The 2025 Florida International Audio Expo (FLAX) was new and improved this year, and the show took place at a new location, the Sheraton Tampa Brandon Hotel. The Sheraton offered a refreshingly new vibe compared to years past, and was strikingly more modern than the previous site, the Embassy Suites Westshore. It was a bit further away from downtown Tampa, and didn't have the same easy access to restaurants and other amenities that were within walking distance from the Embassy Suites. However, the Sheraton compensated with a more elegant and upscale onsite restaurant; its atmosphere was head and shoulders above that of the Embassy, and it also offered a wider range of menu options. The hotel's bar definitely had a much better vibe going. The typically gargantuan main floor exhibitor rooms were even bigger at the Sheraton, and the standard sized exhibitor rooms also struck me as more generously proportioned. Which resulted in improved show sound for every system on display, and I didn't see or hear any complaints about the WiFi streaming issues that were rampant at previous shows at the Embassy. The Sheraton was definitely a big improvement over the previous location!
I particularly liked the hotel's layout; it's longer and wider footprint allowed for an increased number of larger exhibitor rooms and hallway vendor displays on the main floor. And only three additional levels of the hotel were required for standard exhibitor spaces, which made it soooo much easier to navigate. At the Embassy Suites, you had to go up a flight of stairs or use the elevator to simply reach the main floor of large rooms and hall displays, which were more cramped than at the new location. And at least one of those larger rooms at the Embassy required you to leave the main building and do additional flights of stairs. The elevators moved more efficiently and effectively at the Sheraton; in years past, the elevators were often a slowly moving nightmare up and down through the dozen or so floors of exhibitor rooms. Forcing me to frequently use the stairs; my Fitbit would regularly record that I walked 60 or 70 flights of stairs over the course of the show. At the Sheraton, never once was I tempted to use the stairs—though I probably would have benefited tremendously from the exercise! And having the main exhibitor area on the first floor where it was easily accessible to attendees was significantly more ergonomic.
In the weeks prior to departing for Tampa, I'd been experiencing an elevated level of personal stress surrounding the health of my youngest grandson, Finneas. Who not only has an upcoming surgery scheduled for removal of a fast growing tumor, but also began experiencing a series of unexplained seizures, which left our entire extended family on edge and drained by days and weeks of near-constant concern. Trust me, if you've never witnessed a three-year-old enduring tremors and convulsions, then having his eyes roll back in his head and completely losing consciousness for anywhere from 30 seconds to 4-5 minutes, it's not for the faint of heart. And he was scheduled to see a neurologist and needed to undergo a series of scans to confirm whether anything more sinister was going on in the background. That left me with almost no choice other than to cancel my trip to FLAX; fortunately, in the ten days prior to the show's opening, Finneas' health took a positive uptick, which allowed me to make it to the show as planned. That said, I decided for this year's show coverage, rather than trying to offer exhaustive descriptions of nearly every room possible, I'd focus more on the systems that made a seriously good impression on me over the course of the weekend. And a surprising number of systems did exactly that; it seems the artistry of our audio obsession has reached a more elevated level of goodness than ever, and my first segment presents the first group of rooms I chose for coverage.
Joseph Audio/Doshi Audio/Berkeley Audio Design Room
Prior to my arrival at the FLAX on Thursday, I'd only taken a cursory look at the map of exhibitors, and was really disappointed to not see Joseph Audio on the list. I've grown to love the sound of Jeff Joseph's loudspeakers that are frequently displayed in combination with Doshi Audio's excellent tube electronics. Jeff and Nick have achieved a synergy in their interactive systems that serves gobs of detailed, highly musical sound with precise imaging and a very organic presentation. With only four floors of exhibitors to explore, I didn't focus so closely as in years past on the guidebook; I actually got there early enough on Thursday afternoon to take a fairly leisurely walkabout and explore the system locations throughout much of the hotel. Still, imagine my complete surprise on Day Three when I strolled down the Sheraton's Brandon hall and stumbled onto Jeff Joseph's room! I blame my recent inability to focus entirely on my audio pursuits, or maybe I just need new glasses!
Jeff's room featured his Pearl Graphene Ultra loudspeakers, powered by KT150 tubed amplification from Doshi Audio; the system included the Evolution Series monoblocks with Evolution control and phono preamplifiers. The digital source featured Berkeley Audio Designs' Alpha 2 and Reference 3 DACS, and Aurender provided the N30SA media server. The analog source was a Studer A810 open reel deck, and all system cables were Cardas Audio Clear Beyond.
The Pearl Graphene Ultras displayed a shocking level of realism and musically immersive sound; at around $52k for the pair, they're not inexpensive, but present the kind of image specificity that draws you deeply into the music. The Doshi tube amps played no small part in this marvelous showcase of music that was never anything less than totally engaging, and those KT150 tubes—oh yeah! I've looked with lust upon KT150s on many occasions, but have been told repeatedly by most of my tube industry contacts that "they're overkill, more on the analytical side, not nearly as musical as EL34." Whatever; in the Joseph/Doshi system—which I hung out in far longer than I'd intended to—the sound was so very compelling, I almost couldn't get out of my chair! While the sound was exceptional via the really great digital sources from Berkeley and Aurender, it took on a major uptick when Jeff played a more recent track from Bob Dylan on the Studer open reel deck, which energized the room in a way that tingled my eardrums like never before, and Bobby D. was eerily present in the room! And it's always a pleasure to simply sit and talk to Jeff, who's one of the nicest, down-to-earth, and personable people in all of high-end audio. It was also great to chat with Jessie Bentley of Notable Audio Products and Command Performance, Joseph Audio's dealer in Falls Church, Virginia, who helped fill in the blanks on the complement of equipment in the room.
