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Goldmund Telos 590 integrated amplifier/digital audio hub

On paper, the notion of combining a DAC, analogue input circuitry, source switching, and amplification to create a single, do-it-all box looks like a no-brainer, yet in practice it’s remarkable how often the collision of theory and reality results in a debris field of unfulfilled promises. The history of digital-integrated amplifiers is littered with examples that haven’t just fallen short: in musical terms they’ve totally failed to launch, their digital circuitry upsetting their analogue side or vice versa, resulting in the bleached, disjointed, fractured, and a-musical results we’ve all been exposed to. But things are finally starting to change, with first the Levinson 585 stepping up to the plate and then the CH Precision I1 hitting it out of the park. But if anybody should be able to untangle the digital-integrated Gordian knot, then it’s Goldmund, a company that has been not just combining DACs and amplifiers for longer than most, but building them into loudspeaker cabinets to boot.

Goldmund’s electronics have always been both attractive and instantly identifiable. If the volume control can make or break the performance of any preamp then, when it comes to aesthetics, the knob attached to it is just as important and, along with a select few others, Goldmund has the best looking knobs in the business. The proportions, the knurled surface, and the bevelled shoulders all combine to perfect visual effect, lifting the otherwise bland fascia of the Telos 590 to an unexpected level of understated elegance. Of course, it’s really about look AND feel, at which point the easy spinning volume control, linked to relays and a resistor ladder, comes as something of a disappointment. I so wanted to meet the smooth, sumptuous, damped resistance of a traditional pot, but in these remotely controlled days, I’m afraid that’s a thing of the past. Still, I take solace in the fact that at least it looks the part…

The rest of the fascia tells its own story, the simple display giving you a basic numerical indication of input (USB, Toslink, S/PDIF digital, or one of five analogue connections) and volume level. That’s your lot: so no oversized alpha-numeric display with programmable source names and switchable colour options; no choice of digital filters or up-sampling; no balanced connections or any outputs (digital or analogue) and no control app – Apple or otherwise. In fact, no frills of any kind – which is kind of refreshing in this day and age, where designers seem to have forgotten that just because you can it doesn’t mean you should. The Telos 590 is about as straightforward as a digital integrated can get, which given its £24K price-tag definitely sets it apart from the herd. The minimalist styling is matched by the performance-orientated design so make no mistake, the Telos 590 is all business – and nothing but business.

If there is a single overarching principle that defines Goldmund’s approach it can be summed up as low-loss design. In turn that is embodied in wide-bandwidth topology, headroom, and mechanically grounded chassis designs, approaches that Goldmund adopted early and made central pillars of everything they do. It helps explain their preference for digital signal transfer, the high power ratings of their amplification, and the incredibly rigid casework they use on their products. In the Telos 590 that is reflected in the substantial aluminium panels and heat sinks that make up the visible surfaces, but more so in the thick steel base plate to which the output devices and transformers (one for each channel) are bolted, and which sits on four adjustable, cone feet. Getting those feet rigidly coupled to the supporting surface matters, as does the surface itself. The Goldmund grounding strategy demands a solid, dispersive support and using an HRS M3X platform reaped significant musical dividends in terms of focus, colour, and an even greater sense of purpose to the playing. This amp is rigidly coupled in a way that few others are, while the obsession with eliminating spurious energy while maximising bandwidth and headroom ensures that the traditional Goldmund attributes of detail, transparency, and lightning-fast dynamic response are all present and correct. So much so that the Telos 590 sounds significantly more capable and powerful than its 215Wpc rated output might lead you to expect. It’s the speed that makes that difference, giving music a surprising sense of impact and momentum, but there’s more to this amp than that.

 

Having said that, on first switch on, that speed is hard to miss. The sound of a stone-cold Telos 590 is as fast as it is lean, as stark as it is immediate. Cool, verging on clinical it’s incredibly impressive but less than inviting. Fortunately that changes as the amp warms up and runs in, putting flesh on the bones and colour in its cheeks. But the neat trick is that whilst it loses that etched, spot-lit quality, it loses none of its speed or transparency. Instead, the extra weight and colour bring even greater impact and an almost physical presence. The more it beds in the more the Telos 590’s performance attributes allow it to hide behind the musical performance itself, performances it imbues with impressive immediacy, directness of communication, and a real sense of purpose. There’s no missing which direction the music is pointing in – or why…

A small baroque ensemble might not seem like the obvious material to demonstrate the Goldmund’s qualities, but then Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti’s disc of Vivaldi’s violin concertos [Zig Zag Territoires] is hardly a study in cool restraint. Instead, it is full of life, colour, attack, explosive dynamic contrasts, and vivid musical vitality – aspects of the performance that the Telos 590 seizes on with gusto to match the playing. This is a presentation full of clarity and presence, the space around and between the players are as clearly defined as the musicians themselves; the seated band in an arc around their standing soloist, the harpsichord in the back. But this is no simple exercise in precise stereo placement. The opening to RV297 (‘Winter’ from the ubiquitous ‘Four Seasons’) is incredibly taut and directed, its rising dynamic graduations giving it pace and momentum and making the most of the band’s impressive verve and attitude, the perfect foil to the quicksilver precision of Beyer’s lightning bow work. Likewise, the rounded notes of the pizzicatoelements in the second movement are softer and clearly shaped, in stark contrast to the texture and attack of the bowed passages, the character and identity of the Theorbo bringing its own colour and body to the music. Playing even a baroque string concerto with half a dozen musicians and harpsichord continuo might seem like a stretch, until you experience the sheer energy and intensity that Gli Incogniti bring to the party – energy that the Goldmund amp fastens on and delivers direct to your speakers.

This combination of speed, clarity, and presence is clearly displayed in small, vivid, and intricate settings, but how about increasing the scale? The passacagliafrom the Shostakovich violin concerto [Lisa Batiashvili, Echoes Of Time, DG] takes the solo intensity of the Vivaldi but ramps up the difficulty and drama, the extended violin sections contrasted against deft yet powerful orchestral backing. It opens with massive, doom-laden percussion beats – yet the Goldmund manages to deliver not just the weight, pitch, and power of the timps and bass drum, it separates them in texture too, giving their contribution its correct shape, motion, and musical impact. These are subtleties lost on many systems, but are niceties essential to building the prevailing mood of this deeply emotional piece. In many ways it’s the perfect musical microcosm to encapsulate what sets the Telos 590 apart from the crowd. While this is an amp that excels in revealing the acoustic space around recorded instruments, its temporal accuracy and dynamic discrimination mean that it goes further than that, capturing the feel and atmosphere in the performance too, whether that’s Gli Incogniti’s sheer joie de vivre or the draining intensity of Lisa Batiashvili.

 

That grasp on the musical landscape is just as relevant and obvious when it comes to other genres too, unearthing the angst and sadness to be found in songs by Janis Ian or Eleanor McEvoy, the barely-suppressed anger in Elvis Costello, or the sardonic humour in Joe Jackson. It bridges across the digital and analogue inputs too, although I have to say that there’s something special in the musical integrity, communication, and engagement to be found in the Telos 590’s internal DAC. This is digital disc replay (from the CEC TL-2 transport) with grace, fluidity, and sense of forward motion, a world away from the stuttering, hesitant, gutless, or sterile presentation of so much high-res digital these days. The USB input is similarly impressive, although the musical shape, colour, and substance of physical disc replay still wins out.

The end result is that rare thing indeed, an audio component that’s as impressive as it is entertaining. Whether it’s searing guitar, the deep bass detonations on some OTT movie soundtrack (or classical head-banger), the fragile intensity of solo violin or female vocal, or the convoluted horn meanderings of John Coltrane at his most obtuse, this is an amp that will never, ever leave you wondering. Despite its rated output, it’s more at home with speakers that let it stretch its legs, but I never reached its dynamic limits with models as diverse as the Wilson-Benesch Resolution, Raidho XT5, and Focal Maestro Utopia Evo, failing even to explore the outer limits of its comfort zone. Instead, the Telos 590 simply delivered whatever I demanded, without fuss or fanfare. It never lost control, but then it never lost its unflustered sense of musical enthusiasm either, always putting the performance front and centre. There are integrated amps that are bigger, heavier, and a lot more obvious, ones that offer far more facilities, balanced connection, network capabilities, and a host of configuration options. There are certainly amps that might seem equivalent on paper and that are available at far lower prices. But in the face of all that noisy competition, the Telos 590 simply does the things that matter and does them really well, more 8” Zwilling Henckels cook’s knife than Gerber multi-tool. Everything you actually need and only a TosLink input that you don’t, this Goldmund might just be the musical benchmark when it comes to high-end digital integrated amps.

High-prices and high-times in the high-end… A brief history of Goldmund

When it comes to the highest of high-end, solid-state electronics, it seems like few companies have been around as long, or aimed as high as Goldmund. In reality, Mark Levinson Audio Systems (founded in 1972) predated the French-Swiss company by six-years, while Goldmund’s first electronics, the Mimesis 2 and 3 pre-power amplifier, didn’t appear until 1987, previous efforts having been devoted to tonearms and turntables (including the legendary Reference record player, the product that along with the Apologue loudspeaker, has arguably come to define the brand). And therein lies a tale, for Goldmund products have never lacked extravagance or ambition, cutting-edge technology, or attention-grabbing price-tags. From the computer controlled, linear tracking T3 tonearm to digital inter-active loudspeakers, sophisticated room correction software to the feed-forward digital error corrected crossovers of Project Leonardo, Goldmund has ever been so cutting edge that occasionally it has cut itself! Based in Geneva, Goldmund’s proximity to Cerne is no coincidence, practically or philosophically. As iconoclastic in style and design as they are technologically aggressive, Goldmund products have an immediately identifiable look and sound. It is an identity that certainly polarises opinion, while the willingness to flirt with bleeding-edge technology has, over the years caused its own fair-share of reliability issues, a legacy that has left the company with its own Greek chorus of detractors, critics who accuse it of playing as fast and loose with its partners and customers as its products sound fast and tight. Yet amidst all of the pros and cons, hype and debate, one thing is undeniable: Goldmund the company is as resilient as its products are impressive – it keeps coming back and they keep getting better!

