Florida International Audio Expo 2025 Show Coverage

Hey SECRETS readers, welcome to our coverage of the 2025 Florida International Audio Expo. The show will be held from Friday, February 21st to Sunday, February 23rd in Tampa Florida. Editor-in-Chief Carlo Lo Raso and Co-Editor Chris Eberle will be on the ground providing extensive show coverage on our social media channels and the website.

The first US audio show on the calendar is always a fun and exciting event and this year the show has moved to a larger hotel to support the show’s expansion.

New to the show this year is an outdoor Car Audio Showcase featuring 30 different vehicles to explore. The show will also be hosting 9 different seminars on various audio topics spread out over Friday and Saturday.

So if you are in the Tampa area next weekend be sure to drop in and check out the show! If you run into Chris or Carlo, be sure to say Hi!

Admission to the FIAE 2025’s outdoor car audio showcase is FREE. Tickets are required for the main show and all indoor activities: single-day admission is $25; admission for all three days is $35; students, children, and spouses are admitted FREE. Tickets are available for purchase both online and at the venue.

Show hours:

Friday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Show Location:

Sheraton Tampa Brandon Hotel
10221 Princess Palm Ave
Tampa, FL 33610

Be sure to check out our SECRETS Facebook and Instagram feeds and subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest updates as the show progresses. We will be posting the full show coverage on this page once the show concludes. We hope you enjoy our coverage!

Oneiros Audio

Starting our Florida Audio Expo coverage on a high note, I got an advance press demo of the new Oneiros loudspeakers. I attended the official launch of these speakers in NYC a few months back and I was looking forward to hearing how these $650K speakers performed in a regular room. The speakers were backed by a full suite of Audio Research electronics, a VPI Avenger Direct turntable with a DS Audio Grand Master phono cartridge, and a DS audio phono preamplifier. The sound coming from these voluptuous speakers was otherworldly! In some of the photos you can see designer Graeme Bridge holding the 45 lbs, CNC’d aluminum front baffle revealing the unique monocoque enclosure and how the graphene drivers attach to it.

Advance Paris/PMC

In one of the rooms sponsored by distributor Playback Distribution, we were treated to the new PMC Prophecy 9, 3-Way Floor-standing loudspeakers ($12,499 per pair). These latest slender, transmission line towers from PMC were smaller and more elegant in stature than what I was expecting, but that did not seem to translate to the big sound, with a nice wide soundstage and tight, authoritative bass. The dynamics and sense of clarity were also enviable and gave me the sense that the Prophecys had evolved from a “pro-audio” design mindset.

The Advance Paris A12 Classic Integrated amplifier ($3,799) was both beautiful in appearance and wielded some beastly Dual-Mono, Class AB amplifier power to keep those PMCs sounding their best. For more info on the A12, check out Chris Eberle’s excellent review on our website. The system was rounded out with the Advance Paris X-CD9 CD player ($1,199) and the WTX StreamTubes Network Streamer ($599) for sources along with cabling and power conditioning courtesy of Esprit Cables. Advance Paris Product Manager Cedric Leon was on hand to walk through some more of the company’s products.

Vienna Acoustics/Java HiFi/Esoteric

In another Playback Distribution room, I found the new Vienna Acoustics Mozart SE Signature loudspeakers ($7,495 per pair in standard finish, $8,495 per pair in premium rosewood). These were powered by the new Java HiFi Carbon Double Shot Integrated amp ($16,995). Java is a New Zealand-based audio manufacturer specializing in GaN FET amplification with a twist on the mid-century modern aesthetic.
Sourcing was courtesy of the beautiful Esoteric N-05XD streamer ($11,000). Power conditioning and cables were by Esprit Cables. To my ears, the Mozart SE speakers had a beautiful body to their sound in that room. Not a hint of thinness to their sound, the bass was surprisingly deep for a pair of slender towers and the treble was sweet and appealing in tone. The electronics helped the Vienna Acoustics speakers put their best foot forward and I could’ve listened to this system all day long.

