So here’s 45 minutes of show video, more to come.

It worked. Aside from the plainly visible evidence wherever you turned, Bart’s sales numbers bore out that 30% of attendees were spouses, and another 10% were college students. That’s incredible for a U.S. show.

Aside from its refreshingly unusual demographics, Florida was noteworthy for its plentiful and sometimes oddball product introductions and a venue that is literally falling apart. An atypical persistent cold drizzle was offset by the warm camaraderie between exhibitors and avid attendees.

As has become our wont, we have divided the show into Inspirational (that is, relatively affordable) and Aspirational (you hope to someday afford them) systems and new products. Andy took the former category, and Alan covered the latter. How did we decide which products and systems were Aspirational? As a Supreme Court Justice once said of pornography, “You know it when you see it.” More specifically, Inspirational products tended to be in the $20k and up range, while Aspirational systems were easily $100k or more.

You will also find that Andy lists more Inspirational products than Alan found in the Aspirational category. This reflects the balance at the show. Conversely, there were far more Aspirational than Inspirational systems, and our coverage reflects that, as well. Overall, here’s what we saw and heard.

12 Aspirational New Products

T+A chose Florida for the first North America showing of its R2500R “Multi-Source Receiver.” It’s a streaming client, disc player, tuner, DAC and 140Wpc integrated amp. Price is $18,800 plus $920 for the optional phonostage. The amp is Class AB but with a switching power supply to save space. IMHO, this unit fills a need for a compact, all-in-one component at this size, price, and performance level.

The United Home Audio Ultima Apollo ($55k) tape deck is essentially a scaled down SuperDeck, with much of that $90k model’s technology and performance. Now UHA’s penultimate deck, the Apollo features brand new gain stages and voltage regulators, among other enhancements to the brand’s lower models. The Apollo was being shown in the same system as the equally new mbl C41 streaming DAC ($11k).

Cable company Wireworld showcased what it claims are the world’s first fully shielded, two-conductor power cords, the Mini Stratus ($90/2m) and Mini Electra ($240/2m). They are intended to be used for anything in a system that doesn’t use a three-conductor power cord, such as network equipment, accessories, and some powered speakers. Wireworld boasts of excellent noise rejection and filtration.

Aurender unveiled a smart new “all-in-one” unit, the AP20 music server/DAC/integrated amp ($22k). The 200Wpc unit made a good showing driving a pair of Wilson Sabrina X’s.

Well known for constantly improving its products, Gershman Acoustics just gave its popular Black Swan model the 30^th Anniversary Edition treatment. As in past designs, the low-frequency section is completely decoupled from the tweeter/midrange unit. However, the new version ($90k) has an internal “bass trap” as well as an entirely new crossover and woofer, plus a revamped tweeter and midrange.

Metronome already makes arguably the world’s best CD/SACD player, the Kalista DreamPlay X reviewed by JV in these pages. But that unit is decidedly big bucks. At a more approachable level, though still Aspirational, the company now offers the Metronome AQWO 2 ($24k), which was being shown for the first time in North America. The model is a CD/SACD player/DAC with a novel feature: It has two output stages, tubed and solid-state, and the user can switch between them at will.

Finnish speaker maker Amphion introduced to North America its latest flagship, the $24k Krypton 3X. The three-way model utilizes an unusually low crossover point of 1.2kHz between the midrange and the tweeter, as well as a tuned port on the side. There is a waveguide on the tweeter that assists driver integration and time alignment. Driven by Esoteric electronics, the speaker sounded light and fast.

Long out of the spotlight, our old friend Vienna Acoustics is back in the U.S., now under the Playback Distribution umbrella. Florida served as the debut of the Liszt Reference ($22k), the company’s current top floorstander. (Higher models are planned.) The speaker utilizes a flat mid/hi coincident driver plus three 7” woofers. As in past VA models, the mid/hi unit is mounted in a swivel head for room optimization. All told, the Liszt Reference created a very smooth, refined sound.

AGD introduced not one but two GaN (Gallium Nitrate) monoblock amplifiers. The Solo ($23,500/pr.) produces 550Wpc, while the Duet ($11,500) makes do with “only” 300Wpc. GaN is said to have the advantage of being a faster conductor than silicon. At Florida, the new amps were paired with an AGD preamp ($12,500) and the Ocean Way Audio Eureka speakers ($12k), delivering a sound that had remarkable ease and clarity.

You’ve read about the Metaxas Tourbillon tape deck in TAS, but Florida was actually the first public showcase. In addition, the company made it emphatically clear that it’s no one-trick pony by also unveiling its Solitaire 150Wpc integrated amp ($41k) and the wild-looking Siren speakers ($128k), sculpted from a block of solid aluminum. Together, they created an inviting, easygoing sound. Yet, the most striking new model from the Dutch company was its Ethereal headphone amp ($32k), which takes the shape of a full-sized female form. (The nipples are volume controls.) Fully Class A, the Ethereal can output 1000 volts. Since that generates a lot of warmth, the entire “body” acts as a heat sink. As an option, a Swiss clock can be fitted into the head. No, I’m not making this up.

All the way from Norway, Electrocompaniet debuted the first model to receive a revamp that will eventually be shared by its entire lineup. The AW300M is a monoblock priced at $29k/pair. Though a completely new design, the company says it preserves the round yet dramatic “Nordic sound” characteristic of the brand. The amp produced very seductive sonics when driving the new Triangle 40^th Anniversary Magellan Duettos ($7k).

Rounding out my dozen is a statement speaker from Gauder Akoustik, the DARC 250 Mk II ($250k; see Andre Jennings’ review in this issue). Though expensive, the new Gauder is not unwieldy in size. It comprises a diamond tweeter and midrange, as well as a 12^th-order (that’s a 60dB/octave slope) crossover with time-alignment circuitry. The cabinet consists of aluminum ribs, with damping gaskets in between, all under extreme tension.

Top Ten Aspirational Systems

The Stenheim/Viva/VPI Room. Stenheim was showing the Five.SE ($73.5k), upon which JV has lavished much praise. That was enough to pack in the crowds. The speakers were being driven by the 22-watt Viva Solista Mk II ($29,500) tube amp, which would have been a massive mismatch if not for the Stenheim’s 94dB sensitivity. The rest of the system was a VPI Avenger Direct turntable with a DS Audio Grand Master Extreme cartridge, a T+A Reference DAC, a Wolf Audio music server, Synergistic cables, and the fetching new HRS SXR rack. Sound was clean, open, and incredibly revealing with superb bass. Only a slight touch of brightness marred the otherwise exemplary sonics.

The Clarysis/VAC/Aurender Room. Clarysis continues to make waves with its full-range ribbon speakers. The modest- and large-sized versions were both on display in Florida but, as in the past, I preferred the smaller of the two. Driven by a VAC 170iQ integrated amp, fed by an Aurender server, the speakers exhibited no artifice, no distortion, and no incoherence. Nothing to distract from the music. They are about as close to no speaker as you can get. Further, and surprisingly for a planar, there was more-than-ample bass power. Local dealer Suncoast Audio reports that sales of the Clarysis speakers have been “through the roof.” It’s easy to hear why.

The mbl/United Home Audio Room. As usual, mbl was in the top tier of rooms, with a system anchored by the venerable 101 E Mk IIs, paired with massive mbl amps, and fronted by the new C41 streamer and the equally fresh UHA Ultima Apollo tape deck. The setup had some of the best bass of the show, with boundless low-end energy that was never out of control. While the sound was good when streaming from the C41, it hit another gear of verisimilitude and dynamic punch when the Apollo deck was playing. That, and mbl’s first use of the Wireworld Platinum-series cables, may explain why this was one of mbl’s best show outings.

The TAD Room. In a bid to remind attendees of both its history and its upper-end products, TAD brought to Florida its estimable Ultimate Reference One TX ($160k) and Compact Reference One TX ($87,500) speakers, originally designed by Andrew Jones. For a certain kind of audiophile—one interested in rarefied refinement rather than in-your-face detail—these speakers are just the ticket. The big Ultimate Reference model, backed by an all-TAD system, was, of course, the best. On the mellow side, to be sure, but balanced top to bottom. The coincident driver delivered incredibly realistic imaging. Bass was another strong suit. Andy called the speaker “majestic,” and he wasn’t wrong.

High End by Oz. This room, one of the large ones on the main floor, featured the Lansche 5.2 speakers ($57k) with plasma tweeters. Like the Stenheims, they were mated to the Viva Solista Mk II 22-watt integrated tube amp. The combination was very open and noticeably extended on top. Further, the system had a purity I rarely heard elsewhere.

The MSB/Estelon Room. A crisis led to a triumph when electronics manufacturer MSB’s planned speakers suffered shipping damage. The company turned to one of its longtime customers, who came valiantly to the rescue by shipping his prize Estelon X Diamond Mk II speakers ($90k) from California. In what proved to be a winning combination, the resulting system was relaxed yet revealing, natural in its timbres, and highly musical.

The Big Clarysis Room. While the little Clarysis speakers stole my heart, the biggies ($146k including white glove delivery and setup) boggled my mind. Ceiling-height (in a large ballroom, mind you), the pair were powered by six huge VAC monoblocks in a tri-amp configuration wherein the signal was split by an all-new, all-analog active crossover made by CSPort ($22,500). The no-holds barred system yielded a gigantic soundstage and effortless transparency from top to audacious bottom. At one point, the bass on London Grammar’s “Hey Now” proved so overwhelming, it turned the ballroom into one giant resonant node.

The Haniwa Room. Japan’s Haniwa is most often thought of as a horn-speaker company, but it has, in fact, built an entire ecosystem around its 1-ohm, all-frequency drivers. On display in Florida was the new HSP03 bundle, which includes speakers, a GaN amp suitable for driving such a difficult load, and two subwoofers. All in, the bundle runs $24k. In Florida, it was complemented by The Player turntable with HTAM 03 arm and C0 cartridge ($12k for all three). The C0 has an impedance of just 0.08 ohms, and its moving coil has but a single turn! The sound, as expected from good horns, was lively, dynamic, fresh, and coherent. Integration with the subs was absolutely seamless.

The Acora/VAC Room. See “Best of Show” below.

The Gauder Akoustik/Soulution Room. One of the most expensive systems at Florida was a showcase for Soulution electronics, including the luscious 727 preamp ($90k) as well as Gauder’s DARC 250 Mk II ($250k), both making their North American debut. Together, they made a beautiful tone with very convincing bass.

Alan Taffel’s Best of Show

Best Sound (Cost-no-object): The Acora/VAC room. I realize that endowing Acora with this award is becoming repetitive, but frankly no other system in Florida combined the scale, musical revelations, and visceral impact of this one. The $220k VRC-1 speakers, here rendered in a stunning swirled brown granite, sounded the best I’ve ever heard them, thanks no doubt in part to the improved VAC 450iQ monoblock amps ($60k each), which VAC says are a harbinger of things to come. The system breathed new life into every track. Further, in a testament to the colorless nature of the system, every track sounded completely different. This is what high-end audio aspires to.

Best Sound (Cost-a-consideration): The Elac room. The best and most expensive speaker in this room was the Concentro S503, which costs a mere $7k yet boasts an AMT tweeter mounted with a 5” aluminum midrange in a coincident fashion. The lows are produced by a 7” woofer, and all are ensconced in a petite stand-mounted speaker. Given its imaging, resolution, and bass extension, as driven by equally affordable Elac electronics, you’d never know you weren’t in the presence of a far more expensive system.

Best Demo: The Synergistic Research Powercell 8 Line Conditioner. The new Powercell 8 ($4500) was put to the test in before-and-after listening sessions, during which it made a startling difference in terms of image solidity, bass tightness, dimensionality, and openness.

Most Important Trend: The rise of easy-to-listen-to speakers. The etched, micro-detailed speakers that used to dominate audio shows seem to have fallen out of favor. This is a generally positive trend, though many speakers in Florida went too far in the easy-listening direction.

Most Over-Played Song: Stealing the crown from Dire Straits, London Grammar’s “Hey Now” could be heard echoing through every hall on every floor.

Best Ultra-Nerdy Audiophile Joke: At dinner one night, after several courses, Andy Quint remarked of the last one: “All the food has been very good, but this entrée has the internal silver wiring.”

15 Inspirational New Products

It could be a measure of the rising stature of the Tampa show that there were a decent number of product debuts at a price level relevant to most aficionados. Sometimes, one exhibitor had more than one new product to demonstrate, as in the beloved analog specialist Pro-Ject Audio Systems’ room. In addition to a new turntable with integral phonostage for $599 (a factory-mounted Sumiko Ranier moving-magnet cartridge is included), of particular interest was the Tube Box DS3 B phonostage ($1200), a compact dual-mono design with both balanced and single-ended inputs and a robust functionality allowing for the ready adjustment of resistance, capacitance, and gain to suit whatever cartridge you’re using at the moment.

I blinked a couple of times when I read that Børressen had a brand-new bookshelf/standmount speaker, the X1, priced at $5500, $6600 with stands. (Remember, this Danish manufacturer also sells the 01 Silver Supreme, a highly coveted loudspeaker with roughly the same dimensions as the X1—for ten times the price.) The X1’s cabinet is made of a heavily braced wood composite; it employs a lower-mass version of Børressen’s planar ribbon and a 4.5” bass/midrange cone. Børressen’s speakers are always played too loudly at audio shows, which can leave one with the impression that the house sound is hard and brittle. But, at more sensible playback levels, there’s no denying the X1’s impressively extended top end and timbral accuracy.

