T.H.E. Show SoCal 2025: Best Hi-Fi Speakers Part II

It was good to see so many people attending T.H.E. Show SoCal 2025. It has definitely become the premiere audio show on the west coast of the USA. With so much to see, the show spread across five floors with over 200 brands, we couldn't fit everything into one article! This article of our five part series focusing on cool loudspeakers we got to listen to and explore at T.H.E. Show SoCal 2025.

Wells Audio and Evolution Acoustics

This room featured electronics from California’s Wells Audio driving speakers from Evolution Acoustics, with cabling from Cardas. The system included the Wells Commander tubed preamp ($4K) and Innamorata III power amp ($8,500), both of which are available in more expensive “Level II” and “Level III” versions, which use higher-quality parts but the same circuit designs. I believe the demo system was using the standard version of both components. The Innamorata III is rated at 150 WPC into 8 ohms, and 210 WPC at into ohms. I didn’t make a note of the DAC in use, but it looks like the company’s Cipher DAC ($8K and up). Power conditioning was handled by an upgraded “Level II” version of the Wells Audio Looking Glass II power conditioner ($7,500). All of this Wells gear was driving a pair of Evolution Acoustics Model One loudspeakers (about $4K/pair), a rather small, 2-way stand-mount speaker with a 2-inch soft pleat AMT tweeter and a 5.5-inch ceramic matrix mid-woofer. 

Although the speakers’ specs indicate that they dig down to 35Hz (-3dB), there wasn’t much low bass on “All Blues (Live)” by the Danish double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. But the piano and upright bass were both presented with natural timbres, if somewhat limited dynamics. The lower notes of the bass sounded like a lot of string and not much resonant wood. That said, the delicate textures of the string plucks were all there, and the soundstage was very wide. This open and holographic soundstage continued on Friend 'n Fellow’s cover of the Doors’ classic “Light My Fire,” with both the vocals and acoustic guitar sounding completely free of the speaker’s tiny cabinets. I have a feeling that these speakers would be amazing with a subwoofer or two added in the mix. The top end was super refined and detailed

Gryphon Audio Designs

Gryphon Audio Designs, the Danish high-end audio company, contributed the speakers, CD player, amplification, and cabling for this room, which also featured gear from Innuos, Brinkmann Audio, Vicoustic, and Revox. Gryphon recently opened a mono-brand showroom in Los Angeles, owned and operated by dealer Joseph Cali (who also owns the home theater installation outfit Joseph Cali Systems Design). The demo system included the Gryphon Diablo 333 integrated amplifier ($24,900), which delivers 333W per channel into 8 ohms, and 666W per channel into 4 ohms (biased to run >10W pure class-A). The speakers were the Gryphon Eos 5 ($52,500/pair). A Brinkmann Taurus direct-drive turntable ($20,490) fitted with a Koetsu Jade cartridge was used for vinyl playback. Digital audio was served up by the Innuos Zen Next-Gen ($13,750 and up), and sent to the DAC inside the Gryphon Ethos CD Player ($40K). A Gryphon PowerZone power conditioner cleaned up the hotel’s questionable AC power.

“Pneuma” by Tool was extremely punchy and clean in the mid-bass, making it clear from the start that the Vicoustic room treatment was doing its job. The English musician Fink was played all over the show, never sounding better than in the track “Perfect Day (feat. Fink)” by Lori Lieberman, who happens to be married to Joseph Cali. We listened via vinyl. Cali said that the recording was done in a single take and recorded directly to 2-inch tape. I noted an effortless, full-range sound, with tight and dry-sounding drums, and a soaring guitar part that sounded as if it were coming from another world. The bowed bass laid down a powerful foundation for the vocals, which were delivered with a nuanced rhythmic feel. Next, via a Revox tape deck, came “You Go To My Head,” the opening track from the album Some Other Time: The Lost Session From The Black Forest by Bill Evans. Here the low bass overloaded the room somewhat, but Evans’s piano sounded liquid and organic with realistic attack and sustain. During Eddie Gomez’s bass solo, his instrument’s upper registers sounded rich but clean. As he moved down the neck, the sound fattened up too much, owing to room resonances. Although the Eos 5 speakers are relatively small by Gryphon standards, they would have fared better in a slightly larger room. Room issues aside, a great showing from Gryphon.

Upscale Audio: Klipsch and Prima Luna, Fyne Audio and Pathos

I always look forward to seeing and hearing what Upscale Audio’s tube guru, Kevin Deal, has put together for a show. I was especially interested to hear the Fyne Audio room, which featured the Scottish loudspeaker manufacturer’s F704SP floor-standers ($26K/pair), which are bigger in person than they look in photos. These statuesque towers feature Fyne’s IsoFlare point source driver, pairing a 12-inch multi-fiber bass/mid cone with a 3-inch titanium dome compression tweeter for “seamless time alignment, exceptional clarity, and pinpoint imaging,” according to Fyne Audio. A second 12-inch woofer extends low-frequency depth. Here they were being driven by tubed gear from Italy’s Pathos Acoustics: the Synapse Reference Stereo Preamplifier ($27K) and the Adrenalin Monoblock Amplifiers ($24K each). Unfortunately, both times I attempted to check out the system, I was thwarted by the enthusiastic conversations of other show-goers, all of whom seemed impressed by the BIG and lively sound.