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: Integrated amplifier with internal DAC
  • Inputs: 1x S/PDIF (RCA)
    1×USB 2.0 (32bit/384 or DSD128)
    1×TosLink
    5×line-level analogue (RCA)
  • Rated Output: 215W per channel into 8 Ohms
  • Output Connections: 1pr 5-way binding posts/channel
  • Weight: 20kg
  • Dimensions (W×H×D): 440 ×163 ×410mm
  • Price: £24,000 (exchange rate dependent)

Manufacturer: Goldmund

URL: goldmund.com

UK Distributor: Sonata Hi-Fi

Tel: +44 (0) 330 111 5653

URL: sonatahifi.com

https://hifiplus.com/reviews/

Shunyata Research Delta NR and EF power cords

I don’t generally like to cross-reference reviews from other categories and I especially don’t like to start a review in the middle, but this deserves saying: the review for the Devialet Pro Expert 140 would have been materially different were it not for the inclusion of the Shunyata Research Delta NR power cords. The difference in performance was so marked, not only should Shunyata invest in a Devialet for demonstration purposes (and vice versa), but any member of the Shunyata team should be able to rock up at Devialet’s Parisian offices and demand the highest of high-grade croissant they get delivered daily. This is not synergy; what the Delta NR does happens universally… it’s just that the Devialet so benefits from what the Delta NR does, it’s almost laughable.

The clue for the reason Devialet and Shunyata go so well together is in the name. That ‘NR’ suffix of the Shunyata Research Delta NR power cables stands for ‘Noise Reduction’ and it’s the most affordable mains cable in the company’s line to feature the brand’s patented CCI filter system. This is a multi-stage filter designed to limit the cross-contamination of mains from other products in the system or even the home. Normally, that kind of filtration requires a large box filled with ‘coils and caps’ or a large transformer designed to act as a buffer between the system and the outside world, but we’re fighting a losing battle, as there are power-polluting fifth columnists within our very audio equipment. Delta NR is the fightback.

That might be good enough for some brands, but Shunyata Research doesn’t do ‘good enough’ at any price point. So the Delta NR features the company’s big 10AWG VTX hollow-core inductors, woven out of 99.99% pure oxygen-free copper. This makes for some relatively hefty conductors; larger than would fit into the typical off-the-shelf high-end plugs used with most good power cords. At this point, most companies would make a compromise, usually in slimming down the conductors. Shunyata makes its own connectors, which it calls CopperCONN. It’s actually a pretty good name if you ever see one of these plugs opened up because there is one heck of a lot of copper in there: no brass or bronze or even tough-pitch copper, just lots of high-purity copper. You can tell this by the weight of the plug even if you don’t open the connector; either the casing is made of stone (it’s not) or there is a lot of metal inside those plugs. Because of the size of the UK audio market relative to the US and EU, UK audiophiles are often short-changed here with off-the-shelf 13A connectors, but again that isn’t the Shunyata way. Some of the delay in bringing these products into the UK was designing a plug that worked to Shunyata’s specs. The cable itself is finished in a heavy black braided outer sleeve, and there are two sizes of IEC socket; the conventional large rounded model, and a more slimline EF design (which doesn’t include the CCI filter). There is no appreciable run-in, as Shunyata deploys its proprietary KPIP (Kinetic Phase Inversion Process) to do a lot of that job at the factory.

The cable itself is relatively flexible. It’s supplied in a circular case that looks like it should hold a drummer’s hi-hat cymbals (or, if you live in the 1950s, a very flat trilby), and is best unrolled snake-like from its coils and used without hard kinks or bends. However, this is not one of those inflexible cables that lifts lighter products from their equipment stands.

 

As discussed earlier, Delta NR is all about eliminating power-borne noise from component to component. If you want to know how big an influence this can be, if your system is mounted on a single power distribution block that has one or preferably two spare sockets, try this: put a plug-top mobile phone charger into one of the spare sockets and hear what it does to your system. Plug in the Delta NR (not necessarily connected to anything) and the phone charger seems to go away. That’s the moment you get what Delta NR does, and you’ll find yourself buying one per product. The effects are sort of cumulative, in that each product both introduces its own power nasties and reacts to the power nasties of other products in the system, but it doesn’t mean the effects improve exponentially, just that at each additional Delta NR, the system gets a little bit more honest, more detailed, and less ‘electronicky’ sounding. What’s perhaps equally surprising is just how much of this general murkiness we learn to accommodate, and how large a transformation it makes in being systematically reduced.

It could be easy to fall into the gravitational pull of cliché-world here and discuss how this lowers the noise floor of a system, because the Shunyata Research Delta NR cables do seem to make the background hash of audio electronics seem to drop slightly. But ‘inky black silences’ are more a by-product than a goal here. Instead, what Delta NR does so well is let a product sound like it ought to sound. It’s the way it makes the amplifier sound like it’s not struggling at high-frequencies quite as much as it did before, or the way that DAC just seems to sound less artificial and more like real organic music. And yes, some of that comes as a result of ‘limpid pools of pellucidity’ but it’s the music not the paddling pool that counts here – a calmness and poise that Delta NR brings to the music playing through your system.

This isn’t a power cord for those who want to shape the sound of their system, but for those who want to experience their system in true honesty. That could be something of a double-edged sword: Delta NR and EF are affordable enough to be used with some relatively prosaic audio electronics and while some of this will shine, in some cases both Deltas will act like a microscope and showcase the flaws inherent in your system. However, in most systems you will be more impressed by what your gear is capable of, even if sometimes that comes with some over-exposure.

Shunyata Research Delta power cords are possibly the most ‘now’ thing you can use in audio. Thanks to a lot of products with cheap and nasty switch mode power supplies pumping nasties into your local mains, good audio is fighting a losing battle for sound. Delta fights in your corner.

Price and contact details

Prices: Delta NR £770 (1.75m cable); Delta EF £660 (1.75m cable)

Manufactured by: Shunyata Research

URL: shunyata.com

Distributed in the UK by: the Shunyata Distribution company

Tel: +44(0) 330 223 3769

URL: shunyata-uk.com

https://hifiplus.com/reviews/

REL T-Zero V2 subwoofer

One of the last subwoofers we looked at was the REL T-Zero. In fact, we looked at two of them. This year, the company subtly changed the T-Zero. So subtly you’d hardly notice at first glance. So subtly in fact that I didn’t notice the difference at first and got really stroppy about the magazine reviewing the same thing twice. Sometimes it pays to be at least a little bit observant.

OK, I could be forgiven for having a bit of a hissy fit because from the outside at least there seems to be no difference between T-Zero and T-Zero V2. The cabinet is the same tiny little thing, available in glossy black or white, it sits on four feet, has a REL badge on the top, and some controls at the rear that look functionally identical to what went before. Closer inspection reveals the change to a down-firing 165mm long-throw alloy cone where before there was a doped paper cone. Otherwise, everything else is functionally identical, including the 100W Class D and the rear control panel.

The T-Zero V2 remains the smallest REL in the pack, it not being that much wider than its drive unit. If we still wore hats, someone would pipe up that the T-Zero is the size of a hat box. It delivers comparatively good bass for something so small, too. Of course, bigger is better, and more is better (and bigger and more is best of all), but if you want a tiny sub for a small home cinema system, the T-Zero V2 is a great choice.

We’re not big on home cinema here, though. Instead, we’re all about the two-channel performance and that changes everything, even down to the way it’s connected. Where home cinema types will connect this to the LFE output of a multichannel amplifier, we go for the more high-level input, taking a feed direct from the loudspeaker terminals, and each REL is accompanied by a cable with a Neutrik connector at one end and three bare wires at the other. You plug the red wire into the right hand positive (red) speaker terminal, the yellow into the left hand positive (red) speaker terminal, and the black into one of the two negative black speaker terminals. If you want mono subs, you connect both red and yellow wires into the appropriate positive speaker terminal and black to the negative. We’d recommend two commoned mono subs instead of stereo, however. This is all fine and dandy… until you come across one of the increasing numbers of Class D amplifiers. Apparently, very few Class D designs reference the negative terminal to ground, instead using an approximate +15V reference instead. This doesn’t trouble the amp or the speakers but is not good practice when connecting up a powered subwoofer, as it can slowly cook the input stage of the sub, and more commonly cause hum. The way you get around this is to connect the red and yellow conductors as usual, leave the black unconnected (and taped up in case of accidental shorts) and then run a long RCA conductor from the LFE input of the REL to an unused amplifier input. This will create a ground for the REL.

The change to an aluminium cone is possibly more important for audio than it is for home cinema, because it makes the REL a little tauter and faster sounding than before. Not by much – if you are considering trading your T-Zero for a T-Zero V2, don’t bother as you are 99%+ there already – but the already musically entertaining REL T-Zero gets a slice more fun and games when it crosses over to play music instead of movies. And the great thing about the T-Zero V2 is that it can disappear physically as much as it can sonically. This is a speaker you can hide behind another speaker, and even on show it doesn’t prove physically imposing.

 

Set up, as ever, involves a process of reduction. Turn the dials down until the REL is barely audible above the loudspeakers, then turn it down a little more. Keep going until you really only perceive the sub rather than hear it, then come back a week or two later and turn it down still lower. You’ll know when it is working right because the mid and treble from the loudspeakers seem to expand. If you set up the system by ear to go for something like deep bass notes or solidity of images, you’ll always have the T-Zero V2 set too high; go for near inaudibility and it will have the desired effect. That applies just as much with two subs as it does for one, although positioning and system matching become all the more critical the more subs you have.

