This year marks my second trip to the Florida Audio Expo (FAE), and the first visit since 2020—last year's show was canceled because of the pandemic. The possibility that FAE 2022 would go on seemed tenuous at best, especially with the unexpected rise of the highly contagious Omicron Covid19 variant. But things began to get less worrisome as January and February went along, and the show has indeed gone on. Less than a half-dozen exhibitors ended up pulling out of the show; there are definitely fewer rooms than in 2020, but there's been a surprising amount of traffic through those rooms. If perhaps not quite on the same scale of attendance as in 2020—at least on day one, anyway. Here's a recap of what I've seen and heard so far—and some of it has been pretty darned impressive! And I apologize for the highly variable photo quality—I use a point-and-shoot camera, and you typically get either really great shots, or shots that are blurry or grainy because there isn't enough light. Which is totally typical of most audio shows everywhere. All prices shown are in USD.
The Von Schweikert Ultra 7's were undoubtedly the best sounding loudspeaker on day 1 of FAE!
The Audio Company featuring Von Schweikert Audio and Valve Amplification Company (VAC)
I mentioned in 2020 that there's this little boutique audio shop that's located inside an antique store and used record shop that's right on the square in Marietta, Georgia, about 20 minutes south of where I live in the suburbs of the northwest Atlanta area. At least, that's what I thought, until I showed up at FAE 2020 to discover that The Audio Company, in collaboration with Von Schweikert Audio and VAC had the largest and most impressive sounding room at the entire show. I was boggled by that, but soon found out that The Audio Company actually just has some nice, less esoteric gear on display at the antique store. And the two-story building adjacent to them actually houses their collection of much higher-end equipment, including the Von Schweikert loudspeakers and VAC equipment, among many other exotic brands. Who'd a thunk it?
Damon Von Schweikert and a representative from The Audio Company prepare an LP for playback.
Anyway, this year's show highlights a new Von Schweikert loudspeaker, the Ultra 7, which occupies a slot in the upper mid-tier of their loudspeaker lineup and retails for $180k. Yes, that's a whole lotta jack, but the asking price is one-third lower than the $300k MSRP of the flagship Ultra 11. And that loudspeaker was definitely my best of show at FAE 2020. So how does the Utra 7 compare to the Ultra 11? So far, I've definitely pronounced the Ultra 7's "best of show" at FAE 2022, but even at $120k less than the Ultra 11's, it's clear that the apple doesn't fall too from the tree! I overheard one of the principals from The Audio Company telling an attendee that the Ultra 7 had been moved a bit further into the room than a typical setup, and they'd been very happy with the results. I hung out to hear tracks from both digital and analog sources, and the music was played with a level of scale and realism that simply defied belief. Never at any point did the sound seem to be coming from the Ultra 7—it was as though we were present at an actual live performance! Very impressive.
Damon Von Schweikert getting the Kronos turntable up and running.
Of course, the loudspeakers are only part of the equation; the great amplification and system control provided by the flagship VAC equipment was absolutely necessary to help create the larger-than-life illusion of reality. Digital sources featured equipment from Esoteric and Aurender, and the analog source was the over-the-top Kronos turntable. Cables were provided by Masterbuilt Audio Cables (some of these were literally the size of fire hoses!), and racks and stands were supplied by Critical Mass Systems. While I would probably never consider a $180k/pair loudspeaker a bargain, when compared to the near-million-dollar rooms at the show, the Von Schweikert Ultra 7 (along with the superb synergy of all the equipment involved), offered a compelling listening experience. The room also highlighted a pair of Von Schweikert's Endeavor SE loudspeakers ($25k/pair) that were recently chosen as product of the year by Hong Kong's HiFi Review Magazine. I plan on heading back over there at some point this weekend to hopefully check those out as well.
Hoping to hear the highly-regarded Von Schweikert Endeavor SE loudspeakers over the next couple of days.
I approached one of the principals at The Audio Company in hopes of getting a tour within the week of their larger facility and to possibly scope out their recommendations for a really great-sounding system for around the $10k mark. No dice—they have several custom installations going on following this show that will push their window of availability back for about a month at the earliest. Don't think that ultra high-end equipment is selling in the current market environment—you'd better think again!
The Gershman Acoustics Grand Avant Garde loudspeakers are gorgeous in the gloss blue finish!
