I even talked to Derek Hughes himself in Munich and told him to tell Philip O’Hanlon to send me some of his speakers! But I’ve been trying to get some seat time with Graham Audio speakers for even longer-mostly because of their BBC DNA and because people like Gene Rubin have been telling me I’m gonna love them. I’ve never met him, but everyone I know does and they think he’s one of the finest human beings in the industry. I’ve been trying to connect with Philip O’Hanlon with On a Higher Note for the last few years. 3 – On a Higher Note, Graham, Moonriver, Cardas Mated with Margules components and a pair of Raidhos, the U-280SC LTD sounded powerful and dynamic and yet extremely pleasing and open. You can even double the power with a second amp. This KT-88 based amplifier offers triode and ultralinear operation, with output ranging from 25 watts per channel Class A to 50 watts per channel. This becomes obvious when you listen to his newest integrated, the Margules U-280SC 30 th Anniversary LTD integrated amplifier ($12,000). But I think Julian Margules’ research into neuro-acoustics and the way we humans interpret sounds is really leading him to very interesting places. I want to phrase this so it doesn’t imply that at one time, years ago, they weren’t as good as they are now. ![]() But in their room at FLAX 2023, I kept having the same thought: “Margules Audio keeps getting better and better every time I visit.” I’ve even reviewed a couple of their pieces-the Margules I-240 integrated amp and the TT-10 turntable under its LSA guise. ![]() I keep promising to stop by their factory in Mexico City, and one day I will get there. I’ve known the Margules family for a long time. ![]() This relatively simple system beat just about every multi-channel system I’ve heard when it came to placing the music where it makes the most sense. A single pair of his Joseph Audio Pulsar2 Graphene speakers ($9,999/pr USD) were able to place a precise image on the TV screen that was positioned above and between the speakers. That’s right, Jeff was playing clips from NPR’s Tiny Desk series and an amazing phenomenon occurred. I might use a lot of their stuff at home.īut Jeff threw in an extra ingredient into his normally astounding system at FLAX 2023- video. I’m also a fan of his usual cohorts-Doshi Audio amplification always sounds like it’s custom-made for Jeff’s designs, and the folks at Cardas are pretty okay in my book as well. I immediately respond to that amazing mixture of warmth, detail and excellent bass performance. No big surprise here-I love the sound of Joseph Audio speakers and Jeff Joseph’s rooms usually make my top five because the sound of his speakers is also my sound. I’ll say right now that around ten rooms had to fight for the five spots-there was an embarrassment of riches when it came to good sound in Tampa. Here are my choices for the five best rooms at the 2023 Florida Audio Expo. As for me, I feel like the last few shows were held in saunas. ![]() I think this is the point of having a high-end audio show in Florida in February, just as we used to have high-end audio shows in Newport Beach in June. Part of that had to do with Tampa temperatures in the mid to high eighties, with most of the industry so happy not to be at home where everything was covered with ice and snow. This was a mature, well-run show with a lot of energy and excitement. Everyone was just so happy to be there!įLAX 2023 was very different. While the 2020 show was all new and shiny for its inaugural run, last year’s show was rumored to be a little wild around the edges in terms of organization. This was only my second visit to the Florida Audio Expo-my first was back in February of 2020 when we were still hoping that the lockdown would only last a couple of weeks-if it did happen at all.
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