Here’s the thing with good subs; one is bass management, two are room correction. That holds here just as much as it does with some of the bigger designs. Of course, the level of both bass management and room correction is limited by the size of these subs, but although these are small, powered subwoofers, they are also benefitting from all the high-performance system integration and control you get from REL designs, albeit in a cube not much larger than an ice-bucket.

Where this works in bass management terms is with something like a typical two-way stand-mount. That can be a fairly decent two-way stand-mount loudspeaker; the size of the driver and the volume of the cabinet are more important than the hole it makes in your wallet. But as a good rule of thumb, the bass driver in the loudspeaker probably shouldn’t dwarf the summed size of those inside the subs. REL has a page on its site for matching spekers to subs. If you are expecting bass management to mean ‘bass reinforcement’, however, guess again. The point of the exercise is to use the two REL T-Zero V2 to make the bass of the loudspeaker to appear more linear, more controlled, and more precise… not to appear to have more bass, or even deeper bass. You’ll know the minute this  is made right, as the midrange opens up and the bass gets cleaner and more accurate.

Then there’s the whole room correction point. This is where two subs kick in. By adding a sense of control over the bass and taking the bass away from points where room nodes will dominate and overpower room and system, the subwoofers act to control the bass output in the room. This is akin to bass traps in the corners of the room soaking up bass. While not quite as effective as thick bass traps, and not as thorough as well-managed DSP correction, the reality is the two-REL package is a lot smaller than the first, a lot cheaper than the second, and a lot better than badly implemented versions of either. This is not magic, so don’t expect magical results. If a room has a terrible boom, the RELs will not treat it and the only ways to make good in such an acoustically vile chamber are the traditional treatment/DSP options. For a mild touch of bass control making the bottom end dry enough to tame a small amount of excess bass in a room, the REL option is a really good one, as it benefits the speaker system without changing their timbre or changing anything. In short, all upsides and no downsides, except for two more boxes.

Of course, there’s a pretty obvious limit, and it’s the same one that applied to the original T-Zero. A 165mm bass unit, no matter how fast acting is never going to go really, really deep.  Small might be fast and two smalls is faster than one big, but one big is still often deeper in the bass than two smalls. That stentorian underpinning that you get from full range loudspeakers won’t happen with a pair of small speakers and two T-Zero V2s, no matter how hard you try and convince yourself. If you turn them up, they do a fair job of convincing you that you are listening to a huge boom-box, but that isn’t the point of the T-Zero V2.

This is The Little Sub That Could. The REL T-Zero V2 isn’t meant to be compared to the big guns, but in a way the small cones make them extremely fast, and that is a perfect foil for high performance audio systems. The size ultimately limits the ‘lift’ they can bring to some systems (you wouldn’t use the RELs with anything that has an eight-inch woofer or larger for example), but in adding some air and space and speed to a good thin floorstander or a regular two-way stand-mount without breaking the bank, a REL T-Zero V2 (or preferably, two) can’t be beaten.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: Sealed, down-firing active woofer
  • Drive Unit: 165mm long-throw, alloy cone, steel chassis
  • Lower Frequency Response: 38 Hz at -6 dB in room
  • Connections: High-Level Neutrik Speakon, Low-Level
  • single phono, LFE phono
  • Amplifier: 100W Class D
  • Dimensions (W×H×D): 216 ×241 ×260 mm
  • Weight: 6.8kg
  • Finish: Black or White Lacquer
  • Price: £350 (per subwoofer)

Manufactured by: REL Ltd

URL: rel.net

Tel: +44 (0)1656 768777

https://hifiplus.com/reviews/

Tellurium Q Statement cable system

It’s not hard to be cynical about cables: after all, how hard can it be to solder some plugs onto piece of twin-core wire and build a speaker cable? Yet most people can hear differences between cables if they are given a chance, and the things domake a difference, quite a profound difference in many cases. Some have attempted to give cables a notional value in the hierarchy within a system, suggesting you should spend at least ten percent of the system value on the connections, but these are fundamental parts of the signal chain – without them there would be no sound (even wireless systems have to have some cables even if they are only delivering power).

I would argue that regardless of system price you need bloody good cables, as you want as much of the signal as possible to get from the source to the speakers in any situation. In fact, I imagine it would be possible to put together two systems of the same price where one devotes 10% to cables and the other considerably more and find that the latter is the better sounding of the two. The problem is that a lot of cables act as filters allowing certain frequencies through more easily than others, and these filters interact with the source and load in different ways, which is why choosing the right cable for a given system isn’t easy. Geoff Merrigan at Tellurium Q seems to appreciate all of these facts and more. He has spent thousands of hours listening to different conductor materials, different dielectrics, and even different solders. And he has produced what many have found to be extremely good cables as a result.

The Statement is Tellurium Q’s ultimate loudspeaker cable, a very chunky beast of a conduit that has to be folded into its container because coiling it up damages its structure. Inconveniently, Geoff is not very forthcoming about the topology or materials of his cables, which makes him open to accusations of being a purveyor of ‘snake oil’. His response is a fair one; if he told the world what goes into the product it would be copied and he wouldn’t benefit from all the time and effort he’s put into R&D. Most manufacturers do this to some extent; they may seem to be telling all but there are always key details that are kept under wraps. What Geoff will say is that it’s not about speed, the fastest conductor is not necessarily the best in his book. He points out that there is no single thing that makes a good cable, it’s a combination of factors including the way that, “materials affect ranges of frequencies in dissimilar amounts”.

He also talks about trying different solders on the terminations, admitting that “we have tried numerous mixes and diverse percentages of silver in the solder but at the end of our testing and development we chose a solder with no silver whatsoever (no lead either).” Even the connectors themselves have seen a lot of research beyond the type and plating which is silver or appears that way; he states that “we specify the thickness of the plating and what has to be in the plating bath and what should not be.”

In testing Statement, I have to say that I was impressed. One of Tellurium Q’s favourite topics is phase coherence, something that you should be able to achieve if you can get all frequencies to travel through the conductors at the same speed. If this is the source of the excellent timing and coherence that these cables deliver then they appear to have succeeded. This is the first thing that hit me when I got the system up and running; at first it seemed a little odd, but I suspect that’s because most other cables blur the timing of certain frequencies and fail to achieve such tight cohesion. But once you find that groove it is irresistible; Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ [Talking Book, Motown] is a phenomenal track when it’s as coherent as this, it is very difficult to sit still in the face of such precisely defined funk. This doesn’t mean that it’s clamped down and neutralised, it means that the music flows without effort, propelled by a rhythm section that is locked together yet as supple as a snake.

I also love the dynamics that Statement delivers, even compared to similarly beefy cables this produces the power and drama of an orchestra in full effect. I reverted to an old favourite in Beethoven’s Fifth [Barenboim, Beethoven For All,Decca], and revelled in the dramatic power and the fine textures of massed string instruments. This is a telling piece and not an easy one to deliver in a domestic setting, but with this cable it became realistic and totally compelling. At the other end of the scale, the quieter end, this cable is exceptionally good at pulling out the details that make a singer or instrument palpably real. I first noticed this with Patricia Barber’s ‘Company’ [Modern Cool, Premonition] where there is a glow of sorts around the voice that is usually not audible. It’s presumably a studio effect provided to spotlight the voice but, not one that many cables expose so well.

I had to try a favourite live track, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals playing ‘Hallelujah’ [Live at Das Haus, archive.org], this is large scale but you don’t get the dynamics that Statement delivers and nor do you get the perspective that it provides. I’m talking about the micro dynamics that add depth by rendering the voice, the band, and the audience in the correct ratios. This enhances the realism and makes you want to listen harder and longer. Imaging is in the Premier League, with instruments and voices placed precisely in a soundstage that reflects the recording with great fidelity.

I could rave on about this extraordinary cable but realise that at this price you won’t believe me: the only way to find out is to listen for yourself. But beware; once you hear what Tellurium Q is capable of you won’t forgot the experience in a hurry. You have been warned!

PRICES AND CONTACT DETAILS

  • Type: RCA Interconnect
  • Price: £4,320/1m pair
  • Type: XLR Interconnect
  • Price: £4,740/1m pair
  • Type: Power cord
  • Price: £4,740/1.5m cable
  • Type: Loudspeaker with silver plated 4mm locking terminations
  • Length: 5m pair
  • Price: £1,740/mono metre

Manufacturer: Tellurium Q

URL: statement.telluriumq.com

Distributor: Kog Audio

Tel: +44 (0)24 7722 0650

URL: kogaudio.com

https://hifiplus.com/reviews/

Meet Your Maker: Kazutoshi Yamada, Zanden Audio Systems

We spoke to Kazutoshi Yamada – President of Zanden Audio Systems – during a recent brief tour of Europe. 

Unlike many manufacturers and designers in the audio business, Yamada-san didn’t take the usual route of learning at the feet of the master. He didn’t spend years as an apprentice engineer or junior designer in a large R&D team. Instead, he took the more hardcore enthusiast approach of going it alone with a dream… and an innovative circuit design that he developed while at university. 

AS: Yamada-San, when did you start Zanden?

KY:About 25 years ago, I settled on the Zanden name. My family name Yamada uses a Chinese pictogram that can also be read as ‘Zanden’; ‘Zan’ meaning ‘mountain’ and ‘Den’ meaning ‘rice field.’ However, I didn’t realise the name existed (and means ‘sand’ in English) in the Netherlands until a few years later, when people kept asking me “Is Zanden Dutch?”

