When we reviewed the T3x network player (VU#59), we noticed that Lumin had discreetly removed its biggest hauler, the U1x, from its website. This June, the Hong Kong manufacturer returns with a surprise, as the new model takes the name of U2x!
While the T3x replaced the T3 in exactly the same range, Lumin seems to simplify the readability of its network transport catalog by calling them all U2. The range begins with the U2 mini, continues with the U2 and culminates with the U2x.
A true flagship, as we like to call the most ultimate manufacturer products today, this new pure transport retains the two-chassis architecture of the U1 & U1x. A separate power supply, almost identical to that of the recent X1, joins the main chassis in a secondary housing, machined from metal balls with aluminium separators. Two toroidal transformers are backed up by ultra-low-noise regulators, to deliver the purest possible current to the main device.
On this chassis made from aluminium solid billet, the brand remains faithful to its blue monochrome screen and still doesn’t subscribe to the HD (or even touch) screen, which mainly enable album covers to be displayed while listening, since everything else is much better managed from apps on smartphones and tablets. In addition to the classic digital connections (coax, BNC, AES/EBU, Toslink) and two USB Data inputs, a fully isolated USB port enables perfect output at the highest sampling rates to a DAC, and above all, the U2x integrates an SFP fiber port to provide network playback with minimized background noise.
On the streaming menu, we retain the exceptional module developed in 2022, now compatible with more control applications, including the recent Qobuz Connect. Supported files are, of course, up to PCM 768 kHz /32 bits (we hope you’ll be able to find some natively for the time being…) and DSD512. To control volume directly via the Lumin, Leedh Processing is of course also always integrated, and as proof of the very high quality of the transport, it incorporates a 10MHz input and two output clock ports, to further limit jitter thanks to an external clock if desired. A ground terminal is also available, to perfectly purify this part too.
As a flagship product, the U2x is priced at 10 950 € for Europe.
Although some brands are abandoning the compact format out of disenchantment with certain markets, the British continue to believe in it, as Cambridge proves today with the MXW70 power amplifier.
In a chassis with identical dimensions to those of the DACMAGIC 200 (399 €) and the MXN10 network player (399 €), the MXW70 power amplifier brings a breath of fresh air to loudspeakers thanks to a power output of 70 watts per channel at 8 ohms in class D, rising to 2 x 125 W at 4 ohms and 250 W at 8 ohms in bridged mode (for those wishing to use one amp per channel).
Priced higher than the more conventional AXA25 and AX135 chassis, the MXW70 is the only pure power amp in the British manufacturer’s range, and therefore has no volume control. For this, you need to connect it either to an analog preamplifier from another brand -since Cambridge doesn’t offer one-, or to a DAC with digital volume control, which is of course offered by the DACMAGIC 200, but also by competitors such as the Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer.
On the rear panel, the MXW70 features a small mains socket that doesn’t allow connection to an IEC power cord, deemed unnecessary since the amp uses a switching power supply (SMPS). The panel also features two pairs of speaker terminals for use with banana or fork-ended cables, and a pair of RCA and XLR inputs, the latter being the only way to switch the amp to mono (simply changed with a small switch next to the terminals).
Available from today, the Cambridge MXW70 is offered exclusively in Lunar Grey at a price of 599 €.
Leading manufacturer of optical phono cartridges, DS Audio presented a mono version of its entire range at the Munich show.
With a catalog of six cartridges ranging from the affordable DS E3 (1 200 €; optional Phono EQ at the same price) to the benchmark DS Audio Grand Master Extreme (20 000 €) with dedicated phono EQ Grand Master monoblocks (40 000 €), the Japanese manufacturer that appeared in 2013 is still one of the few to offer photoelectric conversion technology, which use light to pass through the diamond cantilever and read the information in the grooves of vinyl records.
In response to demand from customers unable to switch back to other technologies after testing the photo-detector products, all cartridges are now available in mono. From the first to the most sophisticated, they feature a machined solid brass base on which the suspension system has been redesigned to include only the lateral movements of the stylus, and remove components not needed for purely mono playback.
Sold at the same price as the stereo versions, the mono cells are compatible with all DS Audio phono preamps, as well as those of competitors capable of reading the signal from an optical cartridge.
Founded by Eji Kanda, who passed away in 2020, Mutech is now run by Akiko Ishiyama and continues to develop top-quality moving-coil phono cartridges.
In May at Munich, the Japanese brand presented a new MC cell, the RM-HAYATE, designed around a novel circuit that involves driving the coil in a magnetic field, created in a ring made of a proprietary “SS-M” material on which neodymium magnets are placed. A gold plating reinforces the structure of the magnetic circuit, enabling very high efficiency at very low impedance.
In a highly rigid chassis, the OFC copper coil picks up the signal from a stylus with a half-line contact pin, taking it to output pins also made of OFC copper, gold-plated using Hyakusiki’s specific technology. The frequency range covered is announced as 10 Hz to 45 kHz, for a cell weighing just 7.5 g, expected to sell in France for 4 900 €.
Now best known for its Planet spherical loudspeakers, the French Elipson has not forgotten its more traditional ranges, including the Prestige Facet series, which is now upgraded to version II.
Both aesthetically and technically redesigned, the Prestige Facet II range becomes more elegant thanks to a satin-finish front panel, still available in matte black or matte white finishes, the former also integrated into walnut cabinets. New internal reinforcements provide a more rigid structure and better driver control, while the feet at the bottom of the speaker have been redesigned to improve elegance, firmness and vibration control.
The crossovers have been redesigned with higher-quality components than those of the previous generation (polypropylene film capacitors, metal-film resistors, low DCR inductors), and claim to offer greater transparency and better register separation, while the internal cabling improves dynamics, also benefiting from higher-quality elements, in this case 2.25 mm2 OFC copper.
Divided into ten models, the Prestige Facet II range starts with the small, compact 6B (549 €/pair) and goes up to the large three-way five-driver 34F (3 299 €/pair), in addition to offering two center speakers 11C (349 €) and 14C (549 €), a 7SR surround speaker (499 €), an Atmos 6ATM (499 €) and a 14LCR wall-mounted speaker (469 €) that can be oriented both horizontally and vertically. With all these models, it’s hard not to find what you are looking for!