Triangle had two loudspeakers from its 40^th Anniversary set of products to play, the Antal EZ 40^th floorstander ($4700) and the Duetto 40^th stand-mount ($7000), from the Magellan line. The company rep, unsolicited, put on orchestral Wagner, a first in my show experience, as most classical music tends to clear out a room at North American events, and Wagner’s bombast and political baggage can be even more problematic. I’m a fan, though, and the Duettos handled the most monumental excerpts from Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung with assurance.

ELAC, no matter who its chief designer is, consistently offers cost-effective options for critical listeners and had a couple of new loudspeakers to demonstrate. I heard both the Concentro S503 bookshelf ($6999) that features the Jet 5 Heil tweeter and another stand-mount model, the Vela BS 404.2 ($3500), which employs the newer Jet 6. Both speakers did quite well with Lyle Lovett’s jaunty “I’ve Been to Memphis,” with the more costly model a little less “shouty.”

Focal has been undertaking a “refresh” of its entire Aria loudspeaker range—I heard the Aria EVO X N^o 4 ($5998). Engineering advances include the use of Focal’s aluminum/magnesium ‘M’-shaped inverted dome tweeter and revisions to both the crossovers and woofer magnet construction. The midrange driver now features a key patented Focal technology, the Tuned Mass Damper—a pair of tubular rings that are incorporated into the driver’s surround. My leading orchestral reference recording, the opening movement of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 performed by Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, was dynamic with natural instrumental colors. The mid-movement crescendo crested gracefully.

Based in Brevard County, Florida, Geshelli Labs—the Swiss Family Robinson of audio manufacturers—always has a major presence at FLAX. This year, the extended family, the expansive range of gear that the company makes, and enthusiastic customers filled three rooms on the ninth floor of the Embassy Suites. Geshelli now licenses technology from the Italian company Amanero, which streamlines design and manufacturing. A new product is the Dayzee DAC ($1300–$2300, depending on options), which incorporates dual AK 4499EX chips. A key design goal for the product was simple, intuitive operation. You turn it on, pick an input—there are five: two TosLink, two coaxial, one AES/EBU, and one USB—and off you go. Through MoFi speakers, the sound was robust and resolving.

Sparkos Labs, Inc is a two-person operation—electrical engineer Andrew Sparks and his wife, Alisa Jones—located in Westminster, Colorado. Sparkos makes op-amps for use by other manufacturers but also sells two headphone amplifiers, the Aries and the new Gemini ($995). The Gemini has a tube front end (there’s a single 6922 Electroharmonix, though tube rolling is encouraged), an Alps Blue Velvet volume control, and a feature that allows a user to adjust the amount of current that the tube is biased at, which determines the “tubey-ness” of the sound. Played in a system that included a Geshelli DAC and Hi-Fi Man headphones, the sound was spacious and detailed. Check out the website; it’s pretty hilarious.

Holding forth in the hallway leading to large meeting rooms was DH Labs, a Florida company that’s been manufacturing silver wires for more than 30 years. By silver cable standards, the prices are quite reasonable. A new arrival to DH Labs’ comprehensive product line is the D-10x AES/EBU cable ($525 per meter.) The conductors are 20-gauge five-nines silver with a PTFE Teflon dielectric and rhodium-plated terminations.

Falcon Acoustics is perhaps best known for its faithful rendering of the LS3/5A loudspeaker—the only one that meticulously adheres to the original BBC standards. Under the leadership of Jerry Bloomfield, who took over running the company 15 years ago, Falcon has developed new speaker lines, including the five-model M series. Right in the middle of the M range is the M30 ($6795), a large, ported 3-way that sits atop a squat stand. The driver array includes Falcon’s own bass and midrange drivers plus a 1” soft dome tweeter. The presentation was transparent without crossing a boundary into overly clinical. There was a top-to-bottom coherence that was very appealing; my hunch is that the M30s will wear well in the long-term.

Designer Paul Paddock and International Sales Manager Mark Conti were on hand to introduce the MC Audiotech TL-8 ($15,000, with an upcharge for veneer finishes), the smallest and least expensive loudspeaker from the Pennsylvania-based company to date. It’s a floorstander with a single WBLS (wideband line source) driver, the transducer patented by Paddock nearly 40 years ago, plus an 8” woofer implemented with transmission-line loading. Driven by a pair of Pass Labs XA 60.8 monoblocks, the speakers were fearless with large-scale orchestral music and capable, as well, with more intimate material. Bass was surprisingly powerful and extended. The TL-8 goes into full-scale production in about two months.

Wells Audio introduced several new products including the Majestic integrated amplifier ($6000), driving TAD E1-tx loudspeakers and wired with Cardas cable. Orchestral music (Mozart, Prokofiev) had clarity and a wonderful sense of space. A duet for a female vocalist and acoustic bass demonstrated timbral accuracy and immediacy, simultaneously at both ends of the frequency spectrum. Sure, the loudspeakers were an important element of the system’s success, but I’m also sure that the Japanese speakers would have revealed any inadequacies in the reproduction chain behind them.

Playback Distribution, which represents several venerable audio brands, including TEAC and Esoteric, occupied three rooms on the tenth floor of the Embassy Suites (probably a disadvantage, especially when the elevators malfunction—an inevitable occurrence at most audio shows.) Playing was the Vienna Acoustics Haydn Signature ($3495) in no less than its fifth incarnation. With amplification courtesy of Advance Paris, a 30-year-old brand recently reintroduced to the United States, symphonic music had sufficient weight and a trombone solo in a Gil Evans jazz composition was exceptionally natural sounding.

The Dyptique D-140 Mark 2 ($16,999) is a French planar-magnetic design, crossed over to a “quasi-ribbon” at 1600Hz. With Advance Paris electronics, a superb spaciousness was achieved. Reproduction of solo piano was utterly convincing, and vocals didn’t have excessive sibilance. There wasn’t much symphonic music on hand (and the exhibitor wasn’t streaming), but he did come up with John Williams in Vienna, which revealed an expansive soundstage and excellent orchestral weight.

Top 5 Inspirational Systems

Dutch & Dutch 8c with u-BACCH plug-in
Dutch & Dutch’s 8c loudspeaker ($14,950) is the first to license a third-party plug-in, in this case the most basic version of the BACCH crosstalk cancellation filter ($1100). Activating BACCH extracts a spatiality that’s integral to the majority of the millions of stereo recordings that have been made over the past 70 years. With or without crosstalk cancellation, the D&Ds are robust, full-range transducers that will handle practically anything you throw at them. There’s no compromise here; the 8c is a candidate for the current best value in all the realm of perfectionist hi-fi.

Sparkos/Geshelli/HiFiMan
I’m neither a headphone guy nor especially devoted to tube electronics, but a “personal audio” system like the one I heard in the Sparkos suite could change those biases, if a short audition is any indication. The new Sparkos Gemini headphone preamp—see above—combined with a Geselli DAC and a set of HiFiMan over-ear ‘phones, provided the kind of pointed dynamics and natural vocal/instrumental colors that I’m used to with loudspeakers and in life. The listening experience was completely absorbing, whether the music was a Brahms clarinet sonata or a Stravinsky ballet.

Focal/Naim
Jacksonville, Florida’s House of Stereo had a well-past-listenable system up-and-running in Room. 716. Operated with the Focal/Naim app, two new products were heard, the Focal Aria EVO X N^o 4 loudspeaker (noted above) and the Naim Uniti Nova Power Edition, an “all-in-one” device that serves as preamp, DAC, and power amplifier. There was excellent component synergy in play here, and, once again, first-rate sonics were achieved at a total system cost of under $20,000.

ELAC
A system composed solely of ELAC products, save for analog Cardas cabling, was assembled in Room 518. ELAC Concentro S503 bookshelf speakers ($6999) plus an Alchemy DDP-2 DAC/preamp, two monoblock amplifiers, the Discovery Music Server, speaker stands, and surge protector played a reference symphonic work with suitable orchestral weight, clarity, good imaging, and air.

SVS/Evotiva
Decades ago, SVS was known as a subwoofer specialist. Since then, ownership has changed and SVS has greatly diversified its speaker range. At FLAX this year, SVS introduced a new loudspeaker, the Ultra Evolution Pinnacle ($5000.) It’s a 3-way, five-driver design with a curved front baffle to assure good time alignment. As amply demonstrated with varied musical source material, inexpensive electronics can do the trick and, in this case, those components were an Emotiva PT2 preamp/DAC/tuner ($700) and an Emotiva Basx A2 amplifier ($500). Cables were inexpensive SVS products. Hefty bass and good dynamics, though tonal and textural character seemed less specific. Still, add a high-quality streaming service, and, I think you’ll have a stereo system all of us could live with indefinitely.

Andrew Quint’s Best of Show

Best Sound (price-no-object)
Stenheim Alumine Five SE ($73,500) • Red Wolf 2 server (from $9400) • T+A SD 3100 Reference Streaming DAC ($36,390) • Viva Solista integrated amplifier ($29,500) • Synergistic Research Galileo Discovery speaker cable (from $17,995) • Synergistic Research Galileo PowerCell SX ($27,995) • Synergistic Research Galileo SX MkII Ground Block (from $7995)
Usually, “best” products and systems at audio shows are found at or near ground level, in the ballrooms and large meeting rooms: That’s where the grandest, most costly gear is being demonstrated. At FLAX 2024, I was certainly impressed by several of these systems—the kind that only very few have the space and financial means to own—but, ultimately, my heart was won by a system played in a modest-sized 7^th floor hotel room. The star of the show was the Stenheim loudspeaker, understated in its musical presentation yet so authoritative in its representation of musical scale. Not cheap, for sure, yet a consideration not solely for sheiks, Russian oligarchs, and ophthalmologists.

Best Sound (considering price)
Dutch & Dutch 8c with u-BACCH plug-in ($14,950) • Acora speaker stands ($6250)
No question about this one. The Acora pillars are really unnecessary; a pair of SolidSteel stands for about a grand would have done the trick. You know I’m not counting the ethernet cables needed to connect the D&D to a network for streaming. You do already have a laptop or tablet, right? This is world-class sound for under $20k.

Most Significant New Product
MC Audiotech loudspeakers seem to get better and better as time goes on and as they get smaller. The TL-8 ($15,000) plays like a big speaker but with plenty of subtlety. (See above.)

Most Significant Trend
Apps developed for specific audio products
Aurender has one, Dutch & Dutch has one, Anthem has one, Focal and Naim share one—and there are plenty of others. Will physical remotes become a thing of the past?

Most Futuristic Audio Component to Anticipate
Jerry Bloomfield, the owner and managing director of the British loudspeaker manufacturer Falcon Acoustics, extracted me from Falcon’s busy demo room, led me next door, and had me don VR goggles. What materialized was a futuristic tower, designed in large part with AI techniques to create a kind of über-speaker. The 5’ 3” tall, 3-way, five-driver device is housed in a composite enclosure with monocoque properties and a CNC-machined aluminum front baffle. The Oneiros weighs in at 284.5 pounds and will cost, Bloomfield believes, close to half a million dollars. There are evident connections to the British luxury-car esthetic, including the availability of 15,000 automotive paint finishes and gorgeous wood accents. I’m not permitted to reproduce the photo from the Oneiros’ preliminary spec sheet but can report that the speaker occupies the aesthetic world of the KEF Blade, the Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus, and pretty much any Estelon—and may ultimately eclipse those worthy products as an iconic statement of industrial design.

Most…Interesting Product at FLAX 2024
SubDrum Industries, LLC produces loudspeakers with the drivers mounted inside decommissioned drums. The company was started by the affable Larry Morini (a drummer, of course) from Melbourne, Florida, and his product line certainly evoked plenty of conversation at FLAX. I’m not sure audiophiles should be his intended audience, but I took a SubDrum bumper sticker anyway.

Best Ego Stroke
My room at the Embassy Suites hotel was on one of the exhibition floors. I can’t complain as rooms were provided at no charge to journalists covering the show and there was an 11pm curfew for tweaking one’s system. I was located across the hall from Room 711, which featured the updated Electrocompaniet amplifier. The good folks of House of Stereo from Jacksonville, Florida, didn’t realize that 712 was occupied and persistently kept positioning their floor-to-ceiling sign in front of my door. “A Legend Reborn?” Aw, shucks. Just doin’ my job.

“We’re excited to be returning for our fifth year with almost all of our exhibit rooms already sold out,” said Managing Partner Bart Andeer. “It’s a testament to the atmosphere we’ve created here that so many of our 2023 exhibitors are returning, and we’re also welcoming some established brands for the first time. Attendees will have the opportunity to see a wide variety of products on display, making it easier to find the best option for their music-reproduction needs. We welcome everyone to the Sunshine State to celebrate our passion for music—it’s the reason we created this show!”

Tickets are on sale now: Single-day admission, $25; admission for all three days, $35; free admission for students, children, and spouses.

The Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, originally built as condominiums, has acoustically isolated suites and offers a feeling of comfort and luxury to attendees and exhibitors alike. The hotel is conveniently located just minutes away from Tampa International Airport.

Additional benefits for attendees and exhibitors staying at the Embassy Suites include a free airport shuttle, complimentary breakfast and happy hour. Hotel reservations are open now but will go quickly, so don’t hesitate. For more information, visit https://floridaaudioexpo.com/location/.