AS: How did you get into audio electronics?

KY:While studying at the university (my major was in electronics), I invented a circuit for use in a phono stage and after graduating I started my own private office. This was a valve circuit; I am 66 years old, I am a part of the valve generation, and I started designing valve amplifiers more than 40 years ago. 

Ten years after starting my own office, I invented some tube circuits that were patented in Japan. These form the base circuits of Zanden products and I still use them today. This special circuit went into the original Model 9500 mono amplifier, and later the Model 9600. As well as into the Model 8120 power amplifier from the Modern range… everything! Also, I don’t like to use traditional valve circuits, so with designs like the line and phono stages I use a circuit that is unique and I don’t think any other manufacturers adopt my circuit.

AS: And what is so unique about that circuit?

KY:Most other valve amplifiers only use a combination of resistors and capacitors, and that’s all in the basic circuit. My circuit includes more regulation through a current regulated diode. I use this device and it is very popular in the industry!

AS: And you invented that?

KY:Maybe! I prefer to use the fixed-bias circuit because the sound is very stable. While many tube electronics manufacturers also use a traditional fixed-bias circuit, my circuit is very simple and unique. I use a battery that performs the biasing of the circuit. We have batteries used on PCBs that work for more than 10 years with minimal voltage loss. The combination of a current regulated diode and fixed-bias works very well together for lower noise floor.

AS: Although you have an electronics degree, you did not work for other audio brands before starting Zanden. What are your audio qualifications?

KY:I have over 30 years of experience as a live music coordinator, which means I have attended more than 500 concerts. This is my basic experience for music and means I can compare live and recorded easily as result. I studied electronics to find the difference between live and recorded and how we close the gap. This is what interested me in LP reproduction: when I play back Decca, EMI, and Columbia mono LPs, the tonal balances are totally different. I thought it must be due to different EQ cards. I started research in mono LP as a result, and then made two mono equalisers and did the same for stereo playback!

AS: What were Zanden’s first products?

KY:The first product we made was the Model 9400 power amplifier and the Model 1000 preamplifier, which still form the basis of the Model 9600 MkII and Model 3000 MkII today.

AS: What prompted the changes to these models?

KY:Well, I had a very special product made for Hong Kong – cost no object – which meant I could build the ideal product, using every part I ever dreamed of. When I received such an offer, I decided to make the product, and I thought I can use the technology from that for the next “normal” Zanden products. And that’s precisely what happened.

AS: Are there bigger power amplifiers on the way?

KY:My interest is in high-power amplifiers and almost seven or eight years ago I found some very good valves from Russia – the KT120 – and I was eager to build a push-pull design, and of course, I am still interested in direct-filament tubes (845, 211, 300B) because I think the tonality is better. I sometimes receive requests from distributors to make bigger products (such as for the Hong Kong market), so this was the reason I develop new designs. 

Now I am considering building push-pull designs, because they are theoretically better than single-ended designs. However, many tube lovers still prefer single-ended amplifiers. This was the reason I invented the new generation of amplifiers. I have put these ideas into the special models for Hong Kong, but actually starting with the Chuko line stage and Jinpu phono stage. In the future, I would like to develop the next generation of Zanden products based on those designs. I do hope to design and deliver the top models into the Classic selection, above the existing models.

 

AS: What do you think audio companies get wrong?

KY:With my products the most important thing in building the amplifier is the direction. My amplifiers use PCBs; many tube designers still prefer point-to-point wiring, but it becomes impossible to fully control the physical directionality of the wire in that kind of a circuit. In my opinion, very few manufacturers take time to judge the right directionality of components such as resistors. We judge them because if the components are even slightly different, the bokeh of the sound changes subtly (Editor’s note: bokeh is a Japanese term used in art to describe the character of out-of-focus background images).

AS: You also made a range of digital audio electronics. Why did you stop?

KY:I concentrated on the 16-bit audio, because I think it sounds more musical than bitstream. However, it is almost impossible to find those 16-bit DAC chipsets anymore and I am still interested in the multibit conversion. While they are very good, I wouldn’t be happy replacing multibit with an AK or ESS converter. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be launching any more digital products!

AS: If you don’t like bitstream DACs how will you launch new digital audio?

KY:I am interested in building a discrete R2R DAC. Right now, we are resourcing parts for this, such as resistors, logic ICs, and so on. The most difficult part in building such a DAC is finding very precise resistors, 0.0005% tolerance for example. However, I have found a source, but it’s not going to be cheap. Nevertheless, it is very important for us to make and design both a USB and a Network converter.

AS: What about DSD and MQA? How can you make them work with a R2R DAC.

KY:DSD will be… difficult! Multibit technology does not lend itself to DSD’s high-frequency bitstream. It’s not impossible, but it is difficult. Zanden is a very small company, I am not sure I can obtain an MQA license until the next generation of digital products are on the market. After they have been released, however, it should not be difficult for me to release MQA onto that digital platform.

AS: How is the digital platform influencing other parts of Zanden Audio Systems?

KY:Quite a lot! My factory was in central Osaka, but this is a crowded, very noisy area, and there is a lot of radio frequency noise. It was hard for me to find a space quiet enough to develop and test our products. If I was to try to develop such a high-resolution DAC, we needed a lower noise floor than central Osaka area could provide. For this reason, we moved the factory to Southern Osaka in May! It is very small, but I can make excellent grounding there and that is vital for good measurements and listening during the DAC development. 

AS: What do you listen to at home?

KY:My turntable is a Kuzma XL DC, with a ZYX 4D cartridge, and I use a pair of Magico Q1 loudspeakers. I am not sure if this is a secret or not, but Alon Wolf of Magico offered a trade (the Q1 for a 1200 phono stage, which he uses in the studio). Sometimes I also use a pair of Wilson Sasha; I have a very good dealer near my factory. Also, I have a vintage pair of Hartley Concertmaster VI loudspeakers. When I visited Hong Kong to present the special model of a very large single-ended monoblock amplifier, my distributor had Hartley Reference Monitors. I was very shocked after hearing them! Such a wonderful sound! So, I returned to Japan and searched in second hand shops until I eventually picked up a very good vintage pair for myself.  

Devialet 140 Expert Pro integrated amplifier

As someone who has been watching the whole Devialet thing evolve over the last decade, it’s been one hell of a rush. The French company – started by a couple of ex-Nortel engineers with a clever amplifier circuit – quickly established itself as perhaps the finest example of disruptive technology in the audio business today. First with the D-Premier, and now with both the Phantom and the Expert series, Devialet continues to innovate, develop, and grow.

And now, where once we had Devialet Expert, we now have Expert Pro, which brings a whole swathe of new technologies and innovations to bear. And, as has been the case from the outset, owners of even the first models can upgrade to the latest Expert Pro technology. Few other brands treat their existing customers so well.

The big change in the move to ‘Pro’ is the new Core Infinity main board. However, to move to that new board requires a lot of heavy lifting on the Expert’s part. This is why owners of original D-Premier models needed to periodically put their devices in for upgrades, so they wouldn’t be left out of the loop for future developments.

Core Infinity is, in fact, the largest change to the Devialet platform since that platform first emerged. It redraws the amplifiers basic Class ADH (‘Class A/Class D Hybrid’) technology at a pretty fundamental level by introducing new Class A voltage amplifier, a new 10-bit current-sensor circuit, and a new Class D current amplifier… and redraws the basic Class A/D algorithm. That’s not a stylistic change… that’s a whole new engine.

There’s more, but let’s focus on that a little first. The move from eight- to ten-bit current-sensor improves the precision of the handover from current amp to voltage amp, and that coupled with more efficient and responsive code controlling the whole ADH circuit means a lot lower distortion figures.

The original Magic Wire D/A conversion circuit has also come under scrutiny in Core Infinity, which itself brings a 6dB improvement in THD and a 2.5dB drop in noise floor. This may be gilding the lily, as the distortion and signal-to-noise ratio of the Expert was already at world-class low levels, but this too represents some of the most significant changes to the basic Devialet core since its launch. All of these changes form what Devialet calls ‘ADH Intelligence.’

In fact, many of these developments (especially in the Class D amplifier) were seen in the strictly limited Original d’Atelier model, but the collective changes eclipse even that design. In fact, the Core Infinity board is one of those technologies that would have been impossible to implement at the time of the original launch of the D-Premier, and prohibitively expensive at the launch of the Expert line, but such is the rate of change in electronics technology that it can be introduced here. AXD is the company’s latest acronym, and it requires suitably-equipped Expert Pro amps to realise. As it stands for Active X-over Design, it also requires a loudspeaker that is both known to Devialet and is in fully active form. This would require getting a pair of loudspeakers we don’t currently have, and several additional Expert Pro amps that we also don’t have to hand, but this is the next step in the company’s Speaker Active Matching… and we could do that with the Wilson Duette II.

 

As before, the Devialet Expert Pro relies on the on-line configurator to establish who talks to what, and this is stored as a small file on a supplied SD card that sits round the back of the Expert Pro chassis. Configuration is easy, especially as Devialet stores an ever-expanding list of cartridges and loudspeakers, and their key characteristics can be programmed into your Expert Pro with little more than a drop-down menu. Or, in the case of the cartridge, you can enter its parameters manually.

As before, this leads to discussions about Devialet’s Record Active Matching system, which both optimises the cartridge loading and amplifier, and also digitises the LP input at source (to 192kHz precision). Equalisation is then performed in the digital domain, and this allows some of the lessons learned in the Lost Recordings to shine through, as the Devialet has highly adjustable curves. It’s even possible to adjust those curves on-the-fly, via the RAM menu on the front display, which can be accessed via the super-elegant remote handset.

