Founded in 2022 by engineer Audrius Balčiūnas, Silent Pound is now based in Kaunas, Lithuania, and continues to collaborate regularly with Kaunas University of Technology (KTU). The company currently offers two speaker models.
Challenger II
The Challenger II was introduced with a host of innovations, centered around a 3.5-way flat-panel enclosure. Two custom-designed 12-inch woofers are crossed over at two different frequencies to cover a slightly different frequency range starting at 30 Hz. Two 6-inch midrange drivers then take over, positioned around a 1-inch compression tweeter.
This model is available in black or white MDF or oak finishes, but can also be customized to match any interior using RAL colors. The rear-firing design allows the dipole woofers to better control sound waves in most rooms. They are priced at 27 999 € per pair in Europe and $34,999 in the United States.
Bloom
In 2024, the Bloom was added to the lineup, with its appearance reminiscent of a compact speaker to which the stand was directly attached during the cabinet’s design phase. And for good reason: the 8-mm-thick CNC-machined steel chassis runs the entire length of the speaker, leaving only the crossover visible at the top rear.
This time, the design is a pure three-way system, but with a significant innovation in the placement of the two woofers—still the same 12-inch (30 cm) models—which are positioned here in a dipole configuration, angled forward within the speaker cabinet. A coaxial driver completes the setup with an 8-inch midrange, at the center of which is a 1.4-inch compression tweeter.
With a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, the Bloom is also available in several finishes, with the feet reinforced in either oak or ash. All RAL colors are also available for the exterior cabinet, as well as Alcantara, though we do not know if this finish alters the model’s sound.
The price is $18,499 or 14 999 € per pair in Europe. And starting this fall, this model will also be available for listening in France, where the brand has announced it will be distributed by Ana Mighty Sound.
Ten years after releasing its first tube integrated amplifier, McIntosh is back with the MA2375.
Directly inspired by the iconic MC275 power amplifier, the MA2375 features the same KT88 tube push-pull circuit and four 12AT7 driver tubes and also delivers 75 watts per channel into loads ranging from 4 to 16 ohms. Its output tubes are protected by the proprietary Power Guard Screen Grid Sensor® (SGS) technology, designed to dynamically attenuate the signal so that the tubes always operate at a level that is safe for their physical properties.
Weighing 42.2 kilos (93 Ibs), this stunning piece of equipment retains the famous green logo and blue volume meters, visible on a front panel behind which the preamp tubes are housed. For this section, each channel features a 12AT7 triode paired with a 12AX7A. In this respect, the MA2375’s circuit design differs from the C8 preamp (4 x 12AX7A) and aligns more closely with the higher-end C2800 (3 x 12AX7A + 1 x 12AT7).
The connections are exclusively analog and numerous, including 2 pairs of XLR, 3 pairs of RCA, and even a 4th RCA phono input, configurable for either MM or MC cartridges. This phono input also allows you to adjust the gain, capacitance, or impedance to match the cartridge’s specifications as closely as possible. A pair of Sub Out ports and a single additional port enable the connection of two subwoofers.
Configurable with other devices from the brand—notably via its RS232 port—the MA2375 also offers customizable sound characteristics thanks to a 5-band equalizer, which can be easily adjusted using the front-panel knobs. Speaker cables are connected at the rear via the manufacturer’s high-quality Solid Cinch™ terminals. The MA2375 launches this summer at 19 500 €, a price that places it at the top of McIntosh’s integrated amplifier lineup.
A recent addition to the Asterion V2 (7 200 €) lineup, the Asterion V3 allows Slovak manufacturer Canor to offer a more affordable phono preamplifier—though it still features vacuum tubes.
Designed to handle signals from both MM and MC cartridges, the Asterion V3—like the V2—offers a wide range of capacitance settings for moving-magnet cartridges (50, 150, 270, 370, 520, 620, 740, 840 pF) and impedances for moving-coil (MC) cartridges (10, 20, 40, 80, 150, 300, 600, 1200 Ω) at gain levels maintained respectively at 46 dB (MM) and 70 dB (MC).
