Florida International Audio Expo Returns This Coming February, 2023

(December 30, 2022) If the thought of sun and audio fun sounds appealing, your sights should be locked on the Florida International Audio Expo. Returning to the the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, the expo is scheduled to kickoff Friday, February 17, running through Sunday the 19th, 2023.

With more than 65 exhibitor spaces spread amongst a dozen floors, attendees can expect to experience a wide range of high-performance audio gear, several new and exciting products, and one of a kind systems. In addition, the hotel's larger banquet rooms will feature special presentations from brands like Acora/VAC, Clarisys/Bloc, Classic Audio, MBL, Thrax/Lansche, and TAD. And to spice things up, Qobuz returns as the show’s official streaming service and David Solomon, Chief Hi-Res Evangelist for Qobuz USA, promises to host his famous "Flash DJ sessions" throughout the show.

“We are thrilled to bring to the Untied States for the first time ever the full Reference One experience, as well as the debut of the CE1TX, TAD’s new Compact Evolution speaker,” said Dave Malekpour, the owner of PAD HiFi, TAD’s US distributor. “We can’t think of a better event to share the latest developments from this iconic brand than the Florida International Audio Expo.”

Tickets are on sale now, with a single-day passes costing $25, a three-day pass costing $35, and students, children, and spouses enjoying free admission.

Show Hours are as follows:

• Friday, February 17, 10 AM to 6 PM
• Saturday, February 18, 10 AM to 6 PM
• Sunday, February 19, 10 AM to 4 PM

For more details about the event, visit www.floridaaudioexpo.com.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Sonnie...?

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Yes!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Planning on being there this time around.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Finally
I know JStewart will be there, hopefully any other forum denizens in the area will pop in.
See ya'll soon.
cheers

 

[Sonnie Parker]

@JStewart ... you going or is AJ telling a fib?

 

[JStewart]

@JStewart ... you going or is AJ telling a fib?

I'm going. There's a few things I'm hoping to see and listen too. Have to at least say hey to AJ while he's working his tail off, too. And of course get a listen to his latest craft.
I'm about a 90min drive on a weekend, so I'm thinking Saturday atm.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I think Angie and I are going to drive down Friday and leave back out Sunday afternoon after worship service. I'll catch a little on Friday afternoon, the have all day Saturday to play.

 

[JStewart]

Erin, of Erin’s Audio Corner, has said he’s doing a live stream from the Show, this Saturday, 6pm-7pm to talk about the event.

https://youtube.com/@ErinsAudioCorner

Erin's Audio Corner

The Sound of Science

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Edit: tagged @Erin

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I might be eating somewhere about then...

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Or getting ready to go eat!
Glad you and Erin are making it this year, was worried neither of you could leave Bama

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Should have been here at 4pm, but crazy 1 hour traffic jam near Ocala on 3 lane... then another backlog in Tampa, then 30 minutes to check-in hotel. Friday show was over.

Brazilian steakhouse was good though.See you guys tomorrow.

 

[JStewart]

@AJ Soundfield , once again one of the best and busiest rooms!

Cardiod bass and user adjustable directivity are for real!

The white divers are coaxial. Turning off the coaxial tweeters and activating the ribbon tweeter above changes the perceived width of the image. There’s a rear firing driver with adjustable volume to further enhance perception of size, width, depth.

Different pieces of music lend themselves to a different presentation. Here you have it without needing different speakers in the room. Great concept that works.


AJ at work piloting the system for the listeners ...

Sorry about the photo quality!

Have a good day at the show today!

 

[JStewart]

Might have been my favorite piece of kit on display.

Nah, it definitely was.
A little more info…

What would pair well with a vintage receiver? Maybe a set of these Wharfedale Lintons. While not vintage they have that unmistakable vintage look.

Here’s a stock photo with the grill on:

Truth is, I’ve been mooning for a listen since @Erin ‘s measurements and review

Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Speaker Review

Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

and they didn’t disappoint! They easily filled the room with musical goodness, besting several larger and far more expensive offerings in the bass department.

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Might have been my favorite piece of kit on display.

View attachment 59477

Sweet, which room was that?
Great seeing both you and Sonnie. Thanks for coming!
The variable directivity/cardioid bass thing was a bit too much for attendees to compute, but obviously they could hear something was going on!

cheers,

AJ

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I'm going to post up some videos over in the AV Expos and Get Togethers (GTG) forum.

Good to see you again AJ and good to meet you John (JStewart)... put a face with the moniker.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

@AJ Soundfield

AJ at work piloting the system for the listeners ...

View attachment 59475

Sorry about the photo quality!

Have a good day at the show today!