Joseph Audio was easily the best sound I heard on Day Three, and possibly throughout the entire show—despite the kilobuck systems in abundance in Tampa, this one is easily on my short list should I ever win the lottery!
Volti Audio/Cary/Triode Wire Labs Room
My first stop on Day One of FLAX was the Volti Audio room, where Greg Roberts debuted his New Vittora loudspeaker that updates and redefines the original design in every possible way. The New Vittora's are Greg's statement loudspeaker system, and their imposing visual appeal is second only to their remarkable musicality! Greg's redesign offers the kind of "you are there" realism that sets a new standard for what $50k gets you in a high-efficiency, horn-based loudspeaker. The cabinets are a combination of CNC machining and in-house fabrication; the CNC work is done at a shop local to Greg just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and he does all the curved panel fabrication at his own workshop. Greg's hand-crafted finishing continues with the application of the buyer's choice of exotic wood veneers to the Baltic birch plywood cabinets. The Vittoras are beautiful to behold, but it's their exhilarating and non-fatiguing sound that quickly draws you in to whatever music happens to be playing.
The New Vittora's were powered by an SLI-80 tube integrated from Cary Audio, a push-pull ultralinear, Pure Class AB design that's comfortable handling a variety of output tube types. The one Greg had on hand featured a quad of KT88 power tubes, and was switchable between triode and ultralinear operation; it powered Volti's new 104 dB/watt beauties to absolute perfection. Greg's digital source featured an Innuos ZENith server that fed its signal to a Mojo Audio Mystique DAC. All system cables were from Triode Wire Labs, and "Triode" Pete Grzybowski was even present during my demonstration. Greg and I had a lengthy chat about the value of good cables; in the Volti Audio room, the hotel electrical outlet where his system was connected didn't even have a plate cover! You could clearly see how shoddy the wiring was; despite that, it's still surprising how great AC cables (like those from Triode Wire Labs!) really do make a difference and anchor your system's sound quality. Both Greg and Pete are among the most endearing and knowledgeable people in all of high end audio, and the partnership of their loudspeaker and cable technology helps create some of the most refined sound you'll ever encounter.
One of the standout selections Greg played for me while I was in the room was from jazz tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, from a mid-1950's Verve Clef label album. He's one of the unsung sax masters of the era, and the sound was presented by the New Vittoras with immediacy and near-perfect tone. Playback of this track on Greg's system offered such incredible realism, it honestly felt like Illinois Jacquet's mellifluous horn was actually in the room with me! When a track that's close to seventy years old provides you with a goosebump moment like this, that's impressive, and the system synergy and gorgeous sound of Greg's room was definitely one of my FLAX highlights!
Border Patrol/Living Voice/Triode Wire Labs Room
I had an early appointment on Sunday for a private showing of Gary Dews' Border Patrol room; I've heard his tube amplifiers and DAC many times (though predominantly in Volti Audio systems), and the richness his tube electronics impart to almost any loudspeaker and system has always been stunningly superb. His FLAX room featured the top-of-line S20EXD parallel single-ended amplifier, which sported a quad of Western Electric 300B tubes, a pair of tube rectified external power supplies, and the optional volume control. There was no preamplifier; the amp directly drove a pair of UK-made Living Voice R80 OBX loudspeakers that were making their FLAX debut. The room also featured the prototype for Gary's new DAC, the Border Patrol DAC SE-i, which will get its official release later this year. An Innuos ZENith Mk III server provided the music flow to the new DAC; their Phoenix reclocker was also in the digital playback chain. A full loom of cables from Pete Grzybowski and Triode Wire Labs populated the system—never underestimate the importance of great cables and their contribution to system synergy!
A random guy was in the room when I arrived, and he questioned Gary about the lack of a preamplifier or remote control for the system; Gary's response was that a single input on the amp was all that was necessary to play great music. If you needed to change the volume, you'd have to get out of your chair to adjust it! The guy seemed unimpressed, and quickly exited the room. As he was leaving, another gentleman arrived, and Pete proceeded to announce "Look, Gary, Ken's here!" Ken sat down directly beside me, took out a notebook, and proceeded to ask a series of questions about the loudspeakers and equipment, then made a few requests, listened to a few tunes, wrote down some notes, and just as quickly exited the room. At that point, my own demo actually began.
Listening to the Living Voice R80 OBX loudspeakers in the system was, in a word, intoxicating, and I instantaneously developed an emotional connection with the music playing across them. Their pinpoint imaging was simply astounding, and they painted a picture of the performance that stretched beyond and behind the boundaries of the loudspeakers. A standout selection was a delicate but heavily percussive track Triode Pete played from a 1961 Shelly Manne album, which was a showcase for the strengths of this system. On this system, the R80 OBX loudspeakers transported me back in time, and I could visualize the performers captured in a very real space with uncanny accuracy. And as the system blew through a series of jazz, big band, and vocal tracks, I also found myself quite taken by the stunning visual impression their gorgeous, glossy ebony cabinets made on me.
"Triode" Pete Grzybowski managed the music selections being sent to the Border Patrol SE-i DAC and was always quick to offer a refreshing beverage!
By the way, "Ken" who had been in the room was none other than Ken Micallef of Stereophile; I was hoping to run into him at the show and finally meet him in person. He'd been sitting right beside me during a large chunk of my time in the room and I didn't even know it! That's how immersive and musically involving this system was—I was so caught up in the music, I completely lost consciousness of my surroundings!
More to Come!
Stay tuned for the next installment coming very soon!!
Florida International Audio Expo
All images courtesy of Florida International Audio Expo and the author.
