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

  The Fidelity Imports (FI) room, also on the 10th, here featuring Audia Flight electronics (the FLS10 integrated amp - $16,999 with optional DAC and phono boards) and French Diptyque DP-140 planar speakers ($16,999 the pair) sounded dynamic, musically engaging, and of a piece tonally on an assortment of blues and classical tracks. The sensibly sized Diptyques went impressively deep in the bass with fine articulation and wide and natural staging.

My impeccably clean Impex Records reissue of Lenny Bernstein performing (as pianist) Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major (Columbia/IMPEX MS 6043) sounded dynamically propulsive, the piano coming across as just a tad smaller than live, just as it does at home. I thought that the system cartridge (the Michell Audio CUSIS E - $1,299) perhaps thinned out power range textures somewhat, but the sound retained an airy and open quality with laser-quick transients. I did hear a gentle kiss of system glare but couldn't pin down the cause; I suspect the room. I really like these speakers. A lovely Michell Gyro SE turntable spun tunes Old School style ($6,499).

The FI Perlisten Audio / Audia Flight room, extensively damped and expertly dialed in, rocked dynamically. The big Perlisten S7t Limited Edition floor-standers ($29,990 the pair) dug deep in the bass region and struck with lightning quickness. They displayed a command of the power range, projecting effortlessly in the compact room. Not the airiest sound at the show, I thought, but the beryllium tweeter array sounded sweet and composed with fine extension and linearity.

Unfortunately, at least for yours truly, while the system scaled impressively, I'm not sure it ever sounded "real" in the small exhibit space, the overall presentation hampered by what I can only describe as a subtle type of veiling and closed-in quality. I suspect that some of what I heard came down to a listing room not large enough to allow the S7t-LEs to breathe. The Italian-made solid-state Audia Flight electronics did the front-end heavy lifting, the lovely FLS1 Preamplifier ($7,499) and matching FLS4 Amplifier ($9,999) joined here by a NEO audio rack, QED cables, and Titan power cords.

The FI/Q Acoustics / Gold Note room (just around the corner) handled hard rock and a wide selection of jazz cuts with exceptional composure for such a modest system, one small in price and size but big in sound. The smartly designed Q Acoustics 5040 compact floor-standers (priced at a bargain basement $1,500 the pair) made Wayne Shorter's classic Footprints sing (and swing) expertly in the smallish exhibit space. The 5040 and their two small 5-inch mid-bass drivers didn't deliver real bass (each mounted above and below a 1" soft dome tweeter in a D'Appolito configuration), but what bass they did produce sounded clean and well-defined. More importantly, the late Wayne Shorter's sweet and sour tenor soared, its unique tonal signature recreated entirely intact.

This little number (meaning the 5040s) did air and bloom like nobody's business, I pondered. A great little system, my show notes quipped. Voices came across as utterly natural and composed, with all the body and chestiness that makes the human voice reproduced electronically sound almost real. To my ears, the little Q Acoustics 5040s sounded more alive and real than the far more expensive Perlisten models down the hall.

A Gold Note integrated amp with music streamer (here the cute-as-a-button IS-10 at $3,499), accessory Gold Note PSU-10 and PST-10 power supplies ($1,199 each), Gold Note Valore 425 turntable ($2,199), and Vasari Gold cartridge ($499) rounded out a room long on value and charm, but approachable in price. This room deserves a budget Best Of Show nod and gets one from me.

The Gershman team in Room 914 hit one out of the ballpark this year. Montreal-based jazz songstress Anne Bisson teased out sweet sounds from a system fronted by the impressive $90k Black Swan 30th anniversary models. Convergent Audio Technology (C.A.T.) amps and a VPI DD (direct drive) Avenger table, the setup linked by a full Cardas cable loom, drove these unusual Gershman beauties with grace, poise, and real emotion. The Gershman folks are said to have voiced the speakers around Bisson's lovely voice. I thought this room a Best Of Show contender, the synergistic system delivering outstanding resolution, genuine full range sweep, with staggering dynamics, deep, gutsy bass, and utterly natural micro-dynamic expression. My show notes described the Black Swan loudspeakers as reference-level all-rounders.

The Black Swan's main claim to fame owes to the savvy design decision of none other than Eli Gershman himself to mount the massive 12" bass drivers (delivering clean bass down to an impressive 18Hz) into trapezoidal enclosures that are decoupled from the upper cabinet modules that house the midrange and tweeter drivers. The result, to my ears, was a sound of remarkable tonal purity, superb linearity, and impressive scaling.

Amplification and digital steaming duties fell to an impressive cast of players. The imposing C.A.T. monoblocks ($70,000 per pair – the JL5 Black Path Extreme Limited Editions, I believe), striking C.A.T. SL1 preamplifier ($100,000), plus Wolf Audio music streamer and Aavik Hi-Res Audio DAC would make any hyper-audio aficionado's heart skip a beat, or three. The C.A.T power amplifier uses high current KT120 or 6550/KT88 output tubes to deliver its rated power. The gorgeous (and superbly built) C.A.T. SL1 stereo preamplifier includes a very fine MC/MM phono stage, and standard RCA inputs. This lovely tube beast tips the scales at an imposing 80lbs. An easy Best Of Show contender in my book.

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