Ruark Audio

Fidelity Imports had one large ballroom with an assortment of all their brands. At one end of the room was the Ruark Audio display with an array of their classically stylish products. New this year are the Ruark R610 Integrated Amp/Streamer ($1,599) and the Sabre R stand mount speakers ($899 per pair). The R610 integrated has excellent capabilities for its size. Rated at 75 watts per channel, it supports all sorts of streaming services and protocols including Tidal and Qobuz, Apple AirPlay, and Google Chromecast. Included are HDMI ARC and eARC, MM phono input, FM radio with RDS, Bluetooth 5.1, pre-output jacks, and a subwoofer output just for starters. The 2-way, passive, bass-reflex Sabre R speakers harken back to Ruark’s origins as a speaker company. The speakers have a 1” tweeter, and a 6” woofer, and Ruark claims bass extensions down to 55 Hz. Impressive flexibility and great aesthetics are built into a compact, stylish, and user-friendly package. And that round puck remote control is incredibly cool!

Perlisten

We are big fans of Perlisten Audio here, and Fidelity Imports had some of their S7T towers ($21,990 per pair) and a pair of their D15s subwoofers ($5,995 each) holding court as the only active system in the Fidelity Imports ballroom space among several other static displays. They sounded excellent, powered by Audia Flight electronics and spinning a Michell Gyro SE turntable with the Michell Apollo/Muse phono preamp ($4,999) and a Goldring Elite MC phono cartridge ($999). A great sounding system with a bass reach you could measure in fathoms!

I was especially happy to have a chance to catch up with Perlisten CEO Dan Roemer and CTO Erik Wiederholtz. Two genuinely talented and down-to-earth individuals.

Knosti

In the category of genuinely useful stuff, Fidelity Imports was showing new vinyl cleaning systems and supplies from German manufacturer Knosti.

Of particular interest was the Knosti Ultrasonic Record Cleaner ($1,299). The unit promises quiet and brisk ultrasonic cleaning of your treasured LPs with German quality and engineering.

PMC/Esoteric

For me, this was one of the best-sounding “high dollar” rooms of the Florida Audio Expo. The speakers are the PMC Fact Fenestria, sourced and powered by a full suite of Esoteric Grandioso electronics. The size of this room really gave the speakers a chance to show what they were capable of. Scale and dynamics for miles!

More audio goodness from PMC and Esoteric in the form of PMC’s MB2 SE Passive speakers and Esoteric electronics in a striking black finish that I don’t often see. I’d want this system on looks alone!

Opera/Unison Research

While only on static display in the Fidelity Imports room, the new Opera Quinta V2 tower ($6,999 per pair) and Prima V2 bookshelf speakers (not shown) are models I am looking forward to reviewing in the near future.

Partnered with either the Unison Research S6 Black Edition tube integrated ($6,999), Unico Nuovo integrated amp ($2,999), or the Unico 90 integrated amp ($5,499) and you have a pretty desirable Italian audio system without needing a second mortgage!

Viablue Cables

Viablue cables were featured in several rooms throughout the Florida Audio Expo along with having their own display on the main event floor. It was here that the lovely and gracious Anke Patt (Viablue’s head of marketing) introduced me to the company’s new phono cables. This new cable uses Viablue’s custom-designed 5-pin DIN tonearm connector and can be spec’d with either XLR or RCA preamp terminations. Construction looks and feels of the highest quality as do all their cables. These new phono cables also come with an integrated grounding wire and the sleeving is available in a variety of colors.

Estelon/Vitus Audio

In a large ballroom hosted by Scott Walker Audio was another great sounding “high-dollar” system. It was comprised of the Estelon Extreme floor-standing speakers ($296K per pair) being anchored by a full complement of electronics from Vitus Audio. These consisted of the Vitus SL–103 preamp ($42.5K), four SM–103 mkII amplifiers ($81K each), and the SD–025 mkII DAC ($32K). Digital streaming was courtesy of the Taiko Audio GSM Extreme Music Server ($30K) and analog playback was handled by the SonoruS ATR 10 mkII RTR tape deck ($35K). Another system I could have spent hours listening to, it sounded so good.

