The Florida Audio Expo is currently underway, February 7-9, 2020, at the Embassy Suites Hotel located near the airport in Tampa, Florida. Though the show didn't actually start until Friday morning, there was a meet and greet in the main lobby that took place on Thursday evening, February 6. My wife Beth and I arrived late Thursday afternoon; it was a harrowing drive down from Atlanta, which is normally about seven and a half hours from Tampa. It took over ten hours to get here, and we didn't arrive until nearly 7 pm, which was almost three hours past our scheduled arrival time. The weather was terrible, with a long line of thunderstorm cells and high winds that stretched hundreds of miles north of Atlanta down the full length of the Florida peninsula. We experienced what seemed like hurricane force winds, along with buckets of rain for the most part of the day, and encountered a plethora of accidents at every point along the journey.
I stumbled down to the meet and greet after we'd gotten settled in, but there was a six-piece jazz combo playing at such a relatively loud volume that I found it impossible to converse with anyone without essentially yelling at the top of your lungs. I decided to save my breath for the point when I visited the various rooms the next day. The order of my account here doesn't necessarily reflect the order of my visits. And keep in mind, that the sound at audio shows isn't always the very best, although I shockingly found good listening to be had in many of the rooms I visited. Also, the show lighting was abysmal at best, and my camera just wasn't up to the task much of the time. The exhibitors want to keep the rooms dark, but then insist on placing these high-wattage accent lights almost everywhere; and you also had many rooms where the curtains were only slightly open, causing massively potent brightness in the center of the image area. The potential for flares and washouts was just off the charts.
Roy Hall and Leland await the crush of the crowds!
Music Hall/Creek Audio/Epos/Rolls Bellari/Spin Clean
Manned by the irrepressible Roy Hall and sidekick and Music Hall V.P. Leland Leard, the room featured a static display of recent turntable offerings from Music Hall, along with various products from the other brands they represent. Roy and I both write for PS Audio's Copper Magazine on the side; when I asked for his rationale for the static display, he told me that the abundance of Copper money made it easy for him to not have to be overly focused on Music Hall's sales (it's a joke, people!).
JansZen Audio
David Janszen's new work follows the lineage of his father's original design for the electrostatic loudspeaker. The model on display, the Valentina A8, boasts dual internal 500 watt amplifiers. The sound was nothing short of superb!
The Margules turntable was an excellent sounding performer.
Margules Audio
Margules is a company with roots that stretch back over a century; everything they produce, from loudspeakers, amplifiers, preamps, turntables, DACs, and cables are fabricated and built in Mexico City. The room sound from both digital and analog sources was on par with the very best at the show.
Acora featured their unusually constructed standmounts in one of their rooms; despite lacking some bass, otherwise, they perhaps offered a better-sounding midrange presentation than the larger model displayed down the hall.
Acora Acoustics/VAC/Cardas Audio
Acora Acoustics demonstrated in two rooms; they showed floorstanders in one room, and stand-mount loudspeakers in the other. Two things separate them from the crowd; 1) they take drivers sourced from other manufacturers, then disassemble them and rebuild them to match their exacting tolerances and, 2) their cabinets are built from 3 cm thick solid granite! The cabinets guarantee that there are no resonances present to color the sound. Amplification was provided by VAC, and all analog, digital, loudspeaker, and power cables were from Cardas Audio.
The Wilson Audio Sasha DAWs offered a very convincing presentation of the music.
Salon Audio/Wilson Audio/VTL/Pass Labs/Basis/Transparent Cable
Salon is a business in Ormond Beach, Florida, who deals in high-end electronics and loudspeakers. Their display featured Wilson Audio Sasha DAWs, with amplification from VTL and Pass Labs. Basis turntables served as the source; Transparent Cable supplied interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords .
Dan Wright prepares to load another music selection.
Joe Parvey of Wolf Audio telling us about their new ripper/player/DAC/streamer. The digital sound was superb through the Eggleston Works loudspeakers.
ModWright/Wolf Audio/Eggleston Works/WyWires
ModWright's newest integrated amp and Wolf Audio's impressive ripper/player/DAC/streamer served as support for the Memphis-based Eggleston Works newest loudspeaker, the $12K OSO. Dan Wright played a digital track from Joni Mitchell's first album; her acoustic guitar and voice offered perhaps one of the most realistic presentations I'd ever experienced by any loudspeaker/electronics combo, ever. Very impressive sound! All analog, digital, speaker, and power cables were provided by WyWires.
The large PureAudioProject loudspeakers. I heard them later in the day on a return visit, and the sound was exceptionally good!
PureAudioProject/Pass Labs/VPI
After the opening meet and greet, I ran down the street to get some real food for Beth and I. When I returned, a guy was rolling a pair of open-baffle loudspeakers that towered a foot over his head onto the elevator! They were the PureAudioProject Quintet 15 Line, priced at about $10K; the smaller Quintet 10 Line setup is commensurately less expensive. Powered by the Pass Labs amps, the sound was open, dynamic, and very musical. A very impressive display! The turntable was from VPI, and Luminous Audio featured a static display of their passive preamp.
Gershman Acoustics/VAC/exaSound
Gershman Acoustics' display featured their Grand Studio Two model—which looks a lot like a pair of the Grand Studio Ones stacked inversely together—I was assured that this is not actually the case, there are driver and crossover wiring differences that make the Grand Studio Two a different beast altogether. Regardless, the sound was exceptional. Amplification was provided by VAC, and the digital source was an exaSound DAC.
MC Audiotech/Linear Tube Audio/Wolf Audio/PS Audio/Audience
Mark Conti's MC Audiotech loudspeakers were without a doubt the most unusual design I saw early on at the show, and their sound was truly impressive as powered by the Linear Tube amps. Each speaker employs ten proprietary hf transducers arranged in a curved array; the speakers exhibited perhaps the tallest and widest soundstage I encountered during the entire show. The sound was exemplary—until they played Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," which seemed to stress them a bit beyond their comfort zone. The DAC used in the system was a PS Audio Direct Stream, along with the Wolf Audio music server; cables were by Audience.
MSB Technology/Magico
The MSB amp was monstrous, not at all dissimilar looking to a small coffin. And the Magicos sounded really good, until this long-haired, aging hippy walked in with a CD by Joe Morello (longtime Dave Brubeck drummer) from the Nineties and asked if they'd play a track. It rocked like no jazz track I'd ever heard, and Joe Morello astonished everyone in the room with his prowess at the drum kit and the dynamics portrayed by the Magicos. Then they put on a 1964 Dean Martin track "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)"—that absolutely sounded like Dean was in the room—the realism was uncanny.
Gated Hi Fi Distribution/Borresen Acoustics/Aavik Acoustics/Ansuz Acoustics
This room featured the Danish-made, $37K Borresen stand-mount loudspeakers, which sounded much more like a much larger floorstander, with amazing image height and depth. The proprietary ribbon HF transducer gets a lot of the credit, or so I was told. They sounded amazing, and Mikey Fremer was digging it! Amplification was by Aavik Acoustics; Cables and digital streaming were provided by Ansuz Acoustics.
Raven Audio
Raven Audio is a Texas company that builds their own loudspeakers, tube amps, and an assortment of cables. The overall sound was dynamic, musical, and very impressive, and they played a lot of Texas artists during my visit there. Pricing was all over the place, from quite affordable to cost-no-object.