Founded in 2018, the Florida International Audio Expo was developed by an experienced team of successful, professional, and motivated individuals with the mission to present a strong show that welcomes to the Southeast market dealers and manufacturers from around the world, and offers a fun atmosphere for enjoying music.

Bart continues to fight the good fight to expand high-end audio’s constituency—not just to improve his bottom line but to invest in the future of the industry. He advertised the show on jazz and classical radio stations and on college campuses. He let in the spouses and kids of ticket holders for free. While the halls were still mostly filled with throngs of middle-aged men, there were signs of hope.

As in the past, the two of us have divided our coverage along admittedly blurry lines. This time, Alan focused on “Inspirational” products—those that many of us can realistically consider from a financial standpoint, if they float our boat (sorry, Bart) sonically—while Andrew took on “Aspirational” gear—the stuff we’d contemplate for the ultimate in sound quality, if cost were truly no object. As in the past, we set no concrete dollar boundary lines. How did we determine which systems were inspirational and which were aspirational? To paraphrase former Supreme Court justice Stewart Potter’s 1964 comment regarding hard-core pornography: “We know it when we see it.”

Below you will find what each of us judged the top ten most significant product introductions in our category. You’ll also see our top five systems. For the Best of Show awards, we allowed ourselves to stray beyond our designated realms and consider the entire show. We apologize in advance for those with worthy products or rooms that we didn’t have space to write about.

Alan Taffel 

Ten Inspirational New Products

Aesthetix has had great success with its Mimas tubed integrated amp. And why not? Its modular design allows buyers to pay only for what they need; it sounds terrific; and the price is right ($9k plus $1250 per optional card). But there are unquestionable sonic advantages to giving linestages and power amps their own chassis and power supplies, as well as to separating digital and power-amp circuitry. For those seeking those benefits, Aesthetix has essentially split the baby into the still-modular Pallene linestage ($6500 plus optional cards) and the 160Wpc Dione stereo power amp ($7500). You do pay a premium for those dual chassis, but Aesthetix believes customers will still find the combination a good value. In the Upstream Audio room, driving Focal Kanto No. 2 speakers ($11k), the sound was big and punchy, yet relaxed in the traditional Aesthetix manner.

The cable company M101 was showing, for the first time, the production version of its Nova Ethernet cable ($1199/1.5M). In a demo comparing the Nova with a generic Cat 8 cable from Monoprice, the difference was stark in terms of transient definition, tonal density, and spaciousness. Bravely, the company also compared its new cable with AudioQuest Diamond. The two had different tonal balances, with the AQ sounding fuller in the mids and bass but less extended on top.

You may remember Soulnote from our Capitol Audio Fest report. The Japanese company’s engineering staff exclusively comprises Marantz veterans. At CAF, Soulnote made its U.S. debut and showcased a raft of new products. Florida saw a hugely expanded range, including the A-1 and A-2 integrated amps, which put out 50 and 100 watts/channel, respectively ($4k, $8k), the E-1 phonostage ($4k) and the D-1 and D-2 DACs ($7k, $9k). The D-2 distinguishes itself from the D-1 with an external clock input, quad (rather than dual) ESS DAC chips, a higher-voltage power supply, and copper-wrapped circuit boards to reduce noise without relying on filters.

The venerable Toronto firm Gershman Acoustics was celebrating the 30^th anniversary of its Grand Avantgarde speaker. The anniversary edition ($17k) features a new bass trap, which looks like a thick plinth under the speaker. Said to do a better job of dissipating low-frequency back waves, the new trap certainly proved its mettle in Florida. Indeed, the speaker’s bass was deep and extraordinarily clean—among the best I heard at the show regardless of price. The rest of the system was no slouch, either, aided by VAC electronics and Cardas cables.

Right at the upper end of my category, MC Audiotech showed off the TL-12 transmission-line speaker ($25k). The model acts as a dipole from 300Hz to 20kHz and boasts 92dB sensitivity. As driven by Modwright electronics, the speaker proved wonderfully open and dynamic, with excellent timbral differentiation.

CAD (Computer Audio Design) had some new tricks up its sleeve in its line of grounding accessories. The GC1.1 and GC3.1 ($2250 and $5500, respectively) have been given a .1 appendage to reflect refinements that trickled down from the flagship GCR ($29k). Yet CAD’s coolest introduction was a USB Control Stick that runs just $750. CAD says you plug it into any open USB port in the system (even one used for firmware updates), and it will filter ground noise. The same filter is also built into the new USB II-R cable ($1500) or as an in-line adapter ($750) for USB cables from any other brand.

Transmission-line speaker debuts were a thing in Florida. Besides the MC Audiotech TL-12 above and the Clarisys models described in Andy’s report, Eminent Technology was showing a prototype of a new model dubbed the 18 LS (approx. $15k). The speaker is a hybrid design, with six 8** dynamic woofers and two rear-facing 6.5** woofers handling low frequencies, while neodymium planar-magnetic midrange and tweeter drivers hold up the mids and highs. At the room’s exit was a white board where visitors could scribble their reaction to the speaker. Comments ranged from “Best sound here!” to “Wowzaa!! Blown away!” The sonics were, indeed, outstanding.

Audio Group Denmark, which includes Aavik electronics, Børresen speakers, and Ansuz accessories, has been busy. At the Florida show, in a series of rooms organized by Next Level Hi Fi, the Danes introduced two significant products. The first, the Aavik Forte 41 ($5,500) is an integrated amp with built-in streamer. The unit puts out 100 Class D watts/channel. The new amp was driving the nearly as fresh Børresen X3 speakers ($11k), featuring the firm’s ubiquitous ribbon tweeter, a 5** bass driver with a carbon-weave cone, and an identical 5** passive radiator woofer.

Acora has now become so established that its mere name on an exhibit room door is enough to generate considerable buzz. For the first time, Acora was at a show in not one room but three. Many lined up to hear the little QRB, which in Florida was being driven by a pair of new 60-watt Ampsandsound Casablanca monoblocks ($16k). The amp’s first outing was a success, driving the Acoras with ease and delivering a highly rhythmic, appealing sound.

Finally, allow me to introduce you to a new-to-the-U.S. cable company. Viablue hails from Germany and brought its full line to Florida. These are very complex cables, with multiple wire types, sizes, topologies, insulators, and air pipes within their bendable sheathing. Despite that, they’re all quite affordable, as these things go. One-meter runs cost anywhere from $500–$1000. I suspect we’ll be hearing a lot from Viablue.

Alan Taffel’s Top 5 Inspirational Systems

In one of the first rooms I entered, the Linear Tube Audio/Meitner/Credo room, the system was pulling off that rarest of phenomena: playing a piano recording that actually sounded like a piano. Indeed, everything else in this under-$25k system, which also included van den Hul cabling, came across with zero “hi fi” artifacts, leaving only good sound and good music. There was even solid bass from the demure EV 350 Reference speakers.

As it did at CAF, Fidelity Imports booked a block of rooms, each highlighting products at a specific price point. The best sound, unsurprisingly, came from the top-tier system, which still (marginally) qualified as Inspirational. The Soulnote A-2 integrated amp, D-2 DAC, and E-2 phonostage ($9k) made an ideal match for the Perlisten S7t speakers ($20k). The source was a Michell Audio Gyro SE with TechnoArm2 ($5500). Together, they melded old-school looks with a mellow tonal balance that still packed plenty of jump and resolution. This was one of the most musical systems at the show.

The Haniwa Audio system was unusual but effective. The box-less speakers consist of a single 6** driver with a large waveguide that had everyone mistaking them for horns. The point-source transducers come bundled with a 400 watt/channel Class D amp, two subs, cables, and a DSP unit that handles crossover, phase-, and frequency-correction functions. All for $24k. Just add a source. How did it sound? It turns out that when you eliminate multiple drivers, boxes, and crossovers, what’s left is pure, relaxed music.

More conventional was the setup in the Orchard Audio room. With extremely affordable Orchard electronics (e.g., the $2500, 500-watt/channel Starkrimson Stereo Ultra power amp and the $550 PecanPi streamer), Soundfield Audio M1V2 speakers ($2200/pair) and Triode Labs cables, the total system came in at just over $5k—the least expensive system I heard at the show. Yet the sound was far from bottom of the sonic pack. As you’d expect at this price point, there were some limitations, particularly in the area of high-end extension. But this system got the midrange just right, and bass was surprisingly impressive. Arresting sound at a steal of a price.

The last system I’ll highlight was simplicity itself. In the Mobile Fidelity room, the ever-effervescent Andrew Jones held court, describing his $3699 SourcePoint 10 coincident-driver speakers that made such a splash at CAF. Driving them was the new HiFi Rose RS520 integrated amp/streamer that happened to list for nearly exactly the same price. Add in cables, and you still have a system that comes in under $10k. But, boy, did it sound like it cost more than that! Performance highlights included outlandishly good bass, great imaging, plenty of resolution, and an equal degree of drive. If I had $10k to buy a complete system, this would be a prime candidate.

Alan Taffel’s Best of Show

Best Sound (price no object)

The obvious choice is the Acora room, with the amazing new VRC speaker and an impeccable VAC/Oracle system behind it. Yet, I had a slight preference for the MBL system. Consisting of the 101-Mk II speakers (not the Extremes), the company’s flagship electronics, and a new UHA tape deck, This was the best I’ve ever heard the 101s sound—so much so that I understood why MBLs are JV’s reference. The system had a touch more warmth than the Acora room did, which I liked, and the speaker’s omnidirectional radiation pattern meant that every seat was a winner.

Best Sound (considering price)

Only the treble roll-off kept me from bestowing this award on the least expensive system I heard, the roughly-$5k ensemble in the Orchard Audio room. Instead, the title goes to the Mobile Fidelity/Hi Fi Rose room, whose $10k system had no such limitations. Listen to this system, reminding yourself that it only costs $10k, and your jaw will drop involuntarily.

Most Significant New Product

Unquestionably, the Acora VRC described in Andy’s report. It had he most impressive bass in spades, but its tubed amps couldn’t quite match the iron grip exerted by MBL’s 840–watt (not Class D) monoblock colossi. This was a system to die for.

Most Significant Trend

I was delighted to note the ever-expanding supply of modular integrated amplifiers. Virtually every new model at Florida either included or had the ability to expand beyond basic functions, with options such as DAC, phonostage, and streaming. This trend is a boon for the space-challenged audiophile.

Best Demo

In the Suncoast Audio room, one could hear before and after demonstrations of the Shunyata Altaira grounding system that RH praised so highly in a recent TAS cover story. Despite such fanfare, one always approaches such accessories with a healthy skepticism. But in this case any skepticism was misplaced. The Altaira is the real deal. As demoed on an excellent system, removing the Altaira rendered the sound muddy, spatially flat, and dynamically constrained. Putting it in restored these qualities, and also dramatically increased bass articulation. While Robert’s complex system required a similarly complex (and expensive) Altaira implementation, the Altaira in Tampa cost a mere $6k, which Shunyata says is typical of normal systems. Let me tell you, the improvement was far more than you’d expect for that kind of money.

Best Joke

At a lively dinner discussion with Eli and Ofra Gershman of Gershman Acoustics speakers, we were playfully discussing whether cryogenically freezing speakers could have a sonic benefit. Then we wondered, even if it did work, how you would do it. After some cheerful brainstorming, Ofra, whose Toronto speaker factory gets the brunt of Canadian winters, had the best idea: “We’ll just put them outside!”

Andrew Quint

Ten Aspirational New Products

Presented in public for the first time in North America by Suncoast Audio of Sarasota were two loudspeaker models from Swiss manufacturer Clarisys Audio. In business since 2014, the company’s stated mission is to build full-range ribbon transducers in the style of those produced by Apogee between 1981 and 1995. (In fact, Clarisys can refurbish your old Apogees, if you’re so inclined.) The Minuet Neo ($33,800) stands four feet tall, weighs in at about 165 pounds, and has a frequency response specification of 28Hz to over 25kHz. The Auditorium Neo ($140,000) is 6* 8**, tips the scale at more than 500 pounds, and operates from 16Hz to more than 25kHz. Apogees were notorious for their challenging impedance characteristics; not so with the Clarisys Auditorium model, where even the treble panel doesn’t dip below 3 ohms. Both models—the Auditorium in a large space and the Minuets in a typical hotel guest room—manifested pretty much limitless dynamic range, subterranean bass, and realistically precise imaging. This is a brand that will be going places on this side of the Atlantic.

The busiest place at the Florida International Audio Expo (other than the bar, of course) was the TAD room. Shinji Taratumi, now CEO of Technical Audio Devices Laboratories, was visiting an American audio show for the first time and, throughout the weekend, recording engineers Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz gave presentations related to their roles in the production of Patricia Barber’s latest album, Clique! TAD had two systems set up in one big space, one with the flagship Reference One TX loudspeakers ($160,000) and the other showcasing the brand new CE1Tx stand-mount ($35,000/pair with stands.) The latter were punchy, powerful, and light on their feet, largely free of coloration when allowances were made for their being played in a room that may have been a bit too big to show the speakers off to their best advantage.

