Florida Audio Expo 2020

The Audio Company of Marietta, Georgia, has two rooms at the Florida Audio Expo, both featuring Acora Acoustics loudspeakers. The larger room, with SRC-1 floorstanding loudspeakers ($28,000/pair), also features the VAC Statement 450iQ Monoblock power amplifier (which Michael Fremer is reviewing for the May issue). These efficient (90.5/W/m), 2-way, 8-ohm speakers, with their black-granite cabinets, weigh 246lb each.The total cost of this system, including only the equipment priced on the room sheet and not the Audioquest cabling, closely approaches $300,000. Add the price of the cables and it surely clears $300K. The sound was superb.

It was the smaller system, however, with the standmount Acora SRB speakers ($15,000/pair), that impressed me most. These speakers weigh just 60lb each (although their black-granite stands add a good bit more weight). The sound was not as relaxed as that from the larger system, not as natural, the soundstage wasn't as deep—nor was the bass as extended. The sound of the acoustic bass was a bit more rounded through the SRBs—more a musical sound and less a sonic recreation of a musical instrument producing low frequency notes.

But the smaller system, with the VAC Sigma 170iQ integrated amplifier with phono, did so much right. Well-recorded vocals were vivid, with great immediacy. Dynamic swings were dizzying; they almost seemed exaggerated. In this system (as in the larger one) highs had the excellent property of being fully present without being noticed. The cost of this smaller system was around $70,000, not counting wire.