The Best-Sounding FIAE To Date!
Florida International Audio Expo 2024 high-performance audio show coverage.
SWAF 2024 Show Report By Maurice Jeffries

  On my next stop, I stepped headlong into the Next Level HiFi team room (Room 615) displaying a gaggle of quite affordable but lovely-sounding Audio Group Denmark gear. AGD, the powerhouse behind the celebrated Aavik electronics line, the Ansuz cable and power conditioner range, and the magical Børresen speakers, has upped the ante in affordable high-quality gear for music lovers on a/an (almost) budget.

A pair of diminutive and gorgeous stand-mount Børresen X1 loudspeakers ($5.5K per pair plus $1k for the dedicated stands, the speakers finished in black gloss), these driven by an Axxess Forté 1 integrated amp / DAC / music streamer ($5.5K) genuinely rocked. Random pop selections sounded simply fantastic, the reasonable price notwithstanding. The Ansuz cable loom, Ansuz Mainz8 X-TC3, and PowerSwitch X-TC3 power distribution system are utterly enchanted.

"Holy crap" my show notes shouted! This tiny system delivered air, articulation, great individuating of massed voices, and superb clarity track after track. I heard an exceptionally accurate tone and timbre, with real scale and great imaging. Miles Davis' So What digitally streamed sounded so much like a great vinyl recording, that I (almost) didn't miss the top-tier turntable. A Best Of Show contender at a system price just a hair above $20K. Wow!

Across the hall, the same line of electronics, but a tier higher, drove the compact floor-standing Børresen X2s ($8,800 for the pair) to stunning effect. The systems demonstrated the same overall skill set as the cuddly x1-fronted system but with more bass, slam, and scale.

The Ansuz A2 cable loom and Mainz8 A3 and PowerSwitch A3 level power gear, this feeding the AxxessForté 2 integrated amp/DAC/streamer infused Johnny Cash' smoked-tinted baritone with amazing power and brooding immediacy in a killer rendition of The Sounds of Silence. Good grief. More Best of Show antics from the AGD team.

UniQue Home Audio produced great sound in Rom 515 from the Dutch and Dutch 8c powered speaker system ($14,995 for the pair), delivering good focus, tone, and timbre. My show report pad noted decent if not great air and bloom, but a scrupulously clean overall presentation with solid bass weight and focus. These are quite nice speakers, I thought. Dire Straits sounded commendably dire, moody, and unhappy, just as the group should. A HiFi Rose RS-130 Network Transport at $5,195, Solid Tech Radius rack (price upon configuration), and BACCH-SP MK III stereo purifier ($26,800) rounded out a solid-sounding system.

Higher up, on the 11th to be precise, the Deep Dive Audio room delivered sweet analog sounds. The tiny but big-hearted Franco Serblin Goldberg speakers ($13,475 for the pair, $2,500 for their dedicated stands) didn't offer much in the bass department but were transparent as "all get out", displaying focus, a sweet tonal balance, and a disarming delicacy. For high-end youngsters, Franco Serblin designed many of the classic Sonus Faber loudspeaker models before striking out on his own, their deft amalgamation of bracing resolution and striking musicality the perfect example of audio compromise in service of the music.

The massive and very impressive J. Sikora Standard Max turntable ($21,500) and KV Max 9" tonearm ($11,750) oozed stability and analog poise. Doshi's Evolution Phono Stage ($21,000) boosted the delicate phono signal, but I didn't get the price of the system cartridge. Willie Nelson sang with almost full power on the unknown track that I heard, every inflection and artfully phrased murmur beautifully articulated. Francis Edward's Only the Lonely mesmerized me in all its grief-laden intimacy, the piano sounding just a touch smaller and thinner than over my reference system.

Audience's exceptional ClairAudient 1+1 V5 very small stand-mounted speakers, with larger Serblin to their right. The petite EL34 vacuum tube powered Margules I-240 integrated tube amp (25 Wpc at a fetching $7,000 price-point) sang sweetly, but occasionally ran out of gas on dynamic peaks. A very, very fine-sounding system, with the expected reduced scaling given the speaker's puckish dimensions. A loom of Audience cables ($1,450 - $6,300), Audience aR6-T4 Power Conditioner ($6,900), and Quadraspire SVT Rack 5 shelf ($3,300) rounded out a lovely small-room/big sound system.

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