Gershman Acoustics with exaSound and Krell
The Gershman Acoustics loudspeakers were one of my show highlights back in 2020; the Grand Studio II's they displayed then had a sound quality that I found quite irresistible! This year, they featured a pair of their Grand Avant Garde loudspeakers ($16k/pair), which had a beautiful blue gloss finish that simply gleamed. I was impressed that such a relatively diminutive loudspeaker could produce music of such image height and scale, and they were exceptionally musical. The sound was quite intoxicating, and I lingered in the room talking to Eli and Ofra Gershman and George Klissarov (of exaSound) much longer than I'd intended to. Amplification and system control was provided by Krell, featuring an Illusion Preamplifier ($19k) and a Duo 300 XD stereo amplifier ($12k); all cables were from Cardas Audio.
The exaSound s82 Stereo Streaming DAC sits atop the stack of Krell amplification.
The superb musicality of the Grand Avant Garde's was due in no small part to the excellent digital source material provided by exaSound, who were premiering the s82 Stereo Streaming DAC ($6.5k). Which is built around state of the art ESS Sabre 9038 DAC chips, and has been designed and voiced to achieve nothing less than musical perfection. That was easily borne out in my listening in the Gershman room, where George played selections from several Patricia Barber albums that I'm intimately familiar with. Despite how very good they sound on my own system, I was really blown away by the musicality delivered by the Gershman/exaSound/Krell setup. The s82 is seriously overbuilt—that soon became even more obvious when George told me that the case of the device is CMC machined from a solid block of aluminum—it's literally built like a tank! The system setup included an exaSound Delta music server (from $3k) and also displayed an s88 8-channel Streaming DAC ($7.6k).
Eli Gershman, George Klissarov of exaSound, and Ofra Gershman.
The Gershman room also featured a pair of their more affordable Studio II loudspeakers ($4.5k/pair) that were powered by a Krell K-300i integrated amplifier ($9.5k). I didn't get a chance to hear them, but plan on going back at some point over the weekend to take a listen. If for no other reason than to simply hang out with George and the Gershmans, who are an absolute joy to spend time with!
Volti Audio's room featured their "budget" loudspeaker, the Razz earlier in the day.
Volti Audio featuring Border Patrol and Triode Wire Labs
I ventured over to Greg Roberts' room to see what he had on display at FAE, and was somewhat surprised to find that the room was featuring the Volt Razz loudspeakers I reviewed at Stereophile in 2020 (you can read that review HERE). As always, Greg's room featured tube amplification from Border Patrol, the excellent and very musical Border Patrol DAC, and digital disc playback and streaming from Innous. All cables in the system were supplied by Triode Wire Labs, and the system synergy was nothing short of superb. True to my recollection of the Razz, they were dazzlingly great-sounding loudspeakers, and Greg told me that he'd made several recent crossover modifications to the design and was considering replacing the tweeter with an improved version. They sounded just as good to me as they did during my time with them from a couple of years ago, and at a base MSRP of $6k, are one of the runaway best buys in high-end audio. They're an exceptional deal for a hand-built, made in America loudspeaker that will give you so much more than just a taste of the high end! And they'll play any kind of music with a scale of realism that simply must be heard to be believed, and are so very efficient, only a few tube watts are needed to get maximum performance from them. The Border Patrol amp provides 14 triode watts per channel, and that was plenty of juice to drive them to reference levels.
The larger Rival has been updated with machined CNC cabinets and revamped crossovers.
Later in the day, Greg's room was reconfigured to showcase the improved version of the next model up in Volti's lineup, the Rival. It's now produced using the same CNC-machined cabinet construction as used in the Razz, and Greg only uses Baltic birch plywood, which is acoustically superior to mdf. An incessant tinkerer, Greg has also upgraded and refined the Rival's crossover elements; the improved fit and finish and parts selection gives the Rivals a seductive sound that makes them truly impressive at $14k. You can elect to go with an outboard crossover arrangement (the crossover cabinets are beautiful too!), and that will jack the price up slightly, but listeners seeking every nuance in increased performance would definitely want to go that route. The room was crowded both times I was there, and even sitting far off-axis, I was still able to get a really great stereo impression, and the sound was simply magnificent! And even though the room the Rivals were displayed in was relatively smallish, the sound was never overpowering—and the 14-watt Border Patrol amplifier was more than up to the task of driving the Rivals to peak efficiency.
Greg Roberts of Volti Audio and "Triode Pete" Grzybowski of Triode Wire Labs.
