Articles Archive

Dominique Fils-Aimé: Nameless

Dominique Fils-Aimé’s debut album Nameless is not just another album from a black female singer. It’s not just another R&B album. It’s not just another album, it’s something new! Unlike most black female artists emerging today onto the pop scene, Dominique Fils-Aimé does not seem to have her sights on the pop charts. Also, she does not seek conventional melodic structures or instruments. She does not vibrate her voice in a histrionic style of someone warbling their way through ‘America The Beautiful’ at a ball game. She does not go way up in scale to show off her range. Moreover, she does not rely on automated drum machines or auto-tuned vocals. Her music seems like a wonderful, refreshingly new cauldron of African tribal music, R&B, gospel, and a few droplets of Nina Simone here and there.

All four of her albums are great, but the first is still the best and is available as a 45 RPM on vinyl with fantastic sound quality. All the tracks on Nameless are great and different. In addition, the tracks feature fantastic percussion, with Dominique’s own vocals providing a persistent, cool female backing chorus. This chorus serves as the basic rhythm across all her tracks.

Minimal instrumentation

The album is almost demonstratively devoid of instruments. It relies heavily on percussion, her backing vocals and back chorus to flesh out the songs. There are a few instruments sprinkled in here and there. On several of the tracks, a freaking fantastic upright bass belts out the beat. Although quite different from Sade’s voice, Dominique’s voice shares some of the same sensual elements. Additionally, it shares some of that great presence that Nina Simone’s voice had.

Like Sade – when she broke onto the scene in the 1980’s with her own brand of music – Dominique Fils-Aimé seems to have carved out her own niche in the musical landscape, with her own unique soundscape and melody structure. Dominique Fils-Aimé doesn’t seem as willing to pursue the ‘Smooth Operator’ pop songstress line that Sade very much occupied.

The opening track, Dominique’s version of ‘Strange Fruit’, is quite different. It is slow and strange, with a multi-layered, humming backing chorus, all sung by Dominique Fils-Aimé. It is a purely vocal track devoid of instruments. This is a brand-new take on a sadly still-relevant tragic song. The lack of instruments makes it even more eerie and solemn.

Birds

The album’s best track is ‘Birds!’ with its phenomenal upright bass that shakes your core and lays out the basic beat. This beat is surrounded by an amazing percussion soundscape – clapping, rainsticks and maracas, tambourine – interspersed yet growing as the track progresses. There is sparse drumming with perfectly timed pauses! All rounded out by her own backing vocals and chorus, this makes for a wonderful minimalist mix. Here, the whole is more than the sum of the instruments. If you like this track, you will like all of her tracks.

‘Home’ with its cool snare drum and upright bass is the second-best track on the album. As with all her tracks, her main vocals play off her own back vocals and backing chorus. She uses this chorus as the rhythmic yardstick throughout. Moreover, there is sparse yet highly potent, cool percussion. Another unusual difference is that they rarely use the hi-hat on any track.

‘Feeling Good’ is another of the great tracks on an album full of great tracks. It’s a purely vocal spin-off on the well-known ‘Summertime’, but she never actually sings the words: “And I’m feeling good.” We started with the eerie vocal ‘Strange Fruit’ and ended with another vocal track, but this time very uplifting and full of hope. I could listen to her sing all day long.

The title track – ‘Nameless’ – with its strumming and humming chorus, serves as the most atmospheric and subdued track on the album. It’s not often that a young artist creates something new, and especially not with their first album. Everyone who enjoys female vocals and great rhythms should give this album a listen, especially if you can find the LP. Nameless is cool, vibrant, colourful, and quite different.

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ICEpower Announces the Release of its First Generation SC400A2 Amplifier Platform

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, 20th May 2026: ICEpower, the industry-leading technical partner to the world’s most respected audio brands, today announced the release of their new SC400A2 Amplifier Platform, alongside the 750S Universal Power Supply. Compact and highly versatile, the SC400A2 is a 400W, 2-channel amplifier module, and the first ICEpower product to feature their radical new Super Conductor topology – establishing a whole new baseline for signal purity in Class D amplification.

The SC400A2 is the result of significant advances within Class D topologies from ICEpower’s leading R&D team. By combining a sonically transparent signal with an ultra-compact form factor, SC400A2 delivers gain with zero coloration, from an easily-integrated module that drastically accelerates an audio product’s time to market. Brands can skip years of expensive, complex research and development, while introducing a reference-grade, sonically transparent power module into their builds.

GAIN WITH ZERO COLORATION: THE SUPER CONDUCTOR TOPOLOGY

Since its founding in 1999, ICEpower has been a principal driver of the evolution of Class D amplification through successive generations of proprietary modulation and feedback topologies. The new Super Conductor architecture represents the latest milestone in this legacy, built to raise the objective standard for Class D audio performance.

While recent industry trends have highlighted ‘fully digital’ Class D concepts, ICEpower’s engineering approach is rooted in the reality that loudspeakers fundamentally require analog voltage and current. Recognizing that the switching cycle of any Class D amplifier is inherently analog, the Super Conductor topology therefore corrects signal errors directly in the analog domain. By maintaining a completely analog signal chain, modulator, and feedback path utilizing the highest-performance operational amplifiers available, the platform delivers a newfound level of signal purity.

As CTO Patrik Bostrøm explains, “It is an analog Class D amplifier with a Globally Controlled Oscillation Modulator (or GCOM) as a core, and two nested second-order negative feedback loops around it”. “Nested negative feedback loops aren’t new in themselves, but having a fourth-order slope which also joins the slope of the output filter presents challenges. It has required a lot of work.”

The unyielding nature of this design required carefully curated components and a surgical approach to layout precision. “We have gone all in using the best capacitors, MOSFETs, resistors and OPAMPs,” says Boström. “Everything has been scrutinized, measured, and tested. The SC400A2 truly has a state-of-the-art performance and that is why we call it The Super Conductor.”

The result of this rigorous approach is a Super Conductor topology that delivers an unprecedentedly low noise floor – so low in fact that ICEpower had to build entirely new testing systems simply to measure it. The distortion and noise of the amplifier were so low that it was buried in the inherent noise floor of the industry reference Audio Precision equipment we normally use for audio measurements. This process revealed a staggering THD+N of 0.0002% at 100W across the entire audio band, and a smooth frequency response with a -3dB corner frequency above 100kHz.

SC400A2 achieves total signal integrity with no coloration or alteration, making it a product capable of unlocking significant, quantifiable performance gains in the most demanding, reference-level audio systems.

EASY INTEGRATION WITH 750S

To perfectly complement the SC400A2 module and fully realize its potential for audio manufacturers, ICEpower is concurrently releasing the 750S Universal Power Supply as a standalone, off-the-shelf module.

“750S is a compact universal power supply based on a power factor correction stage, an LLC stage and a flyback auxiliary converter capable of supplying more than 20W,” Boström explains. “It also has very low leakage current thanks to the soft switching LLC stage and this helps keep the noise down in the complete system.”

Together, SC400A2 and 750S represent a highly optimized platform, compact enough to fit into technically complex designs, whilst applying absolutely no mis-coloration to the overall audio signal. In both modules, ICEpower has simplified circuitry and focused on a compact, versatile form factor to give manufacturers a sonically transparent amplifier module and accompanying power supply that is straightforward to incorporate into their products, including high-end streaming amplifiers, active speakers and studio monitors. .

ICEpower makes this industry-leading, high-precision technology scalable for the world’s most demanding audio brands. Manufacturers need not invest time and money into complex research, drastically reducing a product’s time to market while focusing on what matters most: delivering uncompromising performance and total reliability from their products.

Tannoy marks centenary with exclusive limited-editions & more to be announced at HIGH END

21 May 2026, Manchester, UK: Tannoy, one of the world’s longest-established loudspeaker manufacturers, will use HIGH END 2026 in Vienna to announce a series of exclusive limited-edition loudspeakers, alongside the return of some truly iconic models, to mark its centenary this year.

The announcement represents the centrepiece of the Manchester-headquartered company’s centenary celebrations, which are set to span a special three-year period. The first new limited-edition models will officially launch in the coming months.

Based on the acclaimed Prestige Gold Reference Series, the exclusive limited-edition anniversary loudspeakers incorporate significant performance upgrades, including enhanced crossovers and improved internal cabling. Availability will be strictly limited: just 19 pairs of the flagship Westminster Royal GR and 26 pairs of the sub-flagship Canterbury GR will be produced; the numbers deliberately chosen to form 1926, the year Tannoy was founded in South London. More models are expected to join the range in the coming months.

Full specifications, pricing and imagery will be released when the models formally launch later this year. Tannoy’s UK team will be on hand at HIGH END to discuss the new models at Hall X2, E06 and at the nearby Tech Gate demonstration area.

Plus: Hear the flagship Westminster Royal GR at HIGH END

HIGH END 2026 will also offer attendees a rare opportunity to experience Tannoy’s flagship Westminster Royal GR, a loudspeaker that has achieved legendary status in audio circles.

A two-way, horn-loaded design built around a 15-inch iteration of Tannoy’s proprietary Dual Concentric drive unit, a concept first introduced in 1947, the Westminster Royal GR stands 140 cm tall and weighs 140 kg. Its key acoustic technologies include the PepperPot WaveGuide, Alnico magnets and aluminium-magnesium alloy diaphragms with Mylar surround compression drivers.

The luxurious 530-litre birch ply cabinet features comprehensive internal bracing using Tannoy’s Differential Materials Technology (DMT), and is finished in oiled walnut veneer with hand-selected burr walnut inlays. A sensitivity of 99 dB ensures compatibility with amplifiers from high-powered transistor designs to low-powered valve amplifiers, while bass extension reaches down to 18 Hz for full-bandwidth reproduction.

The Westminster Royal GR will be driven by high-performance electronics from ESOTERIC, with cabling by Montaudio. The system will give attendees the opportunity to experience one of the world’s most exceptional loudspeakers with an optimally configured set-up.

FIND TANNOY AT HIGH END

Hall X2, E06 and Westminster playbacks at the Tech Gate demonstration area

AXPONA 2026 Show Report

(Image by Tom Hackforth)

The largest audio show in North America, AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) was held April 10-12, 2026, in its usual location at the Schaumburg, Il. Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center outside of Chicago. The event was the largest ever featuring 12,546 attendees, over 750 vendors from over 50 countries occupying 235 rooms over 12 floors. It was massive and very entertaining. Big news from the show was an increase of over 50% in Gen-Z ticket sales and lots of family attendance.

hi-fi+’s goal was to highlight as much new gear as we could in this massive event. Challenge accepted! All prices to follow in USD unless otherwise noted.

One of the first rooms we visited sounded great right at the start. The 2WA Group room featured Ideon’s newest digital stack which was being introduced at Axpona featuring the Ideon Absolute DAC ($55,000), The Ideon Absolute Time ($13,000) and the Ideon Absolute Stream ($28,500 being fed by a Grimm MU1 Server (14,400). Analog was provided by a VPI Avenger Turntable ($40,000) in a gorgeous blue feeding a GRIMM Phono Pre ($5,650). Preamp was a Trilogy 914 ($18,000) Amps were the Trilogy 994 Monoblocks ($30,000 a pair). Speakers were the Aequo Ensium’s ($50,000/pr) The system both sounded and looked great. A nice start to the show.

