The fourth annual Florida International Audio Expo is being held once again at the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Tampa Westshore in Tampa Florida from February 17th to the 19th. It is the first major audio show on the calendar and this year’s exhibitor list is turning out to be significantly larger than last year’s.

From this attendee’s perspective, the show seems to be experiencing a steady growth in popularity due to a few important factors. The consistent timing of the show right in mid-February combined with its sunny locale (who wouldn’t want to be in Florida in the dead of winter?), and good PR and planning by organizer Bart Andeer, along with his event staff, are making this show one of the most enjoyable on the docket. As usual, Secrets will be bringing you extensive coverage of all the goings on at his year’s Expo. Editor-In-Chief Carlo Lo Raso and Co-Editor Chris Eberle will be updating this page regularly with new updates both during and after the show, so keep checking back as new coverage keeps rolling in! We hope you enjoy it!

Note, all prices unless otherwise stated are in US Dollars.

Carlo Lo Raso

Focal-Naim

The first room I visited at the Florida Audio Expo was run by Focal-Naim. They were running some serious hardware in the main part of the hotel suite, namely in the form of the Naim Statement system ($200,000) driving a pair of Focal Maestro Utopia EVO loudspeakers ($38,000/Each). The Statement is comprised of Naim’s top-shelf preamplifier architecture mated to a pair of mono-block amplifiers putting out 746 watts @ 8 ohms and 1450 watts @ 4 ohms. Plenty of juice to keep those Focals under complete control.

Focal Maestro Utopia EVO loudspeakers

Naim Statement Naim Statement

In the adjoining room we had Naim’s recently launched New Classic 200 series of components consisting of the NSC 222 streaming preamplifier, the NAP 250 power amplifier, and NPX 300 external power supply (each model is priced at $8,999/each). These were connected to a flaming orange pair of Focal Sopra No 2 ($19,999/pair). The overall aesthetic and tactile feel of these new Naim components just screams quality.

NAIM New Classic 200 series

Also keeping this rig company was a couple of members of the newly announced Vestia line of speakers, namely the No 1, and the No 2 ($599 and $1,399 each respectively).

And of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the very special Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition streaming music player ($3,700). It’s so special in fact that we awarded it a SECRETS 2022 “Thumbs Up” award at the show. Very well earned!

 

House of Stereo

Jacksonville, Florida dealer House of Stereo hosted a couple of rooms at the show, one of which featured Duo GT horn speakers from Avantgarde Acoustic from Germany and electronics by Phasemation of Japan. A Titan turntable by VPI Industries and cables by Synergistic Research rounded out the gear.

MoFi Electronics

MoFi Electronics had a few rooms at the Florida Audio Expo, as they were all conveniently placed right around the hotel room I was staying in, it was an easy matter to cover them first. It also allowed me the chance to present Jon Derda of MoFi Electronics their SECRETS 2022 Best Turntable award for the MoFi SoundLab Ultradeck Plus M turntable. The award is pictured with a Fender x MoFi PrecisionDeck Limited Edition Turntable ($3,495).


The award, along with the fancy Fender turntable were in a room featuring the gorgeous little Falcon M10 bookshelf loudspeakers from Falcon Loudspeakers in the UK ($2,295/pair). These were being powered by a BAT VK-3500 Hybrid Integrated Amplifier ($11,995). A nice, clean sounding room. Although I felt the addition of a good subwoofer would have completed the picture.

Another MoFi room was featuring new COAX 711 LTD Tower speakers by Piega of Switzerland ($24,995/pair) which were being controlled by a BAT REX3 Pre Preamplifier ($30,000) and powered by a beastly new BAT REX500 Stereo Power Amplifier ($22,500). As the name implies, this dual-mono behemoth puts out 500 watts @ 8 Ohms and 1000 watts @ 4 Ohms. Other gear included the HiFi Rose RS150b Wireless Network Streamer ($4,995), the BAT REX3 DAC ($20,000), the EMT 928 II Battery Powered Turntable with JSD Pure Black Cartridge ($17,995), and the EMT 128 Phono Preamp ($11,995). The MoFi reps were regularly belting out Tool’s Fear Inoculum album at above average volume levels and the sound was clean and uncompressed with some serious bass hits to the gut. The attendant masses seemed suitably enthralled!