FOCAL-NAIM America

FOCAL has brought the new fully active Diva Utopia loudspeakers to Florida and I was itching to hear them, especially after seeing the video report with our own Taps Das and Piero Gabucci at the product’s launch in New York late last year. I was able to spend some solid time listening to the speakers in the hotel room they were set up in and I took a very strong liking to them. I must confess that FOCAL speakers have never bowled me over sonically in the past. I appreciate and respect them but I’ve never entirely connected with their sound. What I heard from the FOCAL Diva Utopias here in Florida was a combination of balance, clarity, and bass impact that really got my attention and made me smile. It was very “alive” sounding and I could have listened to a whole lot more.

Chris Shaw walked me through all the speaker’s capabilities and details in the video below, doing a much better job explaining them than I ever could. I do think though that FOCAL producing a higher-end active product like this that simplifies life for the well-heeled audiophile, without sacrificing sound quality, is going to open the door for other “big name” audio companies to do the same. These are as plug-and-play as you can get as the streaming capabilities are built-in. At $40K for a pair, they are definitely for the wealthier customer who wants the sound and appreciates the design aesthetic but wants something a little less avante-garde than say a comparable B&O product.

NAIM also had a couple of very interesting custom install products to show, the Unity 102 controller/amplifier and NAP 108 multi-channel amplifier. Chris Shaw steps in again to give us the details in the video below.

AV RoomService/WAM Engineering

Norm Varney of AV RoomService and J.R. Boisclair of WAM Engineering were holding court at Florida Audio Fest this year showcasing their genuinely useful products. These two fine gents are incredibly knowledgeable in their respective fields of Acoustics and Turntable optimization and were also hosting informative seminars on said subjects, when not “chewing the fat” with me that is!

Acora Acoustics

The good folks at Acora Acoustics were loaded for bear at the Florida show this year. Besides the large VRC Reference loudspeakers in a fiery veined granite enclosure, Acora brought samples of their new MRC loudspeaker line. The 2-way stand-mounted MRB-1 has a 1” ceramic dome tweeter and a 7” ceramic mid/bass driver, both sourced from Accuton and mounted in a natural marble stone enclosure. At 47 lbs each they are not exactly “lightweights.” They sounded quite good when being played even in the huge room that the big VRC speakers were in, driven by some beautiful VAC electronics, an Aurender digital front end, and a snazzy red VPI Avenger Statement turntable.

The 3-driver, 2.5-way MRC-2 towers were in a comparatively smaller space and driven by much more modest and compact VAC gear and an Aurender music streamer/server. This system had a lot going for it in terms of size, style, and sound. A very enjoyable listen.

Acora’s Jeff Coates goes into some more detail about the MRC-2 in the video below.

Geshelli Labs

It’s always like a homecoming seeing Geno, Sherri, and the whole clan from Geshelli Labs. They are the best people and their room is always fun and has a surprise or two when I visit. In particular was the Giuseppe preamp and Z-Block Class AB monoblock power amps in their trademark custom wood cases. These were powering a pair of Acoustic Energy AE520 floor-standing speakers. The headphone area was constantly busy with a selection of DAC and Amp stacks in matching colors and newly available custom matching stands from Sound Solver.

YG Acoustics/Western Electric

Distributor Supreme Acoustic Systems sponsored a room that certainly pushed the price and performance boundaries a bit. The room featured the 4-way YG Acoustics XV3 Signature speaker system ($498,000), consisting of four, ominously black, aluminum cabinets (2 speaker towers and 2 bass towers). These were driven by 4 Western Electric 97A Monoblock tube amplifiers ($124,999 per pair). These amps use eight 300B tubes a piece. Sourcing was provided by a lovely Bergmann turntable and a Taiko Audio Music Server that were off to the side. Needless to say, the entire system sounded effortless, with a lovely tonal balance and impressive dynamics. Which, for that amount of coin, it better have!