Core Infinity also unlocks some new wireless technologies, most notably Roon  across Devialet AIR, AirPlay, SpotifyConnect, and UPnP. Truth be told, AIR has always been something of a weak spot in the Devialet chainmail, and while drastically improved, it still remains perhaps the one part of the whole Devialet package that could benefit from some improvement. That being said, Apple went through a fairly hefty Operating System update mid-way through the review, and there are many companies playing catch up. AIR, to its credit, remained stable and unfazed by all of this.

We were loaned the Expert 140 Pro, which is the ideal ‘UK domestic’ model. The bigger Expert 220 Pro, and the biggest Expert 250 Pro bring more power to the game (and in the case of the 250 Pro, the original D-Premier chassis), but are otherwise functionally identical, rather than good-better-best options.

The new Core Infinity board completely changes the performance of the Expert. This is a more accurate, precise, and focused sound, which is saying a lot given that these were the same attributes for which the Expert was famous. The Core Infinity board takes those attributes and pushes them to their detail-driven logical conclusion. This is an exceptionally detailed presentation; if playing an orchestral work of old and one of the tubes on a microphone preamplifier is on the way out, you’ll know. If you want to know why Brad Paisley and others cling to their Ken Fisher designed Trainwreck amps, you’ll hear the difference the rectifier circuit makes, and find it easy to identify and differentiate from the more common (and more affordable) Fender amp/stomp box pretenders. That’s the sort of detail the Expert Pro puts out.

While SAM might tame some of the more wild beasts that creates, bear in mind that the detail of the Expert 140 Pro coupled to the wrong loudspeakers could be toodetailed. And, it must be said, the latest Devialet platform is all about the speed – rather than the pace – of delivery. You get all the leading-edge detail and remarkable transparency, and no aspect of the performance is accented. But that includes the rhythm, and that might upset those who listen to a sound directed toward almost imperceptible timing changes.

As with previous iterations of Devialet products, I find myself looking less to rock and more to baroque. That’s not a function of the amplifier tailoring the presentation, but a ‘I wonder how that will sound?’ enquiring mind seeking out detail. And, sure enough, Bach is played with rare insight; Cazals fantastic Cello Suites [Archiv LP] renditions may have arguably been technically eclipsed, but the performance is one of the true masterworks of the 20th Century, and here you get to hear every last finger scrape and even the most subtle ornamentation. It’s that precision that draws you in.

The change is also deceptively potent. If you think you have become adept at spotting where Class A ends and Class D begins, the new Core Infinity shifts the goal-posts and no matter what you try, you just can’t hear that point of inflection (some will ‘hear’ it, all the same). However, where in the past you used to think you were listening to a huge Class A amplifier (but without the heat), this time Devialet seems to have gone for the accuracy and linearity of Class A rather than its sweetness. Once again, that’s no bad thing, just a different set of priorities from the last iteration.

 

I can’t help feeling that Devialet’s biggest concern with the Expert Pro in all its guises is nothing to do with the performance. It is, in microcosm, an existential crisis endemic to the audio business entire: the lack of new blood. I suspect practically everyone who wanted a Devialet… has one by now, and the number of new people coming along to buy a new Expert 140 Pro is dwindling. Sure, Devialet has got this covered with the Phantom, but I’m not sure if there will be many converts from Phantom to Expert in reality. Core Infinity is an outstanding step-change for Devialet, but I can’t help but think most people who will get to hear it will do so on an Expert model they may have bought half a decade ago. And if Devialet can’t get new people buying its product, who can?

I don’t want to end on a down note because that’s not what the Expert 140 Pro deserves. This is an exciting product, made all the more exciting by the Core Infinity updates. Devialet has made a huge change to its product in the shape of Core Infinity, and it makes the amplifier lead the field in detail retrieval and precision once more. Existing Export owners should make sure their system isn’t pitched into brightness before committing to an upgrade, because they will find the amount of detail on offer an intense experience. But, many will make the change, and make changes to the system because that’s how good the Expert 140 Pro really is.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  •  Type: Integrated digital amplifier
  • Connections: 1×Optical Toslink, 1×combined Optical Jack & RS232 Mini 3.5mm, 1×USB for computer or USB-fitted turntable connection, 1×Ethernet RJ45 for connection to LAN, 4×S/PDIF digital inputs on RCA (or two analogue line level inputs), 1x Phono input – Adjustable Gain and sampling frequency (96 or 192KHz, fully configurable, MM or MC, load, sensitivity, 1953 or 1976 RIAA as standard, 13 additional EQ curves available with on the fly toggle from RAM menu), 1×trigger, speaker terminals and subwoofer output. Optional stereo pre-out
  • Power output: 2×140W into six ohms, adjustable from 50–140 via online configurator
  • THD+N (harmonic distortion) at full power: 0.0005%
  • SNR (Signal-to-Noise ratio): 130 dB unweighted
  • Bandwidth, digital inputs @ 8 to 2 Ω load: DC–87kHz (-3dB), DC–60kHz (-1dB), DC–30kHz (-0.1dB); analogue inputs: same except 0.1Hz (-3dB)
  • Dark Chrome finish, single aluminium block case
  • Dimensions (W×D×H): 38.3 ×38.3 ×4cm
  • Weight: 5.65kg
  • Price: £4,490

Manufactured by: Devialet

URL: devialet.com

https://hifiplus.com/reviews/

WIN! A Gold Note Valore 425 Plus turntable worth over £1,400!!!

We have partnered up with the smart folks from Gold Note to bring you an exciting competition for a chance to win a Valore 425 Plus turntable worth £1,445.45!

Alan Sircom reviewed the Valore 425 Plus in Hi-Fi+ issue 168 where he wrote, “A big part of the reason we’ve been banging on about Gold Note turntables is they get a lot right, especially when it comes to those all-important rubrics of value-for-money and ease-of-use. Valore is Italian for ‘value’ and ‘worth’ (as in both a financial and a moral sense) and the 425 Plusis the uppermost of the two models in the Valore range.”

He went on to say, “The Gold Note Valore 425 Plus is perfectly placed, in that it works exceptionally well with all moving magnet cartridges and most moving coils you would expect to put with a deck at this price.” “It’s a tidy, ordered, detailed, and – above all – quicksilver performer that acts from the midrange on out.”

He concluded by saying, “if your tastes run from World Music to Wagner, the Gold Note Valore 425 Plus is an excellent and inherently honest performer that doesn‘t impose itself on the sound of LP.”

Competition Question

What does ‘Valore’ mean in Italian?

A. Anniversary and Reference

B. Value and Worth

C. Easy to use and Fun

To answer, please visit Gold Note’s dedicated competition page goldnote.it/competition 

Alternatively, send your answer on a postcard (includingyour name, address, and contact details) to Gold Note Competition, Akamai s.r.l,, Via della Gora, 6, Montespertoli ( Firenze), Italy.

Competition Rules

The competition will run from February 28th 2019 until May 2nd 2019 . The competition is open to everyone, but multiple, automated, or bulk entries will be disqualified. The winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries, will be contacted via email (where possible) and their name will be published in the magazine. The Editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Absolute Multimedia (UK) Ltd. is compliant with the Data Protection Act and UK laws apply. Our policy is such that we will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent.

IsoAcoustics Gaia I, II, and III loudspeaker isolation feet

As late as the middle of the last decade, the only legitimate audiophile option for the interface between loudspeaker and floor was the spike. You drove them as hard as possible into a wooden or concrete floor or sat them on protectors to prevent the spike cracking marble or tile. Your audiophile ‘cred’ was measured by how inert you could make that loudspeaker, based on the logical assumption that the only part of a speaker that should move is the transducer.

However, an equally logical assumption emerged a dozen or so years ago, that instead of trying to make the loudspeaker cabinets a rigid part of the building, we should instead attempt to somehow decouple them from their environment. Everything from springs to squash balls to ball-races was drafted into supporting roles for loudspeakers (and even audio electronics) with mixed success. The battle doesn’t exactly rage, but it still continues to this day, with some rigidly (pun intended) supporting spikes and others still pursuing the next great interface.

Some of the most consistently successful products to sit under loudspeakers in recent years are the Gaia feet from Canadian isolation specialists IsoAcoustics. These come in three different sizes for different weights of a speaker. The smallest – Gaia III – works with loudspeakers up to 32kg, the Gaia II for loudspeakers between 32kg and 54kg, and the largest Gaia I for loudspeakers up to 100kg. You get four Gaia feet and a mounting kit in each pack, so to install under a stereo pair of speakers, you will need two kits. The Gaia pack comes with a range of screw threads and is designed to replace the spikes supplied with your loudspeakers (not all speaker designers use the same M6 and M8 threads, but the IsoAcoustics website does have an online configurator and SCV a-near infinite range of free options). Just swap out the spikes, level the loudspeakers (using the two knurled collars to lock the screw at the speaker and Gaia ends, and align the logos on each Gaia either directly toward or away from the listening position. While that last might smack of audiophilia nervosa, remember that IsoAcoustics cut its isolation teeth on the ISO Series small speaker stands used to stop monitor and mixing desk interacting with one another in some of the best studios on the planet, and even the most curmudgeonly recording engineers swear by them. These are not people known for taking audiophile hocus-pocus at face value.

The Gaia ‘pod’ itself comprises a machined and dark-chromed stainless steel top and base section, separated internally by a secret-sauce internal elastomer structure, this prevents any resonance from the ground interacting with the loudspeaker and vice versa. There is decoupling in the vertical and horizontal planes, which is why the positioning of the Gaia logo is important: it aligns the decoupling with the plane of the drive units. Hocus-pocus status: revoked!

 

The internal squidgy bit in the middle of the Gaia feet means that when installed, the loudspeaker has a small amount of travel like it’s sitting on a well-damped suspension system. It doesn’t bounce like the suspension of a Linn turntable, and it doesn’t even have the freedom of movement of something like a Townshend seismic speaker platform, but if you are used to rigid speakers spiked into the floor, that slight movement might come over as disconcerting.