Just Audio, a retailer out of Maryland, partnered with MoFi on another room that showcased 2 pairs of Wharfdale speakers, the Lintons ($1,799/pair with stands) and the Elysian 1 ($5,495/pair with stands). Now I hadn’t had a good listen to Wharfedale speakers in a few years and I have to say I was impressed by both these examples. The Elysian 1 definitely sounded like a very buttoned-up textbook loudspeaker with a clean sound and a consistent sonic transition throughout its operating range. Bass was adequate but a little on the polite side. The Lintons on the other hand were like an old-school party speaker, fun and engaging to listen to with more punch in the bass. Slightly warmer sounding but still clear enough to keep them sounding a cut above. Associated electronics were a CDT CD Transport ($895) and Stereo 230 Integrated Amp ($1,695) by Leak, a Box integrated amplifier by Mastersound ($3,995), and RS250a ($2,695) and RS520 $3,695) streamers by HiFiRose.

Perlisten

Fidelity Imports had a whopping seven rooms full of gear at the Florida Audio Expo and the first one I visited belonged to Perlisten. Since this company landed on the scene a couple of years ago with completely fleshed out speaker and subwoofer lines, they have made a huge impression on audiophiles and reviewers, yours truly included. Perlisten knocked my socks off first with the S7t tower speakers  and then the R5m monitors. Both in stereo and home theater implementations when combined with their matching surrounds and the Perlisten dual driver subs (which seem fully capable of bending the fabric of time!). I was therefore more than happy to present Perlisten CEO Dan Roemer with the SECRETS 2022 Best Of award for the R5m-based home theater system that I reviewed.

After the presentation, I was able to spend some quality time with the S7t towers ($19,990/pair) they had connected to a stack of beautiful Soulnote electronics. The A-2 Integrated Amp ($7,999), the D-2 DAC ($8,999), the E-2 Phono preamp ($8,999), an Innuos Statement streamer, and the Michell Gyro SE with TechnoArm2 turntable ($5,498) rounded out the gear. All were sitting on a lovely NEO Audio Rack ($5,999 for the 4-shelf version).

Pro-Ject/Sumiko/Rotel

Next, I was able to drop in to visit our friends at Pro-Ject, Sumiko, and Rotel as I had some awards for them as well. A “Best Of” Award for Rotel’s RA-1572MKII Integrated amp, a “Thumbs Up” Award for their RC-1572MKII Stereo Preamplifier, and another “Thumbs Up” Award for the Sumiko Celebration 40 Phono Cartridge. Here I was able to present the Rotel awards to Rotel’s Ricky Miranda. I presented the Celebration 40 award to Pro-Ject/Sumiko’s Jeff Coates, but he somehow slyly evaded photography!

In lieu of Jeff’s mug, we will present you with the delightful sights found in Pro-Ject/Rotel’s room for your drooling pleasure. I particularily dig the Pro-Ject speaker, turntable, and streamer combination along with the new true balanced architecture of their latest phono preamps.

Spirit Torino

Checking in on our friends at Spirit Torino I can see that they have been very busy this past year. First, I needed to present our “Thumbs Up” award to Chief Designer and founder Andrea Ricci for the great-sounding Mistral Bluetooth headphones.

After the award, Andrea walked me through the details of the new Centauri Planar headphones ($3,000). This model marks the company’s first planar magnetic design, and it uses a similar multi-layer damping and venting design in the earcup as is found in the Mistral but with some additional advancements and adaptations to work with a planar design. On initial listen they definitely sounded unlike any other planar headphones that I’ve sampled. They have a very full and rich sound signature that presents more like a dynamic driver than planar to me. I’m looking forward to spending some more time with a pair once production is in full swing, but at first blush they sound very compelling.

