Beaverton, Oregon, 22nd April, 2024 – Continuing its legacy of pioneering high-performance audio technology, AURALiC proudly introduces its latest innovations: S1 series audio streamers, Tesla G3 streaming platform based ALTAIR G2.2 and the release of version 10.0 software, now featuring several new features to enhance sound quality. AURALiC will be showcasing these innovations first hand at the 2024 HighEnd Munich audio show from May 9th to 12th, in Atrium 4.0G Room E211.
AURALiC S1 – Pure Essence of Sound
S1 is the latest entry-level audio streamer that AURALiC offers. Powered by AURALiC’s cutting- edge Tesla G3 streaming platform, the S1 inherits premium audio technologies from the acclaimed G2.2 reference products, including Direct Memory Access (DMA), Direct Data Recording (DDR), Fusion DAC, Galvanic Isolation, and more. Available in two variations, the ARIES S1 features USB and digital outputs, while the VEGA S1 offers XLR and RCA analog outputs. Both models support seamless streaming via Ethernet through AURALiC’s Lightning DS, AirPlay 2, TIDAL Connect, Spotify Connect, Internet Radio, and a range of digital input channels. Additionally, the S1 will be Roon Ready upon completion of Roon certification. For enthusiasts who are dedicated to elevating audio performance to the next level, AURALiC presents the optional S1 Purer-Power External Power Supply Unit. This unit is designed to further enhance sound quality, offering an unparalleled audio experience for those who demand the utmost in performance and fidelity.
“When we speak of high-performance audio, we’re not just referring to functionality. It also encompasses uncompromising sonic excellence. This ethos has driven us to develop the new S series, where ‘S’ symbolizes ‘Sound’ – nothing but the pure essence of sound,” explained Jian Shao, Chief Operating Officer at AURALiC.
Both ARIES S1 and VEGA S1 are now available for order through AURALiC’s authorized global partners, priced at $1999 | €1999 | £1999. The optional S1 Purer-Power External Power Supply Unit can be purchased for $999 | €999 | £999.
ALTAIR G2.2 – Fully Featured Digital & Analogue Source Powerhouse
The ALTAIR name has always epitomized a wealth of features and functionality, and the latest iteration, the G2.2 version, continues this tradition with even more enhancements. Powered by the state-of-the-art Tesla G3 streaming platform, the ALTAIR G2.2 introduces several updates not seen in its predecessors, including the adoption of Direct Data Recording (DDR), Fusion DAC, and Galvanic Isolation, all aimed at elevating audio quality to new heights.
In addition to these advancements, the ALTAIR G2.2 now boasts an HDMI eARC input, further enriching its already impressive array of input channels. This addition ensures seamless integration with a wide range of audio sources, making the ALTAIR G2.2 the ultimate hub for audiophiles seeking uncompromising performance and versatility.
The manufacturer suggested retail price for the ALTAIR G2.2 is $6099 | €5999 | £5299. This highly anticipated product will be available starting May 2024 through AURALiC’s network of authorized global partners.
Lightning OS V10 – Ever Powerful Streaming
AURALiC’s celebrated Lightning Streaming platform commemorates its 10th anniversary with the much-anticipated release of version 10.0 firmware. This milestone update brings new features like PureDAC mode, Tone Mode to enhance sound sound quality.
Lightning OS V10 will be available through Over-The-Air updates for compatible products by the end of April, marking a significant leap forward in audio performance and functionality for AURALiC users worldwide.
Let me start with a disclosure. I have owned and used a PrimaLuna EVO 400 integrated amplifier for about a year now, and I think it is a very fine piece of equipment. It is the first all-valve (or tube, depending on your geography) amplifier I have owned since the 1990s and the sound it produces has a ‘rightness’ to it that I have come to enjoy very much daily. Thus, it was that I clamoured for an opportunity to hear and write about the PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube Phono Preamplifier when it was announced, and a few weeks ago, my wish was granted by the fine folk at Absolute Sounds, who distribute this family of products here in the UK. In my own system, I use a Gold Note PH10/PSU two-box phono stage.
PrimaLuna is a Dutch company, that celebrates its twentieth year in business in 2023. Founded by Herman van den Dungen, who had 30 years of high-end audio behind him – he had experience in design, manufacturing, export, import, retail, and after-sales service. He was committed to the notion of building a range of high-quality valve-based equipment and to this end, he was joined by Marcel Croese (formerly of Goldmund) and Dominique Chenet (formerly of Jadis), with significant input from the American valve guru Kevin Deal, to bring his plan to fruition. Mr Deal owns the retailer Upscale Audio in California and appears regularly on YouTube talking about the products that he represents, including PrimaLuna. His enthusiasm for the brand helped to shape my buying decision last year.
Line up
The current PrimaLuna product line-up includes integrated amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, power amplifiers, a digital-to-analogue converter and now a phono stage. All these are totally valve-driven designs. In 2021 the company announced its first hybrid integrated, the EVO 300, which has garnered rave reviews worldwide.
Although PrimaLuna has offered a solid-state moving magnet phono stage as an option on their amplifiers, the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier marks their first foray into a fully featured, standalone Moving Magnet and Moving Coil device. With twenty years of valve designs behind the brand, this new piece has hit the ground running.
Physically, it is unmistakably a PrimaLuna. Built on a heavy gauge, fully vented steel chassis with a five coat finish it looks like and has the heft of a high-end product, weighing it at 127kg. Just as with the amplifiers, the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier boasts point-to-point wiring, with ceramic tube sockets, Nichicon and DuRoch capacitors. There is a trademarked SoftStart circuit, designed to extend the life of sensitive components while reducing the chance of premature valve failure due to thermal shock. Another trade-marked technology in all PrimaLuna power transformers is the PTP (Power Transformer Protect) circuit. If this detects that, for any reason, a transformer should overheat, an internal thermal switch cuts in, allowing the unit to cool down before any harm is done. Once the unit has cooled down, if nothing has broken, the unit will power up again and continue to function properly. These details gave me the confidence to purchase my PrimaLuna amplifier and should also reassure those contemplating becoming a PrimaLuna customer.
The front of the unit offers, from the left, a rotary dial for selecting the loading for a Moving Coil cartridge, with stops for 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 Ohms, which should be sufficient for most modern cartridges. Next are a pair of soft touch buttons for selecting MM or MC, the central LED that glows red as the unit is warming up and changes to green when the unit is ready to play. To the right of the light is another pair of soft-touch buttons for muting and unmuting the unit. Finally there is another rotary knob which allows the user to select three different levels of gain, marked as low, medium and high. On the left-hand side of the chassis, at the front, is the on/off rocker switch and on the other side is the rocker switch to change between MM and MC mode.
The rear is very uncluttered. Looking from the left there is a ground peg with a knurled knob to grip securely the ground wire from the turntable. Next is a pair of gold-plated RCA sockets marked “input: and to the right of that another pair of RCA sockets marked “output”. Finally there is the IEC mains input socket. Compared with my phono stage, the PrimaLuna lacks the option of balanced XLR outputs and the provision for plugging in a second turntable, which might deter some potential buyers. As I only ever have one player in use at a time and my EVO 400 amp only accepts RCA inputs these have no negative impact on me, but potential purchasers need to make sure that the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier is suitable for their needs.
Tubes everywhere
In terms of the tubes deployed, there are 10 in total. There are two 5AR4s, two EL34s, four 12AX7s and two 6922. The latter two are specified as “low noise” which is a good thing as the 12AX7s handle the moving magnet inputs and the 6922 take care of moving coil duties. Power consumption in the 230VAC 60Hz world is 86Watts. For those of you in the 115VAC5oHz regions of the globe it is 77Watts.
In order to accommodate it in my venerable Quadraspire XL I had to reconfigure the rack with one shelf removed, in order to give the unit sufficient air around it when operating – valves do run hot!
I deployed it without the protective valve cover in place, as there are no animals or curious-fingered small people resident at Kelly Towers. Connection from the RCA output terminals was done with a pair of Audioquest Pegasus interconnects and the mains was supplied through a Shunyata Delta IEC cable. The turntable used for most of the review period was my own Linn Sondek LP12, which has been upgraded with Tangerine Audio hardware, and has a Linn Lingo4 power supply. It also sports a smart red Collaro mat. The arm is a Linn Akito and the cartridge fitted is a Dynavector XX2. Amplification was through my PrimaLuna EVO 400 integrated amplifier and the loudspeakers were my long-term favourites, Harbeth Compact 7 ESXDs.
I started by playing one of my current favourite albums, Dave Alvin’s Eleven Eleven which was reissued by YepRoc in 2021. The first track of side one is Harlan County Line, which will be familiar to anyone who watched the FX television series Justified much of which is set in Harlan County, Kentucky. Alvin has a wonderful baritone growl but also plays his Stratocaster as if his life depended on it, and has conjured up an amalgam of country, rock, folk and blues that to me epitomises the Americana approach so well. Through this all PrimaLuna system the sheer musicality of Alvin and his band absolutely shone through, with a sense of realism that my normal solid state phono stage hints at but here was an overwhelming experience. So enamoured was I that I played all four sides of the album before coming up for air.
My next two album choices were drawn from my expanding selection of jazz, much of it recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. First up came another firm favourite of mine, Paul Chambers Quartet’s Bass On Top (Blue Note Tone Poet BST-81569), recorded, as were an astonishing number of classic jazz albums, at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Hackensack New Jersey. Produced by Alfred Lion, the entire album was recorded in one day, which seems astonishing. The musicians were Paul Chambers on bass, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Hank Jones on piano and Art Taylor on drums and my goodness, what a fantastic shift they all put in that day. Although Paul Chambers was the instigator of the session (he used a day off from his primary gig, playing with Miles Davis), the other three were all at the peak of their powers. A sense of four fine players listening to each other and gaining energy and inspiration from their bandmates’ spectacular playing came through, with an almost three-dimensional soundstage.
You say ‘Patato’…
That selection inspired me to cue up another in the Blue Note Tone Poet series, this time it was Grant Green’s The Latin Bit (ST-84111), recorded five years later in the same studio. The guitarist was joined for this session by Johnny Acea on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, Willie Bobo on drums, Carlos ‘Patato’ Valdez on congas and Garvin Masseaux on chekere. The latter is, according to the sleeve notes, an African shaker. The music is infectiously rhythmical, the band plays with great panache, and the replay system makes them proud. It allows the listener to hear into every part of the recording without sacrificing the musical flow. Utterly enthralling from first note to last, this system was in its element with these old analogue recordings.
It was just as adept at replaying every other genre and generation of music that I put through its glowing grasp. Earlier this year I heard on Qobuz a new compilation album of contemporary country stars playing songs from the Rolling Stones almost infinite back catalogue, in tribute to the veteran British band’s 60th anniversary (yes, the same Rolling Stones about whom my appalled mother said, “They won’t last – dirty layabouts.” However, I digress.). I liked it enough from the streamed version to plonk down my credit card and procure the double vinyl version. The PrimaLuna team lapped it up and delivered a rocking, raw and irresistibly singalong rendition of some of my favourite Jagger-Richards works. Eric Church’s version of Gimme Shelter was one of many stand-out tracks. Any notion of valves being warm, cuddly, laid-back, understated – choose your own faint put-down adjective – were dispelled listening to this album.
