. Well-known hi-fi electronics designer Peter Madnick, who created their MoFi MasterPhono phono preamp, is also the mind behind the forthcoming MoFi UltraPhono PRO. This differs in part from the MasterPhono in that it’s an all-current design — as in, as Madnick told me, it’s voltage-input only.

The UltraPhono PRO has a pair of single-ended RCA inputs and both single-ended and balanced outputs (a pair each), and it’s equipped with Madnick’s “now signature” two separate ground posts — one serves to ground the chassis (goes to the plinth ground), and the other is for the signal ground (works with the tonearm). It’s the quietest way to deliver the signal, Madnick added.

Due to tariff implications and other factors, pricing is yet to be finalized on this product, which is a combination of being both made in the U.S. and partly overseas. Even so, Madnick noted that the UltraPhono PRO is expected to retail in the $2,000-to-$3,000 range.

The MoFi UltraPhono PRO phono preamp was shown alongside a couple of other MoFi Electronics products, including the aforementioned MoFi MasterPhono phono preamp and a MoFi MasterDeck turntable shown in an “exploded” view, to highlight its design.

Allen Perkins, who’s also known for his high-end Spiral Groove turntable creations, designed both the MoFi MasterDeck and UltraDeck in recent years.

A normally assembled MoFi MasterDeck table was also shown on static display — at least during the time I was in the room — along with a Swiss-made Thales TTT Compact II turntable with Thales Statement tonearm. (Thales is among the brands MoFi Distribution distributes.)

As noted in some earlier entries in this show-report series, I noticed at least a handful of turntables and other analog products that made their U.S. and/or North American debut at AXPONA 2025. Another such entry was the Clearaudio Al Di Meola Signature limited-edition turntable (seen below), which is part of the company’s “Celebrity” line and is based on the German manufacturer’s Reference Jubilee turntable — albeit with some modifications, such as integrated auto-calibration and other settings.

The plinth’s form factor takes inspiration from a guitar body, with the main control knob analogous (pun intended) to an electric guitar knob. The plinth’s knob controls start/stop, standby, speed change, etc. A belt-driven design, the Celebrity edition uses the same electronics as found in the Clearaudio Concept Signature turntable, but it’s intended to be a ready-to-play system. It comes with the buyer’s choice of either a premounted Celebrity MM cartridge or a Concept MC cartridge. The table’s Celebrity tonearm is based on Clearaudio’s Profiler tonearm, but it uses some different parts.

Introduced at High End Munich in 2024, this Celebrity table represents a collaboration between Clearaudio, guitarist Al Di Meola, and Impex Records, and is likely to be the first in a series planned to feature other top-tier artists in the future.

Another table that premiered at High End Munich 2024 in late-stage prototype form was the Yukiseimitsu Audio AP-01EM, presented in Quintessence Audio’s Perfection Room setup.

The Japanese maker’s latest turntable enables customers to install their choice of tonearm on the universal base, and a second tonearm is also now an option. Its belt-driven design is built around a floating magnetic platter that has only a single point of contact at the bottom; the force of repellant magnetic tension supports its operation.

The Yukiseimitsu Audio AP-01EM table uses an outboard DC motor with feedback control. The belt is tiny, made of Kevlar fiber, and is positioned around two pulleys — one active, one passive. The turntable’s platter is aluminum, and the stainless-steel plinth is coated with an anti-static “conductive surface treatment.” Yukiseimitsu tables are assembled in Japan from components made by metal parts suppliers that specialize in tight-tolerance rotating parts for high-precision applications, according to the company.

We’re almost at the finish line, as my last installment of the AXPONA 2025 show report series is 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 even more AXPONA 2025 coverage, go here on our sister site Stereophile.