I had better luck next-door, where another system featured the new Klipsch Klipschorn AK7 loudspeakers ($18K/pair), driven by a PrimaLuna EVO 400 Integrated Amp ($6,495). This clean and simple system also included the Aurender A200 Server/Streamer/DAC ($6,300) and an AudioQuest Niagara 5000 power conditioner ($5,900). Cabling was provided by Cardas. On a live version of “Trouble’s What You’re In” by Fink, the system delivered energetic and crisp sound. The highs were a little bit hot for my taste, which is typical Klipsch, but so is the very dynamically alive sound that these speakers pumped out. During “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder, I was dancing in my chair. This system sounds like a party waiting to happen. Despite the considerable size of the Klipschorns, I felt that this system could have benefited from a subwoofer, but I also understand the appeal of putting together a big, impressive system with only a few components.

Grimm Audio

The Grimm Audio MU2 server/streamer/DAC ($17,450 and up) must be very popular at the moment; it used to great effect in many systems around the show (including the Fyne Audio room described above). But in Grimm’s own room, the MU1 digital transport ($12,500) was used to send digital signals to the Dutch manufacturer’s own LS1c active speakers ($38,000 – $44,150, depending on finish). The LS1c is the latest, flagship version of Grimm’s LS1 active speakers, which have DSP, D-to-A conversion, and amplification built in. The LS1c features a TPCD (thin-ply carbon diaphragm) Carbon Composite tweeter that Grimm developed in cooperation with the driver manufacturer Seas, among many other improvements over previous versions of the speaker. The LS1c also features an 8-inch mid-woofer from Seas. The pricing quoted above includes the up-firing Grimm SB1 Subwoofers ($12,750/pair when purchased as add-ons to other LS1 variants), which extend the LS1c’s frequency response all the way down to 20Hz. Compared to most of the systems at the show, this mono-brand system, featuring just one compact box (the MU1) and two active speakers, seemed refreshingly simple, though the technology at work inside these complex speakers is anything but. Behind the scenes, the system also included cabling from Viablue and a network switch and WiFi access point from Dejitter it. The speakers were toed in aggressively, and I was lucky enough to snag a seat in the sweet-spot.

I spent longer than I needed to in this room because the sound was so inviting. It had many of the hallmarks of great audiophile sound, including a tactile stereo image, full-range frequency coverage, a super-low noise floor, and the dynamic ability to go from a whisper to a roar in the blink of an eye. But more than any of that, there was something about the character of the sound that just made me relax and settle in to keep listening. Other systems may have been more dazzling in one area or another, but the Grimm system was engaging in a subtler way. Speaking of dazzling, however, “Roll the Dice” by the Norwegian music duo Smerz has a synth bass line that hit me like a 2-ton sledge hammer via the Grimm LS1c. The bass had shocking weight behind it, yet it was lightning fast. After a while, David Chesky joined the party and began playing some snippets of his own recordings, many of which neither I, nor the Shazam app, could identify. (Chesky is a musician of note, and co-founder of the independent, audiophile label Chesky Records. He is also co-founder and CEO of HDtracks. Now he is heading up a new label called The Audiophile Society.) Chesky said that many of the tracks he played were available to download on a free Audiophile Sampler from The Audiophile Society. We listened to an emotionally resonant cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” by a singer named NOGA, from an album called Heroes In The Seaweed, released by The Audiophile Society label earlier this year. The singer’s sweet but vulnerable  tone was laid bare on this intimate recording, and the Grimm system left me hanging on her every breath, thanks to its ability to convey the smallest nuances of the performance while still painting the “big picture” of the overall sound with broad, colorful strokes. We listened to a version of the Gershwin classic “Summertime,” performed by Paloma Dineli Chesky (who, I believe, is David Chesky’s daughter) from her upcoming album Memory. It sounded clean and spacious, yet tonally rich, with supremely quiet backgrounds. Next came David Chesky’s own piano performance of another Gershwin tune, “I Got Rhythm,” from the album SOLO PIANO LIVE!, recorded at the New York City Jazz Piano Festival. What a phenomenal performance! Chesky told me that he was playing on a Fazioli 278 Concert Grand Piano. To me it sounded both articulate and lush at the same time. I very nearly got the chance to listen to some of my favorite tracks by Sarah Jarosz, but as soon as I started “Annabelle Lee,” John Hunter of REL arrived in the room and struck up a lively conversation, forcing me to (finally) move on from this excellent system.

Stay tuned for more T.H.E. Show coverage, coming soon.