Listening to a Japanese pressing of the Stones’ own album, originally released on the London label in the US, I switched the EVO 400 amplifier to its triode mode, which can suit some older recordings, the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier and LP12 team let me hear very clearly the difference between triode and what PrimaLuna calls UltraLinear. I think this mode suits some music, and I enjoyed hearing these early Stones recordings as they might have heard them on playback in the studio.
During the rest of the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier’s time on my rack I fed it an eclectic diet of musical genres, from choral, classical and solo piano, through the aforementioned jazz and rock and on into the world of electronica, and it never failed to draw me deep into the music. Pink Floyd’s Meddle always features in any analogue review playlist here, and from the menace of ‘One Of These Days’ to the ethereal otherworldliness of ‘Echoes’, I was simply pinned to my seat. This was music-making of a very high standard indeed.
Deeply impressed
If you have followed me this far you will have guessed that I was deeply impressed with the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier. PrimaLuna has delivered another mini-masterpiece. The timing is spot on, and everything that courses through its intricate collection of glass tubes arrives at the listener’s ear perfectly formed. It can handle the power of heavy metal in one instant and switch to solo acoustic guitar without a second thought.
Are there any downsides to living with valves? Well yes, there are. This system had 24 glass cylinders glowing in the semi-dark at the other end of the room, and even at that distance, the generated heat was not insignificant. Given that most of the review period was in one of the warmest Junes anyone in Devon can remember, it was a ‘shorts and tee-shirt’ dress code during extended listening sessions. And the listening sessions were usually extended because this system just made me want to play just one more track, or more usually, one more album. And where does all that heat come from? From electricity of course, and this system used a lot of it. However, if you can live with the running costs, a valve system like this will repay you by making you stay home and listen when you could have been out buying a beer or two at a fiver a pint.
The other thing one has to accept with a valve system is that it will from time to time need those valves to be replaced. However, this is not the scary proposition that one might fear. In general, the smaller pre-amp types valves should last a good 10,000 hours powered up usage and even the larger EL34s should give at least 3,000 hours of working life, which translates to a long time in most users’ typical listening. Real valve people (I am a neophyte in this somewhat arcane world) talk to each other about “tube-rolling” and I am sure such a person might be tempted to try a little rolling should the mood take them. I know that in their pre, power and integrated amplifiers PrimaLuna make this relatively easy, and it may be possible with the phono stage. I think those clever designers chose the EL34s for a reason, and I would be loath to mess up such an excellent sound with such an experiment.
What about solid-state?
For those of you who wonder whether the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier will work well with your solid-state amplifier, I would say this – why wouldn’t it? I own a Lyngdorf TDAI3400 integrated amplifier and before I parted with the EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier, I swapped it for the EVO 400 integrated to answer that question. The TDAI3400 converts an incoming analogue signal to digital as soon as it is received and yet when the music issued forth from the Harbeths it still had that valve sound to it and still thrilled me.
Only rarely does equipment come here for a review that I do not want to send home at the end of its visit. The PrimaLuna EVO 100 Phono Preamplifier wrote its name on that list, winning both my head and my heart with its glorious glowing presence on the rack and magnificent musical performance. It deserves a place on every aspiring audiophile’s list for an audition – it will take a remarkable phono stage at that price to get the better of it.
Family events kept me away from AXPONA 2023, which meant this was the first time I had visited the most important audio show in the US since 2019. A lot has changed… and changed for the better. Attendance was up, the attendees were a broader demographic spread, and a buzz was lacking five years ago. Similar trends are occurring in shows in Munich, Warsaw, and Bristol.
Another significant positive trend was in new product launches. Traditionally, new products are rare at AXPONA as the Munich High-End show follows just a few weeks later. But the market has changed radically over the last five years. While the need to show new products to the widest audience still holds, the advantage that Munich once held is falling away slightly. First, the pandemic prevented Asia-Pacific distributors and buyers from travelling worldwide. Now, with several no-fly zones between Asia and Europe, adding extra hours in the air all combine to make shows in the West less attractive.
Nevertheless, most new product launches remain set for May in Munich, meaning any report on AXPONA must combine a ‘best of’ approach covering what’s new and what sounded good. However, any survey of ten floors of hotel-room demonstrations and dozens of conference rooms and exhibition spaces makes complete coverage as impossible as it would be unwieldy. And any edited highlights of a show are going to miss out somewhere. But here is the first part of our ‘best in show’:
Amphion
Playback Distribution showed the Krypton3x floorstanding loudspeakers from Amphion ($24,000/pr), coupled with the F-02 integrated amplifier ($18,000) and N-01XD-SE network streamer ($22,000) from Esoteric. Replacing the crossover, tweeter and more in the original Krypton3, this was the Krypton3x’s first major US outing, following its introduction in Munich last year. This was connected using power conditioning and cabling from Esprit, and all sat on a Quadraspire SVT rack ($550/tier)
Audio Group Denmark
One of the show’s stars, the new Børresen Acoustics C1 stand-mount loudspeaker ($16,500/pair, incl. stands) from Audio Group Denmark, represents a new mid-point between the brand’s entry-level X-Series and more up-market M-Series. Floorstanders will likely join the C1 to bring the C-Series more in line with the other two designs. Pulling in trickle-down and trickle-up technology, and adding its innovations along the way, the diminutive two-way delivered surprising bass and speed. It was driven by the top of the new, more attainable Axxess integrated amps (the $11,500 Forté 3), a prototype of the Axxess power distributor, an unmarked Ansuz (Axxess?) PowerSwitch network switch, and Axxess cables.
Elsewhere, Illinois-based dealer Next Level Hi-Fi and Audio Group Denmark showcased the Forté 2 integrated amplifier ($5,500) fed by an Ansuz PowerSwitch A3 network switch ($4,000) and a Mainz8 A3 power distributor ($3,700) into Børresen X3 floorstanding loudspeakers ($11,000/pair).
Crystal Cable
To celebrate its 20th Anniversary, Crystal Cable announced Infinity, its limited-edition power cord. It uses nine coaxial conductors (three each for live, neutral, and earth) woven into a symmetrical matrix for geometric consistency and to eliminate any potential external interference. Just 200 sets of this luxury power cord will be made, using a braid of the company’s new infinite silver and silver-gold alloy strands and solid cores drawn from extremely pure silver.
In the same room was a sublime-sounding room built by the Luxury Audio Group. This was formerly known as Elite Marketing Dynamics, and concentrates on premium brands for premier-class customers. The system comprised a Vitus Audio SD-025 Mk II DAC ($30,000, fed by an Innuos Statement Next Gen server), SL-1203 Mk I preamplifier ($40,000), SM-103 Mk II mono amplifiers ($75,000/pair), Estelon Forza loudspeakers ($169,000/pair) in a sumptuous (yet hard to photograph) Violet Night finish, NEO HighEnd Quatron racks and feet (c.$50,000), Ekustik Parametric Wall (from $5,000) and Woody Wavy bass traps (from $650). The result was one of the best-looking and best-sounding rooms in the show. The larger rooms at the show are generally forward and glassy sounding. While this system didn’t overcompensate for that, it also made it more effortless than many, with good bass depth and control and a midrange that was as clear as well as projecting into the room.
Gryphon Audio Designs
Strictly speaking, Gryphon Audio Designs launched the PowerZone 3.10 power optimiser ($14,000) at AXPONA 2024, but this was also the first US public outing for the Diablo 333 integrated amplifier (£24,900) and the EOS5 floorstanding loudspeakers ($52,800 per pair). Add to that the outstanding Ethos CD player ($39,800), Rosso cables, and StandArt rack… and the result is an all-Gryphon system that sings sweetly. The indefatigable Rune Skov from Gryphon was on hand to demonstrate the system’s sound with and without the new PowerZone 3.10, and it was one of the most obvious A-B demonstrations at the show.
Innuos
Innuos was showing its excellent PULSAR network music player ($7,999) with a prototype I2S connection. This HDMI connection included an adjustment to make it hook up to any variation on the theme of I2S. The direct digital connection wired the PUSLAR – via an Innuos PHOENIXnet network switch ($4,349) and Transparent Cable HDMI – to a Lampizator Horizon DAC ($49,000), Soulution Audio’s 325 preamplifier ($28,225) and 511 stereo power amplifier ($41,975) into Rockport Technologies Atria II loudspeakers ($38,000/pair). The system sat on a TAOC CSR series rack ($1,999 per tier), with Transparent Cables throughout and a Stromtank SEQ-S power bank ($4,975).
Krell
Krell Industries showed its latest power amplifiers, the mighty KMA-i800 mono power amplifiers ($73,000 per pair). Arnold Martinez, Krell’s newly minted president, will take over the brand from the retiring Rondi D’Agostino. He had been so busy in the handover that he hadn’t had time to create a ‘cheat sheet’ of equipment in the room, but it comprised of a Bergmann Audio turntable feeding the Krell K-300p phono stage, and Synergistic Research Voodoo streamer feeding a Krell Vanguard Universal DAC. These fed into a Krell Illusion II preamplifier, all sitting on an original Stillpoints ESS rack. The electronics fed a pair of Magico A5 loudspeakers, and everything was connected to a host of Synergistic Research cables, a power conditioner and room tuning systems. The result sounded excellent.
Magico
Less of a launch and more of a teaser to what’s coming in Munich, Magico brought a single example of its new S5 floorstander ($74,500/pair) because Magico’s existing room was not large enough to cope with the full-range performance of this revised design. So, you’ll have to wait another few weeks to truly hear what a significantly larger cabinet and revised drivers can do.
In the next room, Magico was showing what its A5 ($26,000) floorstander and M-Rack ($34,500) can do when partnered with an Antipodes Oladra server ($30,000), dCS Rossini APEX Player ($32,800) and Clock ($10,850), a Pilium Audio Leonidas dual mono integrated amplifier ($39,000). I heard so much jazz at the show that I still break out in hives at the sound of plucked upright bass, but this room sounded worth the itching!
MoFi
Andrew Jones – now of MoFi Electronics – is one of a select few designers who doesn’t know how to make a wrong product. His latest design is the SourcePoint 888 floorstander ($4,999/pair). As the name suggests, this adds two eight-inch bass drivers to the coaxial eight-inch midrange and 1.25in tweeter design found in the stand-mount SourcePoint 8. Andrew has designed the short-throw bass units to have long-gapped, dual-opposing Neodymium magnets, sitting in a cleverly multi-chambered enclosure. Both crossover points and slopes have been carefully engineered, and the result – played through a HiFiRose RS150B streamer ($4,995) and RA180 integrated amplifier ($6,995).