Another treat was listening to the limited-edition Spirit Torino Pulsar ($6,000) headphones on the company’s Sigfrid hybrid headphone amplifier ($12,570). The Sigfrid looks like no other headphone amp I’ve ever seen and it also currently outputs 30 watts per channel @ 8 Ohms to drive speakers as well, though you will want to use very efficient speakers to get the most out of it. The Pulsar/Sigfrid combo sounded especially spectacular and richly alive.

Pulsar and Sigfrid

TAD

At Florida Audio Expo vaunted Japanese brand TAD Laboratories was premiering the next generation of their Compact Evolution 1 loudspeaker, the CE-1TX. And if that wasn’t enough the company had brought the latest generation of their Reference One floor-standing speaker, the TAD-R1TX-BR, a loudspeaker that hasn’t been seen stateside in several years. The occasion was important enough that TAD CEO Shinji Tarutani came to the show to be alongside US distributor Dave Malekpour of PAD HiFi for the announcement and demonstration. Here is a video of Shinji Tarutani and Dave Malekpour along with mastering engineer (and convenient translator) Tatsuya Sato discussing the new TAD CE-1TX with me.

I try not to be typically overdramatic or overly effusive when I review any audio products. It personally drives me nuts when I read it and (in my eyes) it diminishes a reviewer’s credibility when it happens consistently. That being said, there are maybe a handful of loudspeakers that I would (momentarily) consider performing acts that would surely land me either in prison or divorce court in order to possess them. Both the TAD CE-1TX and R1TX-BR are solidly on that list for me. They are both THAT good sonically and aesthetically. I reviewed the first-generation CE-1 in 2015 and newest version is at least as good, given the ballroom setting it was in. I would love to review this new version in the same home environment as the original. The new Reference One is a whole order of magnitude better than almost any other loudspeaker I heard at this show. Factoring in the environment, it one of my favorite loudspeakers here.

Geshelli

The folks at Geshelli Labs were at the show again this year with a seemingly constant flow of people going in and out of their rooms. Geno, Sherri, and the fam had the Zoofa integrated amp here, which should be starting production later in the year once the new production line is completed.

But besides the Zoofa, Geshelli is producing a new Archel 3 PRO headphone amplifier which will use discreet opamps from Sparkos Labs ($599 base price) and a new version of the J2 DAC that will have Sparkos opamps as standard but will also have opamp sockets to allow for opamp rolling (price TBD). The handsome wood cases that are handmade and finished by papa Joe were on display in abundance along with small batch carved cases they are offering at special times. Geshelli were also teasing a prototype planar headphone from upstart headphone company Modhouse. No additional info was available beyond the working prototype to gauge reaction. I thought it looked and sounded pretty sweet with the new Sparkos equipped gear.

SVS

SVS had another consistently packed demo room every time I would pass by. Luckily, I found an occasion with enough of a lull to coax VP of Marketing Nick Brown out of the room to present him with the “Thumbs Up” award for the SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers.

I was actually able to squeeze into the room at one point and watch SVS’s demo-sensei Larry conduct a session with the new Prime Wireless PRO speakers. An excellent sounding value in that space.

Margules

It’s always a pleasure checking in on the crew at Margules. I was happy to present them with a SECRETS “Thumbs Up” award for their i-240 integrated tube amp, after which I sat in to enjoy an extended listen to their U-280SC Anniversary tube amp with Raidho loudspeakers. While I did miss the presence of Margules’s own Orpheus loudspeakers, the Raidhos were an excellent stand in. Overall, very smooth, musical, and well matched to the room.

