Day 2 Delivers Tantalizing Hi-Fi Gear At FIAE 2025
More rooms, more musical bliss!
Florida International Audio Expo 2025 Show Report By Brett Rudolph

  Lunch ended up being a lot of fun. We met with Steven R. Rochlin, the Creative Director for Enjoy the Music.com, his wife Heather, and Albert Martinez from Synergistic Research. We spent about an hour discussing the show, what we saw, and everything. When we were done, we parted ways and got back on track for the rest of the afternoon and more of what the expo had in store. It certainly had more wonders yet to bestow. Thanks to my son Dylan Rudolph who took the photos.

Room 443   Luxury HiFi / Suncoast Audio
The Luxury HiFi / Suncoast Audio room was two rooms for the price of one. The first room held a system containing large floor-standing speakers, and the second smaller one was from the same company. It was a nice use of space and showed the differences in sound and capabilities. Although giving each their due diligence is hard, I will give each a little time, as they deserve it.

System 1
This room had Tobian's more prominent full-range horn speaker. Though large for the room, the speaker certainly had more than enough power to fill the room with all the sound and more. The full-range horns didn't have any qualities you might expect from horns; instead, they filled the room with unrestricted glory. If there were one complaint, it would be a slight muddiness, and it might contribute more to the room acoustics and the fact that these speakers were too large for the room. Overall, a good show.

The system in room one consisted of Tobian Sound Systems VR 40 / 300B / 2A3 Integrated ($42,625), Tobian Sound Systems 15FH Full Range Horn Speakers ($70,125), Pink Faun Scion Streamer 8TB ($22,000), MSB Discreet DAC w/ Dual PSUs ($15,930), Critical Mass Systems Ultra Gateway Rack and Shunyata Research cables.

System 2
The smaller room had, guess what? You guessed it, the smaller speakers and a less expensive system to go with it. In all honesty, I liked the system more as well. It sounded richer and fuller of life. There was plenty of treble, though too much for me. Again, it was not a fault of the system or speakers but rather a function of the room and placement. Overall, they did a great job with this system and the speakers. Someone looking for this type of sound needs to look no further because they’ve found it right here.

The system in room two consisted of Fezz Audio Mira Ceti 300B Integrated ($4795), Tobian Sound Systems 12HC Coaxial Horn Speakers ($28,875/pair), Pink Faun Scion Streamer 8TB ($22,000), Critical Mass Systems Ultra Gateway Rack and Shunyata Research cables.

Room 451   Ball Audio Distribution And System Solutions
This is the first of two rooms that Deep Dive Audio had a part in putting together. This one cooperated with Bell Audio Distribution and System Distribution, and they did a fabulous job putting it together. The system was highly involved even from the start. The moment I walked into the room, I was captivated by how it rendered the female vocalist with a seemingly effortless stride. Taking a seat, I realized that even complex passages in the music were simple to enjoy as they didn't seem to get muddy as often happens, especially in these hotel rooms with more prominent floor-standing speakers.

The speakers themselves did a fantastic job with the midrange, which usually is the downfall of all systems. In this case, it only added to the richness of the sound quality. It was so good that this was another one of my favorite rooms again. It was also one of the few rooms with large floor-standing monitors working in smaller hotel rooms.

The system was made up of Margules Orpheo Century Intermezzo Speakers ($30,000), Margules U-280 SC 30th Anniversary LTD Tube Amplifier ($12,000), Margules SF-220 30th Anniversary Tube Preamplifier ($8000), J. Silkora Initial MAX Special Edition Turntable ($17,250), J. Sikora KY12TVA 12” Tonearm ($8995), Ortofon AS-309R Tonearm w/headshell ($3728), Zesto Andros Deluxe II Phonostage (($8300), Aldas True-Stone Gold Web Cartridge ($5995), Margules Magenta MS-01 Music Server & DAC ($3500), Quadspiresvt 5 Shelf Rack ($3300), Cabled by VIABLUE.

Room 454   Reel Sound Distribution / Metaxas & Sins
Reel Sound Distribution / Metaxas & Sins presented a new speaker system based on electrostatic panels. The idea is that you can purchase different configurations suited to your room and economic situation. Suppose you decide later to upgrade your system. In that case, you can upgrade your system from one speaker array to the next by adding the following array type. The starting place is the Prinz at $24,000. This consists of two 8" electrostatic full-range panels. If you wish, you can start with the more prominent Czar speakers, which are $37,000. Instead of the 8" panels, start with the 14" electrostatic panels. The highest level is when you combine these two systems. Named the Emperor, you can either upgrade to it, which combines the Prinz and the Czar or buy it from the start; it is a relatively large and competent speaker system.

My first impression of these speakers are everything you would expect from an electrostatic speaker and more. First, they don't suffer from any of the crossover issues that many electrostatic speakers are prone to have. The music flows from them. The smaller panels don't have the presence that the larger ones do, but they are certainly far from impotent. If you add a sub, like they did in the room, they are enough for a smaller room. Oppositely, when you put the whole system together, it might be a contender for some of the larger electrostatic speaker systems I've heard. However, to make that statement, it would take hearing them in a far larger room with hopefully better acoustics.

The system in the room consisted of Tourbillon T-RX Reel to Reel ($52,000), Perambulator Turntable ($29,000), Combobulator Tonearm ($9000), Czar Speaker ($37000), Prinz Speaker ($24,000), Solitaire Integrated Amplifier ($41,000), Barus Integrated Amplifier ($29,000), Tourbillon Custom Stand ($8000).

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