Next up was Justin Weber’s ampsandsound room. Ampsandsound makes bespoke point to point wired tube gear and classic high efficiency horn speakers. They also make incredible tube headphone amps. This room featured their new Badlands Preamp ($12,000) the Stereo 17 amplifier ($6,000) the DAC 4.4 ($14,000) A Technics 1300 Turntable ($4,000) with a Denon DL103R cartridge ($550) and the Sasquatch speakers ($18,000) On display was their newest amp the Kenzie Reimagined ($6,000) Cables were the Prosper Cables Reference Line from Prosper Texas. The sound was modern, detailed and spacious and not gooey. An excellent example of today’s high quality tube gear and current Horn speaker technology.

Audio Research didn’t hang around this year. The ink’s barely dry on signing off the LS-3 and S-200 and now the brand launched a slew of new products in its Reference series. The show represented the world premiere of the new $28,000 Reference 7 and $48,000 Reference 20 line preamps and the $23,000 Reference 80X stereo power amplifier. These replace the Ref 6, Ref 10 and Ref 80S respectively. The Reference 20 moves from a two box flagship into a single chassis but moves the performance ahead by a significant amount. In fact, Audio Research claimed the new $28,000 Reference 7 preamplifier eclipses the outgoing Reference 10.

This was demonstrated alongside the first show outing of the $192,000 Ideon Audio flagship AXIOM digital replay system, all playing through a pair of Acora 5.2 loudspeakers ($44,000 with the standard tweeter used in this room). Even with the loudspeakers overdriving the room somewhat, it was clear this was a system of world-class stature and performance.

We first ran across AGD Productions Gran Vivace Class D amps at Rocky Mountain Audio Show in Colorado several years ago. That MkI amp was cool as the circuitry was housed in a KT88 tube! Now in its latest MKIV iteration it is one of the finest Class D GaN amps on the market ($19,000/pr). Shown with the Andante MKII Pre-DAC-Streamer ($12,999). Paired with Rosso Fiorentino speakers this room was another sonic winner.

The EnKlein Bespoke Wireworks Room Had samples of their speaker wire, power cables and interconnects in glass cases for view as well as a high-end system to listen to said cables. Out for viewing were the Master Edition speaker cables (2.5M $50,000) the Master Edition interconnects (1.5M $35,000) the Master Edition Power (1M $27,500) and the Xerxes Ethernet (1.5M $3,500) as well as the Sovereign Current Distribution Appliance ($20,000) The in room system consisted of EMM Labs PREi ($28,900) The DAC2i ($35,000), TXi CD Transport ($13,500 and a pair of Thrax Lyra SE speakers ($31,500).

Saturday Audio Exchange always brings a room that sounds great but is more affordable. They were showing the new GoldenEar T44 Tower Speaker in a lovely Santa Barbara Red ($5299/pr). The T44’s offer up much of what their larger brother T66’s does in a smaller form factor. A solid low end with excellent mids and highs. The system consisted of the Eversolo DPM-A10 Flagship DAC/Streamer/Preamp ($5,998) and the AMP-F10 amplifier ($2480). All cabling was by AudioQuest. Racks and stands were all by Pangea Audio.

Next up was the Revel introduction of their new Performa 4 surround sound line. This system featured the Revel F346 Tower 3-way triple 6.5” Floorstanding loudspeakers ($3,499) fronted by the Arcam SA45 2X180 Integrated Class G amplifier ($5,499) and the Arcam CD5 Compact Disc Player ($769) This was a strong performance to value room Excellent sound and presentation.

Rogue Audio was introducing its new flagship tube monoblocks the M-250’s ($18,995/pr) featuring 250 w/ch into 8 Ohm’s using 6 KT88’s per side. Also being introduced was the new RP-7 v2 preamplifier ($5,495). Sourced by an Eversolo T-8 Streamer ($1,395) and a Garlubidor Divinity DAC ($1,849) with an all-Darwin Cables loom ($995-$3,995) and feeding a pair of Magnepan 2.7x’s ($10,000/pr) the room was clear and detailed. The M-250’s proved there are tube amps that can drive Magnepan speakers with authority and finesse.

Paradigm introduced its latest speaker line the Premier Series V2 calling it a new price/performance benchmark. Available for listening were the Premier 720F floorstanders speakers ($1999/pr) powered by an Anthem integrated amplifier the 720F’s offered a beautiful fit and finish with nice tone and dynamics. Definitely a strong contender in the price/performance speaker space.

Jones and Cerreta might sound like a new name in the business, but if I say the ‘Jones’ part relates to loudspeaker guru Andrew Jones and the $33,900/pr Troubador loudspeaker makes a whole lot more sense. Jones – working as a fully sanctioned side hustle from his work at MoFi – has delivered the goods with these large loudspeakers featuring field-coil concentric drivers. In a system also featuring a Thorens turntable, EMT cartridge, Lab 12 phono stage and integrated amplifier, a HiFi Rose streamer and a lovely looking Drake Woodworking cabinet, this made one of those beguiling sounds that resulted in lines around the floor just to get a listen. It was worth the wait!

REL’s room offered a wonderful demonstration on system synergy featuring their S/550 subwoofer ($3,299) with optional Wood Grill covers ($399) Total sub price was $22,188. They in a system that was high end but brand agnostic with a D’Agostino integrated a Wadia CD transport/DAC and a pair of Wilson speakers. The point was different brands can co-exist beautifully in a system if properly curated. They also did the turn the woofer off and on demo that, to know one’s surprise made it clear a good sub (or six!) makes a huge difference in sonic excellence.

Peter Lyngdorf continues to innovate. His newest company Radiant Acoustics introduces the Clarity 66 Floorstanding speaker ($9,998 direct). Powered by a Lyngdorf TDAI-2210 Streaming Integrated Amplifier ($5,499). Radiant is a collaboration of Nordic Hi-Fi, PURIFI and HiFi Klubben. Seen on the table are examples the speaker parts. This was a room we all wished we had more time in. Lovely sound and solid bass from a speaker whose specs include 24Hz to 20,000kHz at 86dB into 4 Ohms in a WAF approved floorstander.

Dynaudio made a strong statement with their new Legend bookshelf speaker ($7,000/pr). The Legends are a big step up from the Special 40’s with a ton of air and space with a wonderful expansive soundstage. Powered by the exceptional Simaudio Moon 371 Integrated Amplifier/DAC/Streamer ($6,500). Analog source was the Clearaudio Performance DC Turntable with the Tracer Tonearm and a Hana Umami Blue Cartridge (No price provided). In a small room this system was exceptional.

The Ear Gear area at Axpona had many personal audio vendors. Moon Audio from Cary, North Carolina was showing their new Europa Balanced Tube headphone amp/Preamp ($8,995). This fully differential, ultra-low noise reference piece offers dual functionality as a reference headphone amp and as a stereo preamplifier. Initial listening with several high-end headphones showed it to be an excellent device and one that is coming in soon for review!

Vinnie Rossi teamed up with Treble Clef Audio to put on a superb sounding room. Featuring the Vinnie Rossi Brama Preamplifier ($39,995) and New Vinnie Rossi Phono Preamplifier (Price TBA) being sourced by an SME MK2 Model 15 Turntable and tonearm with a Benz Micro cartridge. Digital was sourced by a B. audio Reference DAC and cabling from Siltech’s Double Crown and Classic Series cables and interconnects. The system was fronted by a pair of Treble Clef Audio’s TCA-M Active Loudspeakers ($103,900/pr) and a pair of TCA-S Active Subsonic modules ($22,550 ea). This was a best of show sound contender. Outstanding sonics with deep and beautifully controlled bass.

Zesto audio once again offered an excellent sounding room. Introducing their new Athena Tube DAC ($15,000) which had been shown as a static display during its development at last year’s show the Athena was now the sonic centerpiece of this year’s system. Joining the Athena was the Zesto Andros Deluxe II Vacuum tube phono stage ($8,300) and the Leto Ultra II Preamp ($11,900) and the Eros 500 Select Monoblocks ($35,000/pr) Analogue was sourced by the Dr. Feickert Blackbird Turntable ($9,900). Speakers were the YG Acoustics Sonja 3.2’s ($106,800/pr). Equipment rack was the Stillpoints ESS42-26-4 Rack with four acrylic shelves ($14,788) Stillpoints Aperture 2 acoustic panels in oak ($960 ea.) and Aperture silver stands ($719 ea.). All cabling was Cardas Clear and Beyond ($2,000 – $13,070). The room was another best of show contender.

Lucca Chesky continues to bring the goods with his new company Chesky Audio. He was showing his latest speaker, the LC2 Reference Monitor ($1,995/pr) and it was a winner. The LC2’s are small but mighty with prodigious bass and terrific imaging. Joining the LC2 in this affordable but stellar system was a stack of Schiit Audio gear including the Kara Preamp ($799), the Tyr Monoblock amplifier’s ($3,698/pr) an Yggdrasil Singular DAC ($3,499) and a Loki Max F equalizer ($1,599) Interconnects from Lone Ranger, Pegasus, Carbon, Monsoon and Powerquest ($239 – $2,990) This room was a value leader at the show. Nice to see a system that cost less than a new car sound so good.

The Phasemation room from Axiss Audio had me at 300B. They were introducing the new Phasemation MA-3000 Monoblock 300B amplifiers ($TBA) each sporting a pair of Western Electric 300B tubes and the new Phasemation CM-2200 Preamp ($TBA) with a Phasemation EA-1500 Phono Preamp ($26,975). Turntable was the Reed 3C ($31,975) with the Reed 3P Panzerholz tonearm ($7,690) and a Reed optical cartridge ($12,975). Speakers were the DeVore Fidelity O/96’s in custom figured cherry ($20,530/pr). Cabling by Tara Labs with a TAOC CSR Rack, Nihon Onkyo Engineering diffusors in black ($6,090) with Telos Foundation power and ground core. We could have spent an afternoon in this outstanding room. A top five room.

Fidelity Imports offered several strong rooms from their many product representations. My favorite of their rooms was the Opera Loudspeakers, Unison Research and Michell Turntable room Featuring the Opera Callas Diva Edizione Speciale Floorstanding Speakers ($13,999/pr). The Callas compare favorably to speakers twice their price in performance, fit and finish. The Unison Research Unico PRE V2 Stereo Preamp ($7,499) and Unico DM V2 amp ($10,999) drove the system beautifully while being sourced from the Michell Gyro turntable ($8,999 without tonearm or cartridge). This was another room to linger in for a while.

A second Fidelity Imports room (in fairness, Fidelity took a lot of rooms) that showed well was the Perlisten and Cambridge room featuring the Perlisten A4t Floorstanding Speakers ($6.990/pr) fronted by a suite of Cambridge electronics including the CXA81SE Black Edition integrated amplifier ($1,199), the CXN100 SE Black Edition Network Streamer ($1,099) and the CXC SE Black Edition CD Transport ($599). For a system priced at basically $10,000 it covered all the needs of a smart digital system without sonic compromise.

This is the new flagship Titan loudspeakers from YG Acoustics, standing approximately 1.3 metric Eric Neffs tall. In this configuration they are $910,000 USD and weigh a total of a ton! Fronted by a quad!! Of Simaudio Moon’s massive 888 Amplifiers ($59,444 ea.) and an all Moon flagship front end this was a smooth $1,600,000 system that is perfect for your spare ballroom. And, yes, it sounded terrific.

