In true go big or go home fashion, Fidelity Imports filled 9 rooms on the 12th floor of Axpona 2025 plus the ginormous Utopia D ballroom.
Look, I know you know I’ve loved the two integrated amplifiers from Italy’s Audio Flight I reviewed including the FL Three S and FLS 10 so it’s no wonder I was more than jazzed to see and (re)hear their statement level Strumento no.8 Mono Power Amplifiers and matching Strumento no.1 evo PreAmplifier, having had the good fortune of hearing the pair at Audia Flight’s Civitavecchia headquarters.
Here, that power pairing met the Wilson Benesch Omnium loudspeakers and the mind boggling GMT One Turntable System. And speaking of good fortune, I arrived in the the Utopia D ballroom in time to experience some choice slabs O vinyl from none other than Michael Fremer. Michael brought and played a regular old LP, read not an audiophile pressing, of Chopin piano works (I did not note the specifics) as well as Joe Pass with Count Basie from Mostly Blues…and Some Others and the sonic artistry, with no shortage of keyboard and guitar pyro-techniques, rang out with ballroom-filling presence.
I know what some of you are thinking, or mabe you know what I’m thinking—what would would those big Omniums and Strumento stack do inside the Barn?
The system:
Wilson Benesch GMT ONE System: $300,000
Audia Flight FLS20 SACD Player: $21,999
Audia Flight Strumento no.1 evo PreAmplifier: $29,999
Audia Flight Strumento no.8 Mono Power Amplifier: $34,999/each
Wilson Benesch Omnium Loudspeakers: $149,999/pair
AVM PC 5.3 Power Conditioner
Esoteric Balanced Phono Preamplifier: $50,000
Cables from Viablue Cables
Tactile Audio Furniture Stereo Cabinet