One of my favorite systems at the 2024 Florida International Audio Expo came from Wynn Wong of Wynn Audio, who is the distributor for Vimberg Loudspeakers among other brands. If you don’t know, Vimberg is part of the TIDAL Audio speaker empire and I’ve been struggling to come up with the proper words to describe its market position–it’s not affordable or entry level because it’s still fairly expensive and still offers amazing levels of performance. The designs aren’t taken to the extremes that TIDAL Audio products are, but I still picked the two-way Vimberg Amea as our 2020 Product of the Year, and it remains the most impressive two-way monitor I’ve heard, period.
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
This system from Wynn Wong was built around the incredible Vimberg Mino loudspeakers ($40,000/pr)–these were the rare Vimbergs I’ve seen in a piano black finish so they still looked a lot like a TIDAL Audio Contriva–which now costs close to six figures per pair for the G3 version. Other components included a gorgeous Metronome AQWO CD/SACD player and streamer with tube output stage ($24,300), Karan Acoustics LINEb preamplifier ($29,000), Karan Acoustics POWERb stereo power amplifier ($43,000), cables from Fono Acustica of Spain and a Critical Mass Systems equipment rack.
What are those wooden boxes flanking the Critical Mass Systems rack in Wynn Audio room? Those, of course, are the Entreq Olympus Infinity ground boxes from Sweden, which cost $4,750 each. Entreq is one of the pioneers of this new age of audio grounding that was prompted by all the wireless and digital technologies that have introduced new types of noise and RF into our listening environments. Wynn Wong told me that he had just read my review of the Computer Audio Design Ground Control GC1 grounding boxes that morning, and with great interest. We’ve discussing a review of the Entreq grounding devices for more than a year, and I have a feeling I’ll be seeing those cool wooden boxes in my listening room sometime this year. (While some people have told me they don’t like the looks, I adore this aesthetic.)
As for the sound in the Wynn Audio room, well, it was TIDAL Audio through and through. There’s a perfection to the TIDAL Audio sound, a sense that everything is right in equal measures, and even though I’m still reeling from my exposure to the $450,000 TIDAL for Bugatti system that won our Product of the Year for 2023, I think the Vimberg Minos still capture that magic in a way that few six-figure speakers can–for much less. Thanks, Wynn Wong!
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