Eric Neff: My best sound of show room was the Scott Walker Audio/ Luxury Audio Group room in Schaumburg D. For a tidy $1,500,000 it should sound great. What was interesting here is that this room has been theirs’s for a few AXPONA’s now and there has been a concerted effort each year to improve on the rooms acoustics with room treatments and setup adjustments. This year they came in an extra day early to get it right. The flagship Estelon Extreme MkII speakers were at their room filling best offering 20Hz-40kHz sound ($340,000). Electronics w 2 pr of Vitus SM-103 amplifiers ($85,000/pr) a Vitus SL-103 mkII Preamp ($44,625) and a Vitus SD-025 mkII DAC ($33,900). Analogue sourcing was a SonoruS Audio Reel to Reel Tape Deck ($35,000). Digital was provided by the Taiko Olympus Music Server ($95,000) and a Taiko Router/Switch & DC Power Supply ($15,000). All cables were Crystal Cables Infinite Dream series (Approx $360,000 for the full loom). Isolation Platforms were Seismion Active Isolation Platforms ($16,000 ea.) Accessories included Audio Realignment Technology EMR Absorption Devices ($5,000 – $12,000 ea) and Arya Labs RevoPods Isolation Footers ($1,695 per set). Amazing gear and years of diligence on room correction made a demo of sides 3 and 4 of the Wall on Reel to Reel a show mountaintop for me.

Alan Sircom: There were a number of rooms that ‘did it’ for me (and not simply ‘Yacht-fi’ equipment that costs as much as a small Boeing; the sensational Dynaudio Legacy mentioned above just sang sweetly and made you ask ‘do you need any more?’ questions).

But, when it comes to the “it’s not home, but it’s much!” part of the show, it was hard not to be impressed by the Quintessence Audio rooms, especially the one featuring Wilson Chronosonic XVX loudspeakers in gold, driven by a pair of Audio Research Reference 330 mono amps, with the new Reference 20 preamp and a two-box Reference 10 phono preamp. This was being fed by a Döhmann Helix One Mk III (now with vacuum hold-down) and either a Wilson Benesch Graviton Ti arm and Tesselate cartridge or a Supertrac Nighthawk 12″ arm and DS Audio Grand Master EX cartridge with TB-100 tube equaliser.

On the digital side, this system featured an Innuos Nazaré server with NazaréNET switch and NazaréFLOW interface, feeding into a dCS Varèse digital replay system. Add in long runs of Transparent Magnum Opus cable and a Critical Mass Systems Olympus Ultra rack system and the price of the whole system comes to a cool $2,006,825! I guess it should impress at that price, but impress it certainly did.

AXPONA 2026 offered another great show of all ranges of gear for audio enthusiasts. I look forward to next year to see what the world’s top audio manufacturers can come up with next!

PMC prophecy7

On the cover of the PMC prophecy brochure, which is a deluxe production as you might expect, they have put the legend ‘hear the future’. This is essentially marketing spiel, but judging by the PMC prophecy7 there might be an ounce of truth in it. Good quality speakers are capable of transporting the listener through time. They can take you to the moment and place where a great concert occurred and put you in the audience. Naturally, a degree of disbelief suspension is required. But, really all it takes is closing your eyes and focusing on the performance to get you there.

The less colored the loudspeaker, the more authentic the experience can be. Whether you will hear music from the future is, however, open to debate. The prophecy range is slimmer and more elegant than the twenty5i range that it replaces. This range is at the core of PMC’s offering. Each of the four models (five if the centre channel prophecyC is counted) features the same 125mm (5 inch) mid/bass and bass units. As a rule, the larger the speaker, the more drive units are employed. The PMC prophecy7 sits in the middle of three floorstanders and replaces the twenty5.24i from the previous range. However, it ups the ante by including a midrange dome alongside that model’s two-way driver array. The fact that they have managed to achieve this without raising the price is impressive in a loudspeaker that does not appear to make many compromises.

X dynamics

The biggest difference between prophecy models and their predecessors lies in the vent arrangement for the advanced transmission line that typifies PMC loudspeakers. Previously, the vent was cut into the front baffle at the bottom of the cabinet. In the most recent models, aerodynamic fins have been inserted to reduce turbulence. This is where the compressed air from the line interacts with the outside world.

For prophecy, PMC has created an aluminium plinth called Laminair X. This provides the final segment of the transmission line. It incorporates fins that create a laminar airflow. The mass of this component also brings the added benefit of enhancing stability. That means it negates the need for the stainless steel plinth bars used in the twenty5i range to pass tilt tests. However, the isolation provided by grommets in that system has been removed. This has been replaced by a natural cork gasket between the cabinet and the plinth. The prophecy plinth is tapped to accept spikes directly.

Laminair X is said to be superior at producing the desired laminar airflow compared to the previous system. Now the fins are as deep as the plinth (31cm) rather than being 5cm deep in the twenty5i models. The result is cleaner bass, as air compressed behind the bass cone can flow more freely out of the line. The driver array on the PMC prophecy7 consists of a 27mm soft dome tweeter based on a pro series design and covered by a grille that not only protects it but also extends the highest frequencies to produce a flatter response. PMC have also placed the tweeter in a waveguide that increases sensitivity and allows for smoother integration with the midrange dome.

Encompassing design

That dome is a 55mm unit featuring a performance-enhancing grille and sits within a more intricate waveguide that PMC has dubbed n-compass (geddit). Its function mirrors that of the tweeter, aiming to improve dispersion and integration with its companion drivers. The midrange waveguide merges two profiles: a shallow exponential guide and a steep hyperbolic one, intending to leverage the low-frequency loading and sensitivity advantages of the hyperbolic while controlling off-axis dispersion with the exponential. Dispersion is reportedly enhanced by the manner in which this waveguide diffracts and reradiates high frequencies. Both domes’ waveguides are derived, like the drivers themselves, from PMC’s professional designs, assuring that they will perform well at high volume, if nothing else.

The bass driver on the PMC prophecy7 appears fairly normal but was specifically developed for the Laminair X loading found in the new range. The goal is to deliver high power, wide bandwidth, and high speed with low coloration, which is quite demanding for a five-inch driver. PMC used an ultralight, mica-filled cone material in a cast alloy chassis with a ferrite magnet to achieve this, and the results suggest that they have experienced some success.

Timeless

Powered largely by a Moor Amps Angle 6 150W amplifier, the PMC prophecy7 turned out to be somewhat of a grower. It sounded good to begin with, but by the end of the far too short review period during which they were here, I had become quite attached to their remarkably low distortion and high transparency, coupled with fabulous timing.

I played a great deal of music on the PMC prophecy7s in that time and heard new detail in much of it; John Abercrombie’s Timeless sounded superb, the harmonic minutiae being resolved so well thanks to the quietness of speakers that, while they don’t inhabit fancy cabinets, have been constructed in such a way as to avoid interfering with the sound, thus allowing me to hear more of the music and less of the box.

Narrow baffle

I suppose the narrow baffle helps here, as does the solidity provided by the lump of aluminium at the bottom. With a remarkable record like this, you get oodles of atmosphere and excellent imaging, even off-axis. I am somewhat inclined to sit in the hot seat when alone, but when someone is sharing the sofa, I end up to one side, which usually compromises imaging quite evidently, but not so much here. There may indeed be something to this wide dispersion approach after all.

Tonally, the prophecy seems very accurate as well. The balance is slight by some standards but makes others sound bright and forward. I suspect this indicates they are extremely neutral. It makes ‘Message in a Bottle’ (yes The Police, play it on vinyl, you may be surprised) sound like it needs a bit of fattening up. However, remember that this album was made to sound jagged and lively for the post-punk market. In practice, it sounds glorious; the drumming is prog in disguise, as is the guitar. It’s only Mr Sting’s ravings that make it poptastic. It’s a blast either way when you have this much speed and control available in the loudspeakers.

End game

The PMC prophecy7 is also highly revealing of variations in image scale. One tune fills the room and the next one is presented in a tightly focused, three-dimensional form between the speakers. The cleaner the production, the smoother the sound; of course. The Johan Lindvall Trio album End (reviewed in the June 2025 issue) is presented on a relatively small scale. However, the playing is utterly beguiling, and its inherent beauty truly draws you in. With Jeff Parker’s The Way Out of Easy live recording, the image is almost as strong outside the prophecy7s as it is between them. There’s so much character in the sound, with each instrument having its own distinct timbre and acoustic. However, the band as a whole is presented as a completely cohesive unit.

You can hear this speaker’s pro heritage in its monitor-like ability to resolve details such as compression, reverb, and effects in everything played. The PMC prophecy7 doesn’t possess a typical monitor character, but it does exhibit the transparency to nuance offered by such designs. Perhaps this comes down to dispersion as well. The way the speaker interacts with the room is entirely dependent on dispersion. That makes it a key factor in the sound we perceive.

Speed and immediacy

I revelled in the speed and immediacy that the PMC prophecy7 brought to the party. It did so without sounding bright or forward. Especially at higher levels, it tends to play hard, as I did with them in the system, because the perceived distortion is so low. I became quite carried away with a variety of tracks, including ‘A Frozen Western’ by The God in Hackney. This was another example where the sound completely surrounded the speakers and gave the impression that they were not there when my eyes were closed.

I have been using PMC twenty5.26i speakers on and off since their launch five years ago. They possess the same three-way driver array with a midrange dome. However, despite being larger and more expensive, I would gladly swap them for the prophecy7s. These speakers are clearly superior in nearly every aspect, except for absolute bass extension. Considering they are distinctly more affordable, is quite an achievement. The combination of elements in the PMC prophecy7 has resulted in a design that performs well above its price point. Don’t let their slim good looks deceive you; this is a fantastic speaker.

Technical specifications

Type: 3-way, three-driver, floorstanding speaker with PMC ATL (Advanced Transmission Line) enclosure.
Driver complement: One 27mm; one PMC 55mm soft dome midrange driver; one PMC 125mm mineral cone bass driver.
Crossover frequencies: 600Hz, 3.1kHz
Frequency response: 40Hz – 20kHz (-3dB)
Impedance: 6 Ohms
Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m
Dimensions (HxWxD): 965 x 165 x 310mm (+23mm with terminals)
Weight: 23.7kg/each
Finishes: Natural walnut, Mediterranean oak, Blackened walnut.
Price: £6,575, €7,999, $9,499/pair

Manufacturer

Professional Monitor Company

pmc-speakers.com

+44(0)1767 686300

Soulution Audio 331

For most brands, the 331 integrated would be at the peak of their product performance abilities. For Swiss audio experts Soulution Audio, it’s still on the nursery slopes. There is the entire Series 5 and Series 7 above this elegant and powerful performer.

The 331 replaces the popular 330 integrated amplifier from Soulution. From the exterior, you can easily spot the difference because of the number ‘1’ in the product name. Seriously, that’s it. The front, rear, remote, display, and placement of buttons, knobs and connectors is all identical to its predecessor. This is no bad thing; it’s a simple yet elegant design that doesn’t need to change. Mungling about with timeless style for the sake of a revamp might work in the Bumper Book of Industrial Design. However, Soulution doesn’t work that way. It knows its aficionados are more concerned with what goes on inside the case than the case itself.