Also debuting at the Florida show, courtesy of the Jacksonville dealer House of Stereo, was the Avantgarde Acoustic DUO GT, which represents just the second “generational” advance for the DUO in 30 years. An XT3 supertweeter has trickled down from the TRIO and a pair of XB12 bass drivers has made it over from the Spacehorn subwoofer to each DUO. There are actually two new products, an active version ($77,000) and a passive one ($61,000). To clarify, the bass modules are active with both, the woofer driven by an integral 1000-watt amp, but the active model has a single-ended iTron amplifier module built in that eschews negative feedback. Little power is needed, as the tweeter/midrange component of the speaker has a sensitivity of well over 100dB. Tonally, the speaker was quite neutral—no horn colorations in evidence to my ears—and there were excellent dynamics and low-end foundation with symphonic music.

Acora Acoustics, the loudspeaker manufacturer that famously fabricates its enclosures from granite (and, more recently, from quartz as well) launched in 2018 with three models that have remained the only purchase options to this point. CEO/designer Valerio Cora chose the Tampa show to introduce a new, larger speaker, the VRC ($220,000), a 3-way that stands about 52** tall and weighs in the neighborhood of 400 pounds. It will play as “big” as any physically larger and more complex loudspeaker you’d care to put it up against, and yet it has the footprint of, roughly, a Wilson Sasha. Its sonic performance can only be described as imperturbable—the stability of the image presented to the listener will not change one bit no matter how loud or complex the source material becomes. Remarkably, music’s more intimate moments are also correctly scaled.

In the same system as the Clarisys Auditorium Neos were the soon-to-be-released Shunyata Research Omega speaker cables ($24,995 for a 2.5-meter pair.) Designer Caelin Gabriel, explained that these are the company’s new flagship speaker cables, surpassing in performance those in the Sigma range. Responsible are several of Shunyata’s alphabet soup of technologies, including the distortion-reducing Zi-Tron and HARP methodologies and, especially, KPIP (the Kinetic Phase Inversion Process) that is said to obviate the need for cryogenic treatment or even cable break-in. I wasn’t there, but when the Omega cables were substituted for a well-regarded Scandinavian wire that was certainly no bargain-basement item, the system’s performance improved substantially.

Mostly, I consider headphone listening a necessary compromise for when setting up full-range floorstanding loudspeakers is inconvenient—say, on a two-hour airline flight. But I could definitely learn to love “personal stereo” if my point of reference was the Warwick Acoustics Aperio Black ($36,000), a limited edition of just 50 sets of headphones. The transducer is a “Balanced-Drive High Precision Electrostatic Laminate” (BD-HPEL), and the headphones come with a full-feature preamplifier that includes dual-mono 32-bit/385kHz DACs and pretty much every analog and digital input interface you could think of, as well as their own flight case. On Alan’s recommendation, I listened to “Kathmandu” from the Dave’s True Story Unauthorized album. Rarely have I felt such an immediate musical connection to an unfamiliar song as with these elite ’phones.

Spinning the LPs in the capacious ballroom hosting the new Acora loudspeakers was a new Oracle turntable, the Delphi Mk 7 ($13,900.) It takes a lot for this 44-year-old Québec manufacturer to advance a version number but, after 13 years of incremental improvements, they felt they had to. Director of Operations and product designer, Jacques Riendeau reviewed with me a dizzying list of changes involving motor, power supply, driver electronics, platter (it’s a two-piece affair), and bearing. The price seems almost perversely low, given how long the ’table has been around, and the increasing number of far more expensive record players that are out there. Fitted with the Reed 1H 9.5** tonearm ($3750) and a Lyra Atlas Lambda cartridge ($11,995), the Oracle’s spatial presentation and pitch stability was as unwavering as a digital source.

JV’s comprehensive review of the United Home Audio Ultima 5 tape deck ($38,000) is in press as of this writing, but the machine got its first public demonstration at the Florida International Audio Expo, with designer Greg Beron at the controls. Beron played a mouth-watering selection of 15ips reel-to-reel tapes that, I sensed, had much of the mesmerized crowd in a darkened room wondering if this was the only was to fully appreciate the analog medium.

Triangle Art got its start building no-compromise turntables (and it’s still at it, to say the least), but they also manufacture gorgeous electronics. Getting its first North American hearing after a Munich debut last spring was the striking METIS horn loudspeaker ($59,000), the company’s very first. Perched atop a sturdy bass enclosure (a single 15** Acoustic Eloquence woofer lives inside) is a sensual solid walnut horn, driven by a 6.5** Beyma cone. A RAAC ribbon takes the treble out to 60kHz. With 95dB efficiency at a nominal 8-ohm impedance, it’s an easy load for pretty much any amplifier. With familiar material, I heard a slight “cupped hands” sort of coloration, but the ease of the musical presentation was undeniable.

The affable Ozan Turan, with a portfolio of audio products that’s imaginatively curated and always evolving, was playing a super-system detailed below. New to the U.S. was a line of silver monocrystal cables from the Polish company Albedo. Those in use at the show included the Metamorphosis Signature XLR interconnects ($7250 for a 1m pair) and the Metamorphosis Mk II speaker cables ($10,000 for a 1m pair.) The company manufactures the products from scratch, smelting the silver and extruding the wire themselves.

Andrew Quint’s Top 5 Aspirational Systems

Nothing succeeds like excess. These five systems, all but one presented in large spaces on the hotel’s main floor, were all “reference quality” yet they were quite different from one another. The most ambitious—some might say over-the-top—rooms at the Florida International Audio Expo gleefully provided equipment lists, with the associated expenditure, down to the last interconnect. Fully reproducing them would not only take up an inordinate amount of space, but also emphasize cost over sound quality. So please settle for some aggregate prices. And dream on.

Kennedy Meeting Room: High End By Oz. Lansche Audio No. 5.2 loudspeaker ($49,500) + Thrax Audio Reference Series electronics ($221,920) + Thrax Audio Yedre/Schroeder/Trajer analog ($30,000) + S.I.N. Audio power reconditioner/power cables + Abbedo silver monocrystal cables + HIFISTAY racks/Spikes/Footers/Vibration control.

Lansche speakers utilize that rarest of transducers, the plasma tweeter, that covers the frequency range from 1500Hz to a lofty 150kHz. Though the plasma driver needs to be cleaned once a month, Oz Turan promises it will last for 15,000 hours. With Thrax electronics connected with Albedo cabling, the system manifested remarkable speed and timbral accuracy. On “Bird on a Wire” from Famous Blue Raincoat, the exposed triangle was presented as a small and precisely localized sound, clearly audible in the company of bigger, louder instruments; Jennifer Warnes’ voice was at once pure and richly characterized. Orchestral weight and dynamics were totally satisfying.

Suncoast Audio (Room 915.) Clarisys Audio Minuet Neo panel loudspeaker ($33,800/pair.) + Hegel electronics ($27,990) + Aurender N200 streamer + Rega analog ($5740) + Shunyata cables.

Those unfamiliar with the Clarisys brand, such as myself, got to hear two models in the manufacturer’s product range and it was the smaller of the two that made the better impression and in a smaller room. Bass was authoritatively deep and articulate and, with my chronic orchestral reference selection (the Haitink/Concertgebouw recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15), the opening glockenspiel notes were stunningly precise. The hard-hitting rock virtuosity of the band Polyphia, on a track called “Playing God” that was requested by another listener, registered at a very visceral level. Everything I heard played through this system was, at once, involving yet nonfatiguing.

Tampa Terrace: MBL North America. MBl 101E MkII loudspeakers ($91,000) + MBL electronics/CD transport/DAC ($228,260) + United Home Audio Ultima 5 tape deck $36,000) + Wireworld eclipse cables

It may have been an exceptional run of bad luck, but I’ve never heard MBL speakers sound good at an audio show—not with their own electronics or with anyone else’s. They were usually played at assaultive levels and the widely praised spatial characteristics weren’t evident. This time, corporeal images hung in the air disconnected from the devices that created them. Correct scaling of instruments was maintained, as with the Anthony McGill/Gloria Chien clarinet and piano recording (Cedille Records) that I played throughout the show. Dynamic nuance was impressive.

Westshore Ballroom: Acora VRC loudspeaker ($220,000) + VAC Statement electronics ($310,000) + Oracle/Reed/Lyra analog source ($29,665) + Aurender/Lampizator/Oracle digital source ($118.920) + Cardas cables.

Val Cora wrangled the finest ancillary components he could get his hands on and again paid top dollar to secure the biggest space at the Tampa show. He deployed dozens of pillows on a ledge near the 30-foot ceiling to tame a reflection problem—all to assure that his new loudspeaker would make the best possible impression. Cora seemed exceptionally motivated to guarantee that anyone who set foot in his room would have a transformative experience. The chair in the middle of the first row of the listening area was marked “Private Concert” with a piece of tape, and Cora took all the musical requests that I witnessed sent his way. Listeners, I think, grasped that this was a true assault on the state-of-the art and tended to stay a while. The system was utterly unfazed by orchestral or rock cataclysms and the dimensionality of the sound field was mesmerizing. The price of admission is very steep but Cora maintains, could actually work in a smaller, more typical domestic setting.

Bayshore Meeting Room. TAD CE1TX stand-mounted loudspeakers ($35,000) + TAD electronics ($78,500) + Wolf Audio Systems server ($10,000)

The less imposing of the two systems assembled by TAD, which featured the manufacturer’s new stand-mount loudspeakers, impressed me more than the one including the considerable more massive (and expensive) flagship transducers—it was more agile and transparent without giving up all that much low-end weight and dynamic power. Nearfield listening was rewarded, a sure sign that this system would succeed in many real-world domestic applications.

Andrew Quint’s Best of Show

Best New Product (cost-no-object)

Acora Acoustics VRC loudspeaker. As good as anything I’ve heard anywhere. The price will put it out of reach for most but, for once, not the space requirements. The designer says 15* x 15* would be fine.

Best Sound (for the money)

Gershman Acoustics Grand Avantgarde 30^th anniversary loudspeaker. There actually were some products that everyone could agree were inexpensive and thus exceptional values—the $200 DAC from Geshelli Labs, for instance. Maybe I’m desensitized from listening to too many half-million-dollar stereos for three days, but these $17,000/pair loudspeakers feel like a real bargain to me. They produce prodigious bass and are unafraid of dynamic challenge. A true full-range speaker in a compact package.

Best Demo

Ted Denney of Synergistic Research
The man many audiophiles love to hate was in top form, demonstrating a range of SR products including grounding devices, acoustic dots, resonance generators, and plenty more. Whether you feel he deserves a tenured position in the Physics department of an esteemed university or a grand jury investigation, you need to see Denney in action. Personally, I’ve yet to encounter an SR product at one of TD’s presentations that didn’t affect the sound—and the change is usually for the better. It’s at once disturbing and exhilarating, especially for hobbyists who haven’t already concluded that everything they can hear requires a traditional “scientific” explanation.

Most Significant Trend

High-end speakers that can be rained on.
I know it’s just a mini-trend—there were only two exhibitors with loudspeakers designed for outdoor use—but who knows what will come to pass? Focal (their speakers were disguised as rocks) and Coastal Source (the company’s tagline is “defy the elements”) had products on display both inside and poolside, though the latter location didn’t seem to be much visited. Audiophiles don’t always do well in direct sunlight.

With one exception, the rooms themselves were also unchanged. That meant reasonably good sun, though in some cases manufacturers resorted to creative solutions (e.g., pillows in chandeliers) to overcome acoustical challenges. The exception to this comfortable familiarity was that since 2020 the hotel had foregone the Ethernet ports that previously graced every room. Accordingly, exhibitors (who weren’t given advance notice of the change) had to rely on a suddenly overwhelmed Wi-Fi network to connect to streaming services. Exhibitors made up for the iffy streaming by leaning heavily on NAS drives, LPs, and open-reel tapes.

Because FLAX is primarily a dealer-oriented event designed to show off systems rather than product introductions, we divided the rooms geographically instead of parsing them by component type. We then took a system-oriented approach to reporting on what we heard, since it’s difficult, if not impossible, to identify which component is responsible for a rig’s sonic/musical success or failure. Without fixing a dollar-amount dividing line, each of us picked five “Aspirational” systems (defined as those that cost an arm and a leg) and five “Inspirational” setups (defined as those that leave an audiophile with three limbs intact).

Finally, as is traditional, we each named “Best in Show” systems, components, and experiences, with candidates chosen from either writer’s territory.

Throughout the show, an outfit reassuringly named Barbaric Nightmare Productions was filming a documentary called “The New Audiophiles.” We look forward to seeing it on large and small screens everywhere. In the meantime, join us for a whirlwind tour of FLAX 2022.

New and Noteworthy

Von Schweikert Audio played two loudspeakers at FLAX 2022—the Ultra 7 ($180,000) that received its world debut in Tampa, and the Endeavor SE ($25,000), which, if not exactly new is newish, having been released during the pandemic, when audio shows with product introductions were not a thing. The Ultra 7’s forward-facing driver complement includes a dual ribbon super-tweeter, a beryllium tweeter, a 7** ceramic midrange, and three 9** ceramic woofers. Behind, the “Rear Ambient Array” consists of a horn-loaded magnesium tweeter and another ribbon super-tweeter. The Endeavor SE is a four-driver system standing 44** tall. It was sited in the middle of a large conference room that was better suited to the Ultra 7s, and which may have compromised low-frequency dynamics and extension.

Perlisten of Verona, Wisconsin, presented the world premiere of the R7t floorstander ($10,000), a design that, above all else, seeks to control directionality by utilizing a unique configuration of carbon-fiber drivers. The atmospheric opening to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was riveting, and the same composer’s L’Histoire du soldat manifested perfect scaling and timbre of the seven solo instruments. But it was Donald Fagen’s “Morph the Cat” that astounded: Never before have I heard a recording with this kind of dynamic low-frequency content brought off so successfully in a small hotel room.

