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Jadis I-88

If ever there was a company that exemplified the phrase ‘sticking to its guns’, it’s Jadis. For a small French tube amplifier firm, it offers a surprisingly broad range of products, including the I-88 integrated amplifier. At a time when much larger brands are simplifying their lines, Jadis still features both digital and analogue sources, along with multiple preamps, phono stages, integrated amplifiers, and stereo and mono power amplifiers. What is Jadis’ secret?

The company excels in three areas. First, it develops its products without a relentless urge to constantly change them. Some products still appear in the Jadis catalogue that were originally made when Michael Jackson was singing about Billie Jean. Next, it manufactures many of these products to order, which means longer lead times; however, it also allows timeless models to stay in production for longer.

I’ve saved Jadis’ greatest advantage until last: it manufactures its own output transformers and has done so for decades. This enables Jadis to receive early versions of the latest output tubes, allowing them to design their transformers and set the standards for other transformer manufacturers. Although Jadis hand-winds their transformers and seals the final product in resin to ensure thermal stability and eliminate hum, you can’t simply inspect and clone their transformers. However, when it comes to producing an amplifier that features the latest KT150 output tube, Jadis was the first to develop output transformers for their line.

Combine the three elements, and you get products like the I-88, an integrated amplifier delivering 90W per channel in pure Class A, using a double push-pull circuit inspired by the earlier—and still current—I-50. This amplifier also employs KT150s in a push-pull layout, but with two tubes per channel instead of four.

‘Thoroughly’ modern

The fact Jadis has been making amplifiers (and more) since 1983 doesn’t mean its models are throwbacks to an earlier time. The I-88 not only includes an autobias circuit (so the tubes will never go out of true) but also an unspecified USB DAC. This last is more an emergency DAC than something you would actively use (I couldn’t get anything higher resolution than 16-bit, 44.1kHz out of it), but it’s better than nothing.

The I-88 also features a remote eye, along with volume, balance, and source selection controls managed via a Philips-style handset. The operation of the I-50 is fully replicated in the I-88, but this model has nearly twice the power, thanks to it having double the number of power output tubes.

It’s the simplest amp in terms of connections; aside from that USB input, there are four single-ended RCA inputs and two pairs of speaker terminals (for bi-wiring, not different tapped outputs from the transformer). Onboard phono stages, XLR inputs, and theatre or tape loops… nope!

Returning to the extensive range of products in the Jadis catalogue, the commonality between I-50 and I-88 offers another clue about how Jadis manages this; many of the amplifiers share similarities. The question then is ‘why’? Why does a small French company produce nine different integrated amplifiers? Aside from building to order and its reluctance to phase out product lines, Jadis has a distinctly international following, and not every product sells – or sells well – in every country. So, where the Orchestra integrated might perform exceptionally in one country, the very similar DA50S could perform better elsewhere. It’s an old-fashioned approach, compared to the ‘world amp’ concept adopted by most audio brands. But most audio brands are not Jadis.

There is one consistent feature across every market in the world, though: the Jadis style. That chromed chassis and transformer caps, with a contrasting gold front and exposed heatsinks and capacitors on the top plate, have been a hallmark of Jadis’ design since André Calmettes founded the company in a village just outside Carcassonne in 1983. Sadly, the founder of Jadis passed away in January 2025, but the baton was passed to his son, Jean-Christophe, several years ago.

Although not everyone agrees, any design language that has remained unchanged for over 40 years is on the right track. Even the cursive ‘Jadis’ name badge has stayed the same for decades. Whether or not it suits your taste, one thing remains clear: if you own any Jadis product – including the I-88 – invest in plenty of microfibre cloths. Not only does the chrome top tend to attract dust, but the design also invites people to touch it and leave fingerprints.

Well made

The amplifier is exceptionally well crafted. It uses a carefully designed point-to-point wiring loom, with minimal use of circuit boards throughout the entire design. The layout of the point-to-point wiring is less like a bird’s nest (have you seen inside an amplifier from the 1950s? Even the finest look ‘organic’ at best) and more like the circuit diagram it was based on. Larger components are attached to the underside of the top plate, but this point-to-point layout is very different from a surface-mount PCB sitting on shock-mounted standoffs. While attaching smaller components in free space on the internal wiring loom offers significant sonic advantages, it also means you shouldn’t subject your electronics to too harsh treatment.

Manhandling shouldn’t be on any amplifier’s radar. However, an amp weighing just over 40kg – with an uneven load – demands careful handling when moving in and out of its packaging, for both backs and resistors alike.

However, once taken out of the box, it’s time to load the two ECC83s and three ECC82s into the preamp stage, as well as the four KT150s on each side. There is a cage to keep little hands and paws away from parts that can burn, cut, or electrocute the unwary. It looks better without the cage, although the heat output is significant, and even touching the chrome plate near the tubes can cause a burn.

An important consideration is to ensure that each tube is properly seated and that the loudspeaker cables are connected to the amplifier and speakers before turning it on. This is good practice in general, and especially so for tube or valve amplifiers. Besides choosing from a variety of ECC83/12AX7 and ECC82/12AU7 tubes from different new, old, and NOS (new old stock) suppliers, there isn’t much tube rolling happening, mainly because there are few suppliers of the recently launched KT150.

Regardless of which input tube maker you choose, after you flick that toggle switch and the green LED begins to glow, you’ll hear the gentle tinkling of valves coming to life. After a few minutes, it’s time to enjoy the music. There isn’t a soft-start or automute circuit, but try to resist the temptation to play a track while the amplifier is warming up.

Ritual enjoyment

If all this sounds a little like it’s some rite of passage or a ritual to appease the hollow-state gods, you are well rewarded for your observance. Because this amplifier sounds exceptionally wonderful; it sounded superb with complex music, simple tunes, music old and new. The excellent sound quality extends to everything, from the most basic folk singing in a pub (The Unthanks) to small halls hosting jazz (Bill Evans), studios (Trentemøller), and stadiums (Queen), as well as concert halls (Georg Solti). Not a single track during the entire listen sounded anything less than thoroughly enjoyable.

However, if you think this sounds like some rose-tinted reproduction with the edges blurred, think again. Out came the heavy stuff – Grinderman’s eponymous debut album [Mute] – and we encountered plenty of 21st-century punk grunge. Then, moving on to the glitchy ‘Mekrev Bass’ by Squarepusher [Be Up a Hello, Warp], everything had its shape, space, detail, speed, and texture. This last track is almost unlistenable at its best (it sounds like someone’s torturing a Nintendo Game Boy, while a drum machine explodes and a digital delay melts down). Still, it reveals everything, and any attempt at cloaking or colouring by the system is laid bare. The Jadis has all the power, detail, and clarity to leave you twitching in a corner somewhere, and rose-tinted it is not. But the music still sounded wonderful, like an eight-bit soundtrack to six horror movies playing simultaneously. Despite all the descriptions, it’s because it makes sense of the music. And if it can make as much sense from Squarepusher as it does with Bill Evans, the I-88 is achieving great things.

It’s easy to get carried away with the hi-fi-like descriptions of this amplifier’s sound, especially because it excels at all of that. It offers a great soundstage, with impressive width and particularly depth, and the kind of grounded-in-space instrument solidity that makes you reach for the ‘holographic’ clichés. It has a broad dynamic range, both large-scale and small-scale, allowing you to hear the valves clicking in that tuba while the orchestra performs with enthusiasm. Then, there’s its vocal projection and articulation, combined with such detail that you can tell what brand of toothpaste the singer uses. It also delivers the sublime coherence and detail that make Porn at the Jazzshop, ‘Temptation’ by Diana Krall, and Cantate Domino sound better than ever. If all you ever want to play is that, the Jadis I-88 will do it superbly. But there is so much more to music than just that.

The audiophile test rarely includes that vital ‘x’ factor that makes you want to play music more and more, but the Jadis I-88 has that ‘x’ factor in spades. It’s a blend of sounding inviting, musically effortless, and informative in a completely non-invasive way. Some systems feel like you are spending time with a music professor on transmit; this feels more like a charming night with a musically skilful guest who hates mansplaining but genuinely loves their music. It’s an abstract concept to convey, but you find yourself drawn to play more music through the Jadis’ sheer innate charm, rather than feeling compelled to do so. Some of the best systems are musical ‘enablers’ – go on, just one more wafer-thin album – but this is a musical friend with whom you want to share the experience.

Grip and grin

Tube or valve amplifiers are known for having relatively poor damping factors compared to their solid-state equivalents. This means an amplifier like the Jadis I-88 will never grip loudspeakers as tightly as a similarly powered transistor amplifier. However, in real-world conditions, Jadis offers excellent control over a loudspeaker’s bass drivers. Although it’s not a kilowatt powerhouse, it more than holds its own. That extra control will put a smile on anyone’s face.

It’s a testament to how exceptional this amplifier sounds that I couldn’t resist using it during the brief but notably muggy heatwave that the UK experienced in summer 2025. Playing a 90W Class A valve amp in an already blistering listening room seems madness. But I felt driven to do so because my time with the I-88 would be limited. When you find yourself playing Boards of Canada albums at 3am while cooling yourself with ice, you know the Jadis I-88 has truly taken hold of you.