Changes

So, what’s changed? As Soulution itself puts it, “more power reserves and less phase shift in the audio band.” This is realised by four new SMPS (switch-mode power supplies) out of six in total, which Soulution labels as “cutting-edge.” Like their predecessors, these power supplies deliver 1.2 kVA of continuous power, feature high-performance filtering at the input and output. They also sport custom-made high-speed voltage regulators. However, these new power supplies can provide up to 4 kVA of peak current for more than five seconds. This improves an already impressively stable power delivery that it eschews reservoir capacitance. It widens the gap between this technology and transformer-based amplifiers even further.

The change has resulted in a net reduction in output power. The Soulution Audio 331 delivers 100 watts into eight ohms. That’s more than the 120 watts into eight ohms of its predecessor. However, this is not due to alterations in the amplifier circuitry but rather a reflection of the design’s enhanced refinement. Given that most of us seldom, if ever, listen to an amplifier at its maximum output, the reduction in power is extremely unlikely to present an audible issue.

The rest of the integrated amplifier remains identical to the 330 it replaces. It retains the amplifier technology used in the company’s Series 5 amplifiers. This relies on a three-stage current amplification system, with each stage having a narrow, almost linear operating range. It has a high-precision idle current management circuit. This keeps the amplifier in optimal high Class A operation under all conditions. There’s RF and DC protection at the input and short circuit protection at the output.

Volume, two ways

The volume control is relay-switched and features high-precision metal film resistors, forming an 80, 1dB step volume control. Unlike most relay-switching circuits, the 331 features a second signal path that is only active during volume adjustment. This Programmable Gain Amplifier chip acts like a conventional potentiometer during volume adjustment. The amplifier reverting to precision resistors when the volume level is set. Notionally, switching between resistor array volume and integrated circuit volume pathways should slow down operation. In the real world, any delay was extremely short.

Inside the chassis, the audio signal path, power supply and digital circuitry are all shielded from one another. Meanwhile the power amplifiers and their supplies are physically separated in a dual-mono layout. This results in exceptional channel separation (>105dB) for an integrated amplifier.

In its standard form, the amplifier features a line-only design with two XLR and two RCA inputs. However, there are also optional modules available for a phono stage and DAC. You can add these later, but it’s probably best to buy the 331 to your requirements at purchase. The phono stage comprises a two-stage, active Moving Coil design, exclusively incorporating passive RIAA equalisation, and offers a useful 60dB of gain with adjustable impedance.

LEEDH of the pack

The DAC includes inputs for S/PDIF, AES, USB, and Ethernet; it up-converts music to DXD, performs zeroPhase DSP processing, and boasts a LEEDH volume control. With one PCM1792 per channel and passive reconstruction filtering, this – much like the phono stage – is more than just an afterthought. Both can be used in the same amplifier, and they fit into otherwise blanked-out spaces on the rear panel.

The Series 3 range also includes the 326 preamplifier and the 312 stereo power amplifier. Additionally, there is a separate 360 DAC along with the 350 MC phono stage. All models in Series 3 share the same design (the 312 features just the display and one button), the same functionality and specifications, and generally utilise the same architecture. So, it’s not too far of a stretch to say the 331 has the functions and features of the 326 preamp and 312 power amplifier in one chassis. The differences in each case lie in the enhanced physical isolation and improved power supply delivery that brings.

Guy in a cape

Operationally, then, the Series 3 all perform very similarly. Most people will drive their Soulution 331 they way they do with all 300 series products; through the remote handset, which is cleverly weighted so that it sits upright on a table… like a Weeble. The remote’s functions are mirrored by the volume control on the right-hand side and the three small buttons—power, mute, and prog—near the centre line of the amp’s front panel. While the button marked ‘prog’ switches sources, I want it to add a MiniMoog riff by a guy in a cape.

There’s a common thread running through all things Soulution, from the top Series 7 products to the optional MC and DAC boards on the Soulution Audio 331; a dedication to wide-bandwidth, low-noise musical replay, adding or omitting as little as possible to the received musical signal. The wide-bandwidth part is a tough nut to crack in a range like Series 3.

Ship-to-shore

Absent the engineering and technology that make the Series 7 models true heavyweights, achieving a frequency response that runs to within 3dB limits from 0-800kHz shows just how much goes into building the 331. It’s difficult because it demands a lot of rejection of the outside world (you are firmly into radio frequency territories, with AM radio, ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, aircraft voice communications, and some phone signals all in the 331’s ambit). However, in rejecting the outside world, you also risk undermining the performance. Soulution Audio has managed to keep the world at arm’s length while sounding great in the process.

I mentioned the ‘timeless’ design earlier, but the Soulution 331 highlights a dilemma that runs through the audio business. Many consumer electronics industries update their industrial design when they change a model line; for the audio world, this is not as crucial. Some apply the ‘Porsche’ method of design, with subtle changes to each generation, retaining the brand’s identity while subtly keeping it up to date. Others prefer the ‘36mm Rolex Datejust’ method, where the external difference between a 2025 model and one from 1975 are minimal in the extreme, and the changes are all under the skin. It’s this latter approach that Soulution has taken in the 331.

Top Trumps

While there are distinctions between the 330 and 331, if you view them from a ‘Top Trumps’ perspective of specification matching, aside from the difference in power output, the two models look as identical on paper as they do on the surface. However, the fundamental differences between this model and its predecessor are entirely performance-based. It’s only when you sit down and listen to the two in comparison that the differences become apparent. If you make that comparison and own a 330, you become the proud owner of a 331, and your dealer will have a second-hand 330 to sell.

That’s all fine for existing Soulution owners, but the 331 is also the gateway into the brand’s products and ethos. Parking the 330 vs 331 question, how does the 331 perform in its own right? Impressively well.

Unthanks a lot

I’ve returned to listening to The Unthanks recently, and ‘Bread and Roses’ performed live [Diversions Volume 5 – Live and Unaccompanied, Rabble Rouser] and found the three solo voices (Rachael and Becky Unthank are joined by Niopha Keegan here) are powerful, passionate and the sense of being in the room with three folk singers in close harmony is palpable. The enigmatic ‘Magpie’ is on the same album, but this early Suffragette ballad was so moving I wanted to run out and chain myself to a railing.

This proved to be a common theme for the 331. I played ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and found myself wanting to raid a clipper in very well-spoken prose. Then, I played ‘Clara’ by Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales and felt the need to sink a bottle of bourbon. Next, I played the overture to Tannhäuser and found myself sweeping majestically eastwards. It’s that kind of amplifier; evocative as well as informative.

I played many women’s voices during my time with the 331. Not because it skewed my listening, but because the sense of presence and power in those voices shone through. Vocal articulation was first-rate when listening to someone like Lady Blackbird’s ‘It’ll Never Happen Again’ [Black Acid Soul, BMG], and the power and dynamics of her voice come across brilliantly, too.

Terrifying synths

A track I don’t discuss very often is ‘Chocolate Chip Trip’ by Tool [Fear Inoculum, RCA]. The reason I don’t mention it frequently is that it can tear apart a flawed system. However, in this instance, it merely made you crave more razor-sharp percussion and terrifying synth bass lines. This also demonstrates just how precise the soundstaging is through the 331, as there is a considerable amount of extremely accurate panning across the stage.

Nothing I played through the Soulution Audio 331 challenged it, and everything remained thoroughly musical. I didn’t find myself drawn to particular aspects of the performance as being exceptional, as they were all exceptional. To say it ticked all the boxes is reductive, as it delivered an effortless and outstanding performance throughout.

The Soulution Audio 331 possesses an astounding ability to stay in its lane, and in a positive way. This is a crucial consideration for a company that offers far higher-end products in its lineup, as it provides more than just a taste of the impressive Series 5 and Series 7. At no point does it reveal limitations in the types of systems that might feature the 331. Pair it with a good digital or analogue front-end and loudspeakers at a similar price point, and it will truly shine. In fact, apart from needing large floorstanders speakers to fill an expansive room, the 331 occupies a sweet spot of enjoyment where ‘gear acquisition syndrome’ levels out. You can acquire ‘more’ than the 331, but not necessarily ‘better’.

Listenability

Perhaps the big thing about the Soulution Audio 331 is its sheer ‘listenability’. I found myself getting irritable at any distractions from listening to music, including taking notes to write up how it performs. You just want to listen to music on this amplifier because the musical experience is so enjoyable. That doesn’t seem to be limited to any genre or musical style. I would happily play music of all sorts and at almost all levels on the 331 thanks to that listenability.

Paradoxically, I often find this trait in more affordable audio equipment. It seems that, at times, high-end audio adopts an almost dour, soulless approach to sound. Music is exceptionally well organised spatially, and the presentation is highly detailed and informative, yet Lady Day singing ‘I’m a Fool to Want You’ [Lady in Satin, Columbia] is lauded for its detail and staging, while her impossibly broken voice is nearly overlooked. With the Soulution, you receive all the detail and analysis, but you also hear the sound of a woman on the edge, making the record the difficult listen it was always intended to be.

Tarkus

The interface is the closest this gets to a downside. The single line of red LEDs is informative, dimmable, and on the cusp between ‘classic’ and ‘slightly old-fashioned’. Moreover, the remote eye relies heavily on line-of-sight; unless you point the handset at the left side of the front panel, changing sources and adjusting the volume is often more honoured in the breach than in the observance. That said, I prefer the more physical approach to oversensitive handsets that max out the volume just by picking up the damn thing. And, I want ‘Prog’ to immediately start playing Tarkus by Emerson, Lake and Palmer… but that’s just me.

My time with the Soulution Audio 331 integrated amplifier was all too short, but I suspect I could have spent the whole of the last year listening to it every day and still make that claim. Products like this make my job obsolete because, if you listen to this amplifier, you might never want or need to buy anything else again. It really is that good.

Our thanks go to Sebastian at KJ West One
(www.kjwestone.co.uk) for his assistance in this review.

Technical specifications

Type: Integrated amplifier
Inputs: 2x balanced XLR pair, 2x unbalanced RCA pair, 1x unbalanced RCA for Phono MC (optional), 1x AES/EBU, 1x S/PDIF, 1x USB, 1x Ethernet for DAC (optional)
Outputs: 1x balanced XLR pair, 2x pairs loudspeaker terminals
Power output: 100W @ 8Ω, 200W @ 4Ω, 400W @ 2Ω (<5 sec.)
Output current max: 30A
Frequency Response: 0-800kHz (-3dB)
Phase shift @ 20kHz: <-3°
THD: <0.0005%
Damping factor: >5,000
Dimensions (WxHxD): 43x49x14.2cm
Weight: 18kg
Price: From £25,000, €30,000, $44,475

Manufacturer

Soulution Audio

soulution-audio.com

UK distributor

Select Audio

selectaudio.co.uk

+44(0)1900 601954

The Funk Firm Eeze-Lign

The Funk Firm’s approach to turntable making can be summed up in one simple maxim; if it ain’t broke, improve it! Arthur Khoubesserian has a long list of vinyl-based hits under his belt. These range from the original Pink Triangle decks of the 1980s to the present. Each challenges the status quo of the most mature sub-set of audio. The Eeze-Lign is the latest in these disruptive technologies.

Eeze-Lign is a patented shim. It is a bespoke, perfect match to align your cartridge at speed. It fits between the cartridge and headshell. Additionally, it is an obvious – but not exclusive – partner with The Funk Firm’s adjustable Cobra headshell. It also works with the Houdini cartridge decoupler. The Eeze-Lign is pictured as 1mm white gasket between Houdini and Cobra. But in reality it will be half that size and black. That means it blends in with the rest of the assembly.

