Southwest AudioFest July 2026 Show Report: Paul Schumann’s Best Of SWAF 2026 Blue Note Awards

“Vibrant Audio did another fantastic job and justly earned an Enjoy the Music.com Best Of Southwest Audio Fest 2026 Blue Note Award.”

Report on the Show
April 27, 2026

American Sound / Rethm – 1615

“In this room you had the Rethm active speakers, running off an Aurender A30 server/streamer/DAC, at the edge of the room you had another pair of Rethm speakers on static display alongside a Synthesis ROMA 14DC+ CD player.“

American Sound / Avantgarde Acoustic – 1620

“This room is for the horn lovers and valve lovers, huge Avantgarde Trio G3 speakers, paired with massive Air Tight power amps, Wadax Studio player, Studio PSU, and Studio Clock, Air Tight pre-amps, SME Model 60 turntable, and Air Tight phono stage. In a second room they had some more Avantgarde speakers...“

Opus 1 at the Florida International Audio Expo
Show Report 2026 by PartTime Audiophile
Chuck Bruce And Steven R. Rochlin, Feb 2026

“From a technical standpoint, Avantgarde Acoustic’s Opus 1’s horn loading and 103dB/W/m high-sensitivity made it an ideal match for vacuum tube electronics, avoiding the common tradeoffs between efficiency and tonal warmth.”

The Avantgard Opus 1 at the Florida International Audio Expo
Show Report 2026 by PartTime Audiophile
By Marc Phillips, March 5, 2026

“One of my favorite speakers at the Florida Audio Show–the Avantgarde Acoustics Opus 1–came as a complete surprise.”