Yes, the built-in USB DAC is a bit of an afterthought, although it sounds quite decent. But that’s the only real downside to the Jadis I-88. While opinions vary, I think it looks fantastic. And everyone agrees that it sounds pretty damn impressive as well. I’ll ignore those ‘going-commando’ heatwave listening sessions, but they show that when the sound is that enjoyable, you’ll do almost anything to keep listening. This isn’t just a delightfully sounding amplifier; it revives the joy of listening to even the sweatiest ears.

Technical specifications

Type: Integrated Amplifier with remote control
Inputs: 4x RCA line inputs, 1x USB input
Outputs: 2x loudspeaker outputs (for bi wiring)
Frequency Response: 10Hz-19kHz ±3dB
Tube Compliment: 8x KT150, 2x ECC83/12AX7, 3x ECC82/12AU7
Bias: Automatic
Input Sensitivity: 190mB
Dimensions: 50x40x22cm
Weight: 41kg
Price: £18,998

Manufacturer

Jadis

jadis-electronics.com

UK distributor

Absolute Sounds

absolutesounds.com

+44(0)208 971 3909

Chord Company PhonoARAY

Chord Company of Amesbury demonstrated its newly launched PhonoARAY turntable grounding system at the Bristol HiFi Show in early 2025. This was an impressive demonstration and it needed to be; convincing enough despite the exceptionally noisy neighbours in the demo room next door, is no mean feat. Nevertheless, a small room just a partition screen away from six big, active subwoofers pumping out deep electronic bass at high volume is no place for a careful evaluation of a component that may be as nuanced in performance as a turntable’s grounding system. Naturally it proved better still when later deployed in the much quieter listening room at home.

You could be forgiven in thinking that – for all the recent hoo-hah about component grounding in audio – a turntable is the one thing that resolved grounding decades ago. With a few notable exceptions (such as Rega), tonearms have been supplied with separate grounding cables between deck and phono stage for decades. Therefore, anything that adds a grounding component to an already-grounded system is, at best, gilding the lily.

However, as Chord Company’s Alan Gibb notes, we need to ground our tonearms and turntables to avoid hum. But that very act of grounding has a downside. Conventionally it’s done with a thin wire, captive at the tonearm but with a spade termination at the other end for attachment to the grounding post on our phono stage or integrated amplifier.

Ground as antenna

Grounding silences the hum, but has anyone else spotted that the grounding wire acts as an antenna? Along with metal in the tonearm it picks up localised high frequency radiation from switch-mode power supplies, LED lumens, wi-fi and so on, then injects it into the ground-plane of our audio system where it obscures musical detail. Well, Chord Company has, and if we have any doubt that the company is on to a real issue it’s simple to test; just borrow a PhonoARAY from a Chord Company dealer and try it at home. The PhonoARAY is a rather stout £1,000, but I can’t imagine many are going to be returned to dealers, it’s that much of a sticky enhancement.

The PhonoARAY is a surprisingly weighty CNCd aluminium cylinder, 10cm long and five in diameter, with a single banana/cinch speaker-type terminal at each end. It comes with a screened lead, banana connector at one end and small spade connector at the other. This lead goes between the PhonoARAY and our phono stage while the terminal at the other end takes the thin grounding lead from our tonearm.

The ARAY moniker is applied by the company to more than one technology. Here, it refers to a compound that absorbs high frequency energy. This sandwiches an inductor that acts as a series filter and is potted in resin, says Gibb, to help mitigate any propensity for microphony. He declined to number the frequency range addressed, but did venture that it’s kHz to MHz, in other words most likely concentrating on the fundamental frequencies of the noise generated by the primary radio frequency polluters mentioned earlier rather than much higher frequencies.

Wired into the review system between an Origin Live Agile tonearm and Sovereign S turntable and a Mola Mola Lupe phono stage, the PhonoARAY left zero room for equivocation. The sonic uplift was noted by multiple listeners, most of whom were not audiophiles and thereby not prone to expectation bias. The consensus was that musical energy had notched up a tad (“…it’s got louder….”), bass tune playing was tonally richer and more textured, vocals had been stripped of a degree of grain and now sounded more natural and relaxed, and sound-staging sounded more crisply defined, less blurred.

No surprises

None of these observations will come as a particular surprise to readers who have already deployed grounding elsewhere in their own systems, whether with unitary devices or with a garden grounding rod or array (with two RRs!). They are the to-be-expected outcomes when systemic high frequency noise is mitigated.

What may surprise some is that such thinking in the context of grounding of turntables and tonearms is not more common. The PhonoARAY’s RRP of £1,000 makes it unlikely that many will be paired with low-end turntables and that’s rather a shame because the sonic uplift it delivers would undoubtedly be just as notable. Is Chord Company missing a big chunk of potential market? I think so.

However, in the high-end of turntable design, Chord Company currently has planted its flag in terra incognita and created that great thing; a product that demonstrably makes a difference that no one else can provide. I’d argue that it will not occupy that land alone for long, because as soon as companies get wise to what the PhonoARAY does to record replay, they’ll all want a piece of the action!

This might just be the Next Big Thing in turntable replay systems; the step high-end vinylistas never knew they needed, but will immediately understand. Put it this way; if you are an inveterate cartridge swapper and have an ever-growing collection of almost-new moving coils, the Chord Company PhonoARAY is more likely to be your next vinyl-based purchase than a cartridge. It’s that good!

Price and Contact details

Chord PhonoARAY: £1,000, €1,299, US price to be confirmed

Manufacturer

Chord Company

chord.co.uk

+44(0)1980 625700

Connected-Fidelity CF-1010 tonearm

It was two years ago that I reviewed the excellent Connected-Fidelity TT Hub turntable in hi-fi+ (Issue 237) and first learnt about the company’s plans to produce its own tonearm. After they unveiled it at the Bristol Show in April this year, I knew my wait to try one was over, and a final production sample soon found its way into my listening room.

Connected-Fidelity is the manufacturing arm of Air Audio, which you probably know distributes Hana cartridges and Sorane tonearms from Japan. Owner and designer Michael Osborn has 30 years’ experience in design and manufacturing. Under the Connected-Fidelity brand, he offers a range of products, including mains and interconnect cables, mains distribution boxes, balanced mains supplies, RF filters, and various isolation solutions.

The CF-1010 Reference pickup arm has been in development for about three years. Connected-Fidelity knew from the start that it would be too complex to manufacture in-house, so it approached the well-respected, long-established tonearm design specialist, Alphason, to build it to its specifications.

Compatibility

The 9in S-shaped CF-1010 retails for £3,495. It is supplied with a 2m arm cable and a free digital stylus force gauge and a carbon fibre brush. It certainly looks and feels like a high-quality item and has been designed to be very light, so it will work well with moving-magnet cartridges, which generally have far higher compliance than moving-coil cartridges. That said, it is also ideally suited to moving coils.

The secret of the arm’s compatibility with such a wide variety of cartridges is that it can be supplied with one of six counterweight weights and a variety of headshell shims to optimise the resonant frequency of the cartridge’s suspension system and its bass output. The aim is to tune it to 7 Hz or higher, to suit the cartridge specifications.

Connected-Fidelity makes this easy by offering customers a service it says is unique – whereby the customer tells them which cartridge they wish to use, and they will supply exactly the right counterweight and headshell shim combination to achieve the best performance. This service is free when you first buy the arm. Of course, such details will most likely be sorted for you by the retailer you buy the arm from.

Another key factor in achieving such wide cartridge compatibility is the CF-1010’s one-piece titanium arm tube, chosen for its very low resonance, high stiffness and low weight. The headshell is said to have a composite construction that shifts any resonances above the range of human hearing and dissipates unwanted vibrations within the cartridge body.

The bearings are made from hardened tool steel and are a pre-loaded point-contact design, adjusted to zero tolerance. They decided to avoid ball bearings, as Osborn says, at best these have a tolerance of 3-4 microns. In this way, he says, they have achieved just 50 mg of friction at the stylus. The arm pillar and base are also made from stainless steel, as are the counterbalance weights, which are decoupled to help dissipate unwanted resonances.

The main platform that houses the lift/lower device and arm rest is made from non-resonant, anodised aluminium and also has a useful additional threaded pin that protrudes downwards, so that you can adjust it to always give you the right height and cartridge VTA in the event that you have removed the arm from its base for any reason. Useful if, say, you’re upgrading from a Hana Umami Blue to an Umami Red.

The CF-1010’s internal wiring is UP-OCC (single-crystal) copper. The supplied arm-connection cable is also silver-plated OCC copper. An upgrade cable from Connected-Fidelity, using single-crystal OCC, is available for £600. However, the review sample was supplied with the standard cable.

Lock and load

To make my evaluation of the new CF-1010 arm as straightforward as possible, it was supplied to me already fitted to Connected-Fidelity’s version of the TT Hub turntable, which is designed to accommodate two pickup arms simultaneously. This made it easy for me to fit a second tonearm to the deck – one that I knew well and is priced around £1,000 below the CF-1010, so it would serve as a useful benchmark.