The Triode Wire Labs cables are seriously robust, and use connectors from the likes of Furutech and Cardas throughout the line. The interconnects utilize Ohno Continuous Cast 7N copper, and all Triode Wire Cables are made in the USA. You'd be hard pressed to find that kind of attention to detail anywhere, especially at the relatively low price point these excellent cables retail for. And "Triode Pete" Grzybowski is one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet; it's great to hang with guys who not only are extremely knowledgeable, but also plain fun to be around!
The Thrax Audio gear was the highlight of the upstairs High End by Oz room.
High End by OZ featuring Thrax Audio and Borresen Acoustics
Connecticut dealer High End by OZ had two rooms at the show, one on the main level in the large Kennedy Meeting Room and another smaller room on the 9th floor. Both rooms featured really impressive high-end offerings, with the Kennedy Room focusing on dual pairs of Borresen Acoustics loudspeakers, amplification from Thrax Audio, and digital playback from Aavik Acoustics. The 9th floor room featured the premiere of a new loudspeaker pair from Thrax, a new Thrax integrated amplifier and turntable, and a Vitus Audio player for spinning digital discs. All cables in both rooms were provided by Danish company Ansuz Acoustics.
The Borresen Acoustics Silver 05's produced compellingly good sound with Thrax amplification.
The Borresen 05 Silver loudspeakers were playing in the Kennedy room during my visit there. Borresen's drivers are iron-free; that greatly lowers their inductance, and Borresen claims that the lowered inductance imparts a greater clarity to the overall sound of the drivers. Based on my listening results, I can't argue with that—the Borresen 05 offered midrange and treble clarity on par with the most expensive loudspeakers at the show, and they cast a really seductive soundstage and stereo image. The upgraded "Silver" version replaces any copper otherwise used in the drivers, reducing their inductance even more by another 6-8%. Those same options are also available with the two-way Borresen 01, which I heard at FAE 2020 and was greatly impressed with. I'm hoping to get the opportunity to listen to the 01 again tomorrow.
The upstairs room prominently featured pieces from Bulgarian manufacturer Thrax Audio. Thrax had mainly caught my attention at previous shows for the monstrously large tubes in some of their amplifier designs, but upstairs, not a tube was to be found! The loudspeakers were also made by Thrax, the Lyra bookshelf cabinets were paired with the Maxima side-firing woofer cabinets. Both the Lyra and Maxima were made from CNC machined blocks of aluminum, and while available separately, as shown (and heard!) they retailed for $41k. I generally wouldn't think of a loudspeaker in a metal enclosure as having any kind of superior acoustic properties, but after hearing this combo, I've definitely rethunk that conclusion! The resulting sound was dynamic, but also had great tonal warmth, but you'll need a wrecking crew to help bring them into your home—left and right side each weigh in at around 210 lbs! The analog source was a Thrax Yatrus turntable (starting at $16K) that was mounted with a VPI cartridge; the LP playing was a live album from Hugh Masakela that offered truly impressive dynamic range as heard through the Lyra/Maxima loudspeaker combination.
The Thrax integrated amplifier in the upstairs room was equipped with optional modules for phono preamplifier and DAC/streamer ($20k as equipped). Digital discs were played via the Vitus Audio SCD-025, which is essentially a DAC that has a really good disc transport built into it. In many ways, this was perhaps the most unusual room I visited today, but the sound was unquestionably good.
The contents of the MBL Audio room totaled almost a million dollars!
MBL Audio
I spent the least amount of time in the MBL Audio room. With the exception of the Wireworld Eclipse cables connecting the source equipment and loudspeakers, all items featured in this room were manufactured by MBL. I'm not particularly smitten with MBL's house sound, which, while very dynamic, is perhaps a bit clinical for my tastes, even though the complement of audio equipment and loudspeakers in this room had an MSRP approaching a million dollars. I've heard these loudspeakers playing analog sources such as open reel tapes from United Home Audio, and the sound was exceptional, but I just wasn't hearing it on this visit. This is entirely based on personal preference, so YMMV.
The styling of the Vivid Audio loudspeakers definitely gets your attention!