More compact thanks to its steel and aluminum chassis, the new preamp measures just 12.2 cm (4.7’’) in height and weighs 12 kilos (26 Ibs), compared to 17 cm (6.7’’) and 17 kilos (37 Ibs) for the larger model, with a different preamp circuit design: it has shifted from 8 6922EH tubes and 1 6CA4EH tube in the Asterion V2 to a more conventional four-stage system using 2 ECC83S tubes and 2 12AT7WC (or ECC81) tubes. And while it loses the XLR output in favor of a single pair of RCA, the Asterion V3 retains two pairs of RCA and one XLR input, the latter compatible only with MC cartridges. The RIAA curve, meanwhile, is corrected solely through passive means using polystyrene and polypropylene capacitors.
As always with Canor, special care is taken with the power supply, which in this case is based on a transformer with primary and secondary windings separated by copper foil. This is housed in a shielded chassis with 4-mm-thick walls, followed by a five-stage anode voltage filter. And like the brand’s other electronic components, the Asterion V3 uses patented CMT (CANOR PCB Milling Technology) circuit boards.
In addition to its front-panel LED display, another display shows the same information in the center of the control dial, in orange regardless of the chosen finish—gray or silver. A remote control is also included, specifically for adjusting impedance settings or using the subsonic filter, all for a price of 4 850 € including tax.
The change isn’t major, but it reassures us that, following continuous development of the new Diva Utopia connected line—recently expanded to include a third model, the Alta—the French manufacturer is still committed to its passive models.
On paper, almost nothing has changed for this new Scala Utopia Evo M, the entry-level model and—for now—the only one in the Utopia lineup to be updated, although we expect the three higher-end speakers to follow suit.
The weight therefore remains at 85 kilograms per unit, with dimensions of 124.7 by 39.3 by 67 cm. And this bass-reflex floorstanding speaker retains the 27 cm (10.6”) woofer with the proprietary “W” cone, though here it features a dual 16 cm (6.3”) ferrite magnet. But upon closer inspection, we see that not only is the fiberglass “W” midrange reinforced with a 13-cm (5.1’’) “M” profile, but also—and perhaps most significantly—the tweeter no longer features the beryllium that Focal has cherished since 2000.
Thanks to its new PRISM (Photon Refined Intelligent Structured Membrane) construction, this multilayered, microstructured diaphragm is said to be both even stiffer and lighter. The rationale behind its design likely also stems from the fact that, in some countries, beryllium was considered a hazardous material—even though its use in hi-fi diaphragms protected by a grille posed no such risk.
Despite its two new diaphragms, the Scala Utopia III Evo M retains both its already very wide frequency response (27 Hz – 40 kHz) and its sensitivity of 92 dB. However, its nominal impedance has been reduced from 8 to 6 Ω. The color options have changed slightly, from six to five, as chocolate brown, white, and gray have been replaced by “Off White” and “Warm Taupe” finishes. And one last piece of good news: the price remains unchanged, keeping these speakers at 40 000 € per pair.
First launched in 2012 and subsequently expanded into several models of varying quality, AudioQuest’s DragonFly portable DAC has since sold more than 300,000 units.
Today, the lineup is being streamlined to a single flying dragon, superior to all its predecessors, still featuring a minimum-phase, low-slope filter based on a 32-bit Sabre chip. Its Microchip microprocessor further reduces power consumption by 25%, which was already cut by a third on the Cobalt compared to the previous generation. What’s more, it claims to deliver twice as much power as previous versions!
This new DragonFly Copper retains the same dimensions as its predecessors (57 x 12 x 19 mm). But it’s more visually appealing, both because of its rounded design near the headphone jack and its striking copper finish. And while the dragonfly is mostly shown in red in the photos, it lights up to indicate the quality of the file being transferred, changing from green (44.1 kHz) to blue (48 kHz), yellow (88.2 kHz), and light blue (96 kHz). In any case, as soon as an MP3 is played, it is converted to 96 Hz/24-bit before the analog signal is sent to the headphones.
To ensure universal compatibility, the DragonFly Copper retains a USB-A port, but an adapter is included to connect it—especially now—via USB-C. It continues to use Gordon Rankin’s patented StreamLength® asynchronous USB transfer code to deliver the most accurate signal possible.
Its price point places it in the middle of the previous models, although it’s expected to outperform them all at 249 €. And if you want to further improve the signal’s smoothness, it can be paired with the JitterBug FMJ (69 €), which connects directly via USB-A and to which you can then attach the USB-A/USB-C adapter included in the package, if needed.