Each arm was fitted with a Hana Umami Red cartridge. I played this combination through my trusty Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister integrated amp, Fyne Audio Vintage 10 speakers with SuperTrax super-tweeters, and a REL S-550 subwoofer. The mains block and mains cables were from MusicWorks.

An album that is becoming a firm favourite of mine is Conversations by jazz bassist Christian McBride. From this, I played his wonderful cover of The Isley Brothers’ It’s Your Thing, where he duets with vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. His superb bass playing was well conveyed by the CF-1010 – tight, agile, with great body, string resonances and slaps, while the vocals were open, full of character, expressive and exuberant, with all the sassiness that makes Dee Dee Bridgewater unique. Compared with the benchmark arm, the CF-1010 had tighter, fuller, and more articulate bass, and the vocals were cleaner and more nuanced.

Another album I have really got into big time is Stream by jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie. On the track ‘Sun Pillars’, the CF-1010 captured the syncopation, fluidity and movement of his playing, and David Bowden’s superb bass line sounded tighter and more agile. Stephen Henderson’s drumming is amazing, and the CF-1010 captured his delicate touch beautifully, with plenty of subtlety. By comparison, the benchmark arm sounded slower and more muffled on his piano and simply did not place the space around the individual musicians as the CF-1010 did. McCreadie’s piano was also better defined and more focused across all registers, from top to bottom. The track’s rhythmic impetus and ebb and flow were also captured more convincingly on the CF-1010.

And if you want strong rhythmic impetus, try the track ‘No One Emotion’, which kicks off side one of George Benson’s superb 20/20 album. The deep, relentless synth bass line that underpins this track is a key element, and there was no doubt it was stronger, deeper and tighter on the CF-1010. Benson’s vocals were also more open and real, while the keyboards, drum machine and other musicians’ contributions came across as more distinct and present, with more space around them. The CF-1010 simply allowed me to listen into each element of this complex, lush arrangement and enjoy their contribution to the whole. The benchmark arm blurred things together more and lost the rhythmic drive that fuels this uptempo track.

The last track I’d like to mention is ‘Hey Laura’ from the amazing vocalist/songwriter Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit album. On this track, I was blown away by how much better the CF-1010 sounded on his vocals. They were more expressive, open, full-bodied and rounded. The benchmark arm, by comparison, seemed to overemphasise the lower registers of his voice and lose some of the vibrato and emotion, just as it tended to make the bass line woollier and less distinct. It was also easier to follow the Hammond organ part on the CF-1010. The drums were tighter, and I could hear better what the pianist was playing and how – and somehow, I simply got a clearer impression of hammers striking strings on the CF-1010. The sax solo was also better defined, and again, there was just more space around all of the musicians and Porter himself. It was a difference that I would gladly pay the extra money for.

A no-brainer

I am sure there are many who think that a pickup arm won’t make as big a difference as you’d hear between cartridges, turntables, amplifiers or speakers. Well, let me dispel any such preconceptions and say that the differences I heard between the CF-1010 and my benchmark arm were every bit as real and significant.

The Connected-Fidelity CF-1010 is a class act. It is beautifully made and finished, and easy to use and set up. Its sound quality is excellent, offering real insight into the music by letting each musician do their thing without blurring them together or losing them in the mix. It also has a good sense of timing and rhythmic impetus, and will keep your foot tapping along to the music from start to finish, whatever that music may be.

I have nothing but praise for the CF-1010 and recommend it enthusiastically. I think it’s a no-brainer at the asking price.

Technical specifications

Type: S-shaped tonearm with fixed headshell
Effective length: 229mm from bearing centre point to stylus tip
Effective mass: 11.7g with standard counterweight
Arm tube: One-piece titanium tube with composite fixed headshell
Bearings: Hardened tool steel preloaded point contact bearing adjusted for zero microns tolerance
Counterweights: Six different weights available
Headshell weights: Choice of five from 3g to 15g
Internal wiring: UP-OCC single-crystal copper with Pin Jack connector for consistent signal transfer
Price: £3,495, €4,000, $4,600

Manufacturer

Connected-Fidelity (Air Audio)

Homepage – https://www.connected–fidelity.com/

Product – https://www.connected–fidelity.com/cf-1010-tone-arm-from-connected–fidelity

Where to buy – https://www.connected–fidelity.com/where-to-buy-connected–fidelity-products

+44(0)1491 629629

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High-End Vienna 2026: Part Two

Our roundup of some of the best at High-End Vienna continues with roving reporter Ed Selley in search of products beyond the super high-end. The ‘High-End’ part of the name suggests the top end of the audio spectrum, but in reality, the show covers all the bases from the affordable end on up. While it’s sometimes wonderful to bask in the audio might of a system that costs more than you might earn in a lifetime, it’s also pretty good to get great performance from the things we can all afford.

Eversolo

No less than seven new Eversolo products were on show in Vienna. The most imminent is the T10 streaming transport which is designed to partner the DAC Z10. Like the DAC, the T10 supports the use of an external clock and, as luck would have it, just such a device is due too. Later this year will also see the DMP-A8 streamer updated to Gen2, including a Master Edition with built in CD transport. Next year will also see the company’s first integrated amp.

Ortofon

Delighted with the success of the MC X Series of cartridges, Ortofon introduced the X50 as a new flagship. Featuring a boron cantilever, nude Micro Ridge stylus, pure silver coils and the same sophisticated chassis as the rest of the range, it looks like a lot of cartridge at the asking price. At the other end of the proceedings, the Vertex represents everything the company knows about cartridges, with a new stylus profile mounted on a diamond cantilever and housed in a titanium body formed by selective laser melting.

Arcam

Celebrating 50 years in business, Arcam showed off the A50 amp built to mark the occasion. Company founder John Dawson has designed a fully balanced take on the company’s long-running Class G circuit, and the amp is fitted with a useful collection of analogue and digital inputs alongside the XLR connection. This would be an ideal place to attach the new CD25 CD player which features dual ESS DACs and a vibration-reducing transport mount.

Fink Team

Continuing its unusual naming conventions, the Fink Team Spot is the company’s smallest floorstander to date. It’s a two-way design, pairing a relatively large ribbon tweeter with an eight-inch mid-bass driver. It will be available later in the year for around €10,000, although some of the (many) custom finishes will be extra. This was lb for £ my favourite speaker at the show, and I am very much looking forward to spending some more time with it.

Neat Vito

Having enjoyed considerable success with its relaunched classic range, Neat has created an updated version of the Vito floostander which will be the largest model in the range so far. The Vito uses the same tweeter and midrange driver as the Elite Classic. placed in their own chamber and add an extra dedicated bass driver operating from 80Hz and down. When it goes on sale in September, it’s expected to cost around £5,500 depending on finish.

Ruark Talisman

Having decided to exit the box-speaker market to concentrate on all-in-one devices, Ruark has returned to the field decades later with an updated version of the Talisman floorstander. Like the original, it’s a compact, two-way design with a slope to the front baffle, and, like the original, it was sounding better than you’d expect a £1,500 speaker in a booth to. Running on the end of the R710i streaming amp, the performance was deeply impressive.

High-End Vienna 2026: Part 1

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Meet Your Maker: Atlas Cables

The road to Kilmarnock, just south of Glasgow, is often framed by the moody, low-hanging clouds that define the West of Scotland. It is a landscape of industrial heritage and rugged natural beauty—an apt setting for Atlas Cables. While the high-end audio world often conjures images of manicured technocrats with ornate systems, the reality at Atlas is far more grounded and tactile. Moreover, it is impressively industrious.

Walking into the Atlas facility, you aren’t met with the cold, clinical air of a tech startup. Instead, there is the hum of activity, the faint scent of high-grade polymers, and the unmistakable sense of a craft-driven factory. This is a place where Scottish engineering meets a boutique, artisanal sensibility. Here, the philosophy is simple yet demanding. Everything that can be done in-house should be done in-house.

The Heart of the Workflow: Vertical Integration

The methodology at Atlas is built on a refusal to be a “re-badger.” In the cable industry, some brands buy bulk wire from a massive, nameless factory, slap a fancy braided sleeve over it, and call it ‘high-end’. Atlas operates at the opposite end of that spectrum.

The workflow begins long before a single strand of copper arrives in Kilmarnock. Atlas controls the metallurgy, specifying the purity of its Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) copper and silver. But the real magic happens once those raw materials enter the building. The factory floor is organised into specialised zones that follow a cable’s life cycle. These range from raw conductor preparation and dielectric insulation to the final, painstaking hand-assembly and testing.

Atlas also ensures consistency by careful component stock control. The stock room has a series of stock control bins that give Atlas enough materials to build what it needs without huge inventory costs. Furthermore, this avoids relying on ‘Just In Time’ logistics. Simple colour-coding of parts bins means production delays are rare.

The Art of the Solderless Connection

As you move through the assembly area, you notice something missing: the acrid smell of soldering resin. This is a core pillar of the Atlas methodology. They are pioneers in ‘cold-weld’ technology.

In most cables, the delicate copper strands are soldered to the plug. Atlas views solder as a barrier—an impurity that interrupts the signal flow. Watching the assembly team work is a lesson in precision. Using proprietary pneumatic tools and hand-calibrated presses, they cold-weld the connectors to the conductors. This process applies immense pressure to create a gas-tight bond. As a result, the metal of the wire and the metal of the plug effectively become one.