Ø Audio

Norway’s Ø Audio was a brand that I wanted to get a listen to, and I was not disappointed! The company introduced their new Frigg 02 loudspeaker at the Florida Audio Expo which is a modestly sized 3-way tower that claims to reach down to 30 Hz. Judging by some of the tracks played in the demo, I’m inclined to believe those claims. Bass reach was tight and powerful while the rest of the speaker’s bandwidth seemed nicely balanced with a wide soundstage. The other speaker on hand was the Icon 12, a higher efficiency design with a 3/4” carbon fiber compression driver nestled in a horn waveguide and a 12” long-throw woofer. This speaker painted an overall bigger and deeper sound picture, which I expected, but it also was smoother sounding and more refined, which I wasn’t quite prepared for. I was immediately intrigued and really enjoyed listening to a few demo tracks while I was there! Hopefully, we can arrange a review in the future as this was a memorable stop at the show!

Chesky Audio

Who says that young people aren’t into HiFi? 17-year-old Lucca Chesky (recognize that name?) aims to turn that well-worn assumption on its head by introducing his first audio product. A pair of stand-mount speakers called the LC1. What makes Lucca’s LC1s interesting starts with the way they are made. The cabinets and bracing are completely 3D printed out of a high-density polymer, they are extremely rigid and inert. The 1” soft dome tweeter is flanked by 2 textured 3D printed “arrowhead” shapes that help control diffraction. Below that is a 6.5” polypropylene mid-bass driver. The left and right sides of the cabinet each house an 8” woofer driver, working in tandem the woofers become inertially balanced. All this is in a compact 18-pound package with a high-quality point-to-point crossover that will set you back $498.00 each. With 83 dB sensitivity, they will need a bit of good-quality power to get them to sing. And sing they did! Running off Cambridge Audio electronics, the LC1 had great tone and a balanced overall sound. In this particular modestly-sized room they also exhibited excellent low-end reach for something so diminutive. Lucca told me that the whole system that we were listening to totaled $3,000 (excluding speaker stands). Great sound, modest footprint, affordable. What’s not to love? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about 5 of the LC1 in a surround sound system. I think in the right room, with the right amplification, it could make a killer HT/multichannel music system. I think Lucca is about to be a VERY busy boy!

GoldenEar

GoldenEar had its stunning red T66 speakers at the Florida show. Paired with an Anthem STR integrated amp and a HiFiRose streamer it made for an excellent sounding and streamlined combination. I expected nothing less from the “newly married” audio couple.

Metaxas & Sins

Jeff Garshon from Reel Sound Distribution introduces us to the new Prinz and Czar electrostatic speakers.

MBL

MBL brought my favorite model of their speakers to Florida this year, the MBL 101 E mkII. While the huge MBL speakers always make a visual splash and generate mobs at audio shows, I’ve always found the smaller versions to be more sonically satisfying. That held true at this show too. Mated with a full rack of MBL electronics, the sound was truly enveloping and engaging.

Innovo Audio Designs

Newcomer Innovo Audio Designs brought a rather unique product to the show in the form of their Luxe T1 loudspeaker. This fully active almost-flat-panel-in-appearance speaker had a gorgeous wood finish on its front and rear baffle. Facing the listener is a 1” tweeter and a 6.5” mid-woofer, both with dedicated PASCAL Class-D amps (150 watts and 500 watts respectively). The unusual feature is the eight 3” x 6” subwoofer drivers (four on each side along the edges) that are hidden from direct view. These also have a dedicated 500-watt amp too. Since these speakers are active and have powerful DSP resources, they can be placed right up against a wall if desired. At $36K per pair in standard finish, these are another product for those who are after a high level of sound and aesthetics with a minimum of external boxes. And sound good they surely did! A big, clear soundstage and thunderous bass were no sweat for these very pretty totems. Speaking with designer David Nelson (formerly of TRIAD) I learned that there will also be a matching active up-firing Dolby ATMOS module that will be coming soon for these speakers. Different and very cool!