Morel
One of the true joys of the show is Morel Hi-Fi‘s new Avyra 633 floorstanding loudspeaker, which is fun to sit in front of, with good and surprisingly deep bass. Driven by a Hegel H590 integrated amplifier and Nordost’s Tyr 2 cables, the Avrya 633 never embarrassed itself. At $2,000 for a pair, the most common statements uttered were “Surely you mean ‘each’?”, “Where did you hide the subwoofer?” and “But I’ve got fuses that cost more than these loudspeakers!” These great loudspeakers put a smile on everyone’s faces… except maybe the higher-priced competition!
Q Acoustics
Q Acoustics‘ new flagship loudspeaker is the 5050 tower ($1,999 per pair), distributed by Fidelity Imports. More details on this design are here. It’s seen here coupled with the Gold Note Valore 425 turntable ($2,199), the PH-1000 phono stage ($11,999), the IS-1000 integrated amp/streamer ($6,299), Gold Note’s matching rack, and cabling from QED and Titan Audio.
Soulution Audio
In one of many rooms run by distributor Axiss Audio, Swiss audio experts Soulution Audio revamped the brand’s ‘entry-level’ 300 Series. On demonstration were the 350 MM phono stage (16,500CHF, fed by a Transrotor turntable), the 360 DAC (18,500CHF, fed by an Innuos PULSAR streamer), 326 preamplifier (16,000CHF, replacing the popular 325), and 120W 312 power amplifier (20,500CHF, replacing the 312 power amplifier). A 331 integrated amplifier (25,000CHF, replacing the 330 integrated amp) was on show, too. These new amps trickle down the ultra-wide bandwidth performance of the 500 and 700 Series Soulution models, and now sport vastly improved switch-mode power supplies. The system powered a pair of Gauder Akustik Capello 100 floorstanding loudspeakers ($20,000/pair) and was played through Tara Labs cables.
There was a larger system featuring the flagship Gauder Akustik DARC 250 Mk II powered by Soulution’s 500 series electronics, but the room was always full to bursting whenever I tried to get in. That’s always a good sign.
Having not been to a US audio show for five years, I forgot a few things. I forgot how often you hear ‘St James’ Infirmary’, the acoustic version of ‘Hotel California’, and ‘Keith Don’t Go’. I also failed to remember just how dark most rooms are, and how photographing black audio products set against a black background in a darkened room is a ‘challenge’ without additional lighting or a tripod. But I also forgot how polite and friendly American show-goers can be: exhibitors and attendees.
The high-end audio industry collectively left CES in the middle of the 2010s with no immediate replacement in the US. AXPONA 2024 stepped up to the plate at last. It’s not without its challenges—it still needs to become more of a venue for international visitors and dealers, both foreign and domestic. But this year, the show has thrown down a gauntlet to its rivals.
April 9, 2024 – Balanced Audio Technology (BAT) introduces the VK-85Preamplifier and REX 300 Power Amplifier, fully balanced solid-state designs that also offer some of the finest sonic attributes typically found only in tube based circuitry. This is achieved through numerous in-house developed technologies, which continue to evolve, with the goal of bringing the end-user closer to the power of a live music experience.
The REX 300 is essentially a lower powered version of the highly regarded 500W/ch. REX 500; think about trickle-down technology at its finest. Not everyone needs so much power, thus part of the reasoning behind the REX 300 which outputs 200W/ch., all the while, using virtually all of the exceptional advanced circuitry found in its big brother.
Starting with a massive power supply, the REX 300 employs the same TWIN-Path (split power supply topology) found in the REX 500. These individual power paths allow the supply to deliver much greater current than traditional designs. This power supply design is further enhanced by BAT’s new “SuperPak Quattro” capacitor bank which provides four levels of power-supply filtration. This is achieved through the use of third-level premium silver foil/oil capacitors which are joined by an X-cap. The result is music’s textural beauty, tonal density and harmonic accuracy become far more evident. Also, since the best sounding fuse is no fuse at all, the REX 300 follows its big brother with a protection circuit that eliminates internal fuses, permitting it to handle higher currents without impeding the circuit’s operation.
REX 300 stands at the zenith of simplicity for modern high-power amplifier design thanks to an amplifier circuit that consists of just two gain blocks. As well, the output stage is based entirely on “N channel” MOSFET devices (as opposed to the traditional use complementary “N” and “P” channel devices where “P” are inherently slower and therefore inferior), allowing both sides of the waveform to be handled by identical devices in an identical circuit configuration, assuring symmetry of the resulting signal.
Finally, there is the “Intelligent Power Upgrade” where a REX 300 can be ordered as either a stereo amplifier or as a monoblock. BAT provides a transparent upgrade path that allows an owner of a stereo REX 300 to easily convert it to a monoblock configuration at any point. There’s no need to trade-in the amplifier to obtain more power. A simple conversion of a customer’s existing stereo REX 300 to a monoblock and the ordering of a second REX 300 monoblock to match. Technically, the stereo to monoblock conversion is accomplished by paralleling the inputs and outputs. What this means is that the sonic performance gets even better since the current delivery doubles, becoming more effortless, just like the sound of live music.
BAT REX-300 Power AmplifierSignificant Design Features:
= BAT’s new fourth-generation SuperPak topology which provides four levels of power-supply filtration
= Uses the same split power supply topology (TWIN-Path) found in the larger REX 500.
= “Fuse-less” protection circuit for enhanced sound and user-friendly operation.
= There are only two gain stages with Zero Global Feedback and the circuit is fully balanced from input to output.
= Amplifier circuit is based entirely on N-Channel MOSFET devices
= The REX 300 can be ordered as either a stereo amplifier or as a monoblock
= Power output in stereo configuration: 200W/ch @ 8 ohms and 400W/ch @ 4 ohms
= Frequency Response: 3Hz to 200kHz / Nominal Gain into 8Ω: 25dB
= Dimensions (w x h x d): 19″ x 6.5″ x 18″ / Weight: 70 lbs
The VK-85 Preamplifier is the result of a new design strategy that benefits from several improved in-house circuit technologies, including the aforementioned “SuperPak Quattro” and the “Second Generation Transformer Coupled Outputs”, as well as proven BAT circuits such as Unistage Design, High-Current N-Channel MOSFET Circuit and Shunt Volume Control.
The new “SuperPak Quattro” dramatically lowers the VK-85preamplifier’s overall noise floor while the new “Second Generation Transformer Coupled Outputs” results is a highly open and dynamic sound, free of both the sonic and longevity drawbacks common to capacitor coupled designs. While all BAT preamplifiers use transformer coupled outputs, what is used in the VK-85 is on a whole new level of premium output transformer design.
Unistage Design in a preamplifier serves the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the input signal. In the VK-85, this is achieved using only one gain stage – one free from the negative artifacts attributable to both extremes of modern preamplifier design: passive preamplifiers and multi-stage buffered active circuits. BAT’s trademarked Unistage circuit provides the ultimate simplicity of amplifying the incoming signal just once while using no global feedback to double-back on the integrity of that signal. This continues to be a hallmark of BAT’s purist approach to circuit topology.
The VK-85 circuit is based on High-Current N-Channel MOSFET devices where both sides of the waveform are handled by identical devices – in identical circuit configuration – assuring symmetry of the resulting signal, just as described for the REX 300. The highly accurate volume control employs a proprietary electronic shunt volume attenuator with 140 steps of 0.5dB resolution. This is accomplished using a single Vishay bulk foil resistor – the most precise and thermally stable resistor available – per phase; This is all that’s in the signal path. Discrete metal film resistors are used to bleed the unused signal to ground. The 140 steps give precise repeatable volume settings that sound continuous to the human ear.
Lastly, but of paramount importance for the VK-85 and REX 300 – and all prior BAT models over the past 30 years – is the reasoning behind using fully balanced circuits. BAT firmly believes that balanced is better because it simply provides a complete signal representation; Something very magical occurs when the limitations of a single-ended circuit with its half-signal processing is lifted from an audio component and replaced by a balanced circuit topology. Aside from the well established benefits of signal integrity for long interconnect cable runs there are other benefits to balanced circuitry: As a circuit becomes more symmetrical, the residual effect of the power supply becomes less intrusive – the demand on a power supply becomes less taxing – so it becomes easier to design a balanced circuit that conforms more closely to the engineering ideal. For added convenience and compatibility with source components the VK-85incorporates a mix of balanced and single-ended inputs and outputs.
BAT VK-85 PreamplifierSignificant Design Features:
= Fully balanced design circuit topology
= Revised power supply incorporates BAT’s new fourth-generation SuperPak topology
= Inputs: 3 XLRs and 2 RCAs / Outputs: “Main” 2 XLRs and “Tape Out” 1 RCA
= Proprietary electronic shunt volume attenuator with 140 steps of 0.5dB resolution
= Frequency Response: 2Hz to 200kHz / Maximum Gain: 20dB
= Dimensions (w x h x d): 19″ x 5.75″ x 15.5″ / Weight: 40 lbs
To summarize, the result of all of this aforementioned engineering excellence in the VK-85 preamplifier and REX-300 power amplifier is pure musicality, midrange clarity, perfect linearity, power and dynamics that have made Balanced Audio Technology one of the most respected brands in high-performance audio.
The BAT VK-85 Preamplifier will be available in Q2, 2024 with an MSRP of $12,500.00 USD
The BAT REX-300 Power Amplifier will be available in Q2, 2024 with an MSRP of $15,000.00 USD
Both new models will be on display at AXPONA 2024 – Suite 348, April 12 – 14.
23 March 2024 – “Lotus Hifi of London, in conjunction with distributors Boyer Audio, bring Wadax to the UK.
The superlative, state of the art range of Atlantis Reference digital equipment from Wadax, is now for the very first time, available through London High End dealer Lotus Hifi. In support and partnership, distribution for this and all future Wadax products will be managed by Boyer Audio.
Brandon Lauer, Director of Sales and Marketing for Wadax, writes:
“Boyer Audio have demonstrated a clear dedication to the best in high end audio, in the selection of curated brands as well as providing excellent customer service. Lotus Hifi continues this excellence with the capacity to create systems personalised for each individual and their musical ambitions. We are extremely excited to embark on this journey together to bring some of the finest products to the UK market as well as show you what is in store for the future of state-of-the-art music playback.”
The full suite of products from the remarkable level 4 Atlantis Reference digital suite are now on permanent demo at Lotus.”
The second annual Audio Show Deluxe took place this weekend. Whittlebury Hall, near Silverstone racetrack in the heart of England, has hosted several audio events in the last two decades. Few have been as friendly or well-organised as Audio Show Deluxe. It’s organised by Kris Sawicki (of North West Audio Show fame), and Stuart and Linette Smith (from Hi-Fi Pig).
Deliberately small, with just 26 rooms across two floors, the event lives up to the name ‘Deluxe’. The accent is on quality rather than quantity, with lectures, timed demonstrations, and even the occasional live event. The rooms are not great for audio, with large conference rooms or smaller square cubes, all with very high ceilings. However, the exhibitors often rose to the challenge, making good sounds throughout the hotel.