The Townshend platform comparison is an interesting one, not least because I have a set to hand. The two perform in an all-but identical manner in sonic terms, with deeper and tauter bass, improved midrange, greater image depth, more solidity of instruments, and improved dimensionality within a stereo soundstage. There’s a greater overall focus to the sound too, with a good sense of rhythm, and no downsides!

This is a good test for the Gaia supports because those Townshend platforms have been holding up my Wilson Duette Series 2 for almost as long as they have been in the listening room. Other supports have come and gone (the Nordost Sort Füt being the closest to unseating the Townshend), but few offered the same package of overall improvement without a compromise somewhere, even if that compromise simply meant an emptier bank account. The Gaia is the first that delivers the goods in a smaller, more manageable package, and at an attainable price.

The Gaia feet also can make the room have less of an influence over the performance of a loudspeaker. Granted, a full set of eight Gaias will not replace a need for room treatment, especially in an acoustically unfortunate room, but they will lessen the volume level at which any given room can ‘kick off’ and start to join in with the speaker, adding stray resonances and buzzes at a range of frequencies. On the one hand, the Gaia allows you to play a pair of loudspeakers louder in a room. On the other, it will enable you to play music quieter with less interference on a low level from that room: the perfect example of a win-win.

Unless spikes still speak to you so loudly that you cannot countenance any other form of support system on religious grounds, the IsoAcoustics Gaia makes a whole lot of sense. If you want to hear what your loudspeakers really sound like, put them on a set of these support feet. It’s like your loudspeakers just got a significant upgrade!

Prices and Contact details

Gaia I: £599 per set

Gaia II: £299 per set

Gaia III: £199 per set

Manufactured by: IsoAcoustics

URL: isoacoustics.com

Distributed by: SCV Distribution

URL: scvdistribution.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)3301 222 500

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Read more IsoAcoustics reviews here

RME ADI-2 DAC digital converter/headphone amplifier

In all honesty, most domestic DACs fall somewhere between ‘inadequate’ and ‘woefully inadequate’ when it comes to telling the world what they are doing. There are exceptions of course – Chord Electronics and its colour-coded control surfaces being an obvious example – but many domestic digital devices limit their interfaces to a few small LEDs denoting frequency, lock, occasionally your choice of source, and power. Sometimes, there’s not even a button to be found. The German brand RME comes from the pro-audio world. They do things differently there, and the ADI-2 series – including the ADI-2 DAC tested here – positively bristle with displays and control surfaces.

This is not the only aspect of professional audio that filters across to the general public. First, display aside, the product is that combination of solidly built and no-nonsense in approach; the power supply is an external box, and the case is solid, but not made from solid unobtanium covered in dodo leather and panda eyelids. The rear connectors aren’t cast from the purest copper known to man by dwarf-lords. And, unlike many domestic audio brands, the obsession with brand names on the circuit board is not as important as how it performs in its job. You won’t find RME crowing about using the latest chipset from the DAC brand du jour, just an impressive set of provided specifications and measurements.

The ADI-2 DAC’s no-nonsense approach extends to its inputs and outputs. It lacks some of digital audio’s alphabet soup, eschewing inputs such as AES/EBU, BNC, HDMI, I2S, RS232, and RJ45. Instead, it covers the basics with a lone USB 2.0 Type B, RCA coaxial and Toslink optical S/PDIF connectors (AES/EBU is supported if you use an adaptor on the coaxial input). For analogue, it features both single-ended RCA and balanced XLR stereo connectors, and two headphone sockets; a 3.5mm TRS minijack socket for in-ear designs, and a 6.3mm TRS jack socket for headphones. These are not ‘commoned’, but in fact reach back to two separate headphone amplifiers – a lower-gain, lower-noise design for extremely sensitive earphones and in-ear monitors, and a higher-output design for driving traditional headphones.

Then, we get to the nitty-gritty: the control surfaces. Using four push-buttons, three rotary/push knobs, and a small but colourful front-panel display. These are designed to set-up, and operate the DAC, and work in harmony with the black ABS shield-shaped remote. If you begin to wonder why a DAC needs this degree of user interaction, a quick flip through the comprehensive English/German manual quickly demonstrates the thoroughness of the RME concept. You can assign names to inputs and set the preamp to deliver different output levels for the line outputs and/or the ‘Hi-Power’ headphone output (the IEM output remains at a fixed reference -3dBu level), reference input levels. mono/stereo options, the choice of four digital filters, the ability to assign the centre dial to act as a volume or balance control, and controls for adjusting stage width, crossfeed, parametric EQ, tone, and de-emphasis.

 

Additionally, there’s a choice of three ‘top screens’, or the active display when the DAC is in use. The default is a basic ‘dark volume’ setting which shows a basic textual display of input, output, tone/EQ settings, sampling frequency, output type, and output volume. Volume overloads on this basic screen are clearly visible as the main volume control turns red. Other options are a State Overview, which isn’t a Presidential overview of the Union, but a display of active inputs and their bitstream content, hardware sample rate, and clock source. This is not that useful in fully stable systems, but for those of us who constantly fuss around with different devices (not always with complete success), this is something of a godsend. Finally, there is an Analyser display that shows a basic frequency plot and left-right level display of whichever output is selected. This is a band-pass filter calculation rather than a Fast Fourier Transform, akin to the metering used in a commercial recording studio. As this also gives an indication of output if either analogue outputs or the Type B USB connection are being used to record. Couple that with warning splash screens for a range of errors (including short-circuit detection), and you can see just how alluring this kind of feedback is to most users. While for domestic use, much of the reasons behind this full-on display are fit-and-forget, and of academic use, once the system is set-up, one can’t help but be deeply swayed by that degree of interaction with the RME’s control architecture, and this is echoed in that remote handset. I will admit that I questioned the need for a handset at all at first but overcame my prejudice fast and quickly found it surprisingly useful.

The utility of the RME interface does not buy the ADI-2 DAC a free pass, and it has to live up to its performance sonically as well as ergonomically. And here, notionally, there are three DACs in one to assess: ADI-2 DAC as headphone device, IEM device, and in the context of a traditional audio system. In fact, a quick drop of 3-in-1 works here, because the three different outputs are remarkably similar in tone and intent. This is somewhatdifficult to discuss in absolute terms because you are going through three separate audio pathways that can sway the performance, but the consistency of that performance shone through regardless. This is easier to check on the two headphone sockets because it’s possible to use an IEM at a low gain on the high-output connection, and a pair of headphones through the IEM output. Experimenting with all three types of output results in a headphone socket with more gain, an IEM socket with less noise, and line outputs that sound remarkably similar to the two personal audio options.

That performance, irrespective of output, is one of great detail and insight into the recording as if the RME ADI-2 DAC wants to show off its pro-audio roots once more. You can really ‘hear into a mix’, easily differentiating electronic reverb tails from natural acoustic reverberant spaces. The RME is also great at delineating instruments and voices in a complex mix; I wanted to use the Deadpool 2 OST[Sony CD] if only because it allows me to talk about the track ‘Holy Shit Balls’ legitimately. It’s a parody of typical portentous orchestral music used in movies, with a choir intoning those three words of the title over and over again, Carmina Buranastyle. Like a lot of soundtrack work, though, it’s also well recorded, and the ADI-2 DAC lets you deep dive into the music and the recording itself. The consistency of sound meant this quality of analytical insight applied to high-res PCM and native DSD, too.

The array of options does benefit the listener greatly too. They are designed to be implemented in set-up (if required) rather than applied like seasoning on a disc-by-disc basis, but they do work with the system rather than hamper it. I found the filter options more useful than the EQ (although I found EQ helped balance out the forward and bright sound of some IEMs), preferring the default Short Delay Sharp in most cases. Crossfeed, however, is genuinely fascinating, reducing the stereo width in the treble and emulating the sound of speakers in a live space. To some, it’s pointless… to others a revelation. This gives headphones a more out-of-head presentation and makes digital seem a little more like a turntable, in all the right ways. The sound takes on a depth to the image and an organic sense of physical presence that those of us firmly dunked in analogue replay will love.

 

Limitations are few in number. The RME is a DAC that stresses detail over rhythm, and some will choose a less forthright, more pleasingly ‘boppy’ sound. Moreover, if you want your DAC to give less than great recordings a soft-landing, look elsewhere; that resolution is always present, always a can opener into the studio… good and bad. Finally, this is not the device to tame demanding headphones with low sensitivity and impedance, as they can sometimes wind up thin and light sounding, EQ notwithstanding.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of what the RME ADI-2 DAC can do, and what it can do is extremely impressive. If you want a DAC that tells it like it is – both regarding detail retrieval and status update and analyser display – the RME ADI-2 DAC is hard to beat for the money.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: Solid State DAC with headphone amplifier
  • Inputs: Type B USB 2.0 (USB 3.0 compatible), S/PDIF coaxial, Toslink, 12V input for PSU
  • Outputs: 1×pair RCA single-ended stereo line output, 1×pair XLR balanced stereo line output, 1×3.5mm ‘super low noise’ TRS mini-jack, 1×6.35mm ‘Extreme Power’ TRS headphone jack, Recording over USB for S/PDIF signals
  • DSD Replay: Native to DSD256
  • PCM Replay: 32bit, 768kHz
  • Filter options: Short-Delay Sharp, Sharp, Slow, Non‑Oversampling
  • DSP: Crossfeed and Image Width options, five-band parametric EQ
  • Dimensions (W×H×D): 215 ×52 ×150mm
  • Weight: 1kg
  • Price: £895
  • Manufactured by: RME
  • URL: rme-audio.de
  • Distributed by: Synthax UK
  • URL: synthax.co.uk
  • Tel: +44(0)1727 821 870

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ELAC Vela BS 403 stand‑mount loudspeakers

ELAC has clearly grasped that if you are to sell loudspeakers to an audience that would instead prefer things were invisible (or at least no bigger than a Coke can), you have to make it sexy. The Vela range replaces the 400 Line that has been a staple of ELACs mid-priced offering for many years. The incoming range abandons the traditional rectilinear styling of that series with post-formed corners and oblique angles to produce a beautiful loudspeaker design with tactile textures to add to its allure.