George Klissarov was demonstrating his new exaSound s82 streaming DAC, the stereo version of this manufacturer’s multichannel model. Its enclosure is larger than that of previous iterations, to accommodate more internal power-cleaning steps. Employing an 8083 chipset, this model can handle up to DSD 512 (earlier ones topped out at 256) as well as high bit-rate/sampling-rate PCM. Galvanic isolation has been improved, and the new product incorporates a proprietary protocol for asynchronous USB streaming.

The distinctive-looking MC Audiotech Forty-10 loudspeaker ($40,000–$50,000, depending on finish and other options) is not really a new product but, for me, it might as well have been. In the course of updating the speaker to accept both balanced and single-ended inputs, the crossover network was extensively reworked. Whether or not this was responsible I can’t say, but the sonic presentation had more texture, less coloration, and better LF articulation than I remember from several previous auditions. With its unique “Wide Band Line Source” transducer—ten per side—the Forty-10 has always had exceptional transparency and top-to-bottom coherency; the latest version has the kind of dynamics and bass quality that takes it into the highest echelon of loudspeakers.

A new Italian company, Spirit Torino, offers eight headphone models in open, semi-open, and closed styles. I tried the least expensive, the Mistral ($740) and the costliest, the Valkyria ($11,100) and—acknowledging that my own experience with top-drawer headphones is limited—I found both to be comfortable and to produce a listening experience that was without colorations and provided the spatiality and perceived dynamics that a loudspeaker devotee could learn to love. The Valkyria, and several other models, use Spirit Torino’s “Twin Pulse” technology, with two drivers placed in series, an isobaric design. The Valkyria is vastly more expensive than any of the other models the company makes, with a significantly more powerful magnet array and a titanium chassis. I let the manufacturer’s rep hold the headphones while I took a photo. No reason to tempt fate.

The Mobile Fidelity (MoFi Distribution) room was brimming with new products. The Balanced Audio Technology VK 80i integrated amplifier ($9995) was driving Piega Coax 511 speakers very effectively. Also in the system was the HiFi Rose RS 150 streamer/DAC ($4995), on the market since late 2021. It features a 14.9** touchscreen that spans the entire width of the component and seems exceptionally intuitive to operate—the sort of gear an audiophile’s spouse might embrace enthusiastically. Whest, a British company with a background making microphone preamps, debuted its TWO.2 Discreet phono preamp ($3495.) All the manufacturer’s phonostages are dual-mono designs; this one, the second least expensive in the manufacturer’s line of six, is intended “to complement any entry-level turntable front-end.”

AGD Productions, based in Palos Verdes Estates, California, manufactures some excellent-sounding electronics that are not quite what they claim to be. The casual audiophile spots a small metal box with a single vacuum tube emerging from the top surface and, assuming it’s a low-output single-ended amplifier, asks innocently, “How many watts?” When the answer comes back as “200” or “400,” there are some very confused looks sent in the direction of designer Alberto Guerra. It turns out that the “tube” in view isn’t a tube at all but, rather, a small Class D amplifier operating inside a glass enclosure fabricated to look like a KT 88. It even glows, thanks to LED technology. The least expensive of the AGD amplifiers is the new Tempo stereo amplifier ($5500), a 200Wpc model that actually doesn’t display the fake tube. Guerra played a recent Beethoven symphony recording by Jordi Savall, and the amp rendered the bracing period instrument sonorities and dynamic pointing to perfection.

Making its debut at FLAX 2022 was the Creek Audio Voyage i20 integrated amplifier ($6195). It’s characterized as a Class G amp, a more efficient form of Class AB amplification; power output for the product is specified as 120Wpc into 8 ohms and 240Wpc into 4 ohms. The i20 is a full-service control center with a quality DAC, optional plug-in phonostage, Bluetooth connectivity, and a headphone jack that uses a dedicated amplifier designed to accommodate a range of loads, from 8 to 300 ohms.

Tenacious Sound, a dealer with stores in Georgia and Upstate New York, was playing the Q Acoustics Concept 30 loudspeakers, small monitors priced at $1299/pr., $1800 with stands. The enclosure is made with Dual Gelcore between layers of MDF to dissipate unwanted vibration. The two drivers, a 0.9** tweeter and a 5** mid/bass cone, were developed specially for the Concept loudspeaker line; there are bi-wiring/bi-amping capabilities. The scaling of instruments and image specificity on the Paavo Järvi/Bremen recording of L’Histoire mentioned above was superb.

Ted Denney of Synergistic Research was holding forth in the Scott Walker Audio suite with ten new products to explain and demonstrate, including an Ethernet Switch UEF ($2295), the Tranquility UEF Linear Power Supply ($2295), and some very expensive cables—the SRX interconnect ($12,995), SRX speaker cable ($29,995) and SRX digital interconnect ($4995.) There’s a segment of the audiophile community that reacts rather…vehemently to the mention of the words “Synergistic Research” or “Ted Denney,” responding with rants that include other predictable word pairs such as “expectation bias” and “snake oil”—and that’s before it gets nasty. It wouldn’t be an audio show without a Denney Demo, and he obliged with several. Denney applied his new Carbon Tuning Discs to interconnects and the resulting change wasn’t subtle, on the order of magnitude you’d expect when substituting a meticulously built $2000 amplifier for an indifferently designed $500 product. Sorry, but that’s what I heard, and Denney wouldn’t be in business for as long as he has if a lot of others hadn’t heard it with dozens of other SR products. If you don’t hear it, don’t buy them. But spare me the rants.

The Pro Audio Design folks, now distributing the Technical Audio Devices (TAD) brand in North America introduced the TAD Evolution Two loudspeakers ($19,995), which offered impressive clarity and rich musical textures. The speaker is a 2.5-way floorstander with a 1** beryllium tweeter and a pair of 6.5** woofers. LF extension to 30Hz is claimed, believable on the basis of my short audition. With a minimum impedance of 4.5 ohms and a sensitivity of 87dB, it would not appear that the Evolution Two presents a difficult load to most amplifiers.

Five “Inspirational” Systems

1. One standout system at FLAX with a reasonable aggregate cost followed the old axiom advising that one should spend 50% of his audio budget on speakers. This rig starred the gorgeous Sonus faber Electa Amator III loudspeaker ($10,500, with stands), driven by a Rotel Michi X3 integrated amplifier ($5500) that offers tons of power (200Wpc into 8 ohms and 350 in 4 ohms), an excellent DAC, apt X Bluetooth connectivity, and a moving-magnet phonostage. The analog source was the Pro-ject Pro turntable, a steal at $1000. Wires were from Cardas Cable’s Parsec line.
2. If there are three more thoughtful and kinder individuals than George Klissarov and Eli and Ofra Gershman in the entire high-end audio community, I haven’t met them yet. Quietly and patiently, Klissarov explained the virtues of his new exaSound s82 stereo streaming DAC ($6499, see above.) Although there was a beefy Krell unit standing by, the DAC easily drove an amplifier without requiring a preamp. With a pair of the superb-sounding and very cool-looking Gershman Grand Avant Garde loudspeakers ($15,995)—the color of the demo pair was “Blue Lagoon”—the sound was controlled and highly transparent. An oasis of beauty and calm in the maelstrom of an audio show.
3. The Perlisten R7t loudspeakers ($10,000) are surely a product (and a company) to watch, but the rest of the componentry behind them in the audio chain in one of the two Tenacious Audio rooms represented good value as well, including a Unison 150 hybrid integrated amplifier ($6500) and a Unison CD Due ($4500). Straight Wire cables completed the system.
4. The room presenting the AGD components (see above) had fabulous sound, the amps driving Ocean Way Eureka speakers ($7000 to $14,000, depending on finish) and the AGD Andante DAC/Streamer ($12,000). With the AGD Tempo stereo amplifier providing the juice, this was a refined yet gutsy system for around $25k—more, with a fancier speaker finish.
5. For anyone who ever spent an afternoon listening to music with Harry Pearson, a visit to Room 1214 at FLAX 2022 might seem a little eerie. Dr. Tetsuo Kubo, the founder of Haniwa Audio, purchased all of HP’s records from his estate after his death in 2014 and has been painstakingly digitizing them since. These files were in use to demonstrate the Integrated REAL 3D audio system ($22,000), a soup-to-nuts package that strives to assure that phase and frequency parameters are maintained as the signal passes from input to output. You get: A pair of HSP01 loudspeakers and the HDSA01 Digital Phase Control system amp; also provided is the HEQ01 phonostage, a turntable built to Dr. Kubo’s specifications, and the 20-20 Superwoofer system. That’s a lot of audio for $22k.

Five “Aspirational” Systems

1. Scott Walker Audio has stores in California and Texas but enough of a national reputation to make a trip to the west coast of Florida worthwhile. The demo system featured a digital front end from Berkeley Audio Design—the Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 ($25,000) with the USB Module ($1995)—and Aurender—its N30SA caching music server and streamer ($24,000). If there was a turntable in play, I missed it. The analog source was a Sonorus ATR reel-to-reel tape deck ($19,995). Control and amplification were courtesy of Soulution, the 325 preamplifier ($13,500) and the 311 stereo amplifier ($21000.) And then there was all the Synergistic Research components and accessories utilized in the system—Ted Denny’s products alone approaching $100k in retail cost. The system was an ideal tool to demonstrate (or not) the effect of Denny’s products, highly resolving but never clinical.
2. In the Cypress Room you could ask to play music from a disc or drive—but it wouldn’t get you very far. It was LPs or nothing, in keeping with the generally retro vibe. Featured were John Wolff’s Classic Audio loudspeakers: playing was the T-1.5 Reference ($79,950), a field-coil-powered behemoth with a wood “tractrix” horn designed by Bruce Edgar. Wolff was showing off a new almost-product, Dual Output Tungar DC power supplies ($9000). The speakers themselves were powered by a pair of McIntosh MC3500 MkII amplifiers ($30,000/pr.); the preamp was an Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk 3.3. A Technics turntable was fitted with a Tri-Planar Ultimate 12 tonearm and cartridges from either Air Tight or Van den Hul.
3. Especially for those of us who have yet to make it to High End Munich or the Tokyo International Audio Show, the chance to hear some of the most elite brands from other parts of the world at an American show is a treat. Blumenhofer Acoustics—its loudspeakers are built just outside of Munich— drove a pair of beautifully veneered Genuin FS-2 Mk2s ($22,850 in a premium finish) with a Takatsuki TA-S01 single-ended tube power amp ($29,000). (The Blumenhofer speaker is 94dB sensitive.) A Sforzado DSP-030 EX2 digital stream player ($9900) handled the 0’s and 1’s. When played quite loudly, the system never lost its composure‚ not with Mighty Sam McClain, not with High-Strung Dmitri Shostakovich.
4. Should we be putting ninety-five percent of available audio assets into the speakers? The US audio distributor Matterhorn Audio was powering the made-in-Spain Kromo Audio Elektra loudspeaker ($120,000) very effectively with the Creek Audio Voyage i20 integrated amplifier ($6195). On large-scale orchestral fare and intimate chamber music alike, it was apparent that this combination didn’t play favorites, adapting adroitly to the scale and aural perspective of the recording it was asked to play.
5. Damon von Schweikert and Leif Swanson always go all-in for audio shows and—to showcase the new Von Schweikert Ultra 7 ($180,000)—they brought along a stellar supporting cast: four VAC Statement 452iQ’s ($300,000), a VAC Statement phonostage ($80,000), VAC Statement linestage ($80,000), an Esoteric digital “stack” ($71,000), an Aurender W20 SE server, a Kronos Pro turntable ($51,000) with an Airtight Opus 1 cartridge ($16,000)—I think I’ll stop there. It’s meant to impress, and it does. At any show where Leif and Damon are exhibiting, I arrange for some time before or after show hours to play through my reference recordings. VSA is sometimes bettered in the musical nuance department, sometimes not; when it comes to sonic majesty, they are usually second to none.

Best Sound of the Show: Acora/Ideon/VAC/J Sikora/Cardas: Yes, of course the guys with the best exhibit space have a leg up when it comes to impressing critical listeners. But it was surprising how often other exhibitors with large rooms played music at assaultive levels that didn’t show their fancy gear to its best advantage. The demonstrations that Acora’s Valerio Cora and Scott Sefton oversaw assured that a potential customer heard the considerable merits of a carefully configured system—one that put musical values front-and-center.

Best Sound for the Money: The AGD Audion MkII ($7500). These are the diminutive monoblocks just above the new stereo model from the standpoint of price in the manufacturer’s line of amplifier (see above.) It sounds great and you get to see the faux tubes.

Best Demo: Veteran Ken Stevens of Convergent Audio Technology gave a discourse on Diana Krall’s stage jitters—how there was always a point in a live performance when you could hear her loosen up. He then played the song from one of Krall’s live albums when you could hear it happen. It takes a special piece of gear to detect it—and a special kind of audiophile to bring it to our attention. Thanks, Ken.

Best Experience: On two evenings, Acora Acoustics sponsored a presentation by A-List mastering engineer Dave McNair. McNair brought along some 24-track tapes that allowed him to deconstruct several very well-known songs from the pre-digital era, pulling out single tracks and then demonstrating how the final product became more than the sum of its parts.