The technicians handle the delicate silver and copper filaments with the dexterity of watchmakers, ensuring that every strand is perfectly seated before the press is engaged. It is not a high-pressure environment — except for the cold-welding process. However, the result is a connection that is more durable and sonically purer than any soldered joint.

On-Site Printing: The Identity of the Product

One of the most surprising aspects of the Kilmarnock facility is its investment in on-site printing and finishing. In many factories, the branding on a cable is an afterthought—either printed by the bulk supplier or applied with a cheap sticker. At Atlas, the branding is integral to manufacturing integrity.

The on-site printing suite enables Atlas to print its own cable jackets with exceptional precision. Using specialised inks that bond permanently to the outer insulation, it can mark lengths, directions, and model names with total consistency.

But it isn’t just about the name on the wire. This capability enables bespoke runs and ‘Custom Shop’ services. If a client needs a specific set of markings for a complex professional installation or a unique colour-coding system for a multi-room setup, Atlas can do it in-house within hours. This level of autonomy is rare in the industry and reflects their ethos of total control. By printing on-site, they ensure the inks don’t degrade the chemical properties of the cable jackets over time. This is a small detail that highlights their obsessive approach to longevity.

Hand-Assembly: The Human Element

Despite the high-tech presses and specialised printing machinery, the soul of Atlas remains in the hands of its staff. The assembly benches are where the individual components—the conductors, the foams, the shields, and the plugs—finally come together as a finished product.

Watching a pair of Mavros or Asimi cables being assembled is a slow, methodical process. These flagship products require hours of hand-braiding and the application of microporous Teflon dielectrics. The technicians use specialised jigs to ensure the cable geometry—the exact spacing between the positive and negative conductors—remains perfectly consistent from one end to the other. Even a millimetre of shift can change the cable’s capacitance. At Atlas, that is unacceptable.

There is palpable pride on the factory floor. Many of the staff have been with the company for years, developing an eye for the mechanical feel of a perfect termination. They aren’t just following a manual; they are practising a craft. This human element serves as the final, most rigorous form of quality control. Each cable is visually inspected, mechanically stress-tested, and then electrically verified before it ever goes into a box.

The ‘Achromatic’ Revolution

A signature part of the Atlas ethos comes in the shape of the distinctive ‘Achromatic’ plugs. These are non-conductive, low-mass plugs that have become a hallmark of the brand. Traditionally, cable connectors are heavy, shiny, and made of gold-plated brass. Atlas realised that these heavy metal plugs acted as “heat sinks” for the signal, introducing unwanted interference. The Achromatic plugs are light, minimalist, and designed to stay out of the way of the music. In the factory, you see bins of these elegant, matte-finished components waiting to be mated to their respective cables. The assembly of these plugs is a dry-fit process that requires no heat, further reinforcing the company’s commitment to ‘cold’ assembly. Seeing these plugs fitted highlights the Atlas ethos. If a component doesn’t help the sound, get rid of it.

Testing and Validation

The final stop on the tour is the testing station. Every cable leaving the Kilmarnock factory is plugged into a diagnostic suite. It isn’t just a “does it work?” test. They check for continuity, resistance, and capacitance to ensure the cable meets the exact specifications of the design prototype.

For the higher-end lines, this process is even more stringent. There is a quiet gravity to this room; it is the final gatekeeper. The ethos here is that an Atlas cable is a ‘component’ in its own right, not an accessory. Therefore, it must be measured with the same seriousness as an amplifier or a DAC.

Refreshingly transparent

What stays with you after leaving the Atlas factory is the absence of ‘voodoo’. In an industry often criticised for ‘snake oil’ and magical thinking, Atlas is refreshingly transparent. Their methodology is grounded in physics, materials science, and –in particular –repeatable manufacturing processes.

The ethos of Atlas Cables is “Quiet Accomplishment.” Atlas isn’t interested in being the loudest brand in the room or the one with the flashiest packaging; that doesn’t really fit in with the Scottish way of doing things. Instead, it focuses on the integrity of the connection. From the way they cold-weld their plugs to the way they print their own jackets in the heart of Scotland, every action is aimed at removing the ‘veils’ between the listener and the music.

They believe the best cable is the one that disappears. By controlling every variable—from the raw copper to the final print on the jacket—they ensure that when a customer plugs an Atlas cable into their system, they aren’t hearing the cable. Rather, they are finally hearing their music. As you walk back out into the Scottish rain, you realise that while the weather outside might be grey, the engineering inside those walls is vibrantly, brilliantly clear.

Contact details

Manufacturer

Atlas Cables

atlascables.com

+44(0)1563 572666

Monitor Audio Evolves The Radius Series For Modern Spaces

Essex, UK – 15^th June 2026: Monitor Audio is proud to announce the launch of the Radius Series 4G, a comprehensive reinvention of one of the brand’s most celebrated compact speaker ranges. Built upon Monitor Audio’s Transparent Design Philosophy, the Radius Series 4G represents the perfect balance of advanced acoustic engineering and considered, contemporary aesthetics, delivering genuinely high-fidelity sound from speakers that are designed to be seen as well as heard.

The Radius Series 4G comprises three speakers: the Radius 1, Radius 3, and Radius On-Wall, alongside a carefully curated range of matching accessories including a custom Floor Stand, Desk Pad, and two Wall Bracket solutions. Together they form a scalable, versatile system capable of serving everything from discreet stereo listening to full multi-channel home cinema, multi-room audio, commercial installations, and near-field desktop environments.

Acoustic Performance

At the heart of the Radius Series 4G are a series of significant technological advancements, each developed to raise the performance benchmark of the compact speaker category.

C-CAM
Monitor Audio’s proprietary C-CAM (Ceramic-Coated Aluminium/Magnesium) cone technology remains central to the Radius 4G’s driver design. Lightweight, exceptionally strong, and more rigid than conventional cone materials, C-CAM works pistonically to deliver impressive levels of fidelity.

RST III

For this 4th generation, the C-CAM technology makes use of the new RST III (Rigid Surface Technology) cone geometry that further reduces breakup and resonances across the frequency range for an even more accurate, natural sound.

Gold Dome Tweeter

The Radius Series 4G introduces a completely redesigned C-CAM Gold Dome tweeter. Departing from conventional architecture, the new tweeter utilises an external magnet motor system, akin to that of a full drive unit, rather than a traditional internal puck magnet.

New Crossover Design

The crossover networks in the Radius Series 4G have been subjected to extensive measurement, careful listening, and painstaking component selection. Every element has been curated to ensure the purest possible signal transfer between amplification and drive units.

Design

Through-Bolt Driver Bracing

Utilising through-Bolt Driver Bracing, the drive units can be securely braced to the rear of the cabinet and tightened to a specific torque, ensuring structural rigidity between driver and cabinet while eliminating unwanted chassis resonances.

HiVe II Port

Each Radius 4G features HiVe II (High-Velocity II) port design. This supports smooth airflow and delivers tighter, more controlled bass performance. On the all-new Radius 3 model, the port has been enlarged by 50% compared to the previous generation to deliver even greater levels of LF performance from its compact form.

Accessories

Floor Stands

The custom Radius 4G Floor Stand features wooden tripod legs for a modern aesthetic, with clean cable routing from the terminals down through the stand to the base.

Desk Pad

A precision-engineered Desk Pad, made from rubber of a specific hardness for effective vibration isolation, offers a stable platform with a subtle upward tilt for optimal near-field performance.

Summary of key features:

Three-model range: Radius 1, Radius 3, and Radius On-Wall with matching accessories: Floor Stand and Desk Pad and Wall Brackets.
New C-CAM drivers with RST III cone geometry for reduced resonance and improved fidelity
Completely redesigned C-CAM Gold Dome tweeter with external magnet motor system
New RST III bass/mid driver with increased voice coil diameter for tighter, more controlled bass
New crossover design
Through-Bolt driver bracing for structural rigidity and reduced chassis resonance
Wall mounting is accommodated via the MASM bracket (Radius 1) and FIX-M bracket (Radius 3).
Scalable from stereo to full multi-channel AV and multi-room configurations

Pricing:

Radius 1 4G MSRP: £425.00 / €475.00 / $525.00 Pair

Radius 3 4G MSRP: £575.00 / €675.00 / $725.00 Pair

Radius On-Wall 4G MSRP: £450.00 / €525.00 / $575.00 Piece

Radius Floor Stand 4G MSRP: £300.00 / €350.00 / $395.00 Pair

Radius Desk Pad 4G MSRP: £30.00 / €35.00 / $40.00 Pair

MASM Wall Bracket MSRP: £20.00 / €30.00 / $35.00 Piece

FIX-M Wall Bracket MSRP: £45.00 / €50.00 / $55.00 Piece

Availability:
Radius Series 4G will be available in June 2026.

ROGERS UK UNVEILS THE PM510 S3

13 June 2026: Rogers UK is proud to announce the launch of the new PM510 S3, the company’s most ambitious loudspeaker to date. Inspired by the legendary BBC LS5/8 Grade One studio monitor and descended from the acclaimed original PM510 of the 1980s, the PM510 S3 brings one of Britain’s most respected loudspeaker designs into a new era.

