A notable Canadian high-end hi-fi company, EMM Labs is now better identified in some markets by its more affordable second brand, Meitner. Nevertheless, it continues to offer top-quality electronics, and this year proves that it too still believes in the CD format.
To its catalog of seven products – including two DA2i and DV2i DACs and a phono preamp dedicated to DS Audio- EMM Labs has added a pure CD transport. Named TXi Transport, it comes as a double surprise, proving that the brand still believes in this medium in the very high-end market, but offering to read only the CD format (44.1 kHz/16 bit) and therefore not SACD, even though one of the principal engineers in the development of this medium (and therefore of the 1-bit DSD digital format) is none other than Ed Meitner.
Dedicated to afficionados of the CD object, the TXi Transport is above all intended for EMM Labs customers in possession of one of the brand’s digital-to-analog converters. This is because, on the rear panel, there is only one connection to a DAC: the EMM Optilink, which sends a signal that is then resynchronized by the converters’ clocks. On the other side, there is only an RS232 socket for communicating with the brand’s other devices, and of course a mains socket, which supplies a current that is then carefully filtered by a power supply with a specific architecture, designed to reduce resonance and ripple noise.
Taken over from an unspecified OEM manufacturer, the playback mechanism has been totally reworked by EMM Labs and placed on a suspension system to drastically limit its reaction to vibrations. The ultra-rigid CNC-machined aluminum chassis brings the total weight of the device to 15 kg. Pricing is currently only available in US dollars: $12 500.
Now boasting a wide-ranging catalog, even in the hi-fi department, sometimes with products only slightly modified from those in the pro range (the excellent Phonitor xe headphone amp, for example), German manufacturer SPL has added the Phonos duo to its range of phono preamplifiers.
Still obviously in a compact chassis, in this case of the same dimensions as the Phonos, the Phonos duo adds a pair of balanced XLR inputs and outputs in addition to the RCA pairs, the only ones available on the Phonos. Otherwise, it offers the same parameters as its little brother, nut always better. Gain is now selectable as high, mid or low, and ground is now equipped with a small “Ground Lift” button that can be used to cancel noise by modifying isolation, in addition to the ground terminal, which is obviously still present.
The internal circuitry doesn’t appear to have undergone any major changes, with RIAA equalization still based on a design created by Douglas Self. As for the power supply, it retains the highly effective proprietary VOLTAiR technology, which converts the internal current to 120 V, at + or – 60 V. A subsonic filter is activated by a small switch, but this is marked “Rumble” rather than “Subsonic” on the Phonos.
Capacitance options for MM cartridges increase from 3 to 6 on the Phonos duo (from 12 pF to 330 pF), while impedance choices remain at 6 variables, but much lower and therefore more suited to high-end cells. Where the Phonos offers from 100 Ω to 10 kΩ via 4 kΩ, the Phonos duo holds steady from 20 Ω to 1 kΩ, much more in correlation with cartridges used by XLR connection enthusiasts.
As for the price, it rises from 1 999 € for the Phonos to 2 999 € for the Phonos duo.
Previewed at the Munich High-End (see our report), the AT-VMx cartridges feature a double vertical moving magnet design.
With double moving magnets placed between coils, these cells are still considered MM and therefore usable with all phono preamps with 47 kΩ input impedance. With a separate left-right design in a 90° V-shaped structure that seeks to follow that of the engraving head used to create vinyl masters, these new cells are screwable from the top without nuts and are compatible with almost all arms and cell holders on the market.
Nine for their launch, the AT-VMx cells cover a wide price range, starting with the AT-VM510xC (light blue; 119 €), like all the others already designed around pure PCUHD® (Pure Copper Ultra High Drawability) coils, but with a round-section conical diamond bonded in a metal joint to the cantilever. The AT-VM520xEB version (dark blue; 129 €) acquires a rounded elliptical diamond, still bonded to an aluminium cantilever, while the AT-VM530xEN (orange, 219 €) incorporates a full elliptical pure diamond.
