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.
As a long-standing partner of the Paris Opera, Devialet is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Palais Garnier with a limited edition Mania.
No technical changes have been announced compared to the classic Mania. Presented to the press in the brand’s showroom at the entrance of the opera house, the 150th Anniversary Limited Edition retains Active Stereo Calibration (ASC) technology, with 4 microphones to detect the position of the portable speaker in its environment. It also incorporates two full-range aluminium loudspeakers for stereo reproduction in a crossover architecture, as well as bass managed by two small woofers and a patented SAM treatment.
With 10 hours of autonomy, you can listen to the mobile speaker either via WiFi with the DOS platform (Devialet), or via the Alexa voice assistant (Amazon), AirPlay (Apple), Bluetooth 5.0 or Spotify Connect. Even bigger than in the “Paris Opera” version (990 €), the Opera logo is featured in the centre of the Mania Garnier and stands out above all for its gilding and its purple colour, which evokes the interior and more particularly the seats and curtains of the place, and is also found on the velvet Cocoon.
Produced in a limited edition of 150 pieces, this Mania is priced at 1 800 € (£1,600; $2,400), double the price of the classic version (890 €), justified by the limited nature of the object, which also includes the Cocoon, otherwise at 99 €.
In a chassis which is the same size as the CD Box S3 and Tuner Box S3, Pro-Ject releases the Uni Box S3 all-in-one.
An integrated amplifier with Class D power of 23 watts per channel at 8 ohms or 40 watts at 4 ohms, the new device uses a Texas Instruments TPA3221DDV amplifier chip, combined with a Cirrus Logic CS4344 digital-to-analog conversion chip capable of decoding files up to PCM 192 kHz/24 bits. Headphones can be connected to the front panel via a 6.35mm jack, and a pair of speakers can be connected via the rear terminals, alongside which are an RCA variable output and three analog RCA unbalanced inputs, the first of which is also MM phono.
The DAC can be integrated directly via optical Toslink (x 2), coaxial or HDMI eArc digital inputs, but can also be used to support dematerialized files via a Bluetooth connection and a wifi streaming module under WiiM OS functionality, with which the WiiM App is obviously compatible. Spotify, Qobuz, Amazon or Tidal Connect are available, so you can enjoy all music services in addition to a turntable or TV sound, all with the Uni Box S3 at the center of the system. Price : 800 €.
After the Diva Utopia presented at the end of 2024, Focal persists in luxury connected loudspeakers with the Diva Mezza Utopia.
Based on the same principles as the first speaker, whose new dresses have just been discovered after six months, the Mezza is boosted by several amplifiers developed with Naim to achieve 500 watts of power per speaker. Its ultra-wideband technology enables the primary speaker to communicate with the other without connection, as long as the music files are up to 96 kHz / 24 bit. To upgrade to Hi-Res files at 192 kHz / 24 bits, you have to connect the Mezze speakers to each other via a cable, and plug them into the mains to operate them, as they have no batteries. Also from Naim, Intelligent Dynamics Clocking controls the clocks to ensure perfect synchronization, while ADAPT, for Adaptative Acoustic Personal Tuning, comes from Focal and enables the Mezza to adapt to room acoustics and listener preferences.
Connected and active like the Diva Utopia, the Diva Mezza Utopia expands to include four push-pull side-mount woofers, each 20.5 cm (8’’) diameter, compared with 16.5 cm on the smallest. With Focal “W” diaphragms, as on the passive Utopia, the woofers are combined with a front-midrange driver of the same structure, while the Beryllium tweeter has an inverted M profile. For its release, the Mezza, like the Diva at the beginning, is fitted exclusively with a felt surround – not gray, but a very flattering ivory color. The price is almost double that of the Diva (35 000 €), rising to 65 000 € for the pair.