This is not a show for launches… yet. Nevertheless, there were new products on show. However, rather than our usual “what’s new?” show coverage, the event is curated enough to cover virtually everything…
Absolute Sounds
Absolute Sounds had three main rooms (with additional equipment in several others – most notably Innuos and the Wellbeing Strategist gong-bath relaxation room). Last year, the high-end distributor showed the Döhmann Helix One turntable, ably demonstrated by Mark Döhmann himself. This year, the Helix One Mk III was joined by the laser-guided Reed 5T tangential tracking arm and Analog Relax EX 500 cartridge. This was played through the HSE Masterline 7 phono stage, dCS and Innuos digital audio, Robert Koda, DarTZeel and Constellation Audio amplifiers and Magico loudspeakers, with Transparent Audio cables and Artesania Audio equipment supports.
Absolute Sounds also had a full dCS Vivaldi APEX stack (once again with an Innuos server) alongside a D’Agostino MxV Momentum Integrated amplifier and into a pair of Wilson Audio Sasha V loudspeakers, once again with Transparent Audio power and signal cables and Artesania Audio equipment supports.
It doesn’t have to be big to sound good. In the smallest of the Absolute Sounds rooms, a Thiele TT01/TA01 ZERO turntable and arm with an Analog Relax EX 300 cartridge, an EAT E-Glo 5 phono stage, a dCS Lina Network DAC, Trafomatic Rhapsody integrated amp, and a pair of DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96 speakers made great sound in a difficult room.
Airt Audio
Airt Audio’s demonstrations centred around its ‘LTNF’ ( Lowering The Noise Floor) concept, using Acustica Applicata room treatment and Entreq grounding on a small but sophisticated system featuring a Metronome/Kalista source, Waversa streaming and amplification, and Avalon Acoustics loudspeakers.
Auden Distribution
Auden Distribution had two rooms. The larger had a Merason DAC1 mkII processor with a Hegel Viking CD and P30A preamp and two Hegel H30A power amps, with EgglestonWorks Virginti floorstanders, Audiomica Silver Signature cables, and MusicWorks power and support systems.
Newcomer to the Auden Distribution line, Luphonic turntables from Germany include the clever H2 Sens. This features a magnetic puck that controls turntable speed. Flip it over, and it plays 33rpm!
In the second—and smaller—Auden Distribution room, Audiomica demonstrated the differences between its cables, using another Hegel Viking CD player into the Hegel H600 integrated amp. The loudspeakers were EgglestonWorks Oso.
Audio Group Denmark
The most expensive system at the show was Audio Group Denmark’s £1.5m combination of Aavik 880 series electronics, Børresen’s top loudspeaker, and Ansuz power, cable, and isolation systems.
Audio Note
Always making good sound, Audio Note showed its Field Coil E loudspeakers, which were shown in prototype form at last year’s show. These sounded great through an all-Audio Note system.
Black Rhodium
In a static display, Black Rhodium showed its Flamenco loudspeaker cables; the flagship of the line.
Blackwood
New to the UK but a fixture on the Warsaw Audio Show circuit, Blackwood makes an extremely fine-sounding active loudspeaker system in the Armani’s. The company came to the show looking for UK distribution, and judging by the performance, we look forward to hearing more about it.
Boyer Audio
Boyer Audio launched two new products from Kroma Atelier; the floorstanding Matilde and stand-mount Macbeth, both featuring PURIFI drive units. The rest of the system was no slouch, either, featuring a Brinkmann analogue and Wadax digital front-ends, Engström amplification, Shunyata Research’s cables and power distributors and Bassocontinuo stands. Judging by how long people stayed in this room, this was one of the stand-outs at the show.
Connected Fidelity
Connected Fidelity showed its prototype TT Hub turntable, complete with Sorane tonearm and Hana Umami Red cartridge. This was played through a Trichord phono stage, Moor Amps electronics and loudspeakers and Connected Fidelity’s range of power, cable and equipment isolation products.
Connecting Music
Distributor Connecting Music made a lovely sound centred around the Italian amplifier company MastersounD. Its Evolution 845 integrated amplifier was fed music by a Bricasti digital front end and played into a pair of Maxima Amator loudspeakers from fellow Vicenza resident Sonus Faber.
Cyrus Audio
Celebrating its 40th Anniversary, Cyrus Audio showed a very similar system to its Bristol Audio Show set-up, with the TTP turntable fronting a full XR system into Audio Physic Codex floorstanding loudspeakers.
Decent Audio
Decent Audio had a lot on show. It demonstrated a system featuring Audio Analogue electronics, van den Hul cables, and Raidho loudspeakers, but it also showed models from Ayre Acoustics, Advance Paris, Scansonic, and the first audio amplifiers from headphone amp experts SPL.
Electromod
Personal Audio was not strongly represented at Audio Show Deluxe, but Electromod showed off its newest brand: a Violectric/Niimbus headphone amplifier driving Dan Clark Audio’s new E3 headphones.
House of Linn
Manchester-based experts House of Linn were—perhaps understandably—playing a largely Linn-based system, comprising a Linn Klimax LP12 turntable and Klimax DSM/3 streaming preamp into the new Klimax Solo 800 power amps, but into a pair of ATC SCM100PSLT passive loudspeakers and an ATC C4 Sub Mk2. Melco and Innuos brought the streaming sounds while Puritan purified power.
Innuos
Innuos showed its Statement Next Gen server and Phoenix Net network switch in a remarkably revealing system comprising dCS Vivaldi APEX DAC and Upsampler, Audio Research Reference preamp and monoblocks, Wilson Benesch floorstanders and Infrasonic generator, the new Lateral Audio Stands Counterpoint equipment supports and Shunyata Research power and cable systems.
Karma AV
Karma AV showed music and movies can sit comfortably together with a demonstration featuring Primare multichannel electronics, Perlisten D15s loudspeakers and D215s subwoofers, and Inakustik cables. Norah Jones’s singing in Ronnie Scotts was as graceful as the atom bomb from Oppenheimer was jump-out-of-your-seat dynamic.
KEF
KEF rarely gets to show off its Muon flagship loudspeaker, but the shiny art-meets-science tower can still stun people with its performance, especially when fed by a top Innuos and Soulution system.
Lateral Audio Stands/Willowtree Audio
Lateral Audio Stands showed off its new Counterpoint flagship stand in a room shared with Willowtree Audio. The combination of Lector and CenGrand digital front end, Dayens amplification, JMR loudspeakers, and Lateral Audio Stands made a genuinely global and attainably priced system that sounded excellent.
Luxman/DALI
Luxman is a rare – but welcome – sight in a UK audio show. This complete analogue and digital electronics collection from the brand (comprising PD-191A turntable, E-250 phono stage, D-10X disc player and NT-07 network player, C-10X preamp and M-10X power amplifier was met with a pair of DALI Epikore 11 loudspeakers and a complete loom of Chord Company Sarum T cables.
In addition to the systems on show, Jonathan Billington from Music First Audio was on hand to answer questions about the company’s products. This was a departure from its usual demonstrations, but sometimes you just have to meet and greet!
Puritan Audio Laboratories
While several brands used the company’s products at the show (most notably House of Linn), Puritan Audio Labs was exhibiting but not demonstrating. Puritan’s range of power and star-earthing products is refreshingly engineering-led.
Reference Audio Distribution
Reference Audio Distribution covers Acoustic Solid turntables, Audia Flight electronics, Diapason loudspeakers, and Spirit Torino headphones. However, it also makes its line of Titan Audio power products and Titanic Audio cartridges. The company’s latest newcomer is the Titanic Audio Newton record clamp. It features a spring-loaded suspension system to apply just the right amount of downforce.
Stratton Acoustics/Vertere Acoustics
Playing in the awe-inspiring Vertere Acoustics room, Stratton Acoustics launched its second loudspeaker, the Element 12. Following the company’s Elypsis 1512, the Element 12 is a twin-reflex loaded two-way high-sensitivity stand-mount loudspeaker. It sports a 300mm mid/woofer and a 29mm soft dome tweeter in a substantial 57-litre bamboo ply enclosure.
Symmetry
For the second year, Mike Valentine of Chasing the Dragon Records gave fascinating lectures in the Symmetry room. His direct-cut LPs were replayed on a complete Brinkmann analogue, digital, and amplifier system. There was also a studio master tape, Sonus faber Stradivari loudspeakers, HRS stands, and a full Shunyata Research power and signal cable system.
Technics
Technics had a compact but surprisingly thorough room. This included the new Delta Sigma drive SL-1200GR2 turntable, an SA-C600 Network CD Receiver, and SB-C600 loudspeakers. There was also a SL-1210G and a pair of G700 Series products.
For almost half a century, English bassist, Jah Wobble, who was one of the founding members of post-punk band, Public Image Ltd (PiL), has been making music inspired by influences from all over the globe.
A brilliant new four-CD digipak compilation, Dark Luminosity – The 21st Century Collection (Cherry Red Records), shows just how diverse his output has been, taking in dub, jazz, folk, dark and cinematic compositions, ambient, film scores, world music, Asian sounds and spoken word.
It includes his work with his band The Invaders of the Heart, as well as collaborations with female vocalists Natacha Atlas, Liz Carter and Julie Campbell (alias LoneLady), North African-born duo MoMo (Music Of Moroccan Origin), electronic band Marconi Union and Shakatak’s Bill Sharpe, plus tracks he wrote and recorded during lockdown for the moody, late-night album Nocturne In The City and the more celebratory and ecstatic record, End of Lockdown Dub.
Image: Alex Hurst
The collection has been co-compiled by Wobble and he’s written the sleeve notes, which provide details of his recording techniques and some of the people he’s worked with.
hi-fi+ got him on the phone to talk about putting the compilation together and some of his influences and inspirations.
“I’m very lucky to be able to do my own sleeve notes and explain what I’m about to people,” he says. “So much time passes, you release stuff and you should say something. It’s genuine and I’m a very honest kind of guy.”
SH: This box set focus on your work in the 21st century – in 1999, you had a massive change in your life, when you and your family moved from the East End of London, where you were born and raised, to Stockport, up north. Why did you do that and how was it?
JW: It was like, ‘Oh my God – what am I doing?’ I had no idea, but we needed a bigger gaff. I’m sitting in my front room now and we’ve got a harp in here.
I run a label – the law is that no matter how much you plan with distributors, you’ll always end up with cardboard boxes in your hall.
We had to bite the bullet and go – it was a bit hairy where we were living too. You know London – you can be within two or three streets away of it getting heavy.
To be quite honest, you had a lot of people moving in because it was trendy – it was an ‘artists’ area.’ You’d hear these stats… ‘There are 45,000 artists…’
Oh, f*** off! Says who? And why are they artists? It all got a bit daft and it felt like it was time to go. It [Stockport] was also near to my wife’s mum and dad – active grandparents are very important.
I only had one active grandfather and he was a pisshead, God bless him. He loved me – he was great – but he was rough as f***. He’d give you a florin and a tangerine and a Bounty bar at Christmas.