Black footies next time AJ...

 

[AJ Soundfield]

Black footies next time AJ...

I have those! Didn't know you were the fashion police

 

[JStewart]

Sweet, which room was that?
Great seeing both you and Sonnie. Thanks for coming!
The variable directivity/cardioid bass thing was a bit too much for attendees to compute, but obviously they could hear something was going on!

cheers,

AJ

They could. I’ve seen a post or two elsewhere with compliments and your speakers were complimented on Erin’s Saturday night podcast from the show too.

Live from Florida Audio Expo!

Join me and some friends to recap the highlights from the Florida International Audio Expo!Check out details of the event here:https://floridaaudioexpo.com/

www.youtube.com

Nice seeing you too. I wanted to hang and shoot the breeze more, but you were busy with some folks who had returned to ask some more questions. They looked like real customers. Wasn’t about to interfere with that!

The Pioneer receiver was being sold by these guys:

I had to see what was in there after seeing the sign.

 

[JStewart]

I'm going to post up some videos over in the AV Expos and Get Togethers (GTG) forum.

Good to see you again AJ and good to meet you John (JStewart)... put a face with the moniker.

Thank you. The pleasure was was mine and very nice meeting your wife too! Hope you both thought it worth the trip and hope your drive back was a lot smoother than the inbound.

 

[Jack1949]

I wonder if Crazy Lenny is related to Crazy Eddie.

 

[JStewart]

One of the rooms on my list to visit was Orchard Audio. Leo is a small designer/manufacturer who is one of the first to use gallium nitride transistors in his amps which are class D.

You can read more on his website or elsewhere on the net about the benefits of GaN transistors if interested

Starkrimson Stereo Ultra - 500W GaN Audio Power Amplifier

Hi-fi state-of-the-art 500W per channel GaN audio stereo amplifier

orchardaudio.com

Oh, and our member @jtwrace interviewed Leo a couple of years ago too, which also piqued my interest in his amps.

Thread 'The Intellectual People Podcast - Orchard Audio'
https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/the-intellectual-people-podcast-orchard-audio.9141/

I wasn’t expecting an amp to sound like anything. A good one shouldn’t. Amps without tubes aren’t particularly exciting to look at either.

The room did sound good though.

It wasn’t until I was on the way out of the room that I realized he was using a pair of @AJ Soundfield ’s speakers for the demo.

So will we see, or is there an already existing active Soundfield Audio Speaker using Orchard’s Starkrimson amp modules?

 

[JStewart]

This was a surprisingly good demo that also got a mention on Erin’s podcast.

The room door was locked and we had to knock to get in. Not sure what the point of that was though.

These were set up with a couple of lower end of the line Magnepans and it sounded pretty fantastic and impactful. They also were a very small footprint. We were told there was no crossover in use. They where running off a split signal fed to a 140 watt amp and then to the passive subs.

The LCH rep used the word horn. “Wait, horn? Not port?”
We were told they had 10” drivers and it was the proprietary “nested folded horns” that enabled the output from the small size and watts.

I have no idea if this is real or marketing jargon. The sound was real enough though. Time or someone more knowledgeable than I (a low threshold, I admit) will tell.

The company is out of Houston. Seems there are places in town there where they can be demoed.

LCH AUDIO

 

[JStewart]

Another product high on my “reason to go to the show” list were the Perlisten speakers. These have probably been on almost every enthusiasts short list since breaking onto the audio scene a short couple of years ago. I was smitten with the S7T after reading James Larson’s review. Near perfect frequency response, fantastic constant directivity, tech to significantly reduce those pesky floor and ceiling reflections, low distortion, wide dynamic range…. Whew

Perlisten S7t Tower Loudspeaker Review - Are these Endgame?

Perlisten's S7t flagship THX Certified Dominus tower speakers have made leaps in technology that have some folks going so far as to question their reality and our reviewer calling them endgame products.

www.audioholics.com

So how did they sound in real life?

They were good. Of course. Just maybe not as good as they should have sounded.

Across the hall was Perlisten’s “R” series. Their lower tier that for for most of us would be a nice step up.
In this room were the R5M monitors along with 2 of the R210S dual 10” push-pull subwoofers.

This setup no question sounded really good and better than the flagship across the hall.
The lesson here might be to not underestimate the importance of the set-up or the dynamic range that subwoofers, when set-up properly, can bring to the party.

The R5M room was in my top 3 for the show and Perlisten is the real deal imho.

Welcome

Perlisten Audio - The art of emotional connection and discovery through perceptual listening. American manufacturer featuring speakers, subwoofers, and in-wall speakers.

www.perlistenaudio.com