A Monitor with Heritage

The PM510 S3 remains faithful to the BBC monitoring philosophy of tonal accuracy, low coloration and transparency while benefiting from modern materials, improved manufacturing tolerances and contemporary quality control standards.

Designed to Reproduce Music Without Limits

At the heart of the PM510 S3 is a bespoke 305mm (12-inch) VOLT driver built in the UK to Rogers specification, partnered with a precision 34mm soft-dome tweeter and advanced 18-element crossover network.

Built the Rogers Way

The PM510 S3 employs classic BBC thin-wall cabinet construction using carefully damped 12mm Baltic birch plywood finished in premium real wood veneers including Amazaque and Olive Ash.

UK Retail Pricing

PM510 S3 in Amazaque or Olive Ash veneer: £17,999 per pair including dedicated matching stands (inc. VAT).

Additional veneer finishes and Piano Lacquer options available.

Key Specifications

• 93dB sensitivity

• 15 Ohm nominal impedance

• 250W RMS power handling

• 116dBA maximum SPL

• 45Hz–20kHz ±3dB frequency response

• Bi-wire terminals

Vienna High-End 2026, Part One

It’s no secret, but the Austria Center Vienna has replaced the MOC in Munich as the venue for the annual High-End show. While not without its teething troubles, the move has been mostly well received by consumers and the audio industry.

The crowd at the start of the first public day.

The space is larger and slightly harder to navigate. This means most of the corridors are wide enough to avoid bottlenecks and allow those who want to talk business to do so away from the music playing in the room. It also reduced noise pollution from nearby exhibitors. However, it also meant that several floors of near-identical white corridors made it easy to get a little lost. I stepped out of the elevators onto the wrong floor several times and didn’t notice for a few minutes. However, as I went to a Miele store across town instead of the Melia Hotel for DALI’s off-site launch, maybe I’m not the best judge of geography.

Regardless, Manufacturers will inevitably learn from this and introduce greater signage outside their rooms.

There also probably needs to be a larger central display welcoming visitors to the event. There was a large atrium just after guests entered the show, and inside that atrium was just a Burmester-equipped S-Class Mercedes. While a great show-opener, a ‘best of’ display with samples (or high-quality mock-ups) of some of the most high-profile products at the show would make it seem more ‘show-like ‘.

No number of preliminary visits to an event can accurately determine a room’s acoustic dynamics. While many were making good sound at the ACV, I think it’s best to suspend criticism of bad sound for this year. Once again, manufacturers learn what works and what doesn’t fairly quickly, so that free pass expires for next year, but there were a couple of systems I expected to be excellent and didn’t quite cut it. I know of at least one manufacturer who completely redesigned their room at the last minute to (successfully) improve the sound quality, and Goldmund traded places with Raidho on either side of the first floor because they preferred their respective rooms. This led people to call it ‘Goldmundilocks’, but the end result worked out well for both.

The number of main rooms was reduced slightly compared to Munich. There were many smaller rooms on the top floor of ACV, but these were largely used by companies fielding smaller systems than typically seen at the High-End shows of the past. This gave rise to several nearby satellite shows, including HiFiDeluxe, all situated a few hundred metres from the main event. While each has its own organiser, they might be wise to at least work together in the same venue, rather than having four rooms in one building, four rooms in another and so on. Even with the satellite shows, there were still some notable absences, including KEF and Rockport. We hope to see them back in some form next year.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll bring you the best we saw and heard at Vienna.

Bowers & Wilkins

Bowers & Wilkins returned to show-going with the announcement of its fifth generation of the brand’s flagship 800 Series. With one stand-mount, two centre channels, three floorstanders and the 801 D5 flagship in the line, this was a celebration of the company’s 60th anniversary as well as a mighty set of loudspeakers. Retaining many of the styling cues of previous models, the 800 Series bristle with new innovations, including a new Space Frame Bracing (that bolts directly to the rear of the now-enhanced Matrix inside the cabinet) to increase internal stiffness and reduce vibration and cabinet-borne resonance. This bracing also acts as a frame to hold the new crossover mounting plate. There are also improved tuned-mass plinths, revised aluminium top plates, and grilles and drive unit motors taken from the Signature version of the previous model. New finishes are also on show, with Dark Walnut, Light Walnut and Warm White joining the portfolio. Prices start at £10,000/€10,000/$12,000 for the 805 D5 stand-mount and rise to £43,000/€50,000/$65,000 for the 801 D5.

Cambridge Audio

The new Evo 300 from Cambridge Audio is the brand’s most advanced streaming amplifier. This is a bold statement from a company that has been making streaming amplifiers for some time, but the 300W per channel integrated amplifier (using Hypex NCOREx Class D amp modules at its core) makes a strong musical and performance-based case. Built around a balanced preamplifier stage with separate analogue volumes for each channel, the amp builds on the performance of the company’s current top streaming integrated, the Evo 150 SE. It also features an ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC and the company’s one StreamMagic Gen 4 platform, and a 7.8 in screen. This £3,499/€3,999/$3,999 integrated amplifier offers much.

Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems

Not content with announcing the Momentum Z mono power amplifiers earlier in the year, Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems announced several new products that utilise the Z topology designed to improve the interface between preamp and power amplifier, by carefully addressing power supply, input stage, thermal design and system monitoring. The Relentless Z Preamplifier, Relentless 800Z mono power amplifiers, and Relentless Epic 1600Z mono power amplifiers all benefit from these Z circuit design developments.

But, perhaps even more significantly, there has been an entire refresh of D’Agostino’s more attainably priced Progression series. The new Progression Neo preamp and both stereo and mono power amplifiers have a bold new styling – one that still carries much of the D’Agostino classic cues into a very ‘now’ look – but draws it’s circuitry from the higher-end Momentum and Relentless range. With a preamp featuring a JFET input stage (like the Relentless) and power amplifiers with output concepts developed for the Momentum Z mono amps, these were delivering an extremely impressive sound through a pair of Wilson Alexia Vs in Audio Reference’s outstanding demonstration space. Fed by dCS and VPI, these amps had ‘grip’ by the bucketload. Prices are still to be confirmed.

DALI

An all-in-one is not the first thing to consider as one of the stars of a high-end show, but stay with me. DALI’s new VEGA system includes BluOS and its own, in-house DSP. The VEGA features four soft-dome tweeters with 25mm membranes and neodymium magnets and four 110mm mid-bass drivers placed back-to-back with an ABR system. The hefty system is designed to be used on a table or a wall, and can be vertically or horizontally mounted (or even moved from one position to the other using a special rotator mount). With presets for playlists and radio stations – all accessed through the BluOS ecosystem – it’s designed as an easy way to get good sound into other parts of the home than just the man cave. The price is €3,000, and is expected to be around £2,600 and $4,500 when launched in September.

Gryphon

Designed to replace the mighty Mephisto, Gryphon’s new €59,800 Hyperion power amplifier is a bold project from a bold high-end brand. Dressed in the company’s typical ‘none more black’ livery, this truly dual mono 126kg, 180W Class A amplifier runs hot, requires two 20A power inputs, and can pack a 720W Class A punch into two-ohm speaker loads. And playing LPs in a full Gryphon system, it sounds like it lives up to the reputation of the amplifier it replaces!

Ideon

Greek digital experts Ideon have been busy of late. Not content with developing the remarkable Axiom digital system in time for AXPONA this year, the company just announced the Nous, a complete high-end streaming and playback system. Available with or without a line-level preamplifier, the Nous differs from conventional streamer-based products by being designed as a purpose-built audiophile environment where streaming, digital processing, clock management, DAC conversion, analogue amplification, and power regulation all act as one. Its performance is said to be closer to that of the Absolute DAC from the brand. The fully balanced Nous costs $32,000 with preamp, and $29,900 as streamer alone.

Moon

It would have been easier for Moon to take the popular 371 integrated streaming amplifier from the Compass range and split it into two separate components. Instead, Moon listened to its better angels and went with a vastly more flexible and powerful pairing. With all the inputs and outputs you could ever need and a highly flexible MM/MC stage, the £5,950/$6,500 491 uses the more sophisticated volume control and hybrid linear/switch mode power found on the brand’s higher-end devices. Meanwhile, the £4,450/$5,000 power amplifier uses even more of the hybrid power supplies to deliver its 150W per channel. This can be driven in bridged or bi-amp mode.

While we’ve said we won’t be discussing sound too much at this show as it’s new to everyone, this system – coupled with Dynaudio’s Contour Legacy loudspeakers and Nordost Heimdall 2 cables – was a true star, with plenty of drive and energy.

Wadax

2024’s Wadax Studio Player was always intended to be a part of a Studio Collection. That Collection was joined by the Studio Clock, Studio PSU and Akasa cabling system last year. At Vienna, the Wadax Studio Collection is completed by the addition of a Studio Transport and Studio DAC. As the name suggests, this includes a dedicated CD/SACD transport and a dual-mono DAC, taking full advantage of the low-noise, high-speed architecture of the Studio Player (and leveraging technologies from the mighty Atlantis by Wadax), while adding greater connectivity and flexibility to the Wadax Studio ecosystem. The DAC also marks Wadax’s first headphone-related product. Prices for the new models are set at $42,950 for the Transport and $39,500 for the DAC.