You’ve been closely involved with putting the new CD collection together, haven’t you?
Yeah – John Reed started it. He really got it and understood it – we deliberately made it a bit left field. We left off a few tracks that would be considered potentially more populist. In essence, that’s where I was at the time, going into the 21st century, he says, grandly.
Was it hard to decide what to include and were there any nice surprises when you were going through all the music, or things you’d forgotten about?
There were loads, like the Alpha One Free album. There were a few albums that were pretty obscure and I was like, ‘Wow – I’d completely forgotten about that.’ Most importantly, I’d forgotten where I was at when I did it and how ecstatic I was. I worked upstairs in the loft at that point – half of it was a studio space. I used to work there until the early hours of the morning. It was very solitary and it was quite spooky – you could really feel a presence. It was probably the presence of my consciousness – it’s like a force looking over your shoulder.
You sometimes go to some dark places for your musical inspirations, don’t you, as well some lighter areas? The title of the compilation is Dark Luminosity…
Yeah – maybe it’s like those f***ing people who are in recovery. It’s like picking a stone up and seeing what lies underneath – shining a light on the darkness. As my mate Billy used to say, many years ago: ‘If you don’t go down to get the demons, they will come up and get you.’ That’s very much dark luminosity – dusk is a time in nature which is brooding. The night is about to start – a whole new shift of animals come on. It can be a very dangerous place if the darkness isn’t your friend. Darkness is a kind of friend to me in a way – I’ve always liked moving around the city, late at night.
There’s a real soundtrack feel to some of the tracks on the compilation…
There are lots of cinematic things – I did the Fureur soundtrack. I just knew at the time that it was special.
I really like the music you did with Marconi Union, which has that John Barry and Ennio Morricone feel, and the Nocturne In The City album, which you made during lockdown and is also very cinematic…
That’s right. I’m a big John Barry fan. I often do a stupid quiz on stage: ‘Where did the British composer of ‘Midnight Cowboy’ hail from?’ People never guess it’s York…
His dad was a cinema projectionist…
That’s it – that’s where he got his love of soundtracks from. I came to John Barry quite late and then I realised that what I was doing was cinematic. Doing film music comes with its own price – a lot of musicians don’t realise that. It’s as much a straitjacket as writing pop songs.
For me, what I’m writing for a lot of the time is a soundtrack to life – reality. There’s no difference to me because life is like a movie.
Image: Alex Hurst
If you look at it like old celluloid film being projected, the thing that interests me most is the bright, white light that shines through the celluloid onto the screen. That whole process – we are the light and we are the screen. The things we aren’t are the characters – the things we think we are, we’re not, in essence. Which would make a good case for the defence in court, I suppose…
Who would play you in the Jah Wobble biopic?
That’s the thing – it doesn’t matter. It’s the music that matters and I’ve very much gone that down path. I’ve stuck to my guns and it keeps everything simple.
I can remember, back in the day, when everybody was trying to get onto soundtracks – it’s easier to just f***ing relax, make the music and have faith in that and the long haul.
I was surprised by how eclectic the new collection is – you’ve done so much diverse stuff, including dub, ambient, cinematic music, jazz, world music, folk, spoken word… The box set is a treasure trove…
Yeah – it’s very varied. At the moment what sticks out for me is the solitary stuff – I was really on a bit of a solitary sort of trip for a lot of it. Having said that, lots of it is ensemble because I can never stay away from working with people for too long.
Some of the tracks that stand out for me are from the 2003 English Roots Music album – folk songs, like ‘Unquiet Grave’, which you did with The Invaders of the Heart and vocalist Liz Carter. How did that project come about?
It was very simple – if you like world music, you like folk and roots music. I’ve got Irish ancestry – I grew up listening to Irish folk and then I heard Scottish and English folk and thought, ‘Oh my God – why is English folk so prissy?’ It was like a parody of folk – Cecil Sharp and the whole Victorian attitude to folk music. It was almost like butterfly collecting, where you get it in the net, put chemicals in it and then put it under glass – it’s a dead thing now, well done…
Obviously, there were people like the Carthy family… I realised there was a scene and started taking an interest in it. I thought it would be nice to just make a simple little record, probably up north, and do some folk.
I was staying in Hartlepool and I met Liz Carter – we tended to do shows at a place called The Studio, so I stayed there and recorded a folk record. It was a fun and low budget recording – it’s a unique little record and it’s off-the-wall. It achieved what we wanted, which was to make rootsy, dubby and passionate versions of some of those ancient songs that were hundreds of years old.
I like the English Roots Band’s version of Dawn Penn’s reggae song, ‘No No No’, that’s on the collection – it’s a spacy dub. You’ve put your own stamp on it…
That’s right – it was a question of working with the musicians I had around me at the time, who were a bit folky and a bit jazzy. I also did a thing called Deep Space – a lot of people hated it, by the way. It was like Metal Box [the second PiL album] – probably more people hated it than loved it at the time.
When people hate something, you have to take it with a healthy amount of cynicism and a pinch of salt.
We took a lot of stick from traditional folk fans and because we weren’t doing more commercial world music things.
The box set shows that… You’re doing some Metal Box Rebuilt In Dub shows this year…
We’re doing Metal Box again. It came out in ’79 – I started to get a bit of a fascination with it again. I started playing a Fender Precision again and it got me back into those basslines and the unique sound of Fender.
With The Invaders, we’ve been doing numbers off Metal Box for a few years and I went out with Keith Levene [founding member of PiL] in 2012 and we did half a dozen shows. Keith was ill and sadly passed away.
I’ve been working with Jon Klein [Siouxsie and The Banshees] – if you want a post-punk guitarist, he’s your man. He’s a very talented guy – he’s very good technically and he’s very creative. We’ve also made an album and it’s coming out on Cleopatra in the fall, as they say in America. It’s called A Brief History of Now and it’s pretty commercial.
How was it revisiting and rebuilding Metal Box in dub?
It’s more than dub. There are a lot of strings on it. I love strings – the Philly Sound – they do the job.
Are you pleased with the new box set?
Very much – there’s some great attention to detail. They’ve used some of my artwork but for the front cover, I said, ‘Stick a photo of me on it.’
It’s you, wearing your Apple headphones…
I’m Apple’s f***ing bitch! That’s where I’m at – I’ve always got headphones on.
Dark Luminosity – The 21st Century Collection is out now on Cherry Red Records. It’s a four-CD digipak set.
On opening the distinctly plush packaging and extracting these attractively hewn devices, I was a little surprised to find that neither of Reiki Audio’s SuperSwitches resemble the examples that other audio manufacturers, and the world of networking, describe as a ‘switch’. All of the latter have multiple ports; some like the Innuos PhoenixNET only have four but the majority stick with the eight found on the commercial switches that they are usually based on. Reiki’s switches have a single input and an equal amount of outputs so they function more like a filter but are in fact network switches under the skin.
It has become apparent that using multiple network switches in a cascade has positive effects in a streaming audio system because each one reduces the high frequency noise that abounds on data networks, noise which inevitably infiltrates our streaming devices and makes its way into the audio signal. The best way to improve the sound of a streaming system is to reduce this noise by whatever means possible, some such as Network Acoustics do it with a passive filter while rather more – including Ansuz, Melco, and English Electric – have taken the switch route.
Eureka
Reiki founder Nigel Bell comes from an IT background and like many others doubted the benefit of using a network switch in a streaming system until he tried a cheap example and had an epiphany. He expected to hear nothing or nothing more than a subtle change but in his words “it simply wasn’t”. That was in 2019 when he was working on an equipment rack that not only sounded good but looked good enough to put in a living room, and this revelation forced a change of approach and resulted in the Reiki SuperSwitch range.
Nigel’s thinking is that an audio streaming switch does not need multiple ports. In many instances there is only a streamer in the system so all it needs is a feed from the network. So he takes a regular eight port switch and shields the unused ports to stop the EMI/RFI noise from getting inside the switch, then removes any indicator lights because of noise that they might create within the circuitry and because RFI gets into the casework via the holes around the lights. Hence the solid appearance of the Reiki casework.
There are two variants on the Reiki SuperSwitch, the Master and Servant. They look identical but the Master incorporates copper shielding and an RFI/EMI absorber within the aluminium casing whereas the Servant does not. The latter is designed for use close to the router and the Master close to the streamer. Both units do the same job of reducing the amount of noise on the Ethernet connection but the extra shielding and RFI/EMI absorber in the Master make it a more effective noise killer.
Power Supplies
The SuperSwitches are available with a basic 5V power supply at £649 for the Servant or £949 for the Master but Reiki make the Pro 5V linear power supply which sells for £849 on its own or £1,399 with a Servant and £1,699 with a Master. The ultimate Reiki package is what we are considering here, the SuperSwitch Master Pro and Servant Pro which comes in at £2,999 for the four boxes. As yet, Reiki do not offer its own Ethernet cable but it holds that plastic plugs are generally superior to the metal ones found on most high end cables because metal breaks the galvanic isolation that is incorporated in each switch.
Build quality is to a high standard with 3mm thick aluminium casework in an anodised black finish. Both Master and Servant look identical so there are labels on the base of each to indicate which is which. Connection between the Pro power supply and switch is with a 50cm braided cable that locks onto the PSU. The in/out indicators on the switch are laser cut into the casework next to each port but it should work either way round.
The presence of just two connections on the SuperSwitch means that those of us with music servers to include in the network have to use an output from the router to connect the server, with a second cable going to the SuperSwitch and thence to the streamer. Alternatively with servers that have a player output you could place the SuperSwitch between it and the streamer, but this would require that the server be on in order to play Qobuz, Tidal etc. I started by putting the SuperSwitch Master in the former arrangement with both SuperSwitch and Melco N10 server connected to an English Electric 8Switch (with Chord GroundARAY onboard) so that the SuperSwitch ended up close to my Lumin U2 Mini streamer. In this situation adding the Master brought openness, clarity, air and shine to ‘Babylon Sisters’ (Steely Dan). It clearly drops the noise floor and gets you a step closer to the music.
Profound Change
In a more conventional arrangement without the EE 8Switch and with both streamer and server connected to a Cisco 2960 switch, introducing the SuperSwitch brought about a more profound change with backgrounds becoming notably quieter and the sound being purer, more relaxed and with greater focus to the imaging. The latter took on a distinctly three dimensional character and nuances came out in the performance that were not clear without the Master in the network. Adding the SuperSwitch Servant to this arrangement also proved highly beneficial with a further increase in image solidity alongside a tremendous sense of presence, it felt like the vocalist was in the room. Going back to ‘Babylon Sisters’ revealed that timing too had become clearer and that it was easier to differentiate between the two guitars in the mix.
Introducing the SuperSwitch Master into a Qobuz stream made Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Too Long at the Fair’ even more beautiful thanks to enhanced dynamics, greater clarity and all round separation and transparency. Adding the Slave to this chain brought more intricacy to the sound, greater purity of voice and a better sense of involvement. It essentially does the same thing as the Master but to a lesser degree, which given that they are so similar is no surprise, what it does prove is that cascading switches works and works well. Introducing the EE 8Switch/GroundARAY into this same network had more of a darkening and calming effect while also enhancing timing which is a classic Chord Co/English Electric characteristic.
