CHICAGO — Audio Expo North America (AXPONA), produced by JD Events, broke records this year with its largest edition yet at the Schaumburg Convention Center in Illinois April 11-13.
“Now in our 16th year, AXPONA’s trade community has consistently grown year after year,” said Liz Smith, AXPONA Event Director. “Our exhibitor community serves as our strongest advocates, promoting the event to the trade and establishing it as a significant B2B event for the audio industry. Exhibitors invite their partners to attend the show, support their exhibits, network and forge new connections.”
By the Numbers
This year, AXPONA drew 10,910 attendees, a 5% increase over 2024. The show also featured more than 700 brands through exhibits, activations and sponsorships.
AXPONA reported more industry professionals with Trade Passes, seeing a 20% surge when compared year-over-year.
“We provide each exhibitor with complimentary Trade Passes to invite their industry members,” Smith said. “For dealers in the United States, AXPONA offers an excellent opportunity to discover new products and meet with partners without the need for international travel.
“AXPONA continues to collaborate with core trade press and YouTubers followed by our attendees. Our partnerships with these outlets include paid media advertising and trades, broadening AXPONA’s reach and attracting a more diverse audience. We also test new tactics and channels annually; this year, we expanded our programmatic advertising and utilized the platform Gleanin for the first time.”
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Helping to grow the audience further has been the 2024 launch of a podcast called Audio Insider, as well as the AXPONA Podcast on YouTube and other platforms. These podcasts help to engage the community year-round and expand the show’s reach.
“The podcast has been well received and has allowed us to amplify the voices and brands from our exhibitor community, building awareness pre-show,” Smith said.
Hands-On Features
The high-end audio industry show offers three days of programming, with activations, seminars, live music and showcases of the latest products. This year the show featured more than 213 Listening Rooms.
“AXPONA’s Listening Rooms expanded this year to 213, bringing in manufacturers, distributors and dealers to demo the latest gear, many of which debuted at AXPONA. In addition to experiencing high-end systems in an intimate environment, the rooms are a powerful tool for audiophiles and music enthusiasts to connect with others within this community and for manufacturers to engage directly with listeners,” Smith said. “We also strive to attract music lovers to the show, build awareness of the hobby, and introduce new customers to the world of high-end audio. The Listening Rooms are crucial for newcomers to experience the difference of hi-fi.”
The show also introduced a new Car Audio Showcase featuring demonstrations from leading brands in the high-performance car audio space.
“We are constantly exploring ways to grow and expand AXPONA to make it a destination for all things audio for music lovers and audio enthusiasts. After consulting with our partners and industry friends, we identified a growing interest in high-quality car audio systems,” Smith said. “AXPONA partnered with the International Auto Sound Challenge Association (IASCA) to launch this new showcase, aiming to provide attendees with a space to experience high-performance car audio. The Car Audio Showcase was a huge success, offering demos from various manufacturers and dealers, as well as the opportunity to experience demos in the cars entered in IASCA’s competition.”
Future Dates
AXPONA will return to the Schaumburg Convention Center April 10-12, 2026.
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