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In the photo above, worker bees Megan Bovaird and Matt Bochicchio welcome you to the sixth annual Florida International Audio Expo (FLAX), held this year and all non-COVID years at the Embassy Suites by Hilton, in Tampa, Florida.

Bovaird and Bochichio aren't the only ones working to ensure a good time for show attendees. It takes a village to raise an audio show, or at least an enthusiastic team. That team is headed by chief organizer Bart Andeer and three cofounders: Ammar (AJ) Jadusingh, an engineer for the city of Tampa and owner of Soundfield Audio; Mike Bovaird, who owns…

I'm used to demoing SVS at AV trade shows, but not at high-end two-channel affairs like this Tampa show. The debut of the Ultra Evolution series speakers represents the dawn of a new era for a company that made its name designing high-performance subwoofers and affordable, high-performance speakers. Video below.

SVS is showing a two-channel system anchored by a pair of Ultra Evolution Pinnacle speakers ($5000/pair) powered by an Emotiva BasX A2 stereo amplifier ($499) and a PT2 stereo preamp/DAC/tuner ($699). The system was wired up with SVS SoundPath interconnects and speaker…

A big system can sound amazing, but a simple, well-tuned system will outperform a megabuck system that's set up badly or in a room that can't handle its size. That's easy to hear at a hi-fi show, where you frequently walk straight out of one room and straight into another. Do that enough times and you will gain an appreciation for the importance of good setup.

When I walked into the Fine Sounds America (FSA) room, FSA's Jeff Coates and Josh Gwin introduced me to Pro-Ject's T2 Super Phono turntable. At $599 including a built-in phono preamp, it's uber-affordable. The Super Phono…

MBL is best known for its striking Radialstahler omnidirectional speaker systems, first introduced in 1979, but the company has made electronics to accompany its speakers since 1986. On the Tampa Terrace at the Florida International Audio Expo, MBL showed off a system featuring the new Cadenza C41 network player ($11,100).

The C41's DAC incorporates the company's TruePeak technology, which fixes the problem of intersample overs in music that's recorded (or mastered) overly loud. The C41 is compatible with UPNP/DLNA, Airplay, Roon, and various streaming services including Audirvāna…

Dealer Scott Walker Audio, which has showrooms in Anaheim, California, and Keller, Texas, and Synergistic Research presented several new products at FLAX including the Synergistic Voodoo streamer erver ($14,995); the PowerCell 8 SX conditioner ($3495); and SRX USB ($5995), Ethernet ($5995), and XL Power cables ($13,000).

Walker and Josh Dolye (also of Scott Walker Audio) were especially jazzed about a new line the dealership has picked up: French amplification company JMF Audio. On active display in the Scott Walker room were the JMF PRS 1.5 Preamplifier ($36,000) and HQS 6002…

Japan's TAD had two rooms at FLAX, including the large Bayshore ballroom, which itself contained two systems, each with two pairs of speakers. Both systems wowed me even though an intermittent internet connection affected streaming playback.

With TAD CEO Shinji Tarutani in attendance and with Pro Audio Devices (PAD) and Malekpour Design Partners' Dave Malekpour and publicist Jaclyn Inglis shepherding the proceedings, I listened first to the smaller, extremely punchy-sounding rig. It consisted of the TAD-D1000TX-S SACD Player ($21,000), TAD-DA1000TX Third Gen DAC ($15,900), a new…

Jacksonville, Florida, dealership House of Stereo occupied eight (!) rooms at FLAX. Room 709 debuted Steinheim's 2.5 Alumine Two.Five loudspeakers ($23,500/pair), accompanied by a bevy of refined products that kept the room packed to overflowing. Several were from Germany's T+A, including the SD 3100 HV Reference Streaming DAC ($32,387).

To this Swiss (Stenheim) and German (T+A) party, House of Stereo added the Japanese DS Audio Grand Master EX System cartridge ($22,500) and phono stage ($45,000), the New Jersey–manufactured VPI Avenger Direct Turntable with FatBoy Gimbal tonearm…

In House of Stereo's Room 716, T+A's Chief Executive Office of North America, David Nauber played the brand new, barely off the airship, T+A R 2500 R Integrated Multi Source Receiver ($18,880). A VPI Avenger Direct Turntable with FatBoy Gimbal tonearm ($36,000), DS Audio Grand Master EX System cart ($22,500) and phono stage ($45,000), T+A PSD 3100 HV DAC/PRE ($22,000), T+A A 3000 HV Power Amplifier ($24,275), T+A PS 3000 HV Power Supply ($16,695), and T+A Solitaire S430 speakers ($29,900) completed the setup, with cabling by WireWorld.

Nauber described the R 2500 R as a "modern…

In the room shared by Gary Dews's BorderPatrol Audio, Greg Roberts's Volti Audio, and Peter Grzybowski's Triode Wire Labs, music flowed, immense of stage, fast of delivery, with heart-arresting texture, visceral verisimilitude, and dynamic fireworks.

I've reviewed Dews's BorderPatrol amps and two models of Greg Roberts's speakers, but this was a fresh, unexpected, mind- and ear-freeing experience.

The assembled system's front end encompassed an Innuos ZENith Mk3 Music Server ($6299–9099 depending on storage options), Innuos Phoenix USB re-clocker ($4349), and a…

Showing in the US for the first time in years, Metaxas & Sins by Kostas Metaxas offers audio gear that straddles the line between technology and art. The company refers to its components, justifiably, as "high-end audio sculptures." The aesthetic is unique.

But appeal of the gear is more than just visual; it sounds spectacular, starting with the Tourbillon reel-to-reel player ($49,000), which features a tourbillon timing mechanism (in case you're not into horology, "tourbillon is a watch thing; watches are big in the Metaxas design aesthetic) to improve the accuracy of the…