Margules

Julian Margules has got to be a very busy guy as evidenced by all the beautiful Margules gear in this great-sounding room sponsored by Deep Dive Audio. Point of interest for me was the Margules Orpheo Intermezzo Speakers ($30K per pair). I got to have a solid listen to some familiar tracks with these speakers and was duly impressed with what I heard. Vocal tracks and piano solos were particularly special with an “alive” quality that was very appealing. But the surprise for me in this room was a prototype planar-magnetic headphone (the HP-1) and a matching tube headphone amp/streamer (the HA-1). According to Julian, these were close to production ready and they were teasing these at the show. The HA-1 comes with a Volumio license to manage your library and connect to streaming services. A brief listen had me smiling broadly. The headphones seemed light and comfortable and the sound signature was very much what I expected from Margules. Musical and instantly appealing. Would love to review these!

Orchard Audio

Orchard Audio had a great pair of systems in their room. The first was a “bookshelf” system that started with Orchard’s PecanPi+ Steamer Premium ($1,500) sending its output to a pair of their Starkrimson Mono Premium 150-wpc Class-D amps ($2,500 per pair) that each sat atop a set of Soundfield Audio Mini Monitors ($1,200 per pair).

The Floor-standing system started with the same streamer’s output switched to a pair of big Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium 250-wpc amps ($5K per pair) which powered a pair of Soundfield Audio 1212OB open-baffle speakers ($7,500 per pair)

Both systems sounded excellent and at a price point that would make a music lover smile. The floor-standing system was especially appealing to me.

Bayz Audio

I affectionately call the Bayz Audio speakers “The Paperclips” because of their shape. This was my first listen to their smaller Courante 2.0 speakers and my impressions mirror my thoughts with MBL. I can better appreciate the sound of the smaller ones over the bigger ones at audio shows. The Courante 2.0 definitely delivered on that wide sweet-spot omnidirectional sound for me. No doubt the supporting Acoustic Arts electronics and ReVox/Sonorus RTR deck played their parts too.

Triangle/Electrocompaniet

I got a chance to listen to the Triangle Capella Active bookshelf speakers that our Editor-Emeritus John Johnson reviewed and they sounded stunning. I could see why he liked them so much and at $3,000 per pair you seemingly get a lot of speaker for your money with drop-dead good looks to boot! The bigger passive 40th Anniversary Magellan Duetto speakers ($5,800 per pair) were backed by a full complement of electronics by Electrocompaniet and they sounded like fuller and deeper versions of the Capellas. Either would make a music lover happy I’d wager.

MBL

The first floor was comprised of large rooms and event spaces, so I started with MBL. These German-made omnidirectional speakers are truly unique with their football-shaped drivers and powered by amplifiers the size of Honda Civics. In the past, they had shown off their top-of-the-line 101 X-Tremes which run $433,000 a pair but this year, they had a much smaller unit on display, the 101 E MkII which are $91,000 a pair. They were powered by a pair of reference monoblocks and an impressive rack of preamps.

Though my last encounter with MBL was two years ago, I realized after a few minutes that I liked these smaller speakers better than the giant flagships. The sound was more intimate and inviting and the bass was tighter and more precise. It was also less fatiguing which meant I stayed far longer than I should have given that I had only one day to cover the whole show. Since I’ll never even hope to afford speakers and gear like this, it’s worth an annual drive to Tampa to hear them, even just for a little while.

Viva Audio

If you’re a fan of horn speakers, there are always some extreme examples at the Florida Audio Expo. There are Viva Audio Nudas which can be purchased from House of Stereo in Jacksonville, Florida for $195,000 a pair. You can even put them into a virtual cart and have them shipped if you like, although pickup is encouraged. Like any horn speaker, the sweet spot is small in relation to their size.