With one exception, the rooms themselves were also unchanged. That meant reasonably good sun, though in some cases manufacturers resorted to creative solutions (e.g., pillows in chandeliers) to overcome acoustical challenges. The exception to this comfortable familiarity was that since 2020 the hotel had foregone the Ethernet ports that previously graced every room. Accordingly, exhibitors (who weren’t given advance notice of the change) had to rely on a suddenly overwhelmed Wi-Fi network to connect to streaming services. Exhibitors made up for the iffy streaming by leaning heavily on NAS drives, LPs, and open-reel tapes.

Because FLAX is primarily a dealer-oriented event designed to show off systems rather than product introductions, we divided the rooms geographically instead of parsing them by component type. We then took a system-oriented approach to reporting on what we heard, since it’s difficult, if not impossible, to identify which component is responsible for a rig’s sonic/musical success or failure. Without fixing a dollar-amount dividing line, each of us picked five “Aspirational” systems (defined as those that cost an arm and a leg) and five “Inspirational” setups (defined as those that leave an audiophile with three limbs intact).

Finally, as is traditional, we each named “Best in Show” systems, components, and experiences, with candidates chosen from either writer’s territory.

Throughout the show, an outfit reassuringly named Barbaric Nightmare Productions was filming a documentary called “The New Audiophiles.” We look forward to seeing it on large and small screens everywhere. In the meantime, join us for a whirlwind tour of FLAX 2022.

New and Noteworthy

Two years ago, Andy and I were surprised at the number of products introduced during FLAX. This year, thanks to pent-up demand for shows at which to launch new gear, the trend accelerated.

Surely the splashiest intro of the show was MBL’s worldwide debut of its new flagship, the 101 X-Treme Mk II. Readers are likely familiar with the Mk I version of this omnidirectional speaker, owing to its status as JV’s longtime reference. The new model is significantly more expensive—$317,500 per pair compared to the previous model’s $263,000. Both prices include dual active subwoofer towers, which I suppose is some consolation. (Despite the stratospheric prices, MBL says the new speaker is already backordered for two-and-a-half years.) While the Mk I and Mk II look identical, MBL made myriad changes, particular to those sub towers. They now feature all new cabinets, drivers, crossovers, amps, and a revised analog equalizer. At FLAX, the new flagship proved capable of shockingly powerful bass.

Another speaker introduction took place in the DSG room. DSG is a Swiss company of that I was unaware of until FLAX, probably because it is only six years old. The company builds horn speakers, and the pair that had their U.S. debut in Tampa, the $32,500/pr. Tobian FH12, was very impressive. I first mistook the FH12 as a hybrid unit with a horn tweeter and a dynamic woofer. In fact, the woofer is a folded horn, which makes it much more cone-like in size. DSG says the driver extends down to a true 20Hz, and the speaker’s overall sensitivity is a very horn-like 98dB. The sound was excellent.

In a world premiere, Borresen and Next Level HiFi unveiled the new 01 Silver Supreme speaker. A pair of these two-way stand mounts, endowed with a ribbon tweeter and a 5.5** carbon-fiber-sandwich mid/woofer, goes for $60k, including stands. Compared to the standard 01 model, the Silver Supreme features all cryogenically treated components, a “zero inductance” driver, and a half-kilometer of pure silver wound into the woofer’s ring. At FLAX, the tonal balance was too rich for my taste, but that could easily have been the fault of the room.

Now we turn to my favorite new product of the show: the RJS MD2 Bass Augmentation Speakers. RJS abhors the term subwoofer because most of them utilize large woofers that are, RJS feels, unacceptably slow-sounding. In contrast, RJS “subs” use multiple small drivers to move a similar amount of air but with greater alacrity. I loved the MD6 introduced at FLAX 2020, and I love the smaller, less expensive MD2 ($2750/pr.) even more. At FLAX, RJS boldly exhibited the MD2’s flanking a pair of Magnepan LRS, one of the world’s fastest speakers. The two blended seamless in a combination that sounded like Maggies with more bass. I predict hotcake-like sales.

Moving on to electronics, in the Unique Home Audio room I found myself searching in vain for the big monoblocks that I assumed were responsible for the effortless sound emanating from the gorgeous Italian Gold Note speakers. (Other electronics were also Gold Note.) Failing to locate the amps, I asked where they were and was directed to a pair of tiny boxes squatting on the floor. These, I learned, were the new $5400/pr. Atma-Sphere Class D amplifiers. That’s right: a brand known for tube amplifiers has built a Class D unit. I must say, true to the manufacturer’s word, the amps had tube-like warmth and sweetness. But their 100-watt GaNFET output stage and 800:1 damping factor also produced thunderous bass and high-jumping dynamics. Highs were clean, extended, and never exaggerated.

Hometown dealer Suncoast Audio had not one but two impressive rooms at the show. The first was enlisted to give MSB’s latest power amp, the monoblock M205, its first U.S. showing. The unit is based on the company’s successful S202 stereo amp, but with an upgraded input stage and double the number of power-supply transformers and caps. At $60k/pr. and producing 220 watts into 8 ohms, it is MSB’s least expensive monoblock offering. Driving Kharma Elegance dB7-S speakers, they produced a sound that was… well, see “Aspirational” systems below.

In the other Suncoast Audio room, the Vivid Audio Giya G1 Spirit speakers ($93k/pr.)—you know, the ones that look like the Diva in The Fifth Element movie—were used to showcase (for the first time in the U.S.) the new Block Audio Monoblock SE power amps ($60k/pr.). Built in the Czech Republic, the SE operates in Class A all the way up to 200 watts, then it’s Class AB up to the 500-watt maximum output. Also new: the SE Preamplifier ($45k, including built-in phonostage). This interesting model is battery powered but pulls from the wall to recharge itself in the background. The two-chassis unit is fully balanced and available in silver, black, and red. At the show the bass overpowered the room, but the midrange was sweet as could be.

Another company new to me, Margules of Mexico City, introduced its U-300, a Class A, zero-negative-feedback, tubed power amp. Priced at $10k, the amp can be converted from stereo to mono with the flip of a switch. It can also switch between triode (25Wpc) and ultralinear (50Wpc) modes. Double those figures if the amp is set to mono. The U-300 was just three days old when I saw it and will be generally available in April.

On the accessories front, Acora introduced its new Acora SRR-V and SRR-H equipment racks. Made, naturally, of solid granite, the racks allow users to adjust the distance between shelves—a useful feature. Acora’s Val Cora says the 300-pound racks will make anything you put on them sound better, and from the way they’re designed to couple components to the foundation, I believe him. There are two initial versions: a four-shelf vertical configuration and a two-shelf horizontal setup. Both will cost $5500 when they become available this summer—which struck me as very reasonable, considering their construction and the price of competitive units.

Five “Inspirational” Systems (in no particular order)

1. The On a Higher Note Room. Philip O’Hanlon knows his audio gear (and his Irish whiskey) and is unswayed by fads. Case in point: his room at FLAX featured a speaker, the Graham 8/1 ($9k) that according to modern wisdom is built completely wrong, along with a Moon River 404 Reference integrated amp ($5k) that no one has heard of. Yet the sound was phenomenal—extended and naturally rich, with flawless spatial performance and resolution. This from a speaker with a thin wood enclosure, wide baffle, old-tech drivers, no time alignment, and lots of parallel surfaces. Go figure.
2. The Black Ice/B&W Black Ice Audio mated its tubed electronics to a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3s. The result was a refreshingly unassuming system perfect for small rooms and less extravagant budgets—in this case under $21k, all in. I could wax about its resolution without edge and excellent imaging, but even more impressive was this system’s musical involvement. Annie Lenox’s “Why” gave me chills, and I couldn’t stop myself from singing along with Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street.”
3. The Margules Although expensive in combination, none of the components in this room cost crazy amounts. The Margules Orpheus speakers run $28k, while the U-300 stereo amp described above is $10k. Both were being driven by a sweet little Bluetooth receiver, also made by Margules, that runs just $950. Despite the speakers being on the low-sensitivity side, the U-300 in triode mode handled them with ease, with plenty of grunt and delicacy.
4. The Volti/Triode Wire/BorderPatrol The hybrid horn/bass reflex Volti Razz speakers in this system may not have had the deepest bass or the most precise imaging, but their sound was utterly realistic thanks to the all-important midrange being just right. With $7k speakers and a $21k Border Patrol S20EXD 16Wpc, 300B SET amp, plus modestly priced Triode Wire cables, this $30k system fits comfortably into what passed for “Inspirational” at FLAX. (Wait till you see how much the show’s “Aspirational” systems cost!)
5. The RJS/Magnepan/PS Audio/Dayton The least expensive system I encountered at FLAX was also one of the best-sounding. In fact, I seriously considered this room for Best in Show. I’ve already described RJS MD2 subs (oops…Bass Augmentation Speakers) that so perfectly complemented the Magnepan LRS speakers. PS Audio electronics (circa $3500) powered the Maggies, which were run wide open, while a $500 Dayton Audio amp with built-in low-pass filter drove the MD2s. That sums up to around $10k, yet I didn’t hear instruments sound more realistic anywhere else in the show. I also heard superb dynamics and plenty of low-end power. From a value standpoint, this was clearly the most inspirational system at the show.

Five “Aspirational” Systems

1. The MBL The Big Daddy of FLAX was MBL’s million-dollar extravaganza consisting of its new flagship speaker, Reference-class MBL electronics, and a United Home Audio SuperDeck. The room, actually a concatenation of two ballrooms, wasn’t ideal; but this system still did some things that no others could. Chief among them was subterranean bass that you could feel rippling along the floor. Despite their size and mass (26 drivers and 4000 pounds for the pair), these omnis disappear completely and can create an expansive soundstage. So long as you weren’t sitting too close to the speakers, the system excelled when playing big band music, but could also reproduce every timbral and dynamic nuance of a solo piano.
2. The Acora For FLAX, Acora owner Val Cora went all out. Not only did he bring his biggest solid-granite speakers, the SRC-2 ($37k/pr.), he backed them up with support gear second to none. The system included a phalanx of VAC Statement electronics, a J. Sikora turntable fitted with two arms, a DS Audio Grand Master optical cartridge, the Ideon Audio digital stack, and a United Home Audio Ultima4 tape deck. All together the setup rang in at over $600k. How did it sound? Overall, more like the real thing than anything else I heard.
3. The EMM/Credo/Audioshield This $290k system consisted of EMM Labs electronics, Credo Audio speakers, van den Hul cartridge and wiring, a VPI Avenger direct-drive ‘table, and the impressive Wolf Audio Systems Red Wolf 2 server. The result was the epitome of the Swiss school of sound: clean, fast, airy, and ultra-high resolution. Tame bass, no doubt a room-based anomaly, was the only thing holding this system back.
4. The DSG/Lampizator DSG put together a $250k system built around its impressive new Tobian FH12 hybrid horn speaker. They were fronted by the big VAC Statement amps and the ubiquitous Lampizator tubed DAC and server. At this price, the sound should be exemplary, and it was. The horn was especially realistic on percussive instruments like the hi-hat, but in truth everything about the system was impressive.
5. The Suncoast/Kharma/Pass/MSB Going into FLAX, I wondered how close the Kharma dB7-S, a member of the company’s entry-level Elegance series, could get to the magic made by the Midi Exquisite that won my Best in Show award at CAF. The answer is: awfully close. In combination with the Pass XP-22 preamplifier, MSB M205 power amps, Aurender ACS10 streamer, MSB Discreet DAC, and Shunyata Sigma and Alpha cables, the speakers displayed unerring musicality while also being sonically truthful. Dynamics were jaw-dropping. Although the room’s uneven bass spoiled this system’s chances for Best in Show, it was nonetheless one of my favorites.

Best Sound of the Show: The Acora room. A compleat system that delivered unlimited spaciousness, perfect instrument and vocal placement, timbral density, and strong, well-controlled bass.

Best Sound for the Money: The RJS/Magnepan room, for all the reasons described above.

Best Demo: The Ansuz Sortz. In the Ansuz/Borresen room, Ansuz first played a well-recorded live jazz performance. The sound was very good, although I noticed that the applause that opened the track was, as is often the case, an indistinct blur. With the insertion of a single Sortz—the company’s new and extremely complex RF and EMI noise reducer—into an open linestage input jack, the audience transformed into a collection of distinct, three-dimensional individuals. The musicians sounded truer, as well, but it was the audience that told me how much grunge had been swept away. Next, Ansuz swapped out the standard Sortz ($840) for the Supreme version ($1200), and ultimately the Sortz Signature ($1600). With each successive upgrade, the audience became even more three-dimensional and overall soundstage depth increased too. I’m as skeptical as the next guy about gizmos like this, but I always believe my ears. These things work.

Although all audio shows involve a collaboration between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, the structure of FLAX reflected the growing trend away from national events, which focus on manufacturers, to regional shows that are dealer oriented. To be sure, there was a good representation of the brands that any committed audiophile would want to encounter—over 160 were listed in the show guide. But many of the rooms were administered by retailers, both Floridian and out-of-state, and those spaces were organized around systems, rather than specific products.

Thus, at most of the Tampa show’s rooms the synergy of a combination of loudspeakers, electronics, sources, cabling, and the rest wasn’t a matter of happenstance or convenience. Instead, an audio professional—a dealer—had made considered choices based on experience to put together a system that, hopefully, would show off all the products in a room to their best advantage. The hotel did its part, too, spreading the 65 rooms over eleven floors in order to avoid placing exhibitors in adjacent rooms. This greatly reduced the usual sonic bleed-through. That and solid construction no doubt accounted for the generally good sound.