You have to go upmarket again with the AT-VM740xML (red; 269 €) to acquire a microlinear diamond, then to the AT-VM745xML (burgundy; 339 €) to find a solid boron cantiler, 2.5 times faster at passing information than the aluminium tube. The AT-VM750xSH (brown; 369 €) features a Shibata diamond, followed by the AT-VM760xSL (black; 629 €) with a Special Line Contact diamond. Two mono versions complete the range, the AT-VM610xMONO (light blue; 129 €) and the AT-VM670xSP (grey; 149 €), bearing in mind that for all stereo cartridges, the heads are interchangeable and allow you to start by investing in an entry-level model, then modify only the lower part with the diamond and cantilever to improve your system.
It will be difficult for us to try out these products before the summer holidays, but we will do our best to produce a test for the September or November magazines, comparing several versions!
Presented at Munich, the GRAVITON Ti tone arm is the latest addition to Wilson Benesch’s GMT analog collection, and an evolution of the articulated arm supplied with the GMT One System turntable, launched in 2023. This new arm has been developed above all to be compatible with the Döhmann Helix One Mk3 turntable.
A true piece of engineering, the GRAVITON Ti is the fruit of collaboration between the brand, the FEMTO Institute (France) and Sheffield Hallam University (UK). It consists of a one-piece moulded carbon fiber tube reinforced by an epoxy and graphene matrix. Its distinctive design incorporates a quadruple helix construction and a Rohacell sandwich core. The latter gives it considerable rigidity and damping, with the aim of guaranteeing the most faithful possible transcription of the musical signal, without the slightest coloration.
Introduced in 1989 by Wilson Benesch, the use of advanced composites came with the development of the A.C.T. One reading arm. Subsequent research carried out as part of the European SSUCHY project confirmed the original design principles of this tone arm, including hyperbolic geometry for material efficiency and strength, 0/90° fiber orientation for maximum torsional rigidity and energy dissipation, and monolithic construction to eliminate the reflective energy boundaries inevitable when multiple parts are used. All this heritage forms the backbone of the GRAVITON Ti tone arm, refined today using state-of-the-art tools.
The arm’s counterweight and pivot structures are made from selective laser sintered (SLS) titanium, developed in collaboration with Dr James Hunt (University of Sheffield), the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Renishaw PLC and Professor Morvan Ouise (Institut FEMTO). Inspired by the natural lattice geometries present in the human anatomy, Wilson Benesch used generative design tools to create tessellated titanium internal structures, in order to maximize stiffness while minimizing weight and offering exceptional damping thanks to the vibrational energy absorbed by titanium.
In addition, the company has adapted the STAGE One over-arm design, originally developed for the GMT One System turntable, for seamless integration on the GRAVITON TI and matching with the Döhmann Helix One Mk3 turntable. The STAGE One allows the arm wire to be terminated in a shielded copper structure less than an inch from the end. The benefit of this design is to minimize exposure of the unshielded signal path to radio frequency interference (RFI) by ensuring its protection at its most vulnerable point. Available to order now, the GRAVITON Ti will not be delivered until the fourth quarter of 2025, at a selling price commensurate with its exclusivity: 39 500 € (£30 000 / $45 000) in matt titanium finish.
Two years after its EC Mini CD player and a year after the launch of its R2R EH2 DAC, Chinese company Shanling combines the two in a portable EC Zero T CD player.
In a very compact format (158 x 150 x 28 mm), this little player uses 192 resistors to decode the digital CD signal into analog. It then combines the possibility of oversampling or not this signal, to outputs managed by two JAN6418 tubes or to a headphone amp derived from a TPA6120 module.
A full-featured unit, the EC Zero T offers unbalanced 3.5 mm and balanced 4.4 mm headphone outputs. And while it is first and foremost designed to play CDs, with the technologies of the best portable players of the time such as an anti-shake function to prevent clipping when listening to the device while moving it, it also provides everything you could expect from a modern product. Surprisingly, its DAC can decode PCM files up to 768 kHz/32 bits and DSD512, while its Bluetooth chip is one of the most recent, version 5.3.
Two USC C sockets allow integration of a computer, streamer or external drive, while the other recharges the player. A 3.5 mm socket provides digital output to another DAC, near two 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm analog sockets. A small 1.68″ color screen displays information on the top of the device, right next to a few buttons and a battery charge level indicator, usable for up to 8 h in CD playback mode and 20 h in Bluetooth.
Given the decoding technology chosen and the ability to play at the highest sampling rates currently possible, on which has just been added the ripper function for burning CDs, we are curious to hear what this little player is capable of. The European price of the EC Zero T is 589 €.