Suncoast Audio featuring Vivid Audio and Block Audio
Suncoast Audio occupied the Tampa Terrace room (one of the smaller of the large meeting rooms on the main level), and highlighted the visually impressive Vivid Audio Giya G1 Spirit loudspeakers ($85-93k depending on crossover options). Along with amplification and system control from Block Audio (Preamp $45k, Monoblock amplifiers $60k/pair) and digital sources from Aurender (N30SA streamer/server $24k) and MSB Technology (Select 2 DAC with optical conversion modules, from $107k). Analog sources included a VPI Prime Signature Rosewood turntable (as equipped w/Koetsu Onyx Platinum MC cartridge $$19k) and a rebuilt Studer 810 open reel deck ($15k). All cables were Nordost Odin 2 and Valhalla 2, and power enhancements were from the Nordost QRT line. Racks and stands were from Critical Mass Systems.
The Suncoast Audio room featured exotic digital and analog source equipment.
I hung out in this room for a really long time! The Vivid loudspeakers played music with remarkable scale and with impressively deep bass. Though at first, I didn't think they were in the same league as some of the other "big" systems on the main level, but my impression soon changed when I moved to the rear of the room and the musical selections transitioned to heavier tracks. Including a 2016 live track from the current lineup of King Crimson, "The Hell Hounds of Krim," which was about as percussively dynamic as anything I've heard in a very long time—it literally blew me away! This was followed by the track "Invincible" from Tool's 2019 album Fear Inoculum—which really, really rocked hard—I wouldn't have initially believed this system could crank it quite so powerfully!
The Aurender N30SA Streamer/Server handled digital files flawlessly.
The metal madness was followed by Elvis' 1960 version of the song "Fever," where The King was literally in the room with you—his image height was massive and floating between the Vivid loudspeakers. In a much larger room, this system would easily have been competitive with the heavy hitters in the other big rooms. I think the overall good system synergy contributed mightily to the excellent sound; some of the digital equipment used QRT battery-powered sources, but at the point I was in the room, the batteries had been discharged and everything was running strictly on AC. One of the Suncoast guys in the room told me that the battery-powered sound was on a completely different level; I intend to go back tomorrow or Sunday and follow up on that!
The MC AudioTech's Forty-10 loudspeakers were the most unusual design I saw on day 1.
MC AudioTech featuring Linear Tube Audio and Wolf Audio Systems
The MC AudioTech room featured perhaps the most unusual loudspeaker design I heard today, the Forty-10, which is essentially a two-way design, although it incorporates a ten-element, curved panel, spaced array high frequency driver enclosure. That's coupled with a more conventional, 18-inch folded-cube woofer compartment. The high frequency array was driven by a Linear Tube Audio amplifier, and the woofer cabinet was driven by a Parasound amplifier. The emphasis is on the quality of sound provided to the spaced array driver, and MC AudioTech's Mark Conti insisted that "any really good amp will work perfectly to drive the woofer cabinet." Digital sources were provided by a Wolf Audio server, and all cables were from Audience AV.
The Wolf Audio Music Server sits atop the rack of Linear Tube Audio and Parasound equipment.
I heard this system first at FAE 2020, and it impressed the hell out of me—until someone requested that Mark Conti put on something that would really push them—how about Stravinksy's Le Sacre du Printemps? That's where it all fell apart in 2020, and the sound quality of the Forty-10 loudspeakers—which had been just short of heavenly—was in a matter of a few moments reduced to rubble. I don't think it would have been possible for them to sound any worse than they did. During today's listening session the sound was, again, sheer perfection, and all the tracks that featured classic jazz sessions at the hands of Rudy Van Gelder and the like were rendered with a level of transparency, musicality and fidelity that almost defied belief! This type of music undoubtedly plays to the strength of the Forty-10 loudspeakers, and is the music with which it can really shine.
Suddenly, a guy in the room asked to hear "One Way Out," Mark Conti looked at him and confirmed that he meant the Allman Brothers song—yes, that's the one! We were very quickly approaching 2020 territory again, when suddenly, a miracle happened. Before the volume could get adjusted sufficiently upward, multiple people started asking Conti questions all at once, and he never continued raising the volume level to the point where it would have really stressed the Forty-10 loudspeakers. The guy who wanted to hear "One Way Out" lost patience, and quickly left the room. A crisis was averted, but having had years of experience with often finicky, demanding load loudspeakers (like Magneplanars), I realize all too clearly that there are certain types of music certain loudspeaker designs were never intended to play. The Forty-10 loudspeakers really are outstanding—just not with the Allman Brothers or Stravinsky!
More posts coming over the next several days!
All photos courtesy of the author.