Go to: Part Two

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Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO

Karan Acoustics’ range comprises entirely of Master Collection products today. There’s a preamplifier, phono stage, stereo and mono power amplifiers. These all stay in the entirely uncompromising, cost-no-object ’a’ range or the slightly trimmed down ‘b’ form. In this case, ‘trimmed down’ means a one-box preamp and phono stage and slightly smaller stereo and mono amps. Until now, we tested every product in the range except for the Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO amps. This review brings a sense of closure to the review cycle.

That closure feels deeper in this review. Sadly, Milan Karan, chief designer and the man behind Karan Acoustics, died in 2024 at the age of just 58. Some time before his passing, Karan expressed a desire for the Master Collection to be his swansong. However, I don’t think anyone expected it to be his valediction. He considered these amplifiers to be the best products he knew how to make. The company continues in the capable hands of the Karan family. International recognition of Milan Karan’s crowning amplifier achievement has only increased with his passing.

One of the cleverest parts of the Master Collection range is that there is a lot of shared design. This means there are no great changes in technology – or tonal shifts – as you move between ‘a’ and ‘b’. The POWERb MONO uses the same differential circuit design found across all four amplifiers in the line-up. They all implement the very best Sanken bipolar output devices, the power supplies and their accompanying audio infrastructure have been extensively reworked. The same applies to the input (driver) stages with both high-grade Audyn and superior, proprietary Karan Acoustics capacitors being used throughout.

Quality components

The component list of greats also includes Vishay and Roederstein resistors as well as Cardas Audio’s highest quality chassis wire. That, however, is not all. As with all Karan mono amplifiers, each ‘polarity half’ of each audio channel (ie. amplifier) has its own independent mains transformer and accompanying power supply. Which also means you need two mains cables for each amplifier.

For the POWERa amplifiers, Karan worked with its suppliers. The companies developing completely new, much larger, more powerful, and mechanically quieter toroidal transformers. This led to a proportionally enlarged bank of power supply reservoir capacitors of equally high-grade specifications. In the process, this provides the circuits with an even greater reserve of power and current that is always ultra-quickly available. The POWERb STEREO and MONO follow suit, with only slightly reduced power delivery and capacity. Although ‘reduced’ is inaccurate for an amplifier boasting twin 2,100VA toroidal transformers and a custom 180,000µF reservoir capacitance bank. As before, speaker terminals and RCA inputs originate from WBT, while Neutrik provides the XLR input interface.

Remarkable

This amplifier’s power output is remarkable. It delivers a robust 1,200W into an eight-ohm load, with peaks reaching 1.5kW. It can even provide up to an impressive 3.6kW into a two-ohm load. Like its larger POWERa MONO counterpart, it requires two power cables per chassis. This arrangement enables the amplifiers to transmit the signal’s full bandwidth and dynamic headroom into any loudspeaker load. Meanwhile, this also allows for excellent transient speed and extremely quiet circuit operation.

Similar to the other POWER models in the range, the Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO features an advanced mains (line) conditioner. This conditioner addresses and eliminates unwanted DC-related by-products from our electricity supply. The amplifier includes a switch on the back panel that allows you to choose whether to hear the sound with or without the conditioner/DC filter, regardless of whether the amplifier is powered on and playing music. While there are few aspects of audio that are as contentious as the line conditioner/DC filter market, I would still like to see this offered as a separate, universal product within the Karan Acoustics product range.

Circuit resonance damping

The chassis also functions as an effective circuit resonance-damping system. Increasing the mass is the most obvious solution for achieving superior overall damping. However, the issue arises that using too much of the wrong type of metal can do more harm than good. Additionally, employing a large lump of aluminium to mass-load the amplifier may create its own source of resonance. To address both concerns, Karan Acoustics designed the main chassis as a single-piece unibody made from a solid CNC-machined block of high-grade aluminium. This serves as a heatsink for the output devices while establishing a highly non-resonant environment for the entire amplifier. This design also contributes to lowering the amplifier’s noise floor. Continuing with the impressive specifications, all 81kg (per amplifier) sits on three Critical Mass Systems CS² 1.5 supporting feet. It has proper wooden crates for shipping, too.

Externally, there is little to differentiate POWERa and POWERb designs. This MONO amplifier is slightly shorter than its bigger brother, weighs just over 20kg lighter and it has ‘POWERb’ instead of ‘POWERa’ on the rear panel.

Do well

The Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO has several shoes to fill. As part of the ‘b’ Series, it should be resolving enough to deal with Karan’s matching LINEb preamplifier (tested in Issue 191) and shine with the company’s LINEa two-box flagship preamplifier (tested in Issue 181). It needs to stand slightly above the POWERb STEREO (tested in Issue 223). It also needs to reach, yet not exceed the levels of the mighty POWERa MONO (tested in Issue 203). And above all this, it needs to stand on its own as a very high-grade power amplifier. This demand is for those who might not have caught the Karan bug, or are upgrading from Karan’s previous KA line. So, it needs to be better than the likes of the KA-M1200 (tested back in Issue 50) and on a par with the likes of Constellation, Gryphon, and Vitus.

If that sounds like a big ask, you haven’t been keeping up with Karan’s Master Collection. These are the sort of power amplifiers that answer questions before they are asked. It gives effortless power with way more in the tank. Also, given the almost limitless power of the POWERa MONO, the POWERb MONO is not far behind, the POWERa MONO’s reserves in the tank are more than enough for all except the most challenging of loudspeakers. In fact, there’s a good case to make that the POWERa MONO is gilding the lily in the majority of systems today.

More than just power

The Karan sound is one of effortlessness in more than just power delivery. Every Karan amplifier has a sound that is as easy on the ear as it is detailed and informative. It’s supremely dynamic and is possessed of stentorian bass that controls your loudspeakers with absolute authority. However, that precision and power does not come at the expense of a roller-coaster ride through music. The Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO never bombards the listener with sound.

It’s presentation is as refined as it is effortless. The high-frequency energy and zing is there, but only when called for. The rest of the playing time, the amplifier simply swings. There’s nothing out of place, in spatial, dynamic and detail terms. The amp’s sense of rhythm is good for a large power amplifier; not ‘pacey’ and ‘lithe’ in the way British ‘PRaT’ obsessed designs excel, more of a sense of complete musical control.

Karan’s POWERb MONO’s main characteristic is to play the music it’s fed without favouritism. That sounds over-simplistic, but it’s at the heart of what this amplifier delivers. I went back and looked at my notes and reviews of other Karan power amplifiers, and this is a strong family trait. You get the whole story; whatever signal is sent to the amplifier is reproduced with as little as possible between preamplifier and loudspeakers.

Straight wire with gain

This has long been a goal of power amplifiers – Peter Walker of Quad coined the phrase ‘a straight wire with gain’ to describe the ultimate in amplifier performance – but we are still far from achieving that aim. The Karan amps get closer than most, especially if you prioritise detail, dynamics, soundstaging and sheer control over the loudspeakers as important considerations. And yet, beyond this, the Karan amplifiers have a sense of refined musicality to their performance, which makes you focus on the ‘end’ (the music itself) rather than ‘the means whereby’ (the equipment).

I’ve found with Karan equipment that despite the call to use numerous musical examples to highlight what the amplifier can do, everything is encapsulated in a single recording. This is a sign of true quality, as all the aspects of an amplifier are presented evenly and equally at the outset. While further listening only reinforces that initial opinion, the strength of its balance of sonic properties is telling from the outset.

Everything, everywhere, all at once

In fairness, Karan Acoustics is not alone in this ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’ approach (great movie, by the way!). However, most amps that have such an even spread of qualities come with a considerably more lofty price tag.

The track that showcased what the Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO does so well was perhaps the simplest. It was The Unthanks (and Niopha Keegan) singing ‘Bread and Roses’ [Diversions Vol 5 – Live and Unaccompanied, Rabble Rouser]. You get a sense of a small hall with a low ceiling, the intimacy of the recording, and the pitch-perfect articulation of their voices. You also get the energy and passion of their voices, and the gentle, respectful interaction between singers and audience. Then, there is the dynamic range of a capella singing. Finally, you get a sensational coherence across the range and the feeling of being there in the place thanks to powerful solidity and speaker control.

Not a foot wrong

Accepting that those Critical Mass Systems feet take a few days to transform the sound, the Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO doesn’t put a foot wrong. Yes, arguably balanced outperforms single-ended input, but that’s more to do with XLRs taking full advantage of the circuit design. In fairness, single-ended is no slouch, so if your preamp is single-ended only, don’t count these amps out just yet. In fact, my only gripe is about the name; Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO is a real mouthful. If your biggest criticism is the length of the name, you know the amp is good.

Good enough that I’d say the Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO is among the high-end’s best balancing acts. It perfectly balances sheer power output and the quality of that power. If you don’t need the pile-driving power of the POWERa MONO, and love that refined effortlessness that these amplifiers bring, it’s hard to find something better this side of six figures.

Karan Acoustics’ Master Collection range is a true testament to the late Milan Karan’s skills as an amplifier designer. Whether the last designs from his drawing board are the last models Karan Acoustics make is a moot point. ‘What have you done for me lately?’ drives the pace of most product life cycles. But the Karan Acoustics Master Collection POWERb MONO is built for the long game; nothing is going to outperform this any time soon.