Because of the systems-oriented approach, we decided to deviate from the TAS norm of splitting up show coverage based on equipment categories and, instead, divvied up rooms according to the price of their systems, choosing $30,000 as the (admittedly arbitrary) dividing line. We then decided—not entirely seriously—to call the two system categories “Inspirational” and “Aspirational.” Please understand that we are not maintaining that a system costing under $30k is a “budget” system or is necessarily compromised in any musically meaningful way; we just needed some strategy for apportioning listening responsibilities. Below you’ll find the ten best-sounding rooms each of us heard in our respective category.

Given that FLAX isn’t a national or international stage, we weren’t expecting many new product introductions. To our surprise, exhibitors used the show as more than merely an opportunity to cop a tan. There were quite a few products that, if not making a world debut, were being heard for the first time at a U.S. show. You’ll find an accounting of those we each encountered after our system choices.

Top Ten “Inspirational” Systems

Alan Taffel

Eikon Audio
Eikon is the brainchild of Martin-Logan’s Gayle Sanders. The concept is: You plunk down $25k for the Image1 and you get a virtually-complete system, including speakers, DAC, power amp, DSP room correction—even cables. The simplest way to get started is to add a Bluetooth streamer (Bluesound makes some excellent units), and you’re set. The more I listened to this system, the more I appreciated its balanced mix of attributes, especially its ability to illuminate separate musical lines.

Janszen
I walked into this room and saw nothing but a pair of speakers. Where was the equipment-laden rack? But David Janszen was holding a smartphone, and wonderful-sounding music was coming out of his Valentina A8’s. Turns out the active speakers were being driven by a $100 Bluetooth receiver and David’s phone. So, the speakers cost $12,750, and the entire system cost $12,850. On streaming Tidal, the sound was amazingly full and easy-going. Needless to say, with the A8’s ’stat panel handling everything above the bass, transients were exemplary. But so was the bass. This is the future for Millennial systems: powered speakers with analog and digital inputs, driven by a smartphone. With the A8 Janszen proved just how well it can work.

Ocean Way/AGD
Speaker-maker Ocean Way teamed up with electronics manufacturer AGD to create some of the most beautiful sound I heard at the show. The Eureka speakers ($12,000 or $14,800 with stands) were extremely coherent, and the AGD Vivace monoblock amps ($7500 each) featured the company’s Gallium Nitrade MOSFET power stage mounted within a glass tube. The design means you can repair or change the amp’s power stage as easily as swapping out a tube.

Pure Audio Project/Pass Labs
At the top end of my price category was this nicely conceived system featuring a Pass stack for much less than you’d expect: the XP12 preamp and XA25 power amp together go for $10k. In Tampa, they were fed by a VPI ’table and drove Pure Audio Project’s customizable Quintet 10 open-baffle speakers ($10k as configured). Digital was courtesy of a Roland Super UA pro DAC ($680) and cables were from Luminous Audio. As its name suggests, the Quintet 10 speaker features four 10″ woofers, which mate with a horn mid/tweeter. The sound was assured, smooth, and relaxed, with the horn integrating surprisingly well.

Musical Surroundings
This system was Exhibit A in Linn’s maxim that for best results you should spend most of your budget on the source. In this case, the front end—the AMG Giro with 9WT tonearm and outboard power supply mounted with a DS Audio E1 optical phono cartridge—cost $17k, while the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated tube amp sells for under $3k and the Magnepan .7 speakers are a mere $1400. Together with WireWorld cable, the system had a level of naturalness that was hard to beat. Bass extension? Not so much. For that, you’ll need bigger Maggies.

Sumiko
Sumiko was showcasing its Pro-Ject and Sonus Faber brands. The ’table was Pro-Ject’s penultimate model, the Signature 10 with (of course) the top Sumiko cartridge ($10k total). A full stack of Pro-Ject electronics was another $10k, and the likewise-priced Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 2 speakers brought the system to my $30k limit. The sound would please any Sonus Faber fan, given its characteristic sweetness and low-end extension.

Legacy
If there were a prize for most speaker bulk per dollar, Legacy would win handily. You don’t usually see speakers as large as the Aeris for just under $20k. Paired with the company’s new IV-7 multichannel ICEdge Class D amp ($7350) and Wavelet DAC/Pre ($4950), the sound was exceedingly relaxed—or punchy when the music so required. Not only was transparency high, but imaging was excellent from many points in the room. Even Legacy’s “smaller” Focus XE speaker ($12,915), which was also shown, proved to be a lot of speaker—size- and sound-wise—for the money.

A la Carte Productions
This Central and Northeast Florida dealer’s room boasted a new $9500 Vienna Acoustics Beethoven speaker (see New Products below), the VPI Super Prime Scout ($3400) and Voyager phono/preamp ($2500), Ortofon’s Cadenza Black cartridge ($2729) and Chord’s Qutest DAC ($1695), all feeding the Aethetix Mimas integrated amp ($7k). The sound was light, airy, and dynamic in the extreme.

Soundfield Audio
The newcomer’s room (see New Products below) included its two inaugural speaker models, the active WT1Ad ($3800/pair) and the larger, semi-active 1212 ($7500/pair). Both were paired with a Schitt preamp, while an NAD M51 Master Series DAC/amp powered the top end of the 1212. I must say I was mightily impressed with the sound from the smaller speakers. They lacked top- and very bottom-end extension, but such compromises are to be expected at this price. The speakers had excellent imaging, dynamics, and midrange realism. Most importantly, they were highly musical. The larger 1212 retained those virtues and solved the extension issues, with the tradeoff being a larger footprint.

Muraudio/Simaudio
Muraudio’s always-splendid SP1 omnidirectional speakers ($16k) teamed with a Simaudio Moon 240i integrated amp resulted in a system costing less than $20k. Nonetheless, the sound was smooth and well-rounded.

NEW PRODUCTS

Andover Audio Model One ($3200 with sub). For those interested in a gorgeous, compact all-in-one system, Andover introduced the Model One. What differentiates it from virtually all other all-in-ones is that it is LP-oriented, though for just $100 you can add the Songbird streaming adapter. I highly recommend opting for the $500 subwoofer module; without it, the unit is quite bass shy.

The Bob Carver Company announced a new integrated amp, the Crimson 2180i ($4000); however, the unit itself wasn’t on display, active or otherwise. At this point, all we really know is that it’s a tubed design that puts out 180 watts/channel. More to come.

exaSound Audio Design debuted its new Delta music server ($3000-$4000 depending on storage). The product was spurred by Roon’s rapidly expanding capabilities for DSD recordings. These include EQ, room correction, headphone optimization, and other features. These things require far more processing power than most of today’s music servers can muster. Thus, the Delta, which exaSound claims is even more powerful than Roon’s own Nucleus Plus. Expect to see more high-powered servers in the near future.

The Janszen Valentina A8 ($12,750) made its world debut. The speaker is distinguished from its passive version, the P8 ($9250), by a pair of built-in 500-watt N-Core Class D amps paired to a Hypex input card. Significantly, the latter has both analog and digital ports, so add one or more sources and you’ve got a system! The sealed cabinet, which houses dual sub-enclosures, is made of thick MDF, while drivers consist of two 8″ woofers, an electrostatic panel, and a side-firing ring-radiator tweeter. There are woofer and tweeter level controls on the back panel. As described above, I was mightily impressed with this speaker’s sound, even when it was being driven by a lowly smartphone.

Margules Audio was showing a prototype of its forthcoming, as-yet-unnamed music server. The device is simplicity itself, with four USB ports into which the owner can insert any combination—and any capacity—of thumb or USB drives. Most servers have internal storage, but Margules claims its advanced USB interface eliminates the sonic advantage of built-in drives. The unit will begin shipping this summer for a mere $3000.

In the Modwright/Egglestonworks room the latter was premiering its OSO floorstanding speaker ($11,900). Its unusual configuration involves a side-firing 10″ woofer paired with a 1″ Morel silk dome tweeter and a 6” Morel midrange. The cabinet is 1.5″ MDF. Driven by the Modwright gear, the speaker proved light and airy, with plenty of bass punch as well, though coherence could have been better. Also bowing was Modwright’s KWH 225i 225-watt/channel hybrid tube/solid-state integrated amplifier ($8500 with optional phonostage).

The Børessen room played host to accessory maker Ansuz Acoustics’ introduction of an entire line of Ethernet-related products. Of course, there were cables, and the A2 (approx. $1800 for one meter) and D-TC (approx. $12,600 for one meter) delivered a much wider soundstage and more palpable vocals than generic Ethernet cable. The D-TC model added noticeably crisper transients and even more spatial expansion. But the most eye-opening demo was of a line of Ethernet switches priced from $2200 to a whopping $14,000. Generic Ethernet switches are about $100 at Best Buy, but even the entry-level PowerSwitch proved to be a huge upgrade in terms of noise reduction, and the flagship PowerSwitch Supreme ($14k) made an incredible difference in clarity and dynamics. Dang! Yet another seemingly innocuous element (like power cords) that makes a difference.

SweetVinyl premiered its new SugarCube SC-1 Mini. The $1500 box ($2000 with built-in phonostage) is an LP de-clicker/de-popper. The SC-1 Mini is similar in concept to FM Acoustics’ $50,000 phonostage, except that the former operates in the digital domain whereas the latter is pure analog. Nonetheless, the SugarCube worked amazingly well. In the demo I heard, the SC-1 transformed a virtually unplayable Steely Dan album to virgin vinyl. The only adverse effect was a very slight roll-off at the upper extreme. In all, a boon to used vinyl shoppers.

RJS Acoustics is a brand-new audio company based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Its introductory product, the MD-6 ($5750) is a powered subwoofer. However, RJS would rather you call it a Bass Augmentation System to avoid any confusion with the “slow, muddy” sound it associates with subs. To prove the MD-6’s speed, RJS boldly paired it with Maggie LRS speakers. The two systems integrated seamlessly, which was quite a testament.

Active speakers were all the rage at FLAX, but the Piega took the concept one step further with the U.S. premier of the 701 wireless active speaker ($7500). The price includes a Bluetooth receiver that also supports RCA analog and two digital wired inputs. In the demo, Piega was Chromecasting from a phone and the sound was impressive.

Tampa’s own Soundfield Audio introduced two new models. The first, the WT1Ad ($3800), is a relatively slim, fully active floorstander. Each driver gets its own Class D amp. 100 watts for the ¾” dome tweeter, 125 for the 6.5″ mid, and 250 watts for each of the two 6.5″ x 8″ down-firing subs. The second model, the 1212 ($7500), is only partially active. The 12″ coax mid/tweeter is passive and features a cardioid radiation pattern, while the dual 12″ bass drivers, also cardioid, are powered. Both models feature an active tweeter on the rear panel meant to increase spatiality. While the driver complements and radiation patterns on these speakers are somewhat novel, there’s no denying that it works (see Top Systems above). Soundfield’s Ammar Jadusingh (aka AJ) has been designing speakers for 35 years, and that experience showed brilliantly.

Vienna Acoustics never seems to run out of variants to its long-running Beethoven floorstander. The latest, shown in North America for the first time, is the Baby Grand Reference ($9500). This is a lovely, svelte speaker, and the Florida samples were finished in a luscious cherry wood. Inside, there are new “spidercone” flat drivers—one 6″ midrange and two 6″ woofers—plus a 1.1″ hand-coated silk dome tweeter. The bass-reflex cabinet is heavily braced, and the crossover is a combination of first and second order. As always seems to be the case when I hear a new Beethoven, I was very taken with the latest iteration.

Alan Taffel’s Best of Show

Best Sound, Cost No Object, System
There were a surprising number of great-sounding systems at FLAX, including the Constellation/Rockport and, of course, the big VAC/Von Schweikert rig. However, I felt the large Acora SRC 1 speakers, also driven by top-shelf VAC gear, disappeared more completely, and let the music shine more freely, than any other system at the show. Acora is a newcomer to watch.

Best Sound for the Money System
FLAX proved that you can put together a superb system for under $30k. But I was most bowled over by the Janszen Valentina A8 speaker playing Tidal via an iPhone and a hundred-buck Bluetooth receiver. For under $13k, the sound and simplicity of this system was mind-boggling.

Most Significant Product Introduction
The Ansuz PowerSwitch line of Ethernet switches, which demonstrated just how much degradation is taking place when we stream through commodity switches.

Most Coveted Product
What keeps coming back to mind is the Doshi tape head preamplifier. A “phonostage” designed specifically for the idiosyncrasies of tape decks, I found myself wanting one—along with the nearby refurbished Studer deck—very badly.

Most Notable Trend
Tape decks as sources. There were more of them—at least a half dozen—than I’ve ever seen at one show. Both the hardware and source material are getting easier to come by, and the sound is unrivaled.