Orchard Audio

I also checked in on another SECRETS “Thumbs Up” award winner, Orchard Audio, and presented owner Leo Ayzenshtat with his award for the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra power amplifier. Leo’s amplifiers use GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology and besides the Starkrimson Stereo Ultra amp at 500 watts/channel, Orchard makes a streamer called the PecanPi (with built-in DAC and headphone amp), and wee GaN monoblock amplifiers (Starkrimson Mono) that put out 150 watts @ 8 ohms. When I was visiting the room, Leo had a little monoblock amp sitting on top of two Soundfield Audio stand mounted speakers with short runs of speaker cables going to the binding posts. The amps were being fed directly by the Pecan Pi. An unconventional but great sounding setup with an appealingly small footprint.

Joseph Audio

I have yet to hear a bad sound in a Joseph Audio room and this show was no exception. This year Jeff Joseph was sharing a room with Cardas and Doshi Audio. He had his Joseph Audio Pulsar 2 Graphene stand-mounted speakers ($9,999/pair), powered by a Doshi Audio Evolution Series Stereo Amplifier ($21,995), and controlled by a Doshi Evolution Series Line Preamplifier ($19,995). Sourcing was provided by Aurender in the form of an A20 Reference Network Player ($15,000). It put a smile on my face being there!

Unique Home Audio

Dealer Unique Home Audio had a room chock full of audio delights from by Acora Acoustics, Gold Note, Acoustic Signature and more. Which, don’t get me wrong, were plenty awesome. But what caught my interest was the T+A headphone stack tucked in the back of the room. It consisted of the new T+A Solitaire T headphones ($1,600), the HA200 Headphone Amp ($9,650), and the MP200 Multi-source Streamer/CD Player ($5,900). I’ve never had a chance to hear the Solitaire T headphones before and, while I only got to hear them in traditional wired mode, I liked what I was hearing. They were surprisingly light, very comfortable, and had a sonic balance that made me interested in spending more time with them. The electronics themselves were, of course, drool-worthy.

Fidelity Imports

In another Fidelity Imports room, there was a rather tasty combination of the Q Acoustics Concept 300 speakers with stands ($4,999) powered by a Unison Research Due Integrated amplifier ($3,999) making beautiful music together. The pretty Unison S6 Integrated amp ($5,999) was catching some beauty sleep apparently.

Next door, in another Italian/UK pairing, the Q Acoustics Concept 50 towers were partnered with an Audia Flight 3 S Integrated amplifier ($3,999) and sourced with an Audia Flight CD Three S CD player with optional digital input board ($4,498). Great sounding bass coming from those mid-towers.

Fidelity Imports also brought in a larger set of Italian speakers called the Opera Callas Diva ($11,999) which both looked and sounded gorgeous. Especially as they were mated to commensurate Italian electronics like the Unison Research Unico 90 Integrated amp ($5,999) and matching CD Due CD player ($4,499). All I needed now was an espresso and some cannoli and it would have been perfect!

The last of the Fidelity Imports rooms had Acoustic Energy AE 520 speakers ($4,999/ pair) mated with Soulnote electronics, the A-1 Integrated amplifier ($3,999), the D-1 DAC ($6,999), the E-1 Phono preamp, and a Michell Audio Technodec turntable with T3u tonearm ($2,698). I’m always in awe at the size of the sound that comes out of these modest-looking, unpretentious loudspeakers. Quite enveloping.

And while Chris will talk about his experience with the new Diptyque speakers later on, I’ve got to give a shoutout to Cyrus Audio and those great little half-size components they make, along with the custom stand they are on. There is some great design and engineering going on there.

Aurender

I have known about Aurender for a while but have not had a chance to get up close and personal with one of their components before. I really like the all-black look and color screen of the Aurender A20 Music Server/Streamer. Build quality seemed excellent and using the custom music library software felt snappy and fairly intuitive. Even the sound quality of the headphone amp seemed very good when listening through the Focal Stellia headphones they had on hand. Not everyone needs such a full-featured and powerful streaming component, but for those that do, Aurender looks to have you covered with the A20. Would love to review one of these!