The ‘bespoke’ part comes because when you buy an Eeze-Lign, you are asked to provide cartridge details up-front. The Funk Firm will call on its database – or call the manufacturer of that cartridge – to provide accurate dimensions of that model. Specifically, it will get the position of the mounting holes.

Eezy-peezy!

Installation is Eeze easy. Going ‘Full Funk’, mount the Houdini to the cartridge. Then fit the cartridge tags to the cartridge. Next, slot the thin shim between cartridge/Houdini and the bottom of the Cobra headshell. Now attach the headshell to the arm and adjust downforce, antiskate and VTA as usual. The Eeze-Lign clips into the Cobra so there’s no play on installation.

The clue to Eeze-Lign is in the name; it makes the alignment protractor a thing of the past. It also does a more accurate job of alignment than most people. At least, it is more accurate than anyone with astigmatism can do by sighting the cantilever against a grid on a protractor.

Checking that is a little long-winded. However, it is just as Eeze easy as fitting the cartridge. Mount the cartridge to the Houdini, that assembly to the Cobra, mount it, use an alignment protractor to fix the cartridge in the correct position and play. Listen to the whole album as end-of-side distortion is the most audible key to this.

That’s some Funky shim

Eeze-Lign was at least as good as my best attempt at precise alignment. Had I just gone with some Funky shim, I would have saved myself some time lost to getting the alignment almost right. And I would have saved a lot of hours getting it as spot-on as I could get. Thanks, mild astigmatism and long-sightedness; glasses help, but don’t help enough. In fairness, I reckon that I didn’t get the end-of-side distortion nailed to the same finesse as the Eeze-Lign did right out of the box.

Of course, Eeze-Lign demands cartridge makers provide the correct information to The Funk Firm, but the majority are keen to do that. And, avid cartridge swappers will pretty soon rack up a collection of tiny shims with the attendant cost for each one. Also, despite the added faff involved in cartridge alignment (and the range of tools that vary from bits of paper with some grids and a hole to a Chamber of Horrors of interesting implements), some actively like that engagement with their vinyl set-up.

But for most people, making your turntable easier to set up, and doing a better job than you can, makes The Funk Firm Eeze-Lign a no-brainer!

Price and Contact Details

Eeze-Lign: £42, $45.50, €39.20
Cobra: £120, $130, €117
Houdini: £300, $325, €292.50

Manufacturer

The Funk Firm

thefunkfirm.co.uk

+44(0)7846 798367

Network Acoustics Launch: Muon2 Precision Network Switch

UK, May 2026: Network Acoustics, the British company renowned for pushing the boundaries of streamed music reproduction, is excited to announce the first product of their new reference Muon2 range: the Muon2 Precision Network Switch. This new product is the definitive realisation of the company’s mission to Bring Streaming to Life.

Building on the success of the award-winning Tempus, the Muon2 represents a complete reimagining of how a network switch can impact the sound quality of streaming. Developed and hand-built in the UK, every detail of its design has been meticulously researched, developed, refined, and most importantly listened to. The result is the first network switch capable of fully unlocking the potential of streaming as a high-end source.

Inside Muon2

At the heart of Muon2 lies its inbuilt unique hybrid power supply, improving on the award-winning Origin Power Supply to combine the precision and dynamics of switch-mode operation with the fluid, low-noise behaviour of linear delivery. The result is a silent electrical environment and more faithful timing, essential for musical realism.

The solid beechwood enclosure is crafted from a hand-selected piece of beechwood and precision-milled by high-end speaker maker Auer Acoustics. Beech was chosen after exhaustive materials testing for its uniquely balanced and neutral sonic character. Its natural damping eliminates the subtle resonances that metal and composite housings introduce.

Supporting this are Network Acoustics’ newly developed Pyramid Isolators. Machined from hardened silicate minerals and precision-tapered to a sharp point, each foot presents the smallest possible contact to the base of the Muon2 switch, effectively eliminating the transmission of surface-borne vibration into the chassis. The audible effect is even greater focus, improved micro-detail, and a more stable soundstage.

Co-Founder Rich Trussell says:

“In creating the Muon2, our priority was to enhance every aspect of a switch’s performance. While the motherboard and clock are important, our research and listening tests constantly demonstrated the defining factors lie in the power supply and in controlling vibration through careful enclosure design and isolation.

Engineered Without Compromise

The Muon2 Network Switch is the result of 7-years of listening-led development in noise rejection, materials science, and power delivery. Key innovations include:

Single-chassis architecture: complete segregation of signal and power domains ensuring total isolation.

New generation hybrid power supply, designed for ultra-quiet dynamic power delivery.

Precision-machined solid beechwood enclosure, developed in partnership with speaker cabinet specialists AUER Acoustics, chosen for its remarkable vibration damping properties

Network Acoustics Pyramid Isolators, specifically developed to decouple the Muon2 chassis from external vibration.

Ultra-low-jitter clock for precise timing and exceptional musical realism.

Future proofed connectivity: 5 x 10Mb–2.5Gb LAN and 1 x 10Gb SFP+ ports

Dedicated grounding point for use with external grounding devices.

Finishes: high-gloss metallic black or silver.

Each Muon2 Network Switch is hand-assembled and individually tested in the UK against a reference system to guarantee consistent performance.

Streaming First And Last

As with all Network Acoustics products, the Muon2 is purpose-built to remove noise and preserve timing integrity of the Digital to Analogue conversion, preventing jitter and allowing streamed music to sound fluid, open, and alive. With the Muon2 Network Switch, Network Acoustics have transformed the idea of a “network switch” into an essential audiophile component, one that lets high-end streamers and DACs reveal their full musical potential.

Co-Founder Rob Osbourn says:

“We hand-engineer and manufacture our products in the UK. This means we can’t make the cheapest switch, but we can make the finest. This is thanks to our unique expertise and a holistic design approach, where we exhaustively explore every possibility. In Muon2, we are confident that we have created the best network switch on the market. We know this is a big claim, and we invite listeners to decide if we’re right.”

Try the Muon2 Network Switch In Your System Risk Free

The Muon2 Network Switch is available for home demo through Network Acoustics’ worldwide network of authorised retailers or you can order direct from networkacoustics.com, with free worldwide shipping, a 60-day home trial money-back guarantee, and a 2-year warranty.

Pricing UK: £6,999/ Europe: €7,999/ USA: $7,999

Music Interview: Giles Martin

It’s early spring 2025 and hi-fi+ is sat in Giles Martin’s office in Abbey Road Studios, where he’s showing us how he uses his walnut Wrensilva M1 hi-fi console – the flagship record player by the high-end, Californian manufacturer – to listen to test pressings of albums he’s remixed.

To demonstrate the unit, which comes in a wooden cabinet and looks more like a piece of luxury furniture than a hi-fi, he’s chosen to play us a test pressing of this year’s 40th anniversary deluxe edition of INXS’s breakthrough 1985 album, Listen Like Thieves – this is no coincidence, as this is the record we’re here to talk about.

Alongside audio engineer, Paul Hicks, Martin, who is INXS’s executive music producer and the son of the legendary George Martin, has created a brand-new stereo mix of the album, which was originally produced by Chris Thomas, in collaboration with the band.

Shortly before playing the record, Martin tells us: “I’ll take a test pressing, and I’ll import it into Pro Tools, and listen to it through the Wrensilva console and the studio speakers to see whether the record sounds like the mix – it’s going to sound different, because it’s vinyl, but I want to see if it has any imperfections on it.

“On the first test pressing of this record, the guitars sounded a bit crunchy and distorted halfway through one of the songs, so we had it pressed again.

“There are instances with test pressings where the whole record might sound fantastic, but there might be a little click on one song. If you approved that, every single record made would have that click on it. That’s why it’s important for us to have a great playback system that we can trust – we’re making decisions in here that could affect every single record sold.”

After the demonstration, Martin sits down for an exclusive chat with hi-fi+ about the new stereo mix of Listen Like Thieves, his take on Dolby Atmos, working with The Beatles, and the threat of AI.

SH: You’ve been working with INXS for a long time – you first met them in 1994. How did you approach the new stereo mix of Listen Like Thieves? What did you want to achieve with it?

GM: That’s hard to answer – you’re sort of presuming I thought there was something wrong with the old mix… I guess, if anything, there was a style where records in those days… it’s funny, because it’s a criticism now… were quite limited and compressed. I tried to open the album out a little bit more and make it more live.

I’m still respecting Chris Thomas’s choice of drum sounds, like gated snares and all that sort of stuff.

Listen Like Thieves was an important record for INXS – it was the album that broke them internationally…

Yeah – it was the first time I’d heard of them, as a 14 or 15-year-old. I heard it at school – my best mate had moved to Australia, and he sent me a cassette.

For Listen Like Thieves, a lot of the songs were written during rehearsals, and it was an attempt to capture the live sound and energy of INXS. The studio where it was recorded, Rhinoceros in Sydney, was known for its big drum sound – it had an all-wood live room…

Exactly. I just took each song as it came and tried to give it as much impact and soul as possible.

Originally, I was going to do an Atmos mix of it and keep the stereo as it was – that happened with Goats Head Soup by The Stones as well – but to do an Atmos mix, you have to do a stereo mix. So, I was asked to do a [new] stereo mix as well, because they really liked what I was doing.

I try and intensify the feeling of a record – I don’t drastically change it. I try and use technology to bring you closer to the artist by taking out layers.

I remember when we did The Greatest Hits [INXS] in the ‘90s, there was a process where I think Bob Clearmountain mixed it, but it went to Chris Thomas, who then EQed it, and then Bob Ludwig, who mastered it. There was a lot of layers going on – I’m trying to strip out the layers of process on the record, so you just get a little bit closer to the live performance.

The song ‘What You Need’, from the album, was their first US hit, and it has that funk-rock sound, which became INXS’s trademark…

Exactly.

‘Same Direction’ has choppy, funky guitar, but it’s also quite electronic, with an ‘80s sequencer running through it…

Andrew Farriss used sequencers quite a lot – he was a keyboard player and the main songwriter in the band. Kick [the follow-up album] has a lot of sequencers on it. I think Jon Farriss’s drumming plays around the sequencers very well – there are certain drummers that play like a sequencer, but he played like a rock drummer.

Were there any challenges remixing Listen Like Thieves?

There were a couple of missing parts – we had to look at the strings on ‘Shine Like It Does.’

The challenge is that the record has an iconic sound from that time, and you have to respect old and new – especially with that era.

It’s much harder with that era than The Beatles or The Stones because you’re having to use the big ‘80s studio equipment that doesn’t exist anymore – like a Roland Dimension D chorus unit or an AMS delay on the drums – whereas the older equipment does exist…

This mix took quite a lot of time because we had to get the sounds right, but, generally, I work quite quickly while I’m mixing.

Did you do the mix at Abbey Road?

I did some of it at my studio in The Cotswolds, and Paul [Hicks] works in L.A, so we bounced things back and forth.

I also did a lot of it at Abbey Road – it depends…

Technology now is very different from when the record was first mixed – you can work on a mix now and instantly recall it.

A lot of it is ‘in the box,’ but, in the old days, you’d do a mix, come in in the morning and change it.

