Julie Mullins

Rupert Neve Designs, the legendary pro-audio maker of recording studio consoles and other equipment for concert halls and beyond, has expanded its product offerings for the home-audio market—ie, music lovers and audiophiles—with its new Fidelice series, including a full-featured DAC/controller with Neve's analog circuitry and an AKM-based DAC chip inside, a phono preamp, and a headphone amp. The three Fidelice components share a retro-modern look with matte aluminum casings with inlayed mahogany wood on top, red-accented control dials, little throw switches, LED lights, and tiny text that reminded me a bit of my first piece of gear, an oldie-but-goodie Advent 300 receiver. Their form factor is distinctive too: trapezoidal with rounded edges, with the DAC housed in a larger chassis.

Offering a "sneak preview" before the official debut at AXPONA 2020, Endow Audio introduced the latest iteration of its speaker, the piano-black T35 ($19,900), a two-way with a patent-pending Point Array and a 12-inch woofer. It may be rather otherworldly in appearance (grilles are included) but rather unique in its approach. Basically, it consists of an array of nine full-range 3" drivers configured with a single 8" loading driver to create a point source. The woofer takes over frequencies at 100Hz (and below) via an inboard passive crossover. The T35 also contains patent-pending Passive Signal Processor (PSP) technology.

On Sunday morning I eased into my rounds with the Musical Surroundings folks: In conjunction with local dealer Sweet Home Audio, they presented a sweet-sounding, straight-up analog setup that featured several products at (relatively) more affordable price points than is sometimes the case.

Zesto Audio presented the third generation of its Leto preamplifier: an Ultra version that offers a slew of new features, from upgraded all-analog circuit topology and a new 12DW7 tube configuration to the addition of three gain options (3dB, 6dB, 9dB) that can be saved for different input sources. Full remote control capabilities have also been added for on-the-fly adjustments of input, volume, gain, mono, and muting.

A sub-brand under the Jolida marque, Black Ice Audio used the Florida Audio Expo to introduce the final production models for some new amplification components. (Prior versions seen and heard at previous shows were late-stage prototypes, I was told.) The Black Ice Fusion F11 and F22 integrated amplifiers were shown in striking glass and carbon-fiber chassis with relatively small footprints, which is particularly desirable for the European and Asian markets.

In celebration of their first 10 years in business, Volti Audio unveiled a newly redesigned version of their Rival SE (Special Edition) speaker ($19,900/pair), seen here in an eye-catchingly exotic bubinga wood veneer (a rosewood option is also available). Although its side-curved form appears quite substantial, the horn-loaded hybrid floorstander can be sonically suitable for larger or smaller spaces. With its horn drivers and a sensitivity spec of 100dB, the Rival SE also makes for an easy to load-perfect for the 300B-powered BorderPatrol P20 EXD amplifier. The three-way Volti also features matching external crossovers that are user-adjustable, and Triode Wire Labs internal wiring.

Suncoast Audio presented Fyne Audio F702 speakers ($8995/pair) in their US debut. Handmade in Scotland, the two-and-a-half-way floorstander features a concentric point-source tweeter/midrange array with a titanium center that seemed almost hornlike in its appearance and delivery.