Old friend Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports and Elliot Goldman of Bending Wave are experts at show setups. While some exhibitors take perfectly good gear and set it up willy nilly, Jonathan and Elliot are old school, big eared/serious listening guys, and the sound of their room at the Florida International Audio Expo 2025 was what I expected: fantastic.
Elliot brought a Wadax Studio Player ($39,800), which fed a new Riviera Labs APL-02 Preamplifier ($26,000) driving the new Riviera Labs AFS-32 Power Amplifier ($28,000). He also brought his exceptional Gobel Divin Cometesse Speakers ($60,000/pair), which for my preference for small rooms/small speakers, sounded better than the larger Gobels he usually brings to shows.
Shunyata connected the entire rig, including Theta X Balanced Interconnects ($1198/pair) and Shunyata Theta Speaker Wire ($2498/each), a Shunyata Sigma X Power Cord ($4000), Shunyata Alpha X Power Cord ($2850), Shunyata Typhon T2 Power Conditioner ($5500) and Shunyata Denali 6000 V2 Power Conditioner ($6000). A Massif Audio Rack ($2800) and Carbide Audio Footers ($299/set) completed the room.
Steely Dan’s “Aja” is so overplayed it’s embarrassing, even though a devout audiophile favorite. Better was a streaming selection from violinist Hilary Hahn, the system meting out its rich, penetrating character with ease. When Elliot played “A Small Measure of Peace” by Hans Zimmer from The Last Samurai soundtrack, I was bowled over. The smaller Gobels filled the room to overflowing with sound, yet the keen, warm character of the Rivera Labs shone through, like golden honey measured with a sharp blade. The music was menacing, churning, dark and powerful, a revelation through the Rivera Labs/Gobel setup.
Elliot brought a Wadax Studio Player ($39,800), which fed a new Riviera Labs APL-02 Preamplifier ($26,000) driving the new Riviera Labs AFS-32 Power Amplifier ($28,000). He also brought his exceptional Gobel Divin Cometesse Speakers ($60,000/pair), which for my preference for small rooms/small speakers, sounded better than the larger Gobels he usually brings to shows.
Shunyata connected the entire rig, including Theta X Balanced Interconnects ($1198/pair) and Shunyata Theta Speaker Wire ($2498/each), a Shunyata Sigma X Power Cord ($4000), Shunyata Alpha X Power Cord ($2850), Shunyata Typhon T2 Power Conditioner ($5500) and Shunyata Denali 6000 V2 Power Conditioner ($6000). A Massif Audio Rack ($2800) and Carbide Audio Footers ($299/set) completed the room.
Steely Dan’s “Aja” is so overplayed it’s embarrassing, even though a devout audiophile favorite. Better was a streaming selection from violinist Hilary Hahn, the system meting out its rich, penetrating character with ease. When Elliot played “A Small Measure of Peace” by Hans Zimmer from The Last Samurai soundtrack, I was bowled over. The smaller Gobels filled the room to overflowing with sound, yet the keen, warm character of the Rivera Labs shone through, like golden honey measured with a sharp blade. The music was menacing, churning, dark and powerful, a revelation through the Rivera Labs/Gobel setup.
