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 €.
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.