Aretai

Aretai Loudspeakers was sharing a room with Viablue cables. I last heard these Aretai Contra 100 S speakers ($9,000/pair +) at last year’s AXPONA paired with Benchmark Media gear and I thought they sounded off the charts good. They still sounded excellent with the tube gear in this room by Convergent Audio Technology. Really great imaging and tonal balance overall. The Viablue cables were a new name to me, but I have to say I really liked what I saw in terms of design and build quality. Made in Germany and not crazy money as some other high-end cable brands.

Suncoast Audio

Suncoast Audio had one of the large ballroom spaces set up with these imposing panels from Clarisys Audio of Vietnam. Called the Auditorium Neo Panel Loudspeakers ($140K/pair), they certainly made a grand visual statement as they were making their US debut here in Florida. Inspired by the Apogee planar ribbon speakers of old, Clarisys ramps things up by several degrees here by using double-sided bass panels for example. The resulting sound was indeed very impressive, with great dynamics, huge scale, and real bass. Power and control were supplied by Block Audio SE monoblock amps ($60K each) and an SE preamp ($45K). Digital sourcing was provided courtesy of an Aurender N20 ($12.5K) and select MSB Technology digital components. An Avenger Direct turntable ($36K) and a beautifully restored Studer Reel-to-Reel deck rounded out the gear.

MBL

Ah, MBL. I have a bit of a checkered experience with MBL at audio shows. The story with me goes that whenever they show the really big speaker models, I tend to have a less than favorable impression of the sound than when the smaller ones are playing. Last year at this show they had the big Radiastrahlers set up and I thought they sounded a bit harsh and “shouty.”  I fully expect room setup for these omnidirectional speakers cannot be an easy task so take my opinion here with a grain of salt. But this year in Florida these MBL 101 E Mk II ($91K/pair) definitely delivered the goods. Again, these are the smaller Radiastrahlers but they gave a full-on sense of spacious immersion and the tonality was excellent. It was finally what I always expected these kinds of speakers to sound like. In my mind, this demo was the best I have heard MBL speakers sound, ever. Well done MBL!

Next Level HiFi

Next Level HiFi had all the nice things from Audio Group Denmark at the show. Here we have the Borresen X3 loudspeakers ($11K/pair) with their striking woven carbon fiber, NOMEX core sandwich mid/woofers, and substantial ribbon tweeter in a waveguide. Power and control were provided courtesy of the new AXXESS Forte Integrated amp ($5,500). Cables were provided by Ansuz. A dynamic and detailed presentation with a big soundstage. Very nice looking and sounding system!

CAD

CAD (Computer Audio Design) is a brand I have not heard of before, but they had a great sounding room combining their source components with amplification from Aesthetix Audio’s Mimas Integrated amplifier and Egglestonworks Oso loudspeakers ($12,500). Nice balanced sound overall.

Warwick Acoustics

Warwick Acoustics was at the show with two different electrostatic rigs. The first was their Bravura headphones with Sonoma DAC and amplifier. While the other was their limited edition Aperio headphone and amp combination. Besides being some of the coolest-looking headphones ever, both sounded effortlessly clean like the best electrostatic headphones should. The Bravura sounded like it was tuned more for a fun listening experience with a bit more bass punch. The Aperio sounded like it would seem more at home in a professional monitoring situation. The Bravura with Sonoma amp are $5,995 in silver and $6,795 in black. The Aperio system is $32,000. Start saving your shekels kids!

MoFi

In another one of the MoFi rooms speaker designer Andrew Jones was holding what seemed like non-stop and packed demos of his new SourcePoint 10 loudspeakers ($3,999/pair with stands). When I was finally able to squeeze into a demo, Andrew entertained us with some great industry stories and demonstrated the SourcePoint 10s with various challenging tracks played from a HifiRose RS150. It goes without saying that the SourcePoint 10s sounded impressive and really appealing with great bass reproduction to boot. I think that five of these or even three for the front channels would make the foundation for a killer home theater setup. Really looking to review these at some point.