Sitting wide apart like this, the room had a decent sound stage. The Nudas are very precise and don’t need ridiculous power to drive them. And the woofer is powered making the package very efficient. They certainly look unique, and they sounded great. If you really want to impress your friends, Viva offers a model above this called the Master Horn for a system price of $825,000. I’ll take two.

Focal

Of course, you’ll need to plug them into the wall, and there’s a CAT5 cable connecting them for the highest resolution performance if you choose. But you won’t need a rack of gear to run them. And the colored trim pieces are interchangeable. Definitely a step forward in convenience.

Stenheim & T+A

If you’ve got $175,000 burning a hole in your pocket, a pair of these Stenheim Ultime 2s might just be the ticket to happiness. Though I’ve bent my rule about avoiding box and cone speakers in this coverage, these just sounded so good. The room they were in was relatively small but even at more polite volumes, the sound was airy and seemed to float about the listener. A thoughtful touch in the back is the extra set of binding posts for bi-wiring or bi-amping. Luckily, these examples had appropriately thick jumpers to go with the $40,000 cables powering them. T+A provided the amplification courtesy of a pair of M 40 HV monoblocks ($62,850 a pair). They are a hybrid design that uses 6SN7 tubes for the first 60 watts in Class A mode, then a transistor section for an additional 250 watts in Class AB mode. Peak power is 1,000 watts into 4 Ohms.

Metaxas & Sins

Metaxas& Sins definitely met my mission parameters with their unique design. They’re billed as audio sculptures and that description is clearly accurate. I checked out a turntable and open reel deck along with a pair of electrostatics. I couldn’t help but notice the SVS sub behind them to fill in the bass, cute. The gear was gorgeous to look at and sounded great. In a modern living or media room, these would be right at home. Even the names are unique. The turntable is called the Perambulator, with a Combobulator tonearm. The tape deck is the Tourbillon, a word more commonly associated with fine watches. And the speakers are Czars. We know what that one means. Everything is made from CNC machined metal and is jewel-like in construction, fit, and finish.

Oneiros Audio

From British company Oneiros Audio comes… The Oneiros loudspeaker. This lovely tower is the company’s only product and it is impressive in both appearance and sound. They had a large room for their demo and the speakers more than filled it with clean rich dynamics that were perfectly balanced throughout the entire frequency range. The cabinet is made from carbon fiber with the same processes used to build Formula 1 race cars. The drivers are graphene composite with CNC machined baskets that cover 20Hz to 35kHz. You won’t need a sub with these provided you have enough amplifier power. This demo certainly did thanks to a pair of Audio Research Reference 330M Monoblocks. They are tube amps with six KT170s in the output stage for 330 watts of pure Class A power. And they have the coolest VU meters I’ve ever seen. Lest you think the speakers might be light in weight, they tip the scales at 310 pounds each and are nearly six feet tall. If they were made from wood, they would certainly be heavier. Super cool!

Chesky Audio

Nearly every room at the Expo was filled with super expensive gear that cost more than most luxury cars. But here, I listened to an impressive and tiny pair of cubes that retail for just $996 a pair. Yes, you read that right. If you’re wondering where you’ve heard the name Chesky before, Lucca is indeed the son of famed composer, musician, producer, and founder of HDTracks, David Chesky. Lucca is achieving something special in his own right with the LC1 Bookshelf Monitors. The tweeter has a wide dispersion design with a refractor on either side. A six-inch midrange and two eight-inch woofers fill out the driver compliment in a sealed polymer cabinet that is less than one cubic foot in volume. His demo was driven by a basic set of Cambridge Audio components, nothing fancy. The sound was amazing, to say the least. The bass extension is rated 50Hz, but I heard subtones lower than that, even though the room was small. I can’t wait to get a pair of these in for review.

Perfect 8

It may be hard to see the speakers in these photos because they’re made entirely of tempered glass. For those wondering about cabinet materials and whether they should be inert or resonant, Perfect 8 believes the former. The only things vibrating in the Cube Ts shown here are the driver cones and the air around them. The boxes are sealed and nearly air-tight with no ports.