If you wanted to recall a mix, it would take a day, and, even then, it wouldn’t sound like the mix you’d done before… You were turning knobs on a desk, you’d look at a screen to tell you where the knobs were, and you’d forget to patch something through. Mixing is different now – for better or for worse.

I’m lucky because I’m fairly slapdash and work very quickly – I work in an old style – but there are people who spend [a long time] trying to get a mix perfect… Of course, there’s no such thing. We live in a world of anodyne perfection, and I quite like the idea that there may be some quirks in mixing.

When you’re mixing in Atmos, you still want the sound to be quite natural, don’t you? You don’t like whistles and bells…

As a rule, I don’t think people should ever listen to a mix – they should listen to a song. You shouldn’t really hear technology. What I like about Atmos is that it’s not a question of where you put things in speakers in a room – it’s about having a three-dimensional depth to what you’re listening to. I have a vested interest in it because I build Atmos speakers [for Sonos].

So, when it comes to Atmos mixing, I like the fact that I can feel like I’m in the same room as Jon Farriss, who is playing the drums, or when Michael Hutchence is singing intimately, or he’s on a big stage – I can have that flexibility.

I don’t treat Atmos in respect of going, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have everything flying around me?’ because that would be boring. It can work well… I did a Def Leppard album in Atmos, where one of the tracks started with a helicopter – that was perfect for Atmos.

When I did Pet Sounds, the song ‘Caroline, No’ had a train going round at the end – that was great for Atmos, but, generally, you want to be as close as you can to the things you love.

When you first got the opportunity to revisit classic albums and do new mixes of them, were you daunted by it? Obviously, when it came to doing Beatles material, you were stepping into your dad’s shoes, too…

It’s a funny thing… The first thing I did was Love [the soundtrack remix of The Beatles’ music for the Cirque du Soleil show]. It was ridiculous – in Abbey Road, there was a ‘golden vault’, which no one was allowed to touch. Suddenly, George Martin’s son comes in, with not a clue, and starts rehashing and chopping everything up! I was vilified at Abbey Road to a certain degree – one of the engineers said, ‘I work on the serious stuff, and you do the stupid things…’

With Love, my job for The Beatles, who employed me, was to make a different version of something, which I did. I couldn’t get anyone else to mix it, because no one else was allowed to hear it, so I learnt to mix from doing the Love show and then the record. No one was there to help me, and I thought I was going to get fired, so I did what I thought… I might as well go down in flames!

I remember when I got the tape box of ‘Here Comes The Sun,’ I thought, ‘My God – how can I work on this?’

After a while, you have to do a job… When it came to do Sgt. Pepper, which was the first existing album that I was asked to remix, I said, ‘Really? It sounds pretty good to me – why do you want to remix it?’ It was for the 50th anniversary and fans had asked for it… I said I would do three songs and then we could decide if it was worth doing.

It worked out all right, didn’t it?

People liked it. It’s a bit like someone changing their hairstyle – they’re the same person but you maybe look at them differently. Maybe you fall in love with them again…

So, that’s my process. Yes, it’s daunting, but it would be more daunting if, while it was happening, the tapes went through a machine that destroyed them…

There’s a lot of current debate in the music industry about the threat of AI. You’ve used AI-powered technology, like audio separation, with great success on projects like the new mix of Revolver and The Beatles’ ‘final’ song ‘Now and Then.’ Are you a champion of AI?

It’s like asking me if I’m a champion of drinking! I quite like a glass of wine, and I like to go to the pub with my friends, but would I endorse that everyone goes and gets hammered? No, it creates huge amounts of health problems…

Am I a champion of AI? No, I’m not actually – I think it’s dangerous for society. With generative AI, it’s even more of an issue. My partner was married to a great musician called Toby Smith – he was a keyboard player and songwriter for Jamiroquai, and he died of cancer.

With my technology, I could take his playing off the internet and create an AI plug-in that gives you Toby Smith, but his family would have nothing to do with that.

There are so many different tiers as to why it’s wrong. I have spoken to American Congress about why people should own their own voice, but it goes beyond that.

The cat’s out of the bag, but there should be legislation on it. It’s so important that artists have control of what they do. We use technology in all sorts of ways, as The Beatles did, but the differentiator is when it replaces creative thought, which is the one thing left that keeps us being human.

The 40th anniversary deluxe edition of INXS’s Listen Like Thieves, including a new stereo mix by Giles Martin and Paul Hicks, is out now (Universal / Petrol).

For more information on
Wrensilva hi-fi record consoles, visit www.wrensilva.com

Back to Music

Musical Fidelity M8x Vinyl

There is something faintly indulgent about multiple-input phono stages. I’ve long argued I ‘need’ one (as if anything to do with this occupation represents a necessity) because it allows for a test unit to run at the same time as a resident reference and allows for a moving coil and moving magnet cartridge to be on the go at the same time but, the increase in designs that support more than one input does suggest that the fundamentally moreish nature of turntables means that they are finding owners in typical systems too.

Musical Fidelity has been active in the multi-input movement for a few years now. Viewed in the context of the existing lineup of models, the M8x Vinyl is an entirely logical creation that bridges the gap between the M6x Phono and the more expensive NuVista Vinyl 2 models. It does this while expanding on another increasingly popular idea in phono stages: balanced operation.

Individual configuration

The M8x Vinyl has four inputs, each of which can be individually configured and will remember its settings. Two of the inputs are standard RCA, but two have balanced XLR connections front to back. This balancing process extends to doubling the relevant components throughout and avoiding using integrated circuits at any point.

The EQ stage all these inputs use is a split-passive design, which Musical Fidelity says offers an accurate representation of the EQ curve in use (and the M8 allows three: RIAA, Decca, and Columbia) with better impedance matching. An encapsulated power transformer, designed to generate as little noise as possible, powers the circuit. Musical Fidelity’s M8x Vinyl sports ‘enthusiastic’ use of EMI filters and DC blockers to stop interferences and eliminate transformer hum. The preamplifier stage is powered by two passively filtered and regulated, symmetrical low-noise power supplies, one for each channel.

The adjustment range for each input is helpful, if not groundbreaking. The M8x Vinyl allows capacitance adjustment from 50 to 400 µF and impedance adjustment between 5 ohms and 1 kOhm, with a 47 kOhm fixed for moving magnet operation. Like other Musical Fidelity phono stages I’ve tested over the years, these adjustments are ‘either/or’; moving magnet allows capacitance adjustment but not impedance, while the reverse is true for moving coil. Some users may find this restrictive. On the plus side, with a maximum potential gain of 69dB, there won’t be many real-world instances where you find yourself low on gain.

Input arrangement

Something else that Musical Fidelity has done well is arranging the inputs so that it is mechanically possible to connect all four at once. The spacing between the XLR and RCA connections is deliberate to avoid interference. While I’m not delighted with a single ground connection for all four inputs, as it can get busy when you have a few connections on the go, the M8x Vinyl can at least support a few different connections simultaneously. Another nice touch is that the RCA and XLR options each have their own power stages, allowing them to be used simultaneously during playback.

Musical Fidelity may have little trouble putting the connections on the back in an orderly manner, given that it has plenty of back panel to play with. The M8x Vinyl is a girthy bit of kit that is nearly half a metre wide, and, like most offerings from the company, I would describe it as ‘distinctive’ rather than ‘attractive’.

Substantial knobbage

The two substantial knobs control input and gain, while the row of buttons between them allows adjustment of the other functionality. Small blue LEDs indicate settings. These LEDs can become hard to spot in strong sunlight. I think the M8x Vinyl is easy to use, though, and I can’t argue with how it is bolted together, with the all-metal casework feeling sturdy and well-finished. Black and silver finishes are available.

I connected the M8x Vinyl to the resident Cambridge Audio Edge A integrated via the XLR output and, to begin with, used the RCA inputs from a Vertere MG-1 MkII turntable with Mystic cartridge and an AVID Ingenium Twin with SME M2-9 arm and Gold Note Vasari Shibata MM cartridge as known quantities. Even running the M8x Vinyl with a comparatively affordable moving magnet cartridge demonstrates this is a genuinely accomplished phono stage. All the basics are covered nicely; noise levels are low enough to be considered non-existent, ensuring that everything the cartridge sends to the M8x becomes a signal.

Good signal

And a very good signal it is, too. The way Musical Fidelity sets about the dense, challenging Rogues Gospel by Duke Garwood [God Unknown] is an impressive balance of the M8x, which prises things open and reveals nuances and details in these shifting, loose tracks, without making the result sound like forensic reconstruction. The tonal balance is genuinely good, too. Garwood’s vocals and the shimmering instrumentation beneath it all sound compellingly real and impressively immediate.

Switching over to the Vertere, still via the RCA inputs of the M8x Vinyl, shows that the Musical Fidelity can effectively transmit the character of the connected turntable. Where the AVID’s potent and forceful presentation is at the forefront of what it does, it also brings Vertere’s more effortless and expansive sound to the fore. Listening to Talking Heads Remain in Light [Sire] through this combination keeps the same superb tonality and detail, but the Vertere adds extra scale and flows effortlessly into the performance.

Also imposing

The bass on offer is also imposing. Without sounding overblown or dominating, there is more low end to those polyrhythmic basslines than you generally associate with a recording of this era. Running the Vertere’s input at the full 69dB of available gain does nothing to change the fundamental lack of unwanted noise.

As changing the arm-lead on the Vertere is not a matter of moments, and the AVID is resolutely single-ended, it fell to the resident Michell GyroDec, SME309, and Van den Hul DDT II Special to go balanced. Having ‘sighted’ it over RCA, I changed the lead to an XLR one and let the M8x Vinyl do its thing. Significantly, the differences that resulted were not night-and-day, ‘my neighbour phoned up and asked what I’d changed’ sort of thing. Still, it lends weight to the idea that well-implemented balanced phono stages have considerable merit.

Listening to Hidden Orchestra’s To Dream is to Forget [Lone Figures], the Musical Fidelity takes the Gyro’s characterful yet hugely engaging presentation and adds depth and an immersive quality that makes you feel like the soundstage has expanded around you. Given how quiet the M8x Vinyl is on all of its inputs, there isn’t the scope to make the balanced connections significantly quieter. Still, I feel comfortable saying that this is the quietest I can recall the Gyro ever sounding, keeping that indefinable ‘maybe not the last word in accuracy, but I’m not sure I care’ quality of the Van den Hul that I have loved from the moment I first heard it.

All-rounder

One last element of the M8x Vinyl’s performance that is truly worthy of note is that this is a genuine all-rounder in handling a varied music library. With the Gyro on playback duties, one multi-hour session kicked off with Motion by The Cinematic Orchestra [Ninja Tune]. It culminated in Orbital’s Optical Delusion [London Music]. There wasn’t a point where I thought I found the ‘sweet spot’ of what the Musical Fidelity offered, and nothing was rendered unlistenable despite the level of detail on offer.

What results is unquestionably a superb ‘tool’ phono stage; more than once during the time it has been here, I have found myself willing the numbers in my business account to look a little healthier, but it’s something that should appeal to people with one turntable every bit as much as people with a couple on the go. The Musical Fidelity M8x Vinyl’s flexibility is never at the expense of how good it sounds, and, for people with the means to go balanced in particular, it is a must-audition.