Technical specifications

Type: Mono solid-state power amplifiers
Power output: 1.2kW into 8Ω, 2.1kW into 4Ω, 3.6kW into 2Ω
Peak power output: 1.5kW at 8Ω
Inputs: 1 balanced (XLR) and 1 unbalanced (RCA)
Input impedance: 30kΩ (balanced/unbalanced)
Input sensitivity: 2.0V/RMS (for max output)
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz ±0dB, DC-300kHz, -3dB
Gain: +36dB
Distortion THD/IMD: 0.03%
Signal to noise ratio: >120dB unweighted
Dimensions (W×H×D): 50.4 × 29.2 × 52.1cm per amplifier
Weight: 81kg per amplifier
Price: £69,995, €66,900, $77,000 per pair (UK price incl. VAT)

Manufacturer

Karan Acoustics

karanacoustics.com

UK distributor

Audiofreaks

audiofreaks.co.uk

+(0)208 948 4153

More about Karan Acoustics

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Hegel D50

Hegel is no stranger to this magazine. The company garners great respect for its digital expertise. DACs have played a central role in many of Hegel’s products over the years, whether in CD players, amplifiers, or standalone DACs. The built-in DAC in many Hegel amplifiers often outperforms the DACs in other digital sources from its many peers and rivals. Therefore, when a company with this extensive history launches a new flagship DAC like the Hegel D50, it’s worth taking note.

Features

The Hegel D50 is a versatile and adaptable unit, albeit not overloaded with inputs. If you require a DAC with a back panel resembling a server farm’s patch board, then you might need to look elsewhere. However, it is as well-equipped as most will need. The available digital inputs are more than sufficient for most needs: one each of AES/EBU, BNC, RCA coaxial, and USB, plus a pair of Toslink/EIAJ optical inputs, feeding either balanced or unbalanced analogue outputs. The D50 also offers several user-configurable features, including input sensing, automatic standby, and display dimming. The familiar, minimalist Hegel remote control can operate functions and navigate menus, but a manual option is available via three discreetly hidden buttons beneath the front display.

It’s clear from the outset that Hegel intends the D50 to showcase everything it has learned about digital technology, and in doing so, it stands on the shoulders of the commendable products that came before it. However, the Hegel D50 also introduces some new and intriguing features of its own, which distinguish it. This review followed quickly after the workup for issue 244, the Audio Essentials issue. One of the emerging themes of system setup is the importance of paying proper attention to reducing and managing electromagnetic noise.

Noise annoys

Hegel has taken extensive measures in this regard within the D50, designing the internal power management to contain and reduce internally generated EM noise. All the power supplies are analogue—no switch-mode supplies here—using two separate low-noise toroidal transformers, carefully positioned and shielded to keep the noisy digital and standby functions apart from the sensitive digital and analogue components. However, Hegel also tackles noise entering the system from external sources, especially the mains power, which also offers interesting side benefits for the rest of the system.

The incoming mains power is filtered to remove electromagnetic interference (EMI), and, interestingly, this filtering can also affect other equipment connected to the same power circuit. When the unit arrived, the UK distributor and I set up the D50 on my MusicWorks rack, but we had not yet connected it. We played a CD track, and only then did we plug the D50 into my Nordost QB6 power block. Playing the same track again, there was a noticeable improvement in spaciousness and dynamic expression—precisely the kind of effect I’ve heard and associate with a reduction in mains-borne EM noise.

Improves before switch on

Remarkably, here we have a DAC that improves your system’s sound even before you switch it on, let alone use it to decode your music. In its quest to reduce EM noise, Hegel has also focused carefully on circuit board design and layout. The board for the single ESS 9039Q2M Sabre DAC chip is positioned above the other electronics, reducing noise and interference, shortening signal paths, and allowing it to be placed as close as possible to the master clock.

Additionally, the D50 features three master clocks: one for the S/PDIF feed and two for USB — one for 44.1 kHz and another for 48 kHz sample rates — strategically positioned to minimise noise and optimise timing data. There is also further innovation in how incoming digital signals are processed, enabling better handling of both weak and strong signals, free from jitter and time delays. It reads like a masterclass in tackling the menace of EM noise.

The distributor also brought a partnering Hegel H400 amplifier, which features its own excellent internal DAC and streamer, making it a one-box streaming system. However, an interesting feature of recent Hegel amps is that they can bypass the internal DAC via a ‘DAC loop’ function to a BNC digital output. Using this to feed the D50, then taking the analogue output from the D50 back into the H400’s inputs, resulted in a significant improvement in the H400’s performance, making the D50 a viable upgrade option for any H400 user. I spent part of this review with the system configured this way, but my Accuphase CD player and amplifier did most of the work, connected via an optical cable to the D50.

Space, finally in front of my ears

Musically, the first impression is of a clear, spacious, highly resolved, and detailed presentation. That’s a good start, and it just continues from there. Michael Torke’s suite Miami Grands [Ecstatic Records] is scored for ten pianos. That’s not a typo. The music is at times dense, lyrical, and, above all, beautiful, and often reminds you that the piano is a percussion instrument. The D50 provides a substantial performance space (you wouldn’t fit ten pianos in a salon) with a clear sense of the acoustic environment. It’s possible to discern, if not all ten, then certainly quite a few of the instruments at any given time, to the extent that different instruments’ timbres and even performers’ playing techniques are noticeable.

There is also space between and around the instruments, making their contributions easy to distinguish at will. ‘South Beach, midnight’ is rhythmically assertive, with interleaved and interwoven threads, and the potential to sound like a complete mess in inexperienced hands. Here, it is simply and undeniably compelling and captivating. ‘Everglades, under the stars’ twinkles softly but percussively, with a clear attack on the notes, tightly timed edges, and a well-developed note envelope. The colours and timbres of the individual instruments contribute to the diverse landscape the piece evokes. There is skill in how the D50 resolves and presents complex, layered, and nuanced music without dissecting or deconstructing it. It makes experiencing it naturally easier, closer to how we do at a live performance; no strain, no subconscious struggle to suspend disbelief.

A third of a millennium

Backtracking a third of a millennium for a spot of Purcell, ‘When I am Laid in Earth’ from Dido and Aeneas [English Chamber Orch/Leppard, Warner Classics apex], there’s tension right from the opening bass line in the strings, the better to melt into pathos as the contralto sings; her fluid phrasing, subtle inflections and emphases are utterly impeccable but if the system doesn’t deliver, that pathos quickly dissolves into schmaltz. Not here. Yet again, this is a riveting and very affecting performance.

From the sublime to, well, a different kind of sublime: Sting, live, performing ‘Roxanne’ from All This Time [A&M]. Once again, there is a strong sense of the spatial arrangement, not only of the band and soloists but also of the audience. When they start clapping in time as the groove kicks in, it becomes a clear part of the event, not just something absorbed into the overall rhythm and percussion.

The tabla on ‘Peshwari’ from Andy Sheppard’s Learning to Wave [Provocateur] is tactile, textured, and melodious, contrasting beautifully with Sheppard’s lilting, lyrical saxophone phrases and John Parricelli’s gentle guitar counter-melodies. It’s a genuine performance, and the musicianship and skill are unexpectedly more apparent when they don’t call attention to themselves. None of this detail is flaunted; it’s not cynically designed to impress in a quick, ten-minute A/B demo. It simply exists within the music.

Robust

A digital signal is inherently robust, but converting it to an analogue signal, especially for music, presents challenges due to the noisy electromagnetic environment in which it often operates. Much depends on the quality of the analogue components, the power supplies, and the internal housekeeping. Hegel has gone to great lengths to protect and maintain that process, resulting in crystal-clear precision.

Sometimes a product provides all the information you could want, but, like a photorealistic portrait, you may feel you’re appreciating the talent and skill yet missing the art. The market is full of products that offer ‘transparency’ and all sorts of hyper-detailed presentations, but the Hegel pulls off that trick of presenting detail in the service of the music. The Hegel D50 offers steady competence and natural musicality that could embarrass some much more expensive rivals.

Technical specifications

Type: Solid-state high-resolution PCM, MQA and DSD-capable digital-to-analogue converter.
Digital Inputs (max data rates): 1 x AES/EBU S/PDIF (24/192, DSD64(DoP), MQA 8x), 1 x Coaxial (BNC) S/PDIF (24/192, DSD64(DoP), MQA 8x), 1 x Coaxial (RCA) S/PDIF (24/192, DSD64(DoP), MQA 8x), 2 x Optical S/PDIF (24/96, MQA 8x), 1 x USB 32/384 (DSD256(DoP), MQA 8x)
Analogue Outputs: 1 x Unbalanced fixed (RCA), 2.5 V, 1 x Balanced fixed (XLR), 2.5
Frequency Response: Better than 0Hz-100kHz
Distortion: <0.0002%
Noise Floor: Typically -150dB
Power consumption: in use <20W; standby <0.5W
Dimensions (WxHxD): 430 x 99 x 305mm
Weight: 6.6kg
Price: £4,250, €4,895, $4,900

Manufacturer

Hegel Music Systems

hegel.com

UK distributor

Auden Distribution

audendistribution.co.uk

+44(0)7917 685 759

Melco S1

Melco – the Japanese maker of some excellent servers – is also no slouch when producing network infrastructure products. That’s hardly surprising given that the computer peripheral giant Buffalo Technology is a part of the same company. And having Buffalo on the same team means Melco’s audio-grade switches have credibility beyond that of a company modifying third-party network products. None of this prepares you for the Melco S1 network switch. Nevertheless, it remains impressive.