The slopes are what mark out the Vela. The top has an inset aluminium plate with black anodising that gives it a slick look when combined with the gloss black or white finish of the cabinet. However, it’s the base that really sets this speaker apart from the crowd: ELAC has created a die-cast plinth that integrates a downward firing port with a V-shaped opening; it looks great from most angles and in theory allows greater flexibility of placement than a standard rear-firing port. This sort of design detailing alongside the very high fit and finish of the speaker as a whole mark ELAC’s BS 403 out as more domestically friendly than its competitors.

The same plinth is incorporated into the two floorstanders in the Vela range – the two-and-a-half-way FS 407 and three-way FS 409, but in those models there is a base plate beneath that extends the footprint and provides for spike fixing. The BS 403 is the only bookshelf model in a range that extends to one further iteration in the CC 401 centre channel, which does not have the die‑cast base.

ELAC has used drive unit tech from the 400 Line in Vela, so in the 403 there is one of the brand’s distinctive Crystal Membrane midbass drivers, a six-inch example with a 95mm cone supported by a large roll surround. This is a sandwich driver with a paper cone backing bonded to a sheet of stamped aluminium foil, a combination said to reduce colouration and improve power handling. The large surround provides for plus/minus 15mm of excursion, so it should be able to ‘belt it out’ if required. The Jet 5 planar tweeter is a variant on the Heil Air Motion design with neodymium magnets and a claimed response up to 50kHz. It uses a folded foil membrane that requires so much precision in its construction that robots are used for the most demanding part of the process.

Sensitivity is a lower than average 86dB, and nominal impedance is four Ohms, so it needs a bit of power for best results. ELAC makes a dedicated and suitably shiny stand for the BS 403 with a glass base and polished aluminium column, but as this wasn’t supplied, I made do with a Custom Design FS104 Signature stand with its filled central column and Blu-tack under the speakers.

 

I initially placed the ELACs close to the wall, with about a 25cm gap behind, which seemed appropriate given their size but the resulting thickness in the bass suggested that they need to be further into the room. Extending the gap in increments, I ended up with 40cm between the back of the speaker and the wall.

Before I discovered the low sensitivity of the ELAC, I hooked it up with the most price appropriate amplifier I had to hand, a Rega Brio, and despite its relatively low power (50W), this combination had some very appealing qualities. What initially made an impression was its excellent sense of timing; it’s not exceptional in this regard, but better than average thanks to a reasonable degree of clarity through the mid and treble. It’s particularly useful on vocals, which perhaps explains why Norah Jones sounds particularly sultry on Herbie Hancock’s version of ‘Court and Spark’ [River: The Joni Letters, Verve]. Likewise, Doug MacLeod projects well on his ‘Who’s Driving This Bus,’ where the deep ambiance of the recording is easy to hear, and the bass is articulate if not as deep as other small boxes. That said, the curves and styling of the BS 403 mean that its internal volume isn’t that big, as the way that the casting cuts into the cabinet takes away a fair amount of space. It’s nicely revealing and refined in the upper mid and treble though; that Jet tweeter clearly has its advantages over a lot of the dome tweeters found in the alternatives at this price.

The only area that made itself heard on occasion was the upper bass, which has a slight thickness that makes specific bass notes seem a little congested. I tried moving the speaker further from the wall, and this lightened the effect but didn’t eradicate it. I also tried a lighter sounding cable, but the ELAC is transparent enough to let you hear when this crucial link has been compromised, so I returned to the Townshend F1 Fractal that is my preferred speaker connection. It’s a strange one though; the bass times quite well. It’s got good shape and while not bone-crunching gives a good sense of power and weight. Image scale is also right, not spectacular but easily able to reveal the nature of reverb on any given recording, so Van Morrison’s ‘Fair Play’ [Veedon Fleece, Warner Bros] and Vivaldi’s ‘Bellezza Crudel’ [Tone Wik, Barokkanerne, 2L] have large but distinctly different reverb characteristics. The latter also has an appealing fluidity, and the speakers provide plenty of insight into the piece and its performance.

The smoothness of the treble means that the BS 403 needs to be on-axis, that is pointing straight at you, for maximum vitality and evenness, and even then errs on the side of mellow. This is not a bad thing, but will suit some listeners and systems better than others. I tried the CAD 1543 MkII DAC, for instance, which is incredibly natural and relaxed, and as a result it proved a less suitable partner for this speaker. The Chord DAVE, on the other hand, has a bit more get up and go, a bit more urgency in its leading edges and proved a better match. The DAVE can’t smooth out the bass, but it provides the zip that the ELAC needs unless of course, you are looking for a speaker to bliss out with (it’s good for that). Around this point, I discovered that an amp with a bit more grunt might be appropriate, so I brought in a Leema Tucana, which surprisingly didn’t change things all that dramatically at reasonable levels. When the wick was wound up, however, the ELACs did start to say ‘how high’ when the Tucana said ‘jump,’ and they got surprisingly high when I put on ‘Seeya’ [Deadmau5 while (1<2),Astralwerks]. This is a crunchy dance track with a killer kick drum sound; the size of the ELAC drivers and box limited things, but you can get high-level bass out of them should it be required.

With less visceral material in the form of Waltz for Debby[Bill Evans, Riverside] the piano is perky, the audience quiet but present, and Scott LaFaro’s bass playing is easy to appreciate. What’s particularly helpful is that the acoustics of the venue are so well preserved. And again the tempo of the piece is clear to enjoy, but not thrust to the forefront; it shares equal billing with the melody and tone. My final session was with the full might of an ATC P2, a 150 Watt unliftable beast of a power amp, which brought a greater sense of ease, but didn’t cure the bass thickness (it’s not a power or control thing as far as one can see). The extra space that the ATC amp brought out was welcome and the depth of ambiance it revealed particularly useful at putting you in the room with the musicians on a quality recording; the best ones have a sense of naturalness that is particularly inviting.

 

The ELAC Vela BS 403 has been created to make decent loudspeakers appeal to those who value style as much as content; the world it seems is not yet able to appreciate that listening brings you closer to God when looks are not considered. Hey, we have Jersey Shoreand Big Brother…it’s a shallow universe! This speaker, however, toes the fine line between the conflicting demands of making concessions to contemporary styling but not so much as to undermine its effortless sound. If you are looking for a speaker that fits into a modern lifestyle and encourages you to unwind at the end of the day, this should be on your ‘must hear’ list.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: Two-way, two-driver stand-mount monitor with ported bass reflex enclosure
  • Driver complement: One Jet 5 air motion tweeter, one 150mm AS XR mid-bass driver
  • Frequency response: 41Hz–50kHz
  • Crossover frequency: 2.4kHz
  • Impedance: 4 Ohms
  • Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m
  • Dimensions (H×W×D):
    362 ×191 ×240mm
  • Weight: 7.1kg/each
  • Finishes: Black High-Gloss,
    White High-Gloss
  • Price: £1,750 per pair
  • Manufacturer: ELAC
  • Tel: Germany +49 0431 / 64774-0
  • Tel: USA +01 714-252-8843
  • URL: elac.com

Distributor: Hi-Fi Network

Tel: +44(0)1285 643088

URL: hifi-network.com

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Transparent Reference PowerIsolator power conditioner

It’s not so long ago that power conditioners were not a ‘thing’, especially in the UK and many European audio circles. We used to pride ourselves on having ‘clean’ power, as the juice coming into our homes was not fed through as many local transformers as happens elsewhere on the planet. So, while American manufacturers were developing power conditioners and regenerators for an ever-increasing local audience, many Europeans dismissed the notion as gilding the lily. That all changed as we added an increasing number of switch-mode power supplies into the home, whether they be inside home computers, LCD televisions, or the endless cavalcade of phone chargers left dangling on any nearby power-strip. This not only awoke a whole continent to the need for power products but required a change of thinking on the part of the power conditioner providers: rather than inoculate the system against power evils outside of the home, now the enemy was within.

Power conditioners, until very recently, tended toward one of two compromises. They cleaned up the power and made the sound more refined and open, but either did so at the expense of dynamic range, or by adding a boat anchor to the music. In other words, ‘big and slow’ or ‘fast and thin’. This is why, despite obvious advantages in the midrange, treble, and soundstaging of a system, and the lowering of the overall noise that a good power conditioner brought to the party, many decided that the price paid elsewhere in the musical presentation was too steep.

Transparent was wisely late to the power conditioner game. It has a four-strong line-up of power conditioners, of which the Reference sits below the two-output Opus and XL models and above the multi-output PowerIsolator. The Reference PowerIsolator comes with eight outlets if you are based in America, seven if in the EU, and only six if you live in the UK. This is because the large UK 13A three pin plug has the advantage of large contact area for the live, neutral, and earth pins, and its design makes it impossible to invert AC polarity, but it takes up more real-estate on the PowerIsolator’s back panel… and UK fire safety regulations require anything that carries a current be fused (power cords included), which adds even more size to the UK three-pin plug.

