Illness Forces Austin AudioWorks to Delay Launch & Bypass AXPONA

Austin AudioWorks (AAW), a startup audio brand that was to have its launch at this week’s AXPONA show in Chicago, has announced that due to illness striking one [or more] “family member[s]” it is forced to cancel its participation in the event. Expressing regret for this unforeseen development, the company will announce a revised rollout plan as soon as is practicable.

See more on the surprise cancellation by Austin AudioWorks

Perhaps this is yet another example or “sign of the times” we live in now, as events that were meticulously planned over time suddenly find their train thrown off the track when illness sets in. Austin AudioWorks has been preparing for months to launch its new high-end, high-performance brand at AXPONA, only to be forced to pull its participation when members of the team became ill.

And just like that – BAM – somebody pulled the emergency brakes and the train came to a shuddering stop. And so the company did the only thing they could do, which is to tell the world that, “We apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience,” to any show attendees who had planned to seek them at the show and experience their new product line featuring minimal bells & whistles with maximal sound quality & impact.

A Dramatic Turn of Events

The original announcement was a little terse, so I reached out to company President Bill Leebens to try and get some more details on this dramatic turn of events. Leebens told me that the AAW team was “packed and ready to travel” to the AXPONA event – excited to show off the company’s new The Black Amp headphone amplifier and The Black Swan phono preamplifier.

The only thing was, a couple of them had this lingering illness that seemed like nothing more than a simple cold or sinusitis that they assumed would pass. Unfortunately, it turned out that they tested positive for COVID.

Making a Responsible Choice

All of us agreed that it would be irresponsible to appear in the Ear Gear Experience [at AXPONA], and possibly act as a vector for the illness. We had been preparing for the show for months, and are saddened and bitterly disappointed by this development.

Bill Leebens, Austin AudioWorks President

One bright spot is that Leebens himself was not exposed to COVID (he is based in a different location), so he will still be in attendance at AXPONA. [An aside: Hey business owners, here is an unexpected benefit of today’s remote, independent, distributed workforce deployments.] This is doubly good news as – separate from his responsibilities at AAW – Leebens also was the person who assembled the AXPONA Show seminar schedule and corralled the “rock star” list of top audiophile talent to participate in that stuffed schedule.

For More Information…

For those interested in seeing what new product concepts Austin AudioWorks is bringing to the table, visit austinaudioworks.com to see their products and learn more about the company.