Let’s be honest: Part of that unpreparedness is related to the price tag. The very concept of an audio-grade network switch is comparatively new. Some still use a low-cost Netgear or TP-Link switch to connect their streamers to their servers and the outside world. The Melco S1 is about 300 times as expensive as those mainstream devices. So, the S1 has some pretty big and expensive shoes to fill.

Not the first

The Melco S1 is not the company’s first switch. It draws on lessons learned from making the company’s S100 switch and its matching S10 linear power supply. However, with the S1, the audio-only dedication and precision shift into higher gear. The S1 distils the two-box technology of the S100 and its external S10 power supply into a single chassis. However, that alone would not make a world-class audio switch. That single chassis looks like the company’s N1 server without a central display. It has the exact dimensions of 440x82x353mm and weighs 14kg, like the server.

Melco’s S1 has 11 network connections in total. However, the first four are SFP+ (Small Form Pluggable) connectors, which replace conventional copper Ethernet cabling with fibre-optic connections. While you can use SFP-RJ45 converter modules in any product with an Ethernet connection, having native SFP+ fibre optic connections, such as in Melco’s N1 and N5 servers, is a boon. It helps keep noise levels extremely low.

Seven ports

The seven RJ45 ports are professional-grade Neutrik connectors, typically found in recording studios (and top-end Melco servers). Behind those sockets sits a dedicated, audio-optimised internal NDK clock and a capacitor bank to ensure exceptionally smooth power delivery. There is also a BNC input for an external clock and a USB for charging only.

These 11 connections have an unprecedented degree of user control. You can select the speed of each Ethernet link or turn it off altogether by pressing its corresponding front-panel button. The colour of the illumination surrounding that front panel button determines the status of each link. For the SFP+ links, you can choose 10 Gbps or 1 Gbps. The RJ45 can run at 1 Gbps, 100 Mbps, or 10 Mbps. These lower speeds invite the question, ‘Why bother? Isn’t faster always better?’ In listening tests, many prefer the performance of a system running at lower bit rates. These rates introduce less radio-frequency noise. Once again, SFP+ has an edge here. Yet the Melco S1 offers greater flexibility in connections throughout the entire Local Area Network.

Extreme thoroughness

The level of thoroughness is extreme. There is a tiny potential risk of noise from the two ‘link’ and ‘activity’ LEDs accompanying an RJ45 socket. You can turn off these LEDs by pressing from the rear panel. And if you go deep, determining the optimal use of LEDs for each active RJ45 socket is an audio obsessive’s dream. In truth, whether the LEDs were ‘on’ or ‘off’ was too nuanced for me. However, you do you!

This review must test the quality of SFP+ and RJ45. However, you need to resolve an important side quest first: Which is better, RJ45 or SFP+? There is no simple answer, as it depends on your hardware. For example, those using Network Attached Storage will probably find staying with RJ45 the best—and best-sounding—option. Meanwhile, those with RJ45 servers and streamers with SFP-RJ45 adaptors in place get mixed results. For those with Melco N1 servers and similarly native SFP+ connected streamers (such as the HiFi Rose RS130 Network Transport), why are you even considering RJ45? If RJ45 through the S1 reduces noise to as low as it gets for Ethernet, SFP+ is the noise-free option. Indeed, this comes across as a full ‘rounding and grounding’ of the sound.

Hard to return

It’s odd; you don’t necessarily notice this ‘rounding and grounding’ until you hear it. And then it’s hard to return to a copper-based Ethernet. Music is free from that background ‘electronicky’ hash that comes across as slight grain and a filling in of ‘the spaces between the notes.’ Naturally, this comes over best with piano, where the individual notes seem to emerge organically. They emerge with a sense of solidity and ‘thereness’ that is outstanding. This doesn’t need to be some dusty classical piece or jazz noodling. For example, the opening bars to ‘Laura’ by Bat For Lashes [The Haunted Man, Parlophone] are a great example.

Don’t downplay the quality of the RJ45 performance, though. While many S1 switches will likely accompany Melco N1 and N5 servers, where SFP+ is usually the best option, the RJ45 connections are equally top-notch. As before, the S1 grants you closer access to the music. It eliminates a significant proportion of what we dismiss as negative in ‘digital’ or especially ‘streaming’ sound.

The right contradictions

The S1 doesn’t change the fundamentals of a recording, but it does give its sound effortless finesse and sophistication. That might sound contradictory; something as harsh and angular as Miss Kittin’s ‘Frank Sinatra’ [First Album, International DeeJay Gigolo] shouldn’t benefit from a more refined presentation. However, that precision and clean, undistorted delivery even benefits this slice of trashy electroclash. It makes the cheap-sounding synth sounds better delineated, with razor-sharp attack and decay. Staying with the ‘seemingly contradictory’, the S1 makes that fatiguing music sound less fatiguing, without undermining it. Of course, once you move to something more audiophile-adjacent (Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Zinman, Baltimore SO, Telarc), the S1 frees up the music’s dynamic range. It also improves staging and detail.

Dialling in the optimum link speed is the icing on the cake. Yet the Melco S1 is one hell of a cake!

There’s a three-question story arc to the Melco S1; you begin by asking, “How can they justify that much for a switch?” After listening, you ask yourself, “How can a switch make that big a difference?” Shortly after, you ask, “Which credit cards do you prefer?” The Melco S1 network switch is a remarkable achievement. It shows us how much musical information can be lost to the network infrastructure. It also shows how effortless our music can sound when you address that infrastructure correctly.

Price and Contact Details

Melco S1 Switch: £12,499, $14,000, €13,999

Manufacturer

Melco Audio

melco-audio.com

UK distributor

ADMM

admm.uk.com

More about Melco

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Rethinking the Long Tonearm: Wand Introduces 12in Dark-Light Tonearm at Vienna High End 2026

Nelson, New Zealand — 4 June 2026 — Wand is set to unveil its new 12-inch Dark-Light tonearm at Vienna High End 2026, building on the acclaimed 10-inch model introduced at Munich High End 2025. Designed for listeners who value both design purity and musical engagement, the 12-inch Dark-Light advances Wand’s core philosophy: reducing noise and distortion while preserving the musical flow.

Rethinking the Long Tonearm

While 12-inch tonearms are not uncommon in high-end analogue, Wand’s approach challenges a long-standing compromise. Increasing length typically reduces tracking distortion, but it also tends to increase susceptibility to flex and resonance. Designer Simon Brown argues that this trade-off is widely accepted—yet rarely addressed directly. With the Dark-Light, the intent was not simply to make a longer arm, but to create one that becomes structurally more stable as it grows in length—an approach he believes is unusual, and possibly unique, among 12-inch designs.

Structure That Improves With Length

The key lies in Wand’s Musical Taper™. As the arm length increases, so too does the diameter of the tube toward the pivot, producing greater stiffness rather than the expected loss of rigidity. The larger rear section also enables a greater internal brass mass, lowering the centre of gravity and aiding what Brown describes as a “virtual earth” for vibrational energy. Referred to—only half jokingly—as “BLOB technology” (Big Lump Of Brass), this internal mass acts as a termination point for energy travelling down the arm, rather than allowing it to reflect or accumulate. The result is a tonearm that grows more structurally stable with length, something users consistently associate with a sense of ease, clarity, and composure in listening.

Engineering That Serves the Music

At the scale of vinyl playback, precision is everything. Groove modulations range from around 0.1mm down to microscopic signals approaching the wavelength of visible light, yet the tonearm must remain stable while tracking record warps many orders of magnitude larger. This dual requirement underpins the Dark-Light design: stability combined with free, unimpeded movement.

Central to this is the ZeroPoint™ bearing, a diamond-on-carbide interface that maintains consistent contact under load. The natural drag of the stylus creates a force vector that biases the contact point, aligning it broadly with the stylus cantilever. This reduces microscopic instability and improving both detail retrieval and bass clarity. Supporting this, the Side-Glide™ bearing provides gentle lateral stabilisation, ensuring controlled motion without introducing additional friction.

Simon Brown reports that users consistently describe a freer, more unconstrained presentation, with strong rhythmic stability and a notably quiet background that allows fine detail and spatial information to emerge clearly. Others highlight refinement, clarity, and a convincing sense of acoustic space, reflecting the arm’s ability to manage vibration and preserve low-level information.

Form Meets Function

Beyond performance gains, the extended 12-inch geometry brings a refined visual balance. The proportions enhance both tracking performance and aesthetic integration with modern high-end turntables.

Availability and Price:

The Wand 12-inch Dark-Light tonearm is available now, with a retail price of €8,900.

The Wand Dark-Light 12in tonearm can be heard at Vienna High End in Halle 5, S15.