Opening Up
Approaching this the other way round with the 8Switch in circuit and adding the SuperSwitch Master brought about an opening up of the sound thanks to a more detailed and better timed presentation. Adding the Servant to this chain increased image width and relaxed the sound, which was a different result to that heard earlier but similar to adding the 8Switch to Master and Servant, wherein you go from two switches to three. Cascading clearly works.
I had one issue with the SuperSwitches however which is that, when sitting atop their accompanying power supplies, they aren’t heavy enough to offset the weight of the chunkier Ethernet cables, and can end up tipped back. I guess the thing would be to support the cables (not always easy with this type of cabling), or use the lighter cabling that typically comes with the non-metal RJ45 plugs found on unshielded cables, or simply to move the switch to the front of the PSU top. I was using the opposite which might have undermined results although all they need is for the shielding not to be connected at one end to maintain galvanic isolation.
What it says on the box
I also listened to the Reiki switches with an AURALiC ARIES G1 streamer and found that they are very good at unearthing quieter details in almost any piece of music, especially leading edges which are picked from instruments even when they are low in the mix. This was apparent on the cymbal in Arab Strap’s ‘Packs of Three’ and has the effect of making the tempo more clear. Adding just the SuperSwitch Master to the link between Cisco switch and a Melco N5 (USB out to iFi Pro iDSD Signature DAC) had the same effect of adding definition to leading edges which produced a tighter, more solid sound in which it was easier to hear details like effects on the vocal.
The build and finish on the Reiki SuperSwitches is impressive. I particularly like the way that the symbol is laser cut into the lid for instance, and more importantly they do what it says on the website. They reduce the amount of RF/EMI noise that gets from the network into the audio signal that comes out of your streamer or DAC, and that in turn means a more natural and engaging sound that makes you want to listen louder and longer.
Music servers should be universal, but when Melco Audio first re-emerged as an audio brand with its original N1, things didn’t quite go as planned. Although Melco’s debut HDD-based N1 was available in the USA from day one, a complication with SSD-technology libraries meant solid-state Melcos got off to a slower start. This is why when the Melco Audio N1-S38 server hit town recently, on this side of the pond, it was met with praise and interest, but in the Americas, the response was more “Who’s Melco?”
Melco was founded in 1975 by Makoto Maki. The Japanese brand first made turntables but looked to diversify. One of Melco’s first products outside of audio was a printer buffer, which helped give the subsidiary its name: Buffalo. Fast-forward to today, Buffalo makes a massive range of computer peripherals and has extensive expertise in computers, networks, and solid-state hard drives.
Melco never wholly shook off the love of music, though, and the Melco name reemerged in the 2010s. But no longer making turntables. With its background in music reproduction and an entire computer division to hand, Melco Audio was destined to become a maker of fine music servers.
Home team advantage
The music server was considered particularly important in the home market because—despite Japan’s technological reputation—personal computers are comparatively rare in Japanese homes. However, until recently, Japanese people mainly bought CDs and SACDs. That’s all starting to change, and the N1-S38 represents the pinnacle of server performance from Melco, so there’s some confluence.
The N1-S38 – and, in the broader context, all of Melco’s servers – are an extremely ambitious project. They are servers for those who don’t want a retasked computer doing the job. Instead, Melco has designed its music server from scratch. Granted, it uses parts and connections used in the computer industry. But where many servers are a Windows or Linux ‘box’ with server software running on top of that operating system, Melco made dedicated hardware to its exacting design. It can do that because… Buffalo. Melco can specially select 3.84TB SSD drives – choosing the quietest samples to keep vibration and RFI low – because it has a whole division dealing with SSD. It can access the best network connections and SFP ports for the same reasons.
As the name suggests, the N1-S38 is a reimagining of the original N1 flagship from Melco, with the S38 suffix to differentiate old from new; at least in stock control terms, they look almost entirely unlike one another. It also denotes using that internal 3.84TB SSD drive (enough for 6,000 albums). Everything about the N1 has changed; from the thicker aluminium chassis and elegant side-cheek look (with blue lights running down the sides, it’s slightly reminiscent of the current Marantz line, but with an up to 5mm thick case and machined-from-solid design, the Melco bows to no man).
Densely packed
Under the lid, there’s a more densely packed and thicker main board, the same time-proven CPU and more flash memory. While the primary screen and button layout remains the same, both are changed for the better. SFP is an exciting development for music servers, and while it has been done before, previous users were more ‘kludge’ than ‘integrated into the unit itself’. SFP is a fibre-based Gigabit Ethernet connection (1000BASE-T), which you can use for a fast (and more importantly, galvanically isolated) connection to the outside world. You can’t simply connect this to a 10/100BASE-T or RJ45 network connector; you need a router or hub with an SFP port. Fortunately, Melco has this covered with the S10 and S100/2 data switches.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
So, aside from the case, the display, the buttons, the hard drive and its data path, the system electronics, mainboard, memory, transformer, power regulation system, connectors, the addition of SFP, and provision for a clock… it’s the same as its predecessor!
In their early days, Melco’s servers were excellent at dealing with a local network but less good regarding streaming and Internet radio replay. That all changed (for the better) with the development of the Melco Music HD App, which helped integrate streaming services like Qubuz and Tidal into the Melco ecosystem. The Melco Audio product line is now pre-loaded with TwonkyMedia and MinimServer 2 software. Meanwhile, the metadata tag-editing tool SongKong offer additional features for those wanting to fine-tune a collection. Even Roon Readiness has come to Melco Audio now.
What hasn’t changed is Melco’s devotion to making music served or streamed by the N1-S38 sound as good as it gets. Or at least, as good as it gets this side of a Taiko or top Pink Faun, both of which make the £11,995 price tag of the N1-S38 read like a small change!
The sound is dynamic, expressive and lithe. It’s got authority and presence and plenty of detail. Music played through the Melco N1-S38 is a very impressive thing, not overly so, and I don’t mean that even the smallest voice is amplified and overblown. Instead, that track is presented like new. And, in the manner of a good server, it doesn’t matter where those tracks come from. It will perform good track husbandry to make them sound at their best.
Stacked out network
I stacked out the network with a range of storage, everything from a NAS drive through an older Melco N100 to the Innuos Statement and Naim Uniti Core, and a couple of USB drives thrown in for good measure. There were a few glitches, primarily caused by having the same ripped version of Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks on all of these devices at once, but the N1-S38 made ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ perfectly full of the angst of someone going through a breakup.
Tracks sounded best when stored on Melco’s SSD drive, giving them a snap and immediacy alongside the detail and authority. A rip of ‘Celestial Echo’ by Malia and Boris Blank [Convergence, Boutique] showed off everything the Melco Audio N1-S38 does well, placing her voice rock-solid in between the speakers, with almost perfect articulation (you can not only hear just how close the microphone is, but the mild compression used). This is backed by some powerful and deep synth work, which is spatially correct, very deep, and fast enough to sound natural.
Though considerably improved, I still maintain that the Melco App is behind the curve. While many will migrate to other ways of driving the Melco, this App needs to be as good as the hardware. But elsewhere, the N1-S38 is a product of exceptional sophistication, matched by outstanding sound quality.
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!
Truthfully, many of my prior feelings about Melco Audio’s products were based on previous generations of devices. They’ve come a long way in a few years. This is still a configurable and sophisticated server, meaning it’s perhaps not as immediately ‘out of the box’ ready as something like an Innuos Statement. However, the basic setup is just setting the date and time zine. The Melco Audio N1-S38 needs a little love to make it sing; it must be configured to your needs and system. But that’s OK… it’s worth it.
The Melco Audio N1-S38 is a music server. It comes from a family of music servers. But it’s also one that treats that music with the utmost respect. In previous iterations of the brand, that respect was primarily limited to music held in its hard drive or on the local network, the N1-S38 is equally adept at making the best of services like Tidal and Qobuz. It’s also one of the best-built servers in production right now. And most of all, it sounds the part, too.
Technical specifications
Music storage 1 × specially selected 3.84 TB SSD
Network connectivity
LAN Port-Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T)
Dedicated PLAYER port
Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T)
SFP Port (1000 mbps MAX)
USB connectivity
USB 2.0 port USB DAC-dedicated
USB 3.0 port USB DAC-dedicated USB 3.0 backup port
USB 3.0 expansion port
USB 3.0 front panel port for importing and DACs
USB player file support DSF, DFF, FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF and AAC
USB player sample rate support
16-32 bit (PCM) to 384 kHz:- auto downsample to suit connected DACs
Gapless PCM support
1 bit (DSD) to 11.3 MHz Quad DSD Markerless DSD support
DSD to 32 bit PCM conversion selectable Gapless DSD support
The Valve Amplification Company was founded in 1990 by Kevin Hayes and his father Channing Hayes. The company made its name producing the Marantz Classic series of amplifiers for Marantz Japan from 1996 to 1998 (Marantz Model 7 / 7C, Model 8B, Model 9). Based in Sarasota, Florida, VAC has carved a niche reputation as one of the world’s most innovative designers and producers of valve amplifiers. Hayes is one of those rare manufacturers who personally listens to and voices each product that leaves the factory and has a complete command of the workings and sounds of his products. In these days of being told by companies, “your call is important to us” Kevin Hayes means it!
Signature 200 iQ Power amplifiers
The Signature 200 iQ is available as a single stereo amplifier, rated at around 100w per channel, or it can be reconfigured by a toggle switch to a monoblock. Switches also reconfigure the circuits between fully balanced input-to-output or RCA single-ended input.
Developed over 17 years of research with many innovations over its predecessor, the VAC PHI200 features the VAC iQ Continuous Automatic Bias System, which holds the vacuum tube at the correct bias current. This will even shut down the amplifier before the fuse blows, such is its reaction speed. If I think about the time I’ve spent driving around the M25 to repair a valve amplifier that has been “taken out” by a faulty tube, that fast shutdown is useful!
Cathode self-bias output stages drift toward Class B (or beyond) with volume level, while “fixed bias” amplifiers shift toward greater idle current with increased volume. These changes in idle current shift the relationship between the anode characteristics of the tubes and the load line presented by the speakers/output transformer. This is a bit of ‘shifting sand’ foundation, but the iQ system results in a much firmer foundation.
Interestingly, many solid-state amplifiers are designed to do the exact opposite of this, deliberately shifting the bias point with volume level. They fail to be in Class A for unexpected transients and are not in the output device’s most linear operating region at low volume levels.
The 200 iQ’s use highly linear low-mu triodes in the input and driver stages, and the stages are direct-coupled, resulting in extended low frequencies and fast transient response. In balanced mode, these stages are fully balanced. A shield for heat and electrostatic forces is provided between the output tubes and the input/driver section, for greater tube life and improved sound. The 200 iQ amps come with KT88’s fitted, but the unit will work with KT90, KT99, KT120, KT150, and KT170. However, Hayes finds that using KT88’s yield lower distortion and better high-frequency bandwidth.
