Unveiled in Munich alongside a CD player (B1xCD) due to be released soon, Musical Fidelity’s B1xi is an integrated amplifier without a network module.
Tribute to the ‘90s versions, the B1xi returns to the concept of a class AB amplifier designed to handle sources via analog inputs, although it does add a digital card to directly integrate an internal DAC chip. As justification, and even though we didn’t ask for it, since we still fully understand this type of product, the British brand explains that all the budget not spent on Wi-Fi and Ethernet components allows for improved quality of analog components, while avoiding network interference and keeping the retail price down.
The amplifier section, built entirely from discrete components, delivers up to 60 W into 8 ohms and 100 W into 4 ohms peak, but this Class AB power creates much less distortion up to 50 W and 80 W (THD = 0.09%). The power supply is managed by a generous low-noise toroidal transformer, filtered by two large capacitors for the amplifier section and separated into two other sections to independently power the digital board and the preamplifier section.
As on previous models, the volume potentiometer sits in the center of the extruded aluminum front panel, next to the input selection buttons, four of which are asymmetrical analog inputs that can be integrated into RCA connectors on the rear panel, the latter supporting phono turntables with MM cartridges. The optical, coaxial, and HDMI eArc digital inputs allow playback of files up to PCM 192 kHz/24-bit, and although it is clearly stated that there is no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth is available on a 5.1 module.
The well-designed B1xi adds a 3.5 mm line input and a 6.35 mm headphone jack on the front panel, as well as a 5V USB-C output port on the rear panel to power a small streamer. This will keep hi-fi alive for a long time to come, with all the latest technology, at a reasonable price of 799 € (£699 / $879).
Quiet in recent years, the British brand Quad, founded in 1948 by Peter Walker, is returning to its origins with products in the style of the 60s. After recently presenting the new 33 preamp and 303 power amp, real homages to the former released in 1967, Quad is now releasing an integrated amp with a design close to that of the 22 preamp, released in the mid-50s.
Completely modernized, the Quad 3’s gray front panel features a large volume knob on the left and four large rotary knobs on the rest of the unit, which now also features an LCD display bar at the bottom (orange to match the brand’s identifiable colors). With an impressive 235 VA toroidal transformer and filter capacitors totaling 30 000 µF, the new integrated amplifier can power transistor amplification circuits to deliver 65 W per channel at 8 ohms and 100 W at 4 ohms.
As well as being able to adjust the balance or bass, the Quad 3 retains a technology developed by its creator 50 years ago. Called ‘Tilt’, this allows the overall sound balance to be adjusted on a 700 Hz axis to make it warmer or cooler, without the risk of overdeveloping one extreme and drying out the other. A full-featured device, it also has an MM phono input, two RCA line inputs and a Pre output, which can be used to drive a subwoofer.
Above all, this modern integrated is also digital, incorporating a Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC chip paired with pure Class A post-DAC filtering circuitry, which can be integrated not only in optical and coaxial, but also in USB to decode frequencies up to PCM 768 kHz/32-bit. An HDMI eArc port is also present, as is a Qualcomm 5.1 Bluetooth chip supporting aptX HD codecs for simple wireless transmission of 24-bit music files. In good English, the Quad also offers file upsampling, up to frequencies of 352.8 and 384 kHz, as well as MQA.
Pricing is not yet official in Euro, but as it is 1 249 £ in the UK, it should stay around 1 499 € for the rest of Europe, with a remote control!
The 40 PPA phono preamplifier is housed in the same size (220 x 88 x 365 mm) as the four units already presented by Cyrus in its new 40 series.
Compatible for reading MM and MC phono cartridges, the 40 PPA can manage four of them at the same time, to be connected only to RCA inputs, all linked to an independent ground. Each input can be adjusted for cartridge type (magnet or moving coil), and for MC can be adapted the gain in 5dB steps, the capacitance and the load impedance. The information is easy to read thanks to a 5-inch TFT screen on the front panel, which can also be operated by remote control, displaying all the above data as well as two left-right vu-meters for output level.
Already fitted with an ultra-low-noise power supply in the chassis, the 40 PPA can also be connected to the series PSU and can be associated to an amplifier via RCA and XLR outputs. Its internal circuitry is designed to be as silent as possible and to create as little interference as possible in the processing of the analogue signal, based on the RIAA curve. An RJ45 socket and USB port enable regular updates, which also limits product obsolescence.
Already available, the Cyrus 40 PPA retails for 2 499 €.
High-fidelity is now an international success story, but it’s not every day we get to tell you about a new Indian manufacturer, and today we are delighted to introduce you to EBI-Audio.
Created in 2015 by engineer Tariq Shafeeque, EBI-Audio was launched with the Hansdhwani vinyl turntable. To match it, the Carbon Classy arm was offered with or separately, and more recently an MC cartridge.
The first of the brand’s products to be imported by The Vinyl Access (distributor for all Europe), the Khumar is a low-level cartridge with very low impedance, ideal for connection to phono preamps capable of offering signal processing below 20 Ω. Handcrafted in a black ebony shell, it uses a 0.28 mm boron cantilever on which is placed a NUDE shibata III diamond imported from Japan.
Weighing just 8.8 g and with a compliance of 15 μm/mN, the Khumar is easy to use and adaptable to most arms, even if this Indian cartridge comes in a price range that proves its elitist approach, as it is sold in Europe at 2 300 € incl. VAT. We will be listening soon to tell you more!
For the first time in 12 years, British manufacturer Avid is presenting a new turntable. Positioned between the Ingenium Plug&Play and the more massive Acutus Dark Iron, the Relveo uses the principles of the latter in a more compact version.
On three legs, a subchassis cast from large-grain aluminium is decoupled from a main chassis in a structure thought through at length by the company’s CEO, Conrad Mas, to optimise stability and suspension perfectly. The solid aluminium platter weighing 7.0 kg helps to limit vibrations, its rotation being managed by a double-belt system thanks to a motor connected to an external power supply, with a DSP to optimise speeds of 33 or 45 rpm.
Presented to mark the brand’s 30th anniversary, the Relveo draws on all the company’s expertise and can be combined as standard with the Altus V2 arm, featuring micrometric tolerance bearings and a double-adjustable polarisation compensation system. The new turntable is priced at 8 995 € ($10 995 ; £6 900) with the arm (without cell), and 7 495 € ($8 995; £5 500) without the arm, with an adaptor to also use other brands’ products.
