There wasn’t a large display of flashing lights, bopping matters or spinning discs greeting attendees in the MoFi room at the Florida Audio Show this year. Instead two simple active towers occupied the far side of the room by themself. Hifi distributor MoFi recently picked up Switzerland-based Piega last month and FLAX was the first showing for the brand that produces loudspeakers from $1.3k to $250k.
On display at the audio show were a pair of the Piega Premium Wireless 701 ($7.5k) although most of the company’s wares typically do fall into the passive category. National Sales Manager Jonathan Derda explained that they were trying to keep it clean and simple for the show, relying on only the active pair wirelessly leashed to a Primare streaming source. To get the signal across the room, Piega uses a small streaming box using Kleernet technology to sync both the music and the two speakers together.
Timing things perfectly for that focused center image has always been a challenge for wireless tech, but nothing seemed terribly amiss in the room early Friday morning. Having passed my Billie Eilish reference track test with ease, Jonathan Derda fired up Bad Guy to supple bass and natural high frequency response from the 701s. It was a direct sound, and one that would give more than a few wired options a run in a blind A/B.
Piega speakers are usually crafted from aluminum cabinets and stuffed with made-in-house ribbon coax drivers. The top of the line is called the Master Line Source, and is supported by Coax, Premium, Premium Wireless, TMicro AMT, and a range of custom install loudspeakers. In person the aluminum of the Premium Wireless did stand out in my mind against the sea of black wood boxes I saw that weekend.
Things are steadily marching forward on this side of wireless connectivity, and although its considered an outlier for most of hifi traditionalists, more and more products seem to be popping up in recent years finding use for less wires and more room placement versatility.
More info: Mofi Distribution
PIEGA Premium Wireless 701 $7,495 pair NORTH AMERICA DEBUT
- 2 ½ -way active floorstanding bass-reflex loudspeaker
- LDR 3056 ribbon tweeter, 5.5-inch midbass x 2
- 200 W built in amplification
- Includes PIEGA Connect wireless transmitter
- Silver polished aluminum, Black anodized aluminum, White varnished aluminum
- 90dB sensitivity, 40Hz – 20khz (+/- 3dB)
PRIMARE SC15 Network DAC / Streamer $1,795
- PRISMA streaming technology: Chromecast, Airplay, Roon, UPNP, Spotify Connect
- AKM4490 PCM/DSD DAC
- Black or Titanium