Technical specifications

Frequency Response: ± 0.2dB (MM) ± 0.2dB (MC)
Input Sensitivity: 5mV in for 500mV out (at 40dB, 1 kHz) 500μV in for 500mV out (at 1 kHz) (MC)
Input Impedance: 47kΩ (MM) 5Ω – 47kΩ, selectable (MC)
Input Capacitance: 50 – 400pF, selectable (MM)
400pF (MC)
Gain: 40, 43, 46, 49dB (MM) 60, 63, 66, 69dB (MC)
THD @ 1kHz: < 0.005% (MM) < 0.008% (MC)
Signal to Noise Ratio: > 102dB (MM) (“A” Weighted @ 40dB) > 90dB (MC) (“A” Weighted @ 60dB)
Overload Margin: 32dB
EQ Curves: RIAA, Decca, Columbia (selectable)
Subsonic Filter: Off / Mild (IEC) / Standard (@ 20Hz, 18dB/octave)
Inputs: 2 x RCA Pair / 2 x XLR Pair
Outputs: 1 x RCA Pair / 1 x XLR Pair
Power Consumption: 20W Max. (0W in standby)
Dimensions (w x h x d): 483 x 102 x 381mm
Weight: 10.6kg (net)
Price: £3,599, $4,399, €3,999

Manufacturer

Musical Fidelity

musicalfidelity.com

UK distributor

Henley Audio

henleyaudio.co.uk

+44(0)1235 511166

Computer Audio Design 1543 MkIII

I have reviewed a CAD 1543 DAC in all three versions. At first glance, it looks very similar to the first example, which I tested back in Issue 95 in 2012. Like its predecessors, the CAD 1543 MkIII is a purist streaming digital-to-analogue converter with a single input and one pair of single-ended outputs. CAD stands for ‘Computer Audio Design’, but it might as well be ‘Compromise Avoidance Design.’

While computers remain a popular source for file streaming, there has been a revolution in the audioverse over the last dozen years, with all manner of music platforms coming into existence, followed by a wide variety of hardware. None of these developments changes CAD or the way it makes converters.

Maximum performance

Scott Berry is the man behind CAD. He is passionate about getting the best sound possible from digital audio, maximising the performance from a USB signal. He is also committed to the Philips TDA 1543 multibit chipset, an example of 1990s technology that limits sample frequency to 176.4kHz (4x CD’s 44.1kHz). It can convert 192kHz with some sources, but that is not a given across the board, and it is not compatible with DSD. CAD recommends that the server convert 192 kHz and DSD files to 176.4 kHz or lower.

In 2016, I wrote about the 1543 MkII, which was an evolution of the original converter with the same captive power lead and matte acrylic case. During the intervening period, Scott started working on grounding devices and created the Ground Control GC1, which has spawned larger and smaller versions. There is a USB Ground Control and another for Ethernet; these are inline filters that reduce noise in digital audio connections, and, like the GC1 and its follow-up, GC1.1, they work very well.

Extra chips

The CAD 1543 MkIII incorporates some significant changes for this purist design. Where the original had 16 TDA 1543 ladder DACs, it now has 20, which is apparently the most that would fit in the chassis. The extra chips provide two benefits: they increase the DAC’s output current, and they have no output stage as such, just a Duelund Coherent Audio capacitor on each channel to block DC. They also improve signal-to-noise and drop output impedance.

The CAD’s five power transformers are no longer toroidal but custom EI types, chosen for sound quality reasons and as an indication of Berry’s interest in tube amplifier design. Audio Note Japan, Trilogy, and others use them. The new DAC also uses choke power filtration, seen chiefly in amps that glow, and custom Japanese capacitors for reservoir filtering.

Asynchronous

On the digital input front, CAD continues to use an asynchronous USB interface, which was among the first to implement the feature in 2012. Asynchronous operation is now a near-universal approach that operates on the DAC clock rather than on the source clock. This interface is compatible with almost all Linux-based audio servers, including Innuos, Auralic, Aurender, Antipodes, Roon, Melco and Fidata. To complete the list, CAD is currently working with Lumin and Xact to have them add the CAD USB Driver to their servers.

The USB input has lower phase-noise oscillators than its predecessor and new galvanic isolation circuitry. An anomaly of the 1543 MkIII is its captive power lead, which is generally unheard of in audio today but was considered extinct in the high end. CAD use a high-quality cable and a very decent mains plug, but this does prevent upgrades and getting the DAC in and out of the rack is a little bit of a faff. The only real external change is in the footwear department; the last 1543 I had featured separate feet in a rubbery honeycomb form; now it’s wearing Krion composite feet, which feature in CAD’s biggest ground control unit, the GC-R. Krion is a mineral polymer material and, thus, a completely different approach to that found in the earlier CAD DACs.

Devices

As I couldn’t get the CAD to play nice with my Lumin U2 Mini streamer, I hooked it directly into the Melco N10 server/streamer, where I store my music files. As a rule, the Lumin improves on the USB output from the Melco, but CAD brought along a couple of devices to help with this. There was already a USB Control in the back of the Melco, but an Ethernet Control and a GC1.1 joined the party, substantially improving the sound quality from the DAC. These devices reduce nsystem noise by delivering higher resolution, more open soundstaging, and even better timing. A lower noise floor is always beneficial for audio, especially digital systems. I hooked up the 1543 MkIII to CAD’s USB II-R cable at the input and to Atlas Arran Ultra RCA Grun interconnects.

An extremely relaxed and natural balance typified the last two generations of this DAC. They had an effortlessly clean yet organic presentation that was very easy to enjoy. Berry has decided to liven things up with the MkIII, which is more upbeat and exciting than its predecessors. The CAD 1543 MkIII is still a beautifully relaxed and refined DAC, making much of the competition sound grainy and forced. However, it has more spring in its step, which is great for timing and appears to have no drawbacks, even for someone who loves relaxed sound.

Energy without hardness

It proves that you can have energy without digital hardness by sounding more natural than other converters at the same price. I bought the Bricasti M11 Classic, which I reviewed a couple of months ago (another ladder DAC), but it isn’t as good as this CAD, even via its most effortless LAN input. However, the £7,649 price difference is not insignificant, and the Bricasti is a more versatile tool for reviewing. Nonetheless, I revelled in the CAD’s ability to make sense of the most complex and challenging pieces of music; it never loses its composure regardless of how much it is processing.

The CAD 1543 MkIII also reveals qualities in the music that other converters fail to convey; Sultan Stevenson’s latest album, El Roi, proved better than I thought it would be, the DAC making more sense of the brass elements in the mix and revealing what a talented pianist this young Brit is.

I also revelled in Dweezil Zappa’s renditions of his father’s work on Return of the Son of…, even with heavy tracks like the ‘Deathless Horsie’, the shredding remained coherent and easy to enjoy. The CAD presents the density of the guitar playing in all its glory. This live album is a little compressed, but the CAD opened it sufficiently so that I could enjoy what was going on, with weighty, tuneful bass and a bit of thickener on the guitar, making it more powerful. Zappa senior could play just as well, but didn’t have the quality recording gear available to his son.

Imaging strength

Imaging is also a strong point; the CAD 1543 MkIII can draw immense depth from a variety of recordings and presents voices and instruments in all their three-dimensional beauty, pulling out mountains of reverb on Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires as well as Bugge Wesseltoft’s latest release, Am Are. The latter has superb timing, and the groove on the piano trio piece ‘Bag’ is particularly gratifying thanks to an intense double bass line and nimble drum work. The tone is probably where the CAD is at its strongest.

However, it sounds so authentic and honest that you feel it is telling the unvarnished truth. Many DACs have a very even tonal response, but few match the fine detail that this one brings to the picture; low-level characteristics of each note that give them a genuinely analogue feel. There is no polish or apparent enhancement to the delivery, and it feels as if you are hearing what they heard in the studio, assuming they had decent monitors, that is!

More than aesthetics

This performance isn’t just an aesthetic thing; it’s also what makes the CAD 1543 MkIII so engaging and coherent; it’s a sign that noise no longer interferes with the result. We’re talking about electrical noise, of course. You never hear it as noise, but it’s audible as a mask on the sound, which gets between you and the music. This CAD DAC does a better job removing that mask than most of the competition, even at its elevated price. This musical transparency is worth paying the small convenience price; the sample rate limit is an impediment only to those obsessed with hi-res files. Those looking for musical truth would do well to seek out the CAD 1543 MkIII; it’s a real treat.

Technical specifications

Type: Solid-state high-resolution USB digital-to-analogue converter
Digital Inputs: Asynchronous USB
Analogue Outputs: Stereo single-ended (via RCA jacks)
DAC Resolution/Supported Digital Formats: All PCM from 44.1KHz to 176.4KHz with word lengths up to 32 bits
Frequency Response: Not specified
Distortion Not specified
Output Voltage: 1.75Vrms
User Interface: N/A
Dimensions (HxWxD): 85 x 430 x 280mm
Weight: 9.7kg
Price: £18,000, $19,500, €21,500

Manufacturer

Computer Audio Design

computeraudiodesign.com

+44(0)203 397 0334/ +1 541 728 3199

Audiovector R 5

Audiovector has been making speakers big and small for 45 years. So, the Audiovector R 5 floorstanding loudspeaker draws on extensive design history. And not just the distant past. The new R 5 draws heavily on the company’s current R 10 flagship (which we tested in Issue 243). It sits between the R 3 Arreté (tested in Issue 253) and the R 6 (tested in Issue 191). It’s in the same price range as the Trapeze Reimagined (tested in Issue 231). In the world beyond Audiovectorland, it joins a very contested sector of the market.

That means a tough job, and it likely goes one of three ways. It could be a ‘bitza’ product that dumpster-dives through the parts bin to deliver so-so performance. It could be the ‘superstar’ product that’s so good it cannibalises half the products in the catalogue. Or, it could be that finely balanced ‘tweener’ model that fits perfectly into the line-up. The R 5 is somewhere between ‘superstar’ and ‘tweener.’ It offers a real upgrade for R 3 Arreté owners and doesn’t tread on the Trapeze Ri’s sonic toes. It also offers more than a taste of what the R 6 and beyond can do. However, it does this without undermining or diminishing the R 5’s bigger brothers.

No halfway measures

The R 5 is a three-and-a-half-way loudspeaker with a down-firing bass reflex system. That additional halfway section allows one bass driver to operate higher into the lower midrange. Meanwhile, the second bass driver focuses on deep bass extension. This improves dynamic headroom, reduces intermodulation and increases overall clarity. In addition, by venting low-frequency energy towards the floor, bass integration becomes smoother and more consistent across different placements.

These two elements help give the R 5 a weighty, deep bass extension while retaining the slim, svelte lines of the R series floorstanders. This is more important than it might seem at first. There seems to be an unspoken – and often unnecessary – inflexion point in loudspeaker design. The clean, domestically-friendly lines of the company’s first models give way to something a little more ‘statementy’. The R 5 sits in that danger zone, where ‘aesthetically pleasing’ can flip into exaggerated lines that border on the grotesque. Fortunately, Audiovector remains firmly Scandinavian in its design criteria… in all the right ways. It is large enough to offer a substantial improvement in performance over the R 3 without being a challenging ‘ask’ for those who also share that listening space.

No ice forming

I’ll be honest here; you aren’t immune to such pressures even when reviewing audio equipment is your job. A frosty reception—“How long are those going to stay?”—is a sure sign that a product crossed the aesthetic Rubicon. In some cases, ice forms on the wife’s upper slopes within moments. Audiovector, on the other hand, has remained mercifully free from arctic blasts. The R 5 is no exception.