The ultra-linear output configuration uses proprietary 6.35kg, 21-section, bifilar wound output transformers. There are coupling connections for two, four, and eight-ohms loudspeakers.
VAC Master Preamplifier
The Master Preamp looks almost identical to the Signature Mk2a; it is a two-box affair, power supply and preamp box, illuminated with the blue VAC logo, which a toggle switch in the back can switch off. There are minor cosmetic differences such as the thicker fascia and machined feet. However, internally, the audio circuits are carried on mass loading plates decoupled from the chassis, significantly reducing the effect of vibration on the sound. The volume control is a massive, brass-cased affair made by ALPS, which VAC motorises for remote capability. The control weighs a few kilogrammes and accounts for about 20% of the line stage’s cost. Similarly, the Master includes 50 very expensive, exotic Z-foil resistors made by a firm in Texas.
On the front panel are two large, expensive-looking knobs, input and volume. There are four smaller knobs, which control power, mute, logo and cinema bypass. On the rear, there are high-quality single-ended as well as balanced inputs; five in total plus an optional phono-stage. The phono stage costs an additional £12,000. There is a good selection of impedances, and the MM and MC each have their pairs of RCAs, so it is possible to have both an MM and MC cartridge connected simultaneously and flick between them without pulling out any wires. The preamp has two pairs of XLR and RCA outputs, making bi-wiring relatively straightforward.
The preamp uses a pair of 6922 triode tubes for the zero-feedback line stage, which is more like a small Class A1 power Amplifier than a conventional preamp. Each fully-balanced channel has zero negative feedback and is coupled to the outside world via a 1:1 ratio input transformer and a step-down output transformer. The result is reasonable gain, low output impedance, with massive current capability. Transformer coupling and zero feedback prevent interactions between feedback loops in the power amplifier and the source components, allowing the sources to perform best.
Passive equalisation
The phono stage uses six 12AX7s and passive equalisation. Looking into the unit with the lid off, it is evident from the point-to-point wiring, those naked Z-foil resistors, rhodium jacks, oversize high-quality parts, and high contact force mechanical switches that much thought has gone into the topography of the wiring. The audio circuits are carried on isolated mass loading plates to resist external vibrations and increase the purity of the sound.
The layout and hand wiring are visually beautiful to behold, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this on exhibition at the Tate Modern! The units are lovingly finished in a thick black lacquer and come in a metallic finish. There is only a bespoke remote-control unit with mute and volume, no input control. Hayes has taken the long way around here, there are far cheaper ways to do volume control than using a motorised belt-driven ALPS HQ PRO, but none that sounds as good. One minor gripe with this was that the angle I could use the remote was limited, and how my system is set out involves a stretch!
Listening
Using some Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4s, a dCS Network Bridge with a Chord DAVE and M-Scaler, a PS20 power regenerator, Townshend Audio interconnects, and speaker cables, I gave the two monoblocs a few hundred hours of break-in time, observing how the sound was changing in the process.
First, Mahler’s 6th Symphony, Kirill Petrenko with the Berlin Philharmonic 96/24. From the pounding marching of the opening, the VAC combo can do guts, scale and incredible accuracy. Bass is thunderous, fast, powerful and very unlike the stereotype of valve amplification. There is an airiness to the soundstage, which gives the impression of this massive Mahler orchestra extending way back and precisely layering the different rows of instruments of the Berlin Philharmonic. There is a sweetness to the tone of the violins and the woodwinds, absolutely no harshness, just a mellowness you hear from great instruments in the flesh. Real depth to the string sound, palpable and weighty, without any smear or smudging. A remarkable combination of massively gripping sound, which is not at all fatiguing to listen to. It also does what marks a good system out from a great system: play a sixty-piece orchestra recorded relatively naturally in a Mahlerian climax. This is where less-than-stellar systems so frequently fail. When the climax occurs here, the VAC combo has immense control; nothing is sacrificed, no loss of detail, fast immediate transients, and no distortion, just a highly coherent reproduction of a huge orchestral climax!
One of the most pleasurable experiences of playing in an orchestra as a violinist is to watch a great work being stripped down to its component parts. For example, a Mozart Symphony is rehearsed in smaller groups of instruments. I remember this experience listening to the late Claudio Abbado conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Mozart’s Haffner Symphony. With the VAC combo, I can sit in the middle of the orchestra and follow the lines and textures of the individual instruments, I can hear the most minute detail illuminated in the score, how the sheer brilliance of Mozart’s orchestration becomes apparent. It is revelatory and exhilarating to experience. It is presenting vast quantities of detail, and texture and makes the experience of listening like performing.
Best of Breed
On to a spot of vinyl, Art Farmer’s “On the Road” and “Downwind”, it is clear that the phono stage is doing what the best of breed do, bustling in detail, etching the 3D space like CD can struggle with, the hi-hat sounding completely organic and non-brittle, a ‘phatness’ and generosity to the sound which sounds so like the master tape recordings I’ve heard. This £12,000 addition to the preamp is no afterthought and can compete with the best stand-alone affairs available.
The VAC offering here is reassuringly expensive: it is the investment you’d make if you take your music listening very seriously. It is state-of-the-art in terms of amplification and phono-wise, it is the fruit of infinite care and sheer obsession with excellent sound, and it is to be thoroughly recommended for those seeking the highest performance levels available today.
Technical specifications
Master Preamplifier
Type Line (with optional phono) tube preamplifier
Inputs 3 sets RCA line input, 2 sets balanced/RCA selectable inputs, 1 set balanced/RCA cinema bypass input, Optional 1 MM and 1 MC (or additional line input if phono is not fitted)
In 2016, Focal joined the headphone tsunami by introducing its Utopia and Elear models. I reviewed the original Utopia headphone for The Absolute Sound that same year, I concluded my review, “If you want to hear and feel just how good headphone listening can be, I invite you to give the Focal Utopia headphones serious consideration. They are a true reference component worthy of the finest system.”
Since then, Focal has expanded its over-ear headphone line to nine different models ranging from the Listen Professional to the newly revised Utopia. And while it would be easiest to refer to this new model as the Utopia II, on Focal’s website Focal refers to it as Utopia 2022, so that’s what we’ll call the latest iteration of Focal’s Utopia during this review.
Tech Tour
How has Focal improved what was already a superb headphone? Let us count the ways…the first and foremost change is the price. The Utopia 2022 are considerably more expensive than the original version. Much has changed to justify the price increase besides inflation and maintaining profit margins. The new voice coil is the most notable difference between the original Utopia and the 2022 version. Focal engineers developed a voice coil that uses copper and aluminium in an alloy that Focal claims “provides a rejuvenated sound signature that lends even greater neutrality, with powerful bass and more mellow treble.”
The Utopia 2022 still uses the same M-shaped Beryllium driver, but now the grills inside the earcups are also M-shaped. Like the original, the Focal Utopia 2022 has a frequency range from 5Hz to 50KHz, and the patented drivers have no active or passive equalisation or voicing to affect their native harmonic character.
The Utopia 2022’s yoke employs a new material – forged, recycled carbon. It has a unique texture and surface that departs from Utopia’s slicker finishes, such as the honeycomb grills and glossy black accents. Other premium details include the genuine leather headband and leather-covered perforated memory foam earpads.
Ergonomics
The predominant colour on the Focal Utopia 2022 is black. The enclosures are glossy black, the headband black leather, and the yoke mottled matt black. The only trace of colour is the red circle behind the flame at the rear of the enclosure. This differs from the first-generation Utopia, which had a chrome centre that contrasted with the rest of the unit. I think the 2022 version looks more stylish than the original colour scheme, but I’ve always liked the colour red.
Although the Utopia 2022 is not an especially light headphone, it is remarkably comfortable. The weight does not become fatiguing even after several hours of listening. I have a 7 1/8 sized head, which has proven a bit too small for some headphones without the addition of a baseball cap, but the Utopia 2022 doesn’t require the additional headgear to fit me perfectly. Those with larger heads will find the Utopia 2022 equally comfortable since the side pressure doesn’t change as the headband widens.
Headphones, by their very nature, take more physical abuse than any other audio component except perhaps portable players. The Utopia’s design and materials make it as indestructible as any headphone I’ve seen. There are no plastic parts to break or warp with age. During the review period, my fifteen-year-old cat managed to fall off my computer desk, taking the Utopia with her as she fell. Except for a few minor claw marks on the headband, neither the cat nor the Utopia were worse for wear after their frolic.
The only ergonomic failure in the Focal Utopia 2022 is the single-ended cable. While other headphone and cable manufacturers have come up with many excellent cable options which are pliable, lightweight, and ergonomically elegant, the cable supplied with the Utopia 2022 had none of these characteristics. It was stiff, which is odd since it was not especially large in diameter, yet it stubbornly retained the deformations incurred during packaging and shipment.
Given its price and premium positioning, I wasn’t surprised that the Utopia 2022 has a second cable configured for a balanced XLR connection. Although the Utopia 2022 is quite efficient, I’m sure that many prospective owners will want to use a balanced XLR connection because their headphone amplifiers have that option. Since the Utopia 2022 has Lemo connectors changing the cable was easy. I also liked that the balanced XLR cable is 3 meters (ten feet) long and far more pliable than the single-ended one.
Along with the standard big ol’ presentation box for your attic, the Utopia 2022 comes with an excellent form-fitting hard case for travel. It has just enough room for the Utopia 2022 and its two cables. But will anyone travel with the Utopia 2022? Given that the Utopia 2022 utilises an open capsule design so that whatever you’re hearing will also be heard by those in your near vicinity, it’s certainly less than ideal for aeroplanes, waiting rooms, or libraries than a closed capsule or in-ear monitor, which would deliver far more isolation. But it is a lovely travel case.
Sound
Some reference-level headphone reviews claim that their subjects can only achieve their full potential when driven by an equally expensive headphone amplifier. I did not find that true with the Focal Utopia 2022. I used a wide variety of headphone amplifiers with the Utopia 2022, including the Topping A90 Discrete, FiiO K9 PRO ESS, Sabaj A20H, Schiit Magnius, Brz Transformer headphone amplifier, Gold Note DS-10+, Inspire Dragon IHA-1, and Boulder 812. In every case, the Utopia 2022 sounded superb. My favourite combination was the Boulder 812/Utopia 2022 combination. This set-up had the most apparent dynamic drive and feeling of harmonic solidity, but even with the least expensive headphone amplifier, the Sabaj A20H, the Utopia 2022 had a level of detail, harmonic cohesion, intimacy, and involvement that was difficult to tear myself away from.
