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!
Better known for its sources, and now just as much a reference in digital as in analog, Scottish manufacturer Linn nonetheless boasts a complete range that also includes loudspeakers and amplifiers.
Regarding the latter, Linn struck hard in 2024 with a new Klimax Solo 800 mono block (400 W at 8 ohms), and returns this year with a new, lighter version (10.6 kg): the Klimax Solo 500. In a modernized aluminum chassis like that of the latest DSM streamers, the new blocks remain mono, but their height is greatly reduced (8.85 cm vs. 26.8 cm for the 800) to give the device a more compact and even more luxurious appearance. In fact, they are 3 cm higher than the previous, particularly slim (6 cm).
Now rated at 250 watts into 8 ohms (previously 290 W) and 500 W into 4 ohms in class AB, the Klimax Solo 500 can already meet the majority of needs and boasts an extremely low harmonic distortion rate of around 0.0004%. Its Utopik power supply provides the best possible current input, which is then monitored by an Adaptive Bias Control system, that ensures a device always responds at output exactly as the one or ones around it. The Hybrid Cooling Matrix system, for its part, uses FPGA to control the permanent temperature in the chassis, so that it is never disturbed by overheating that could disrupt sound response.
Available in silver or black, these blocks should be priced a little higher than their predecessors at 25 850 €.
In search of the unattainable, YG Acoustics unveils its new Gemini loudspeaker at Munich, the first in a new Ultimate series, even superior to the Reference series.
As Group CEO Matthew Webster explains (interview forthcoming), the Ultimate series was born of the idea of being able to design and manufacture a loudspeaker without limits, i.e. without having to restrict oneself in the use of technologies, analyses and materials.
Measuring 2.15 m (84.5’’) in height and weighing 455 kg (1 000 lbs) per unit, the Gemini appears after more than three years of research and development, integrated into an enormous triple-layer aluminum multi-part cabinet in which seven drivers are positioned in a perfectly symmetrical array. With its five-way construction, the Gemini uses the Reference range’s aluminum Latice tweeter, with two 15 cm (6″) Billetcore drivers for the upper midrange. This is followed by two 18.5 cm (7.25″) midrange drivers, driven by neodymium magnets.
The last pair of drivers returns to 26 cm (10.25“) Billetcore drivers to handle the mid-bass frequencies, this time via a ultra-high field strengh motor, identical to that of the 8th driver at the very bottom of the cabinet, a 32 cm (12.5”) devoted solely to bass. Naturally, all these speakers are perfectly matched per pair, as on the Reference Signature, and the crossovers have been specially designed and are totally separated in a box, to which more than five pairs of cables can be connected, in order to attack each channel separately.
Available in three versions, the Gemini can be purely passive, semi-active with an amplified subwoofer (version presented at Munich) or purely active (Live), amplified by 8 x 700W amplifiers then placed in a second box similar to that of the DSP-optimized crossovers. As for prices, we heard close to $800 000 at the presentation, enough to reach the heights!
Previewed to the press during a visit to Clearaudio headquarters, the Compass is Clearaudio’s new entry-level turntable.
With the new technologies of the recent Concept Signature (cf. VU#54 review), the German company has had to raise the price of its entry-level turntable. So, to stay within the 1 000 € price range, the brand headed by Robert Suchy has added a new model to its catalog.
Named Compass, this model retains Clearaudio’s visual signature and many of the brand’s referential elements, such as the acrylic platter, though thinner and therefore lighter than that of the Concept. The chassis, available in grey or black, is also simpler than the one of the top plate, but remains in MDF (Medium Density Fibeboard) with a steel bottom plate, designed to increase weight and rigidity. As always for the manufacturer, the rotation, available in 33 and 45 rpm (78 rpm remains the prerogative of higher-end models), is belt-driven.
As usual, the manufacturer has rethought the whole concept of its new turntable to accommodate a new arm and a new cell. Included in the package, the N1 is a moving magnet (MM) cartridge that sits beneath the Concept V2 and uses a new formwork, without compromising the quality of the materials. Launching very soon, the Clearaudio Compass will be priced at 1 290 €, with arm, cartridge and cover.