For the demo, a half-filled water bottle was placed on one tower while it played bass-heavy tracks. Not only did the bottle not move, but the water inside was perfectly still. And the sound was amazing. With four active 10-inch woofers going at once, there was more than enough bass. And it was tightly controlled thanks to the drivers’ magnetic coupling. The electronics are in the large black box on the backside. The glass has two layers to further prevent vibration. At a suggested 60,000 euros a pair, the price isn’t as high as many less-exotic speakers I’ve seen. The sound is truly unique.

SVS

I bent my “no box and cone” rule one more time because I really wanted to hear SVS’s new Ultra Evolution Pinnacle towers. A pair of these beauties cost just $5,000, or less than the power cords used in many of the demo rooms. And they sounded amazing! They are rated down to 24Hz which is difficult to wrap one’s mind around until you hear them. I’ve experienced many large full-range speakers, and they always benefitted from the addition of a subwoofer. These completely fooled me into thinking the SB 17 Ultra R Evolution in the corner was turned on. A quick touch of the driver surround proved it was indeed off. Honestly, I cannot think of a speaker that offers more bang for the buck in a full-range tower. Literally, nothing else I’ve heard for less than $50,000 can touch them. My only problem is how I’ll get a pair for myself. The front baffle is time aligned with the tweeter centered, an unusual arrangement but it works. The sound stage was immense and though I could not sit in the sweet spot, the imaging was completely three-dimensional with a strong and focused center. I suspect SVS will have a hard time keeping up with the demand for these.

Popori

I have something of a love/hate relationship with electrostatic speakers. On the love side, their accuracy, clarity, and transparency are amazing for classical music. Nothing else can render the nuances and details of a full orchestra better. But they just don’t have any bass. I always miss that hall ambiance that comes with sub-tones below 60Hz. And organ music just falls flat.
When I walked into the Popori room, I immediately noticed the bass traps behind them. Why would you need bass traps with electrostats? Well, these WR1s do. They are rated to 35Hz, and I could easily hear tones lower than that from room gain. These are hands-down the best electrostats I’ve ever heard. Relative to what the Expo is about, their price of $66,800 a pair is pretty good. The demo I heard included a rendition of Mariah Carey’s I’ll Be There in its live performance version. I’ve heard this hundreds of times, mostly on crappy car stereos but this time, I was truly moved. The live quality was simply astounding. A guy in front of me asked, “How do they do that?”, no doubt referring to their prodigious bass output. I might give up movies for a pair of these, they are that good.

Acora Acoustics

You’ve heard of rock speakers, right? Well, these aren’t speakers made to look like rocks, they’re made from actual rocks. Acora is known for its granite cabinets, and they are as impressive in person as they are in pictures. Sound? Of course, they sound great. These are VRC Reference towers weighing in at 410 pounds each. They’re rated down to 18Hz which seems fantastic given the two tiny ports in the back. They were in a very large room, and they certainly filled the space amply but none of the demo tracks playing had any serious sub-tones so I couldn’t honestly say that they wouldn’t benefit from a subwoofer. But that’s not what they’re about. They’re loud and clean and make a unique visual statement. They’ll set you back $218,000 a pair, not including the forklift required to install them. Seriously though, they’re super cool.

Wrapup

Obviously, I enjoyed my day among the rich and powerful audio gear at the Florida Audio Expo. I heard some amazing demos and witnessed a lot of impressive design and technology. A couple of takeaways: You don’t need a resonant cabinet made from wood to get great sound. Glass, carbon fiber, and granite were all in attendance in some of the best-sounding speakers I’ve ever heard. With something from MBL or Popori, you don’t need a cabinet at all. But you don’t need to take out a mortgage to get great sound either. The offerings from SVS and Chesky Audio delivered a tremendous performance at middle-class prices.

I’ll close with a couple of awards.

Bang for the Buck – Tied between Chesky Audio’s LC1 Bookshelf Monitor and SVS’s Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Towers

Best Overall Sound – Tied between Popori’s WR1 and Perfect 8’s Cube T