I spend much of my headphone-listening time with my Stax SR-407 electrostatic headphones driven by a Stax 007t or one-of-a-kind hand-wired custom-built tube headphone amplifier. Comparing the Utopia 2022 with my Stax rigs, the Utopia had greater dynamic range and more bass, especially low bass, energy. The Stax systems do a superb job of delineating the entire soundstage and upper frequency’s air. At the same time, the Utopia 2022 excelled at capturing the soundstage in a more controlled manner with less air but greater solidity to the image. At times the Stax can sound diaphanous. In comparison, the Utopia 2022 delivers the entire frequency range with superior solidity and harmonic equanimity.
The Utopia 2022 have an exemplary low bass response. The bass below 60 Hz is clean, tuneful, powerful, and rhythmically dynamic on well-recorded music. The Utopia 2022 can output too much of a good thing on some pop recordings where the bass has been boosted. The Utopia 2022 bass never got distorted or out of control, even on bass-heavy tracks like DJ Snake’s “Too Damned Low”, but it could get oppressive and fatiguing to the point where if a bass level control were available, I would have reduced the bass level somewhat.
One sonic parameter where the Focal Utopia 2022 excelled was its precision in delineating the soundstage. All instruments had a particularly convincing solidity and spatial presence, which while not unique, was pervasively obvious. The edges of each instrument’s space were delineated cleanly, with specific dimensionality. Several years back, I had the pleasure of recording a workshop at the Rockygrass Academy by Chris Thile, Chris Eldridge, and Gabe Witcher. It was recorded on a single stereo mic onto a 96/24 recorder. I often this use for reference, especially for headphones since when I made the recording, I was monitoring through headphones. Through the Focal Utopia 2022, I was transported back to the moments when the recording was made – all the spatial cues and three-dimensionality of the recording were effortlessly reproduced by the Utopia 2022. It was as if I were in a time machine.
Competition
When a headphone is priced in the ultra-premium category, it has a plethora of competition. And while the technologies, materials employed, and ergonomics vary from headphone to headphone, the one thing common to all headphones is the question, “How well do they fit?”
I have some wonderful-sounding headphones that I rarely use, except for sonic comparisons, because they fit me so poorly. The second-generation Abyss Diana is a case in point. I added additional padding to the underside of the headband, but it is still an awkward fit for me. These same headphones could be an excellent fit for you, however.
Fit is so individual that choosing the right headphone is even more personal and important than your sonic preferences. For my head and ears, the Utopia 2022 was perfect. It even stayed on my head when I shook it for five seconds vigorously. Very few comfortable headphones stay on for that test. The ones that do remain on my head are usually the ones that I can’t wear for long due to their excessive side pressure. But the Utopia 2022 has that rare combination of comfort and a secure fit.
The two other reference headphones that fit me almost as well as the Utopia 2022 are the Dan Clark Stealth and the Stax SR-407. I have to use a baseball cap with the Stealth for a perfect fit, but they are so light, and the side pressure is just enough so that’s easy to forget I’m wearing them. The Stax SR-407 are also lightweight, and the ear openings are just large enough so my ears fit comfortably inside. But if your ears are a bit larger, good luck.
Summary
I’d like to leave you with this – to find your ideal headphone, you will have to try them on and see if they are “the one” in terms of fit. In terms of sound, I seriously doubt you will find the Utopia 2022 wanting. But for me, and I suspect for you as well, the fit will be the primary determining factor in how much you will use and enjoy a reference pair of headphones after you purchase them. If you find the Focal Utopia 2022 as comfortable as I do, it may qualify as your lifetime reference-quality headphone. The Utopia 2022 is simply an outstanding component from a company with a long history of creating high-value, high-performance transducers. And, to quote my previous Utopia review, “They are a true reference component worthy of the finest system.”
Technical specifications
Type Circumaural, open-back headphones
Impedance 80 Ohms
Sensitivity 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz
THD < 0.2 % @ 1kHz / 100dB SPL
Frequency response 5Hz–50kHz
Speaker driver 1 40mm pure beryllium ‘M’-shaped dome
Cable provided 1 × 5ft cable (1.5m) with 1 × 1/8” (3.5mm) asymmetric TRS Jack connector and 2 × Lemo connectors
Cable provided 1 × 10ft cable (3m) with 1 × symmetrical 4-point XLR connector and 2 Lemo connectors
Adaptor provided 1 × Jack adapter, 1/8” (3.5mm) point socket – 1/4” (6.35mm) point plug
Dimensions (in supplied carry case) 25 × 24 × 12cm
When producers Don Reedman and Jeff Jarratt came up with the Classic Rock concept in 1978, they pioneered the idea of the orchestral rock and pop crossover – the project took songs by the likes of David Bowie, The Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones and, with the help of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), turned them into symphonic rock epics.
The original Classic Rock album became a multi-million seller – it went platinum – and now, 45 years later, it’s been reissued and remastered as Classic Rock Renaissance, but with some new songs, including versions of Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’, ‘Hello’ by Adele, Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’, ‘Human’ by Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Muse’s ‘Uprising.’
hi-fi+ spoke to Don Reedman to discover how he invented the Classic Rock concept and recorded the new tracks.
SH: Let’s talk about Classic Rock Renaissance, which features new songs from the likes of Coldplay, Adele, Snow Patrol, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Muse, as well as remastered versions of songs from the original album by David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, and more. How did you choose the new songs to fit alongside the original recordings?
DR: We actually started working on it five years ago, but they are all contemporary. They were songs that I felt worked symphonically for various reasons – the Muse song because of its energy and the big chorus, and ‘Hello’ by Adele has an amazing big chorus. It lends itself to a big, symphonic arrangement. That’s really the criteria of all the songs we choose – start with a great song and then go from there, use our imagination and the arranger’s, and see what we can come up with.
Do you think there are fewer classic songs around nowadays?
When we started the original Classic Rock, we had a couple of decades of great music – we ended up doing about nine albums. We used them all up, so it’s now harder to come by because we don’t have that depth to call on, but the material’s out there – one’s just got to keep one’s eyes, ears and imagination open.
You recorded the new songs at Abbey Road, didn’t you?
Yes – we’ve always recorded at Abbey Road. The main reason is that we want a consistency in sound. Abbey Road is not only important sonically, but it’s also the size of the studio – you have to be able to fit in 100 musicians at once.
With Classic Rock, we like to be able to record the whole orchestra in one performance. We always use Studio 1. We have remastered recordings on the album which are 30 or 40 years old, but, sonically, they still sound alike to what we did recently.
Abbey Road has an amazing range of valve microphones – the best in the world, but maybe Capitol in L.A. has a similar collection. There is a full-time engineer that just looks after the microphones. It’s all those subtleties that make Abbey Road number one. That’s why it’s so popular for symphonic recordings and movie soundtracks – it’s the most expensive studio in town, but it’s always full.
It’s 45 years since the first Classic Rock album came out, in 1978. How do you feel about that?
It feels like four-and-a-half years. Going back in there was just like we went back yesterday. Of course, the orchestra has changed – there are younger people and it’s not all the same faces, although some of them are.
Don Reedman standing with recording engineer John Kurlander
So, there are people in the orchestra who’ve played on every session?
Yeah – there are.
You first got the idea for Classic Rock in 1975, didn’t you? You saw the London Symphony Orchestra play Tchaikovsky at the Royal Albert Hall, and felt that you could combine the power of an orchestra with contemporary rock music…
That’s right – it was the ‘greatest hits’ of Tchaikovsky. It was the first time I’d seen a full symphony orchestra. I got the idea and then the title – Classic Rock. I thought if you got the rock music of the The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues, and transposed it for 60 to 100 musicians, you could create Classic Rock.
Up until that point, the popular music that had been orchestrated was elevator music – Mantovani and all that. All very nice, but it didn’t rock. I thought I could come up with something different and I could hear it in my head. It was different to anything that had been done, but we needed to choose the repertoire carefully.
So, in 1975, you had rock bands like Queen embracing orchestral music…
Exactly – when we were looking for great songs, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was number one in the charts, so it started from there. We also looked at ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’, which is very much Bach’s ‘Air on the G String.’ That’s where it started.
I can remember my parents buying the Classic Rock albums when they came out. Were they aimed at rock fans who didn’t buy classical music, or classical fans who didn’t buy rock?
It was probably a bit of both – most people’s music tastes are varied. I think the rock tracks like ‘Whole Lotta Love’, which was a bit of fun really… there are a lot of people who wouldn’t have known that song, but when they hear it symphonically, it appeals to their appetite – they discover it and it’s a new piece of music. But I think it appealed to a lot of people who weren’t into rock music – they heard the songs and they could relate to them.
When you first recorded a Classic Rock version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, you didn’t like it, did you? Why was that? I would have imagined the track would be ideal for a Classic Rock arrangement.
The orchestral arrangement by Andrew Pryce Jackman was great – he was a genius – but he didn’t score the rhythm section. I thought it was classic but it didn’t rock. We scrapped it and I sat down with Andrew and said, ‘This is what I want – it’s got to come in with a powerful rhythm section of bass, drums, guitar etc.’ He rescored it – we scrapped that session, but there was enough in it for me to know that the idea was going to work.
Didn’t it take a while for the music industry to understand the concept of Classic Rock?
Yeah. I started to shop it around to A & M and Polydor – all the major record companies. I’d paid for the recordings myself. They didn’t really get it – they just thought they were cover versions of pop songs. They couldn’t hear it as something saleable.
It was difficult to get anyone to take it on board and finance it, so what happened was that I was working for K-tel – I used to do their compilation albums. They never really invested in new recordings, but I had a deal where I was free to produce albums of original recordings of anyone I wanted to record.
When I played ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in the office, we had a new MD called Tony Johnson – he said, ‘What’s this? It’s fantastic.’ I told him the story and he said, ‘We’ve got to have it,’ so I ended up doing a deal with my own company, which was fine. I was pleased – it wasn’t a conflict and they ended up making a lot of money from it. We all did well – it was a win-win.
Artists including David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend and Justin Hayward have all liked the Classic Rock treatment you’ve given their songs, haven’t they?
That’s true. We had a great response from Justin Hayward. I can remember playing ‘Nights In White Satin’ to him – I was quite nervous, because I really wanted him to participate.
The original idea was to have the artist guesting on the record, but that turned out be very difficult, and contractually there were all sorts of problems.
Justin said he loved the version and that next to the original he said it was the best one he’d heard out of the 65 cover versions – I was really thrilled about that. He came in the studio and played guitar on the record – that’s when Paul McCartney came in and had a chat with him. He loved it – he was listening to it on the steps outside the studio. The LSO are one of his favourite orchestras.
Nowadays, we’re so used to seeing and hearing rock artists reimagining their songs for orchestras, but you started all that, didn’t you? When you did the first album, did you see it as a long-term project, or a one-off?
I viewed it in the same way an artist views their career. If you see [old] interviews with Mick Jagger or Paul McCartney and they’re asked how long it will last, they say, ‘Two or three years – we won’t be doing this when we’re 40.’ Mick’s hitting 80 and still doing it…
I viewed Classic Rock as being successful for the moment and then it took on a life of its own. It’s like a child that grows up – you’ve got to look after it and be a good parent.
Classic Rock Renaissance is out now on BMG. It’s available digitally or as a three-CD set.
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