Greg Weaver's Best Of FIAE 2025 Blue Note Awards
The very best stereo systems at the FIAE 2025 high-end audiophile show.
Florida International Audio Expo 2025 Show Coverage By Greg Weaver

Greg Weaver's Best Of FIAE 2025 Blue Note Awards
While many of the rooms detailed above may have been considered for a top five spot for my Enjoy the Music.com Best Of FIAE 2025 Blue Note Award, here are the ones that unquestionably earned their place on that list. While they all accomplished remarkably exceptional performances deserving of their inclusion on this list, the order in which they are presented is entirely random. Let's have a look...

Room 451 – BADASS, Margules Audio, And Deep Dive Audio
I've had the pleasure of knowing Bruce Ball, principal of the newly organized Ball Audio Distribution And System Solutions, or BADASS for short (wink ?), from my many years spent covering the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas annually. His featured product lineup includes those of Margules Audio, located in the Roma Norte region of Mexico City, Mexico. I've had the distinct pleasure of knowing Julian Margules since we met in the late 1990s, when the first Margules Audio product I reviewed, the Margules FZ47dB Phono Stage, was published in the fall of 1999.

Margules has been making electronics since the late 1920s, and Julian Margules, the third-generation company leader and product designer, now helms the company. The Margules flagship line of products, featuring several of their 30th Anniversary Special Editions, were on display in this system. This series of products are all handcrafted and employ their specific design philosophy, an innovation they refer to as ANA® - an anagram for their Acoustic Neurologic Alignment. This technology focuses on how we as humans process and perceive sound. The ANA approach prioritizes the recreation of the critical harmonic structure of the musical envelope the products render, rather than merely focusing on their fundamental tonality.

Sources:
J.Sikora Initial MAX Special Edition Turntable, $17,250
J.Sikora KV12TVA 12" Tonearm, $8,995
Ortofon AS-309R Tonearm w/headshell, $3,728
Aidas True-Stone Gold Web Cartridge, $5,995

Electronics:
Zesto Andros Deluxe Il Phonostage, $8,300
Margules Magenta MS-OI Music Server & DAC, $3,500
Margules SF-220, 30th Anniversary LTD Tube Preamplifier, $8,000
Margules U-280 SC, 30th Anniversary LTD Tube Amp, $12,000

Loudspeakers:
Margules Orpheo Century Intermezzo Speakers, $30,000/pair

Ancillaries And Cables
Quadraspire SVT, 5 Shelf Rack, $3,300
VIABLUE NF-SS, T8 DIN/RCA, 150 cm, $1,019
VIABLUE X60 power Cable 2m, $1,124
VIABLUE SC.6 Speaker cables 3m pair, $2,124
VIABLUE NF S6 Air Interconnect RCA cables 1m pair, $1,070
VIABLUE E87 Silver Ethernet cable 3m, $312

The sound generated in this room was beyond merely natural and engaging, it was seductive. Listening to LP tracks like "Tattoo," from Janice Ian's milestone record, Breaking Silence, was delivered with remarkable detail and definition, realistic space and scale, and leaden with engaging and honest timbre and texture.

Listening to "The Man With Glasses," from the Jane Ira Bloom LP, Mighty Lights, delivered the shimmer and sparkle of the piano with an ease and composure that was enchanting. The system delivered excellent extension at both extremes, lucid, detailed, and honestly sized soundstaging and imaging, and a markedly neutral tonal balance, with good texture and scaling. As well as the very similar product lineup exhibited at last November's Capital Audiofest had performed, here, this system was breathing life into any decent recording it was offered. What a captivating system...

Brandon 2 – Supreme Acoustic Systems
I was thrilled to get some face time with my longtime audio bud and colleague, Gary Lea, now COO of Supreme Acoustic Systems, a relatively new audio distribution firm based in Las Vegas, where he makes his home. As I've given up covering the pathetic excuse that CES has become regarding their interest in and support of high-performance audio, I don't get to see him very often these days.

But going into this room to audition this particular system allowed me to catch up and say hello to another colleague and friend, Duncan Taylor, YG Acoustic's marketing manager.

This room was a take-no-prisoners assault on music recreation. Featuring several new pieces of electronics from Western Electric, the as yet unpriced 116C phonostage and 95A linestage, they were using two pair of the 97A mono amps, each with eight Western Electric 300B valves per chassis, to bi-amplify the flagship four-tower YG Acoustic XV3 Signature loudspeakers!

Oh, and the sources were nothing to sneeze at either, with the Bergman analog and Taiko Olympus front ends, LPs and files were given flight. Yeah, this system performance was nutz.

Sources:
Bergman Galder Turntable/Odin Tonearm, $49,900
Taiko Olympus DAC/Streamer, $73,000
Taiko Olympus I/O, $24,500

Electronics:
Western Electric 116C phono preamp, TBD
Western Electric 95A Preamp, TBD
Western Electric 97A Monoblocks, $124,999/Pair
  - Two Pair used to bi-amplify - total $249,998 for all for

Loudspeakers:
YG Acoustics XV3 Signature, 4 tower system, $498,000/set

Ancillaries And Cables
Taiko Extreme Router, $7,500
Taiko Extreme Switch, $5,300
Taiko Extreme DC Distributor, $2,700
Niagara Power Conditioner, $5,900
Sean Jacobs Mini ARC6 DC4 power supply, $4,500
All Cable Audioquest Firebird
Racks Music Tool Isostatic (7), $9,100
Room Tuning Devices, various AGS models – Contact Axiss Audio

Copious and rich textures, bold and vivid tone color, and a soundstage you could just about go walk around in, this system delivered. With blistering, effortless, and seemingly unrestricted dynamic scaling, delivering all sourced music with crystalline clarity, rife with expansive definition, and remarkably fast and articulate pitch definition, this system was the epitome of speed, tonality, and power. Yeah, nice job, gang!

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