The Reference PowerIsolator (whatever the socketry at the rear) features a quartet of separate noise-isolated parallel filter banks. It also features power factor correction, and – as a mark of how our industry is changing concerning digital audio – a Gigabit Ethernet isolator with surge protection. Unlike many such boxes that merely use a fuse, the Transparent uses a parallel hydraulic circuit breaker, which suddenly becomes all the more advantageous in UK circles, because our systems often have twice the number of fuses than in other countries because of that additional fire safety requirement for a fuse in every power cord. The amp-heavy, curved, and very dark grey box features extruded aluminium side-bars and cross bracing holding a rigid polymer shell, and – like the contents of the filter boxes in Transparent’s higher-end cables, including the Reference power cords recommended for use with this PowerIsolator – are epoxy-loaded to reduce vibration and resonance, as well as add mass to the overall unit.

 

We at Hi-Fi+ have a set terminology – the Transparent product falls into the ‘power conditioner’ category – but it really doesn’t fit here. The clue is in the name; PowerIsolator. And isolation is what it does and does very well. It’s a rigid, almost impermeable barrier to stop noise from elsewhere on the power line making it into your audio system, across all frequencies. And when you hear that, you soon discover that other products obsessed with the minutiae of power conditioning might not be looking at the bigger picture. Instead, Transparent adopts the ‘do one thing and do it properly’ approach.

The improvements are substantial, especially on higher-resolution equipment that comes with inherent sensitivity to its surroundings. There’s a strong sense of effortlessness to the sound that is more than just lower noise backgrounds (or, more correctly, the result of low noise backgrounds, adequately executed). This also helps free up the inner detail in a soundstage, while retaining the width and precision of that stereo image. Meanwhile, the overall power and dynamism of the music played is undimmed, freed even, and while this is more about ‘grace’ and ‘space’, it doesn’t interfere with ‘pace’ either.

Adding those two Ethernet connections is a boon. As we inevitably move toward a more networked audio approach, it’s becoming clear that the network is the single largest cause of power-related noise in a modern system. Unfortunately, unplugging your system from that source of noise also disconnects you from Tidal and Qobuz, so radical surgery is worse than the symptoms of the disease. The Reference PowerIsolator shuts out that network noise, and this has a dramatic effect on the sound of your system… even when the network streamer is not in use. If this were the only barrier the isolator brought to the system, it would be gratefully received, but as it also carries the same isolation to the whole system, it’s a done deal.

There is also a ‘secret menu’ trick with using the Reference PowerIsolator. Although it has six outputs in the UK, only use every alternate one. That way you get a double-dose of isolation and adding a second Reference is a way of building on the first without having to trade in or trade up or a bank of XL or Opus models.

I never got to fly on Concorde, but now I realise that I didn’t really want to break the sound barrier. With the Transparent Reference PowerIsolator in tow, I want more of a sound barrier. I want a solid wall between power and sound… and that’s what the Reference PowerIsolator brings, without any sonic booms or rattled windows, unless you want to create your own. We’ve been used to talking about the best of these power products as ‘benign+’ as in, they improve one aspect of performance while doing nothing too wrong elsewhere. This enhances the performance across the board. The power revolution starts here!

Price and contact details

Transparent Reference PowerIsolator

Price: £4,875

Manufactured by: Transparent

URL: transparentcable.com

Distributed by: Absolute Sounds

URL: absolutesounds.com

Tel: +44(0)20 8971 3909

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Schiit Audio Jotunheim Multibit headphone amp/preamp

When Schiit Audio introduced its Jotunheim headphone amp/preamp in 2016, it was considered a technical marvel and a bargain. Jotunheim used a unique balanced circuit topology, called a ‘Pivot Point’ gain stage, developed by company founder and president Jason Stoddard. In theory, the ‘Pivot Point’ circuit could have been patented, but Stoddard decided against this to avoid divulging the inner subtleties of the design. It works very well, though, as Stoddard observed that, apart from power output, Jotunheim offers better measurable performance than any other Schiit Audio headphone amplifier, irrespective of price.

The name Jotunheim is drawn from Norse mythology and means “Land of the Giants”—a name that takes on ironic connotations once you realise that while powerful, the amp is actually deceptively small. Its price is small too, coming in at a very manageable £385 or $399 US. That sum buys you a sophisticated albeit minimalist headphone amp/preamp with balanced (XLR) and single-ended (RCA) analogue inputs and preamp outputs, plus balanced (4-pin XLR) and single-ended (6.35mm phone jack) headphone outputs. Maximum balanced power output is a substantial 7500mW @ 16 Ohms. Distortion is low (<0.001% THD, 20Hz–20kHz) and bandwidth is impressive (2Hz–700kHz, -3dB).

There are two front panel-mounted toggle switches, an input selector and master gain control (for gain of either 2 or 8); a third, rear panel toggle serves as the main on/off switch. Schiit describes Jotunheim as a “configurable” amp in that it offers users the option of adding one of three possible I/O modules: a MM phono stage with passive RIAA equalisation (+£100 or $100), a balanced AK4490-based Delta Sigma-type DAC (+£100 or $100), and a true Multibit DAC (+£200 or $200), patterned after Schiit’s Modi 2 Multibit DAC.

This review focuses on the Jotunheim Multibit model because, like the Modi 2, it is said to offer “the most affordable multibit DAC with a modern architecture—from any manufacturer, from any country in the world.” The DAC is based on an Analog Devices AS5547 multibit DAC and features Schiit’s “unique, closed-form digital filter”—the brainchild of company co-founder and digital guru Mike Moffat. By design, this DAC supports PCM files only, for resolutions up to 24/192.

As in our original review, the Jotunheim amp sounded powerful, refined, and accomplished—shockingly so in light of its price. It offers punch and authority, sufficient detail and resolution, quiet backgrounds, and precise control over the leading and trailing edges of notes. The amp is powerful enough to drive demanding headphones (e.g., the HiFiMAN Susvara), yet quiet enough to use with high-sensitivity CIEMs (e.g., the Noble Audio Katana). Better still, Jotunheim sounds agile and fleet-footed, offering a brilliant combination of instantaneous energy delivery and cat-quick transient speeds.

 

The new Multibit DAC option, however, is what really sets Jotunheim Multibit apart. Jotunheim’s original balanced (Delta Sigma-type) DAC was an excellent option for the money, but the Multibit DAC, which costs only £100 or $100 more, lifts performance to a much higher level. Side-by-side comparisons of the Balanced DAC module vs the Multibit DAC show the latter consistently offers superior resolution of low-level details, greater transient acuity, and markedly more contoured and three-dimensional renderings of instrumental and human voices. In fact, the Multibit DAC unlocks previously hidden layers of performance in the Jotunheim amp; you don’t so much listen to the Multibit DAC, but instead hear through it to access the inner workings of the music. A great example would be the Multibit’s performance on ‘The Mermaid’ from Norma Winstone’s Distances [ECM, 16/44.1] where the DAC does a spooky-good job with the harmonically complex sounds of the prepared piano heard at the opening of the track, while rendering the inflexions of Winstone’s voice with rare focus and grace.

For those looking to climb way up the personal audio performance ladder without crushing their wallets, Schiit Audio’s Jotunheim Multibit offers greater high-end bang for the bucks (or pounds, or euros) than any other option I’ve heard to date.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Schiit Audio Jotunheim fully balanced configurable headphone amp/preamp

  • Type: Solid-state, fully balanced headphone amplifier/preamp using a proprietary Pivot Point circuit topology
  • Analogue Inputs: One single-ended stereo analogue input (via RCA jacks), one balanced stereo analogue input (via XLR connectors)
  • Other Inputs: Jotunheim provide an internal space and rear panel I/O cutout opening to accommodate either an optional moving magnet phono stage with passive RIAA equalisation, a fully balanced Delta Sigma-type USB DAC, or a full-on Multibit USB DAC
  • Analogue Outputs: One stereo single-ended analogue preamp output (via RCA jacks), one stereo balanced analogue preamp output (via XLR connectors); two headphone outputs—one balanced (via 4-pin CLR connector) and one single-ended (via 6.35mm headphone jack)
  • Gain: 2 (6dB) or 8 (14dB)
  • Frequency Response, Analogue: 20Hz – 20kHz, ± 0.1dB; 2Hz – 700kHz, -3dB
  • Distortion:
  •             THD: <0.001%, 20Hz – 20kHz, at 1V RMS
  •             IMD: <0.0015%, CCIR
  • Power Output:
  •             Balanced: 7500mW @ 16 ohms; 5000mW @ 32 ohms; 3000mW @ 50 ohms; 900mW @ 300 ohms;
    500mW @ 600 ohms
  • Single-Ended: 2500mW @ 16 ohms; 1500mW @ 32 ohms; 800mW @ 50 ohms; 350mW @ 300 ohms;
    175mW @ 600 ohms
  • Dimensions (H×W×D): 15.24 ×30.48 ×22.86cm
  • Weight: 2.27 Kg
  • Price: £385, $399 US

Optional Schiit Audio Jotunheim Multibit DAC module

  • Type: Mutlibit DAC module with proprietary closed-form digital filter, based on Analog Devices AA5547 multibit DAC
  • Inputs: USB
    Outputs: Stereo analogue output to Jotunheim’s internal I/O module connector.
    Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz, -0.1dB
  • Formats: PCM at resolutions up to 24/192
  • Distortion:
  •             THD: <0.006%, 20Hz – 20kHz, at maximum output
  •             IMD: <0.007%, CCIR
  • Signal/Noise ratio: >104dB, unweighted, referenced to 2V RMS
  • Price: £200, $200 US

MANUFACTURER INFORMATION: Schiit Audio
Valencia, CA 91355 USA

Tel: (323) 230-0079

URL: www.schiit.com

UK Distributor: Schiit Europe
Beech Road, High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire, HP11 1RY England

Tel: +44 (0) 1494 956558

URL: www.schiit.eu.com

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