Similarly, that down-firing port means the Audiovector R 5 is comparatively easy to install in most listening rooms. It needs a bit of space and ultimately benefits from being further into the room than the brand’s smaller models. However, it doesn’t include the rear-firing drivers of the R 6 and beyond that require deeper placement in the room.

It also demands high-quality equipment partnerships and an installation commensurate with its performance. But that doesn’t mean a complete re-think of the system or speaker position. A three-position damping control makes the R 5 uniquely adaptable, as it can match the damping factor of medium and high-damping-factor amplifiers, as well as the low-damping-factor of valve amps. It’s worth a spot of experimentation to see what setting works best for you. In short, the R 5 gives a good performance under most conditions, but going the extra mile in care and feeding delivers some truly first-rate performance; the sort of sound that trickle-down from the R 10 flagship.

Drawing inspiration

It’s easy to say a loudspeaker draws inspiration from a flagship design. It’s quite another to actually do it. The R 5 calls upon the R 10 range-topper in places like its midrange driver. The R 5 is the first model outside that flagship to feature the second generation of the company’s Freedom Grounding system. It is also the first outside the R 10 to feature Audiovector’s Accelerated Force Concept (AFC), developed to minimise inertia during the critical first millimetres of diaphragm movement. Instead of a conventional heavy half-roll surround, the driver uses a lightweight concertina suspension formed from a carefully developed rubber compound. This reduces mechanical resistance.

Additionally, the motor structure has been redesigned to improve magnetic symmetry, resulting in a more balanced magnetic field around the motor. This enhances control of the drive unit (the part of the speaker responsible for converting electrical signals into sound) throughout its excursion (the movement of the speaker cone back and forth) and improves its initial acceleration.

Low Compression Concept

This design works in tandem with Audiovector’s Low Compression Concept (LCC), which reduces air pressure build-up behind the driver (the moving part that creates sound), improving transient response (how quickly the speaker responds to changes in input) and giving it greater freedom under dynamic loads (changes in sound intensity).

The R 5 also uses the latest version of the company’s Air-Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter—a high-frequency driver that moves air rapidly using a folded diaphragm, rather than a dome or cone. This tweeter was first introduced with the R 10 model. The updates here are refinements of previous technology, rather than completely new developments.

Several features distinguish the R 5 as a unique model. Most notably, the Arreté plinth has a larger footprint and an open-slot design. The wider base enhances energy distribution, improves floor coupling, and lowers the speaker’s centre of gravity. The open-slot design also benefits the reflex port by reducing turbulence and compression. The Arreté-level crossover network features carefully selected components that are twice cryogenically treated.

No signature required

These last improvements imply that the R 5 is an Arreté-grade product. That could do with some explanation. Models like the R 1 and R 3 come in two grades. The ‘Signature’ models are best recognised by their use of a soft-dome tweeter, a dome-shaped component that produces high-pitched sounds by moving air with a soft diaphragm. Meanwhile, ‘Arreté’ replaces that driver with the company’s own AMT (Air Motion Transformer) folded ribbon high-frequency unit, a device that moves air using a pleated membrane for clearer treble. ‘Arreté’ also adds cryogenic component treatment (a process exposing parts to extremely low temperatures to potentially enhance performance), Freedom Grounding (a grounding method to reduce electrical noise), a carbon terminal plate, and the company’s internal damping and shock absorption techniques (design features to reduce unwanted vibrations within the product).

There is no ‘Signature’ version of the R 5. So, the need to give it the ‘Arreté’ suffix goes away, as with the larger models in the range. However, that also invites a philosophical discussion that extends to the rest of the R range: should every model just be at Arreté level performance? Looking at current trends (and the vibrant Audiovector owners group on Facebook), most buyers today choose the QR or the Arreté level loudspeaker at any given size. I would not be too surprised to see future models that replace the R 1 and R 3 to have just one performance grade.

Covers ground

The Audiovector R 5 is one of those products that covers a lot of ground. It’s a loudspeaker that just fits in. It fits in most rooms and with most systems. If you like a particular musical genre or love a bit of everything, it fits your taste. Prefer polite or club-level volume? Once again, the R 5 fits in. To answer the question that started the review, it fits perfectly into the Audiovector line. It contrasts and complements the Trapeze Ri well. It’s a perfect upgrade from the R 3 Arreté, but there’s more in the R 6 and beyond. Far from being ‘filler’ in an established range, it completes the line-up.

As you might expect from an Audiovector loudspeaker, the R 5 delivers clean, clear sound with a fine sense of rhythm. The treble is delicate, sweet yet extended, fast, and focused. The midrange is articulate and communicative. The bass is deep, yet taut and tidy. The R 5 produces an excellent, three-dimensional image. Its dynamic range—both broad and nuanced—is expressive and powerful. There is less distortion from the drivers, less coloration from the cabinet, and—especially with Freedom Grounding—less noise from the crossover. Whether you are familiar with Audiovector or experiencing it for the first time, the R 5 sound is sure to impress and uplift.

More than terms

I’ve placed the usual audio terms together because that’s just the start of the
R 5 experience. Beyond those elements is how the Audiovector R 5 brings everything together to make music. It does not differentiate at all. You can be as musically eclectic as you want with these loudspeakers; nothing fazes them. I went from the symphonic bombast of Mahler’s Second Symphony to the Unthanks singing acapella in a tiny pub back room, and everything in between. In each case, the R 5s brought out the information and the enjoyment equally.

Of course, a part of that is because the Audiovector R 5 can go loud, but they are not simply boomboxes. There are trends in high-end audio demonstration, and Audiovector brought Danish DJ and producer Hedegaard into the mix. Hard techno recordings like ‘Rachets’ and ‘Inferno’ are used by many high-end brands in demonstrations to show that their products aren’t just for plinky-plonky audiophile music, but Audiovector got there first. And in the R 5, it shows many of those rivals still have a way to go to catch up.

Visceral ablomb

The R 5 plays these recordings with aplomb: a visceral, pounding beat, lots of fast-attacking synth sounds, and a vocal transparency that allows you to hear what’s being spoken with clarity even within such an onslaught of a recording. They make sense of this fast-paced track, whether it’s played at a whisper or at organ-liquefying levels. The tight rhythmic properties of the R 5 are best expressed at the drop mid-way through ‘Rachets’ by Hedegaard; when the beat comes back, it comes back with all the pace and excitement you would even need. This might be a double-edged sword in the wrong hands; a lively loudspeaker can sound too forward and edgy. But the R 5 stays just the right side of ‘bright’ for all but the most ‘pipe and slippers’ of listeners.

But, beyond the bass energy and drive, there’s a deceptively subtle and lithe loudspeaker beyond that. That midrange unit from the R 10, coupled with the latest version of the AMT tweeter, helps make for a vocal presentation that is extremely articulate and transparent. You hear every scintilla of information, be it the finger noises on an acoustic guitar or even the quality of a singer’s embouchure and its impact on their tone and articulation; it all just makes more sense. Those ‘surprising’ recordings – such as Nick Cave singing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Suzanne’ – are less of a surprise because you recognise the voice faster. That doesn’t detract, though. As your brain spends less time thinking ‘who is that?’, you flip into just enjoying the performance.

A red thread

That ‘enjoying the performance’ line ran through my listening notes like a red thread. It put everything else into a distant second place. Yes, imaging is great. OK, the bass is fast, deep and very tuneful. Sure, vocals are clear and distinct. But, underpinning all of that is a sound that never, ever forgets that people like listening to music. It’s a speaker that puts a smile on your face even before it sets your foot tapping.

The Audiovector R 5 hits the ground running. It joins the Trapeze Ri as one of the loudspeakers you should hear at this price. But even more importantly, like the Trapeze Ri, it puts music – rather than polite hi-fi sounds – at the centre of your life. This R 5 is Audiovector at its finest!

Technical specifications

Type: trear ported, three-and-a-half-way loudspeaker
Drive units: 3800 AMT N 51 tweeter, 6.5” AFC carbon sandwich midrange, lower-midrange and bass drivers
Frequency Response: 23Hz-53kHz
Sensitivity: 90dB
Nominal Impedance: 8Ω
Minimum Impedance: 3.6Ω
Crossover frequencies: 200Hz, 600Hz, 3kHz
Finishes: Black Piano, White Silk Matte, African Mahogany Piano, Italian Walnut Matte. Custom paint finishes available on request.
Size (WxHxD): 111cm x 22cm x 41cm (with plinth width and depth 26cm x 48cm
Weight: 32.1kg per pair
Price: £17,950, €19,950, $24,500 per pair

Manufacturer

Audiovector

Home Page: audiovector.com

R5 Product Page: audiovector.com/r-5/

Where to buy: audiovector.com/where-to-buy/

UK distributor

Renaissance Audio

renaissanceaudio.co.uk

+44(0)131 555 3922

Minimal instrumentation

Birds

X dynamics

Encompassing design

Timeless

Narrow baffle

End game

Speed and immediacy

Technical specifications

Manufacturer

Changes

Volume, two ways

LEEDH of the pack

Guy in a cape

Ship-to-shore

Top Trumps

Unthanks a lot

Terrifying synths

Listenability

Tarkus

Technical specifications

Manufacturer

UK distributor

Eezy-peezy!

That’s some Funky shim

Price and Contact Details

Manufacturer

Inside Muon2

Engineered Without Compromise

Streaming First And Last

Try the Muon2 Network Switch In Your System Risk Free

SH: You’ve been working with INXS for a long time – you first met them in 1994. How did you approach the new stereo mix of Listen Like Thieves? What did you want to achieve with it?

Listen Like Thieves was an important record for INXS – it was the album that broke them internationally…

For Listen Like Thieves, a lot of the songs were written during rehearsals, and it was an attempt to capture the live sound and energy of INXS. The studio where it was recorded, Rhinoceros in Sydney, was known for its big drum sound – it had an all-wood live room…

The song ‘What You Need’, from the album, was their first US hit, and it has that funk-rock sound, which became INXS’s trademark…

‘Same Direction’ has choppy, funky guitar, but it’s also quite electronic, with an ‘80s sequencer running through it…

Were there any challenges remixing Listen Like Thieves?

Did you do the mix at Abbey Road?

When you’re mixing in Atmos, you still want the sound to be quite natural, don’t you? You don’t like whistles and bells…

When you first got the opportunity to revisit classic albums and do new mixes of them, were you daunted by it? Obviously, when it came to doing Beatles material, you were stepping into your dad’s shoes, too…

It worked out all right, didn’t it?

There’s a lot of current debate in the music industry about the threat of AI. You’ve used AI-powered technology, like audio separation, with great success on projects like the new mix of Revolver and The Beatles’ ‘final’ song ‘Now and Then.’ Are you a champion of AI?

Individual configuration

Input arrangement

Substantial knobbage

Good signal

Also imposing

All-rounder

Technical specifications

Manufacturer

UK distributor

Maximum performance

Extra chips

Asynchronous

Devices

Energy without hardness

Imaging strength

More than aesthetics

Technical specifications

Manufacturer

No halfway measures

No ice forming

Drawing inspiration

Low Compression Concept

No signature required

Covers ground

More than terms

Visceral ablomb

A red thread

Technical specifications

Manufacturer

Renaissance Audio

The sound of excellence delivered your way