House of Stereo

Probably the last notable room of the show for me was the House of Stereo room with the gorgeous Triangle Magellan Quatuor 40th anniversary loudspeakers ($20K/pair) immaculately dressed in Zebrano wood veneer. These were powered, controlled, and sourced by Electrocompaniet gear. Specifically, the AW800M Monoblock Power Amplifier, used in stereo ($22,500), the EC 4.8 MkII reference preamp ($4,900a, the ECM 1 MKII Media Player-Streamer ($5,700)., and the ECP 2 Mk II phono preamp ($2,900). A VPI turntable and cabling by Synergistic Research rounded out the mix. A sweet-sounding room and overall generally nice place to be!

 

 

Chis Eberle

It’s February which means it’s time for the Florida Audio Expo in Tampa, Florida. Since it’s only about 90 minutes from my home, I headed West for a day of high-end audio and to see gear you won’t find in your local big box store.
The show occupies 13 floors of an Embassy Suites hotel right off the highway, so I started at 14 and worked my way down. Each vendor gets their own room; most were outfitted with systems from multiple companies. In fact, most of the exhibitors were either dealers or distributors. There was some overlap between electronics and speakers, but I tried to focus on things that looked unusual or new. I appreciated the companies that posted the gear list outside in the hallway, so I knew what I was going to see and hear before entering.

Spirit Torino

Spirit Torino Sigfrid

I began my adventure at Spirit Torino, a maker of headphones and accessories. Above you see their Sigfrid headphone amplifier. Though it looks a lot like a PC, it is in fact packed with premium components. Each of the two channels gets its own toroidal transformer and bank of capacitors. It’s fully balanced and includes a high-end volume potentiometer from Alps. Cost? $12,533.39.

 Spirit Torino Pulsar Headphones

Connected was Spirit Torino’s Pulsar Aluminum headphones that retail for $6,000. Yes, this combo costs as much as a nice used car. But it sounds way better. The transparency and detail coming through were simply sublime. The opening of Copland’s Appalachian Spring truly sparkled even though the dynamic was barely audible. Nothing can hide when played through this system.
The only bummer was that being open-backed the Pulsars could not block out any of the room sounds. Once a few people came in and started talking, my listening session dematerialized. You’ll want a quiet space to enjoy these to their full potential.”

Teac

TEAC Turntable

Teac is one of those brands that many audio enthusiasts of my generation will remember from the Eighties. And unlike others from that era, it hasn’t been sold to a conglomerate to use as badging for big box store fare. Teac still makes quality electronics and even has its own DAC chip which I heard in all its glory in separates from their Reference Series. The AP-701 Class D Power Amplifier retails for $3,799 and the UD-701N Preamp/DAC costs $4,299. Anne-Sophie Mutter sounded like she was giving me a personal performance as she interpreted a Mozart violin concerto through a pair of Canton Reference 5Ks (the passive ones). The track was streamed but Teac also makes reasonably priced turntables for vinyl fans.

M-101 Cables

I was attracted to this room because it had a pair of Paradigm Personas on hand, but the company featured here was M-101 Cables. The nest of goodness between the speakers reminded me of that scene in The Matrix where you can see infants being sent through long tubes by robots to their respective power stations while Morpheus intones, “Humans are no longer born, they are grown.”

These cables range in price from $799 for a LAN cable to $19,999 for a two-meter pair of speaker cables. The analog units all employ separator discs for the individual conductors which is the reason they appear so thick. Most of what you’re seeing here is air, but this design alleviates any concerns one might have about skin effect. Metallurgy is top shelf as well with the flagship cables made from pure silver.

Diptyque

These Diptyque speakers are made in France and are a hybrid electrostatic, ribbon design. The large panel covers the full range while a ribbon tweeter provides high-frequency clarity. They are well-priced at $5,499. Claimed low-end response is 40Hz which is good for a planar speaker. I thought the bass was very well controlled with a good presence and wide sound stage.