Top Ten “Aspirational” Systems”

Andrew Quint (Photos by Dennis Weeks)

The Audio Company (Marietta, GA)
At show after show, Leif Swanson and Damon von Schweikert expend considerable effort to provide a listening experience that’s representative of the best high-performance audio can offer. At FLAX, Von Schweikert Audio installed its flagship Ultra 11s ($325,000) in a room of suitable size, powering them with four VAC (Valve Amplification Company) Statement 452iQ amplifiers ($75,000 each.) The system, the total value of which makes it into the low seven figures, also included Esoteric and Aurender digital source components, a Kronos turntable with Airtight cartridge, and Masterbuilt cables. Large-scale symphonic music had lifelike scale; on a solo piano recording, the instrument had palpable mass and volume. A Nils Lofgren concert recording—you know which one—possessed an uncanny sense of being there. I have no idea if Damon and Leif left Tampa with any new orders for Ultra 11s. But quite a few attendees left with a better understanding of what’s possible with the playback of recorded music at the current moment.

Sweet Home Audio (Clearwater, FL)
In a system that included the Vimberg Mino loudspeakers in a striking white finish ($31,000) and Cardas Clear Beyond cables throughout, Zesto Audio‘s George Counnas oversaw the East Coast premiere of his Leto Ultra preamplifier ($9950). Counnas explains that the use of a 12DW7—a hybrid tube that’s half AX7 and half AU7—”allows for the smoothest transition from the input section to the outputs.” The new preamp also has a six-position “presence control” that allows one to tame overly bright and aggressive recordings. I tried this feature out with a beloved Mercury, Hi-Fi a la Española. Those sleigh bells on Side One/Track One can get pretty annoying after about 15 seconds; now there’s something you can do about it. Other components of this superb analog-only rig included a Merrill Williams Audio REAL 101.3 turntable ($8900), Tri-Planar U2 tonearm ($6200), and Benz Micro Gullwing SLR MC cartridge ($3600). Also from Zesto was an Andros 1.2 phonostage, Allasso step-up transformer, and Bia 120 stereo power amp.

Joseph/Doshi/Berkeley/Aurender/Cardas
Jeff Joseph, sharing a room with Nick Doshi, brought the Joseph Audio Perspective2 Graphene loudspeakers ($15,000), compact floorstanders that employ a 1″ Sonatex dome tweeter and a pair of 5.5″ graphene-coated magnesium woofers. They definitely “play big.” Electronics included Doshi Audio’s V3 Line Preamplifier ($18000), Evolution Series tape stage ($18,000), and the 25Wpc V3 stereo amplifier ($20,000). The digital source was an Aurender W20SE network streamer ($22,000) feeding a Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 ($22,000) via the latter company’s Alpha USB interface. All cables were from Cardas Audio, Clear Beyond balanced interconnects and SE loudspeaker cables. Acoustic guitar was reproduced with remarkable speed and Gary Karr, performing Kol Nidrei at the top of his instrument’s range, was clearly playing a double bass and not a cello.

The Audio Company (Marietta, GA)
Acora Acoustics, fabricating its loudspeaker enclosures from African black granite, brought two models to FLAX, the 2-way SRC-1 floorstander ($28,000) and the 2-way stand-mounted SRB ($15,000). It was the latter that performed especially well in a smallish hotel room, driven by a VAC Sigma 170iQ integrated amplifier with phono ($11,500). An Esoteric K-01Xs CD/SACD player saw service and LPs were spun on a Transrotor Fat Bob S turntable outfitted with an SME 5009 tonearm ($11,000) and Airtight PC-7 cartridge ($2500). AudioQuest cabling, beginning to end. With the Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 recording I brought (Haitink/Concertgebouw, an RCO Live SACD) spatial delineation was as good as I’ve ever heard and orchestral climaxes crested gracefully. The speakers maintained their poise when challenged with full-bore big band material.

Raven Audio
Raven Audio does it all—electronics, speakers, cables. Well, almost all: the DAC was a Myrtek Brooklyn ($2195). With the Corvus Tower loudspeaker system ($12,995 at the show and online; the usual price is $14,995), a Corvus Reference Monitor sits atop a Corvus Bass Module to comprise the complete system. The former is a 2-way employing a 1″ ring radiator and a pair of 7″ poly cone woofers. The subwoofer is active, to the tune of more than 750 watts of DSP-managed power. The passive monitor was driven by Raven Audio Silhouette Mk2 monoblocks ($25,995). All the Raven Soniquil wires—RCA and XLR interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords—were under $200 each. On the Shostakovich Fifteenth, bass drum hits were reproduced without overhang and the open low B string of a 5-string electric bass sounded with authority on Kevyn Lettau’s Songs of the Police.

Suncoast Audio (Sarasota, FL)
A less-than-astronomically-priced but nonetheless no-holds-barred system was encountered in the Suncoast Audio room, starring the Swiss-made Stenheim Alumine 3 loudspeakers ($29,950), a model available for less than a year. The cabinet for this 3-way, four-driver design is solid aluminum, with three discrete internal chambers. Suncoast employed VAC electronics—a lot of VAC electronics were at the Tampa show; designer Kevin Hayes lives just an hour away—a Master Line Stage ($28,000) and a Signature 200 iQ stereo amplifier ($14,500). Digital files were handled by an Aurender A30 ($18,000) and vinyl playback was courtesy of an Acoustic Signature ’table ($5000), equipped with a TA-2000 tonearm ($2995) and a Dynavector XX2 moving coil cartridge ($2000). Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, from the RCA Ansermet/Royal Ballet set, registered with a true sense of occasion.

Daedalus/LampizatOr/VAC/WyWires
Daedalus Audio loudspeakers are always among the most exquisitely crafted products at an audio show (four-quarters hardwood, flawless dovetail joints, ¼” marquetry) but the Apollo loudspeakers ($18,500) were also among the best sounding at FLAX 2020. The Polish manufacturer LampizatOr provided the digital source, a Super Komputer server (starts at $8000) and the Pacific DAC in balanced configuration ($27,850). More VAC—the awesome
Statement 450i iQ integrated amplifier ($150,000). Cabling included WyWires‘s pricey Diamond Series interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords and the componentry was plugged into a WyWires/Daedalus Power Broker AC distributor. The system easily parsed the differences in character between a vintage Mercury recording (Dorati’s Nutcracker) and a Living Stereo “Shaded Dog” from the same era (Reiner’s Scheherazade.)

Salon 1 Audio (Ormond Beach, FL)
The only Wilson Audio loudspeakers at FLAX 2020 were the Sasha DAWs ($37,000), demoed by their east-central Florida retailer with associated components that the brand is often heard with, including VTL—the TL-7.5 Series III Reference linestage ($30,000), TP-2.5i Performance phonostage ($5000) and MB-185 Series III Signature monoblock amplifiers—and Transparent Reference Series cables. Digital sources were an Aurender A10 server/streamer/DAC ($5500) and a vintage Sony SCD-XA777ES CD/SACD player ($3000 new, nla) that the dealer seemed vaguely embarrassed to be using. Vinyl was played with a Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation mc cartridge ($4500) mounted on a Pro-Ject Xtension 12 turntable ($4500). Nothing new or outrageously expensive yet the sound was consistently engaging, with an excellent rendering of space and lifelike dynamics (as with Cécile McLorin Salvant, on LP.)

MSB Technology/Magico
Magico M2 loudspeakers ($56,000 plus $7600 for the MPod support system), with MSB Technology products upstream, were making beautiful sounds on the tenth floor of the Embassy Suites. MSB’s S500 stereo power amplifier ($58,500), a zero-feedback design with 138dB of dynamic range, was introduced last year at High End Munich. The power supply of this 135-pound CNC-machined aluminum beauty has capacitance of a million microfarads (= 1.0 farad, but that sounds a lot less impressive) and power output is rated as 500Wpc continuously into 8 ohms, 900 into 4 ohms. The MSB digital components in the system, the Reference DAC ($39,500) and the Reference Transport ($18000) are justly celebrated. In a less-than-palatial environment, orchestral climaxes crested majestically. Initial transients were crisp and organically connected to what followed; vocal and instrumental timbres were 100% true.

High End by Oz (Los Angeles, CA)
Ozan Turan, the Los Angeles-based importer for AudioSolutions loudspeakers, presided over the U.S. debut of the Virtuoso S ($22,500), the smallest member of the Lithuanian manufacturer’s next-to-the-top product range. A 3-way design (1″ silk dome tweeter, 5″ hard pulp paper cone midrange, and two 6.5″ paper cone woofers), the Virtuoso S features box-in-a-box construction and a user-adjustable crossover. Driven by the massive Vitus SIA-030 integrated amplifier ($40,000) and with disc, analog tape, and file sources—a Vitus SCD Mk II CD player/DAC ($25,200), United Home Audio Ultima 4 tape deck ($32,000) and Aurender W20SE music server ($22,000)—orchestral recordings manifested good front-to-back layering and an excellent sense of the performance venue.

New Products

AudioSolutions Virtuoso S loudspeaker ($22,500) [see “High End by Oz” room description above]

Dynamic Sounds Associates Phono III phono preamplifier ($19,000). The latest iteration of the DSA phonostage has the capability to adjust cartridge loading with a remote control while you’re listening: 256 loading options for moving coil cartridges and 128 for moving magnets. In addition to the usual RIAA equalization curve, four other curves suitable for older discs are selectable. Both balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) connectivity is provided on the new version of the product.

Gershman Acoustics Grand Studio II loudspeakers ($11,900). Two sealed-box enclosures are held in the embrace of a 93-pound, ½” stainless-steel stand. The 2½-way design incorporates two 8″ woofers with aluminum cones made in the U.S. to Eli Gershman’s specifications and a pair of Vifa double-chamber silk dome tweeters. Well-recorded orchestral music was presented with a reach-out-and-touch-it sort of immediacy, and there was a ton of musically meaningful detail on vintage jazz recordings.

Linear Tube Audio ZOTL Ultralinear integrated amplifier/headphone amplifier ($7,650). The Tacoma Park, Maryland, company has been in business for only five years but already has attracted a good deal of attention, including several loudspeaker manufacturers at the Florida show. LTA’s latest features high- and low-gain headphone outputs, 20Wpc speaker outputs, and a stepped attenuator volume control, operable with the included remote.

MC Audiotech Forty-10 loudspeaker ($35,000). Not exactly new, but new to most FLAX attendees and surely a novel design. The Wide Band Line Source (WBLS) transducer was patented by designer Paul Paddock 35 years ago and each Forty-10 incorporates ten of these “predictable flexible membranes.” Bass is handled by a separate “folded cube” low-frequency enclosure. With Linear Tube Audio electronics, the scaling of individual instruments on a favorite orchestral recording was impressive. Striking in appearance, if an acquired taste.

Métronome DSS streamer ($4500). An appealingly compact component, roughly 10″ x 10″ x 3″, that handles PCM (up to 384kHz), DSD64, and Roon, and is MQA compatible. As the front end of a system terminating in the small but mighty Kiso Acoustic HB-N1 speakers ($9500), it contributed to a dramatically spacious sonic presentation.

RBH Sound SVTRS Modular Loudspeaker System ($45,000). Honoring the occasion of the company’s 45th anniversary and limited to just 20 pairs, these hefty towers—each weighs 310 pounds—comprise an SV-831R positioned between two SV-1212NR subwoofers. The middle module sports an Aurum Cantus AMT tweeter and three 8″alumninum cone woofers, while the subs each have a pair of 12″ long-throw aluminum drivers. The package also includes a RBH six-channel amplifier and a DSP processor made by Marani, a pro-audio manufacturer. The price also includes delivery to your home and calibration of the system in situ.

Synergistic Research held forth with its #1 dealer, Scott Walker Audio of Anaheim, CA, and had numerous products deployed to optimize the performance of a system that included Constellation electronics—a Pictor preamplifier ($19,900) and Taurus stereo amplifier ($22,000)—and Rockport Atria II loudspeakers ($26,500). Synergistic had continuous demos of its new MiG SX footers, a set of three costing $995, which could be oriented facing either up or down beneath a component, what SR referred to as “Ambient” vs. “Pin-Point” configurations. This allowed for some obvious (and rapidly accomplished) tuning of the system. Mostly, “Pin-Point” provided the focus and image specificity I value, but on some overly aggressive recordings (“Keith Don’t Go”) the “Ambient” option improved listenability.

Volti Audio Rival SE loudspeaker ($19,900). The standard Volti Rival, which can be had for under $10k, is well regarded sonically, but it’s a clunky-looking thing, best relegated to man caves. The 2020 Rival SE, released on the occasion of the company’s tenth anniversary, is visually stunning—especially in the bubinga wood finish of the pair demoed at FAE— with curved sides for both the external crossovers and the speakers themselves. Clean, clear acoustic bass on a jazz recording and utterly unforced vocals.

Andrew Quint’s Best of Show

Best Sound, Cost No Object
The Audio Company/Von Schweikert/VAC exhibit (see above). A noteworthy listening experience for even the most jaded audiophiles.

Best Sound for the Money System
The most expensive component in the system, by far, was the RJS Acoustics MD6 subwoofer (OK, “bass augmentation speaker system”) but, boy, did it ever elevate the performance of the well-under-$15k Magnepan LRS/PS Audio rig it was paired with.

Most Significant Product Introduction
Gershman Acoustics Grand Studio II. A solid performer that touches all the audio bases admirably. A good value, as well.

Most Coveted Product
Triangle Arts turntables. Any of them. Left-to-right: Hathor ($3999)/Maestro ($7500)/Anubis ($14,995).

Most Notable Trend
Cécile McLorin Salvant. Female vocalists are a necessary evil at audio shows; a well-recorded specimen will demonstrate many systems in their best light. This wonderful singer showed up in multiple rooms, sparing us all at least a little Diana Krall and Shelby Lynne. A little.