Julie Mullins

Volti Audio Special Edition Rival Loudspeaker, BorderPatrol P20 EXD Power Amplifier and DAC SE-i, Innuos Zenith Music Server and Phoenix USB Reclocker, Triode Wire Labs Cables
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 10, 2020  |  0 comments
In celebration of their first 10 years in business, Volti Audio unveiled a newly redesigned version of their Rival SE (Special Edition) speaker ($19,900/pair), seen here in an eye-catchingly exotic bubinga wood veneer (a rosewood option is also available). Although its side-curved form appears quite substantial, the horn-loaded hybrid floorstander can be sonically suitable for larger or smaller spaces. With its horn drivers and a sensitivity spec of 100dB, the Rival SE also makes for an easy to load-perfect for the 300B-powered BorderPatrol P20 EXD amplifier. The three-way Volti also features matching external crossovers that are user-adjustable, and Triode Wire Labs internal wiring.
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Fyne Audio F702 Speakers, Pass Labs INT-60 Integrated Amplifier and XP-17 Phono Stage, Aurender W20SE Music Server, Aqua LaScala MkII DAC, VPI HW-40 40th Anniversary Turntable
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 10, 2020  |  11 comments
Suncoast Audio presented Fyne Audio F702 speakers ($8995/pair) in their US debut. Handmade in Scotland, the two-and-a-half-way floorstander features a concentric point-source tweeter/midrange array with a titanium center that seemed almost hornlike in its appearance and delivery.
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Kiso Acoustics HB-N1 Speaker, Metronome DSS Streamer and Le DAC, Thales Slim II Turntable, Karan Acoustics KAL MK3 Preamplifier, KAS 400 Stereo Amplifier, and PH1 Phonostage, EMT STX 5/10 Step-Up Transformer
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 09, 2020  |  1 comments
Wynn Audio of Toronto presented a lovely demo with a couple of new products: the Swiss-made EMT STX 5/10 step-up transformer ($9280), which employs a toroidal transformer with pure silver wiring to provide output options for 14dB or 20dB of gain with a lower noise floor for higher resolution, and the Métronome DSS Streamer (DSS stands for Digital Sharing Streamer), which was released in January but seen for the first time here in the U.S.
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Raven Audio Ce'Lest and Corvus Speakers with Osprey MK3 Integrated Amplifier and Silhouette MK2 Reference Preamplifier and Monoblock Amplifiers
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 09, 2020  |  1 comments
Known primarily for its sharp-looking tube amplification ranges, Raven Audio of Texas has been busy cranking out a plethora of new products, including some entirely new categories for the company: the debut of two loudspeakers (with the same high efficiency, spec'd at 94dB) and a line of cables. Raven presented two active demos: a reference system and a more affordable setup featuring the maker's latest offerings.
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Pure Audio Project Quintet10 Horn2 Speaker, Pass Labs XP12 Preamplifier and XA25 Amplifier, VPI Prime Turntable, Luminous Audio Arion Phono Stage
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 08, 2020  |  7 comments
It's not every day that you encounter a high-end loudspeaker that the end user actually assembles. Pure Audio Project has taken this unorthodox approach in introducing its brand-new Quintet10 Horn2 speaker at the Florida show . . .
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MSB Technology S500 Stereo Amplifier, Reference DAC, and Reference Transport with Magico M2 Speakers
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 08, 2020  |  4 comments
A visit to the MSB Technology room yielded a formidable debut, the company's new S500 stereo amplifier, which delivers 500W of power with apparent ease and efficiency, demonstrated with the mighty Magico M2 loudspeaker ($63,600/pair with required MPod bases), which was featured in the February 2020 Stereophile.
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AGD The Audion and Vivace Monoblock Amplifiers and Andante DAC/Preamp/Streamer, Ocean Way Audio Eureka Speakers
Florida Audio Expo 2020
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 07, 2020  |  15 comments
A weekend in Florida in February, plus high-end audio gear galore? Yes, and yes. After five years (that's half a decade, but who's counting?) with rival publication The Absolute Sound, I'm now a free agent, so when Stereophile asked me to fly south to cover the Florida Audio Expo at the Embassy Suites in Tampa, it didn't take me long to accept.
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