MC Audiotech

These are MC Audiotech’s TL-12 speakers which are based on a wide band line source driver configuration. You might remember this company from last year’s Expo when they showed the unusual-looking Forty-10 which looked to me like a vintage tube TV.

Their new design is a large full-range cabinet that plays flat from 28Hz to 20kHz with 92dB efficiency. It’s deceiving because you can drive this behemoth with just about any amplifier. It sounded light and fast with great detail and tons of bass. You won’t need a subwoofer with these, even in a home theater application.

Geshelli

Geshelli Labs is a family-owned and operated company based in Melbourne, Florida. They make headphone amps and are about to introduce a two-channel stereo amp. All the boards and internals are handmade and the wavy cases you see in the second photo are made from wood. These components sounded amazing when driving a pair of Spirit Torino headphones. I rocked a few tracks from Kansas, the rock group, not the state. Their amps run around $220-500 so if you visit their website, you won’t be surprised that they’re back-ordered. This was one of the best values I found at the entire Expo.

Eminent Technology

If you’re interested in electrostatics but don’t want to give up deep bass, Eminent Technology might have something for you. The Model 18 LS, shown here in prototype form, has eight bass drivers in a line array, six in front and two in the back. The midrange is the panel in the middle and a ribbon tweeter rounds out the frequency range on the inside portion of the panel. These speakers are active, each one uses 3 channels of Hypex amplification and the amps have extensive DSP resources to set the crossovers and fine-tune the speakers to the room. They sounded amazing and much more full-bodied than panel-only designs. When available, they’ll be selling for $15,000 a pair.

Lansche Audio

I’ve saved the best for last. This was hands-down the best thing I heard at the Expo. These are Lansche Audio No 5.2s and, get this, their tweeter has no moving parts.

You might wonder what that purple light is coming from the horn-loaded driver on top. That is, as the poster in the background says, a Corona Plasma Tweeter. This thing is a revelation, at least in my mind. It has no dome, no voice coil, no magnet, no moving parts of any kind. It uses a plasma arc to create a super-heated gas cloud which is then modulated to produce sound. Since it has virtually no mass, it is more responsive than even the most thinly deposited beryllium dome.

I’ve heard many accurate and detailed speakers that employ all kinds of fancy technology, but the Corona tweeter is leaps and bounds beyond any of that. It truly creates a reality that is addictive. I spent almost an hour in this room listening to all kinds of music and all I could think was, I want this. It’s a speaker I could give up my theater for. It has plenty of bass too and though there are three larger models above the No 5.2, it delivered more than enough presence for the large room it was displayed in. This model costs $48,500 to start. And it was driven by a pair of Thrax monoblocks, Class A/B, that retail for $37,500 each.

If you look closely at the top component in the rack, the CD player, you’ll see that it’s a $600 Rotel. The presenter told me his high-end player had died so he ran out to Best Buy and bought this Rotel. Listening to music on good ole Redbook CD was incredible. You’d swear it was a high-res stream.

This system got my Best-In-Show. I just couldn’t get enough.

Final Words

I consider myself a practical audiophile. That’s largely due to my financial status but since I have access to a lot of premium gear, my experience is broad and well-rounded. High-end gear like you find at the Florida Audio Expo and other shows is as much about the experience as it is high performance. You can spend $50,000 on a turntable. Do records sound better than CDs or high-resolution streams? I don’t think so but laying down that opinion and walking away misses the point. Records create an experience that is unique and deliver a sound that is unique as well. I would not say that one is better than the other, only that they are different. Listeners all have their own perceptions, and what is gold to some will be tin to others. The same can be said about expensive cables and tube electronics. These components all have their own interpretation of sound reproduction, and no amount of test results will change the opinions of passionate audiophiles.

I look forward to the Florida Audio Expo now that I’ve been twice. I spend a lot of time watching movies but sometimes, it’s nice to just sit down and listen to music. I’ve recently bought a bunch of new CDs and plan to write a few music reviews in the coming weeks. My experience at the Expo has inspired me to listen to and enjoy more music. And isn’t that the whole point?