Renewed over a longer period than integrated amplifiers, the analog tuner remains a product that the Japanese Accuphase doesn’t want to abandon.
In 2018, the brand had already surprised us by renewing the T-1100 after eight years of loyal service. By the way, the T-1200 had already lost dab+, i.e. terrestrial radio, to concentrate on what tuner afficionados are still looking for: FM radio.
After seven years, the T-1200 is bowing out to make way for the T-1300. And this will come as no surprise to fans of the Yokohama-based manufacturer: the newcomer appears with very discreet cosmetic changes. As with every new product, the modifications appear limited, like the gold ring around the large knob, seen around all the volume knobs on recent models, and now around the knob for manually changing the frequency on the tuner.
The dual red LED display has been slightly reworked, as have the button positions, with the “memory” button moving from right to left in a line of ten rectangular station memory buttons (each doubled to store up to 20 frequency ranges). At the rear, the changes are even more subtle, with a section for the antenna, RCA and XLR outputs, a coaxial output, and an IEC socket for connection to the mains.
Inside, again, the improvements are slight. The signal still enters via the antenna to an attenuator that leads to a dual circuit separated by an RF amplifier, with phase control by a DDS oscillator. A bandwidth selector maintains the T-1200’s six frequency choices (50, 75, 100, 150, 250, 500 kHz), managed by DSP. But in the end, all measurement curves are further refined, and the signal-to-noise ratio gains 2dB in both mono (94dB) and stereo (78dB), while the device weighs 100g (13.1 kg).
The new Accuphase T-1300 is no revolution compared with previous models, but it shows that engineers still believe in this segment, and therefore in the interest of certain music lovers in getting the most out of radio. With it, the Japanese brand remains in the race to maintain a benchmark product in FM listening.
Initially positioned in the digital sector, then increasingly also in amplification products, the Alsatian manufacturer has until now overlooked analog playback, since neither its preamps nor its all-in-one offer a phono module.
This oversight has now been rectified with the presentation at Munich of an optional phono card – in addition to the integration of Qobuz Connect on all streamers (EX version). Integrable on all preamps, i.e. Référence series B.dpr and One series B.dpr one, this card is also a real complement for the Alpha One all-in-one (test FR VU#50; Remarkable).
Thanks to this option, the RCA 1 line input also becomes phono, and can read MM and MC cartridges. A very promising rendering, from what we were able to judge on site at High End 2025, this card lets you choose between two gain levels per cell type (MM: low (+38dB) / high (+50dB); MC: low (+58dB) / high (+70dB)), as well as four capacitance levels for moving-magnet cells (50pF, 100pF, 150pF, 200pF) and five impedance levels for moving-coil cells (33 ohm, 50 ohm, 100 ohm, 150 ohm, 300 ohm).
Based on an ultra-low-noise matched-transistor input stage, the card corrects a passive RIAA curve on two separate stages. Available now, it can be added to any of the above-mentioned units for 2 500 €, or ordered as an option on a new unit for 2 000 €.
A leading name in amplification for decades, Danish brand Gryphon has long operated a power amplifier alongside its famous Diablo integrated. Originally known as the DM100, it later became the Antileon and was subsequently upgraded to Signature and Evo versions.
Today, the Antileon reappears followed by the term Revelation, in a design that considers the modifications made to the Diablo 333 (VU#50 test; Remarkable). In a chassis immediately recognizable from the brand’s products and still designed by Flemming E. Rasmussen, the pure double-mono configuration is now conceptualized under the leadership of chief engineer Tom Møller.
In order to output no less than 2 x 160 watts under 8 ohms in pure class A (2 x 320 W / 4 Ω; 2 x 620 W / 2 Ω), this big 90 kg baby 570 mm wide and 600 mm deep uses 40 Toshiba bipolar high-current output transistors on each channel. This amplification is combined with a gigantic power supply of four 1 500 VA toroidal transformers, decoupled not only in pairs per side, but also between the control and amplification elements.
Filtering is as phenomenal as the rest of the product, with no less than four huge polypropylene capacitors totaling 670 000 μF, while a microprocessor and automatic polarization control (Green bias) monitor all current and signal flows and adapt power consumption as best as possible. Previewed in Munich, the Antileon Revelation is available from August at a European price of 46 500 € and an American price of $45 500 (before the new Trump taxes…).
Well known for its Square Tube technology, French manufacturer Kora adds two stereo power amplifiers and two mono blocks to its catalog.
Since its creation in 2017 and the launch of its TB140 (VU#27 test), TB200 and TBB400 integrated amplifiers, Kora has subsequently released two TA240 and TA480 (VU#38 test) stereo blocks based on the power section of the two larger integrated units alone. Rated at 120W and 240W per channel at 8 ohms respectively, these amplifiers all operate in Class AB, leaving room for the latest toys from brand creator Bruno Vander Elst.
In pure Class A this time, the new blocks still benefit from the know-how of the designer, but also of his younger engineers, to combine a very powerful linear power supply with a very large number of filter capacitors. As proof, while the largest Class AB amp (TB 400) boasts a filtering capacity of 100 000 μF, the smallest Class A block (CSA 270) boasts four times as much, and the largest up to 560 000 μF.
With a relatively conventional depth of 440 mm for the first two, and a weight of 32 kg, the new amplifiers extend to 660 mm for the two largest, weighing 45 kg. In each unit, the four tubes of the Square Tube patent (2 ECC 82 and 2 ECC83) are combined to create a complete operational amplifier, with power delivered in pure Class A at 8 ohms, with current management allowing the amplifier to be placed in low current if the loudspeakers don’t need more, with the aim of saving energy.
Identified by their numbers, these CSA amplifiers are followed by 1 or 2 to specify whether they are mono or stereo units, and thus the number of channels to which they can send the signal. Then follows the power at 8 ohms, resulting in a stereo block of 2 x 70 W / 8 Ω (CSA 270) available in mono at 1 x 150 W / 8 Ω (CSA 1150), and the more imposing 2 x 120 W / 8 Ω (CSA 2120), bridged in mono at 1 x 200 W / 8 Ω (CSA 1200). The respective prices of these amplifiers are 19 800 € (CSA 270) and 28 200 € (CSA 2120), and double that if you wish to purchase two for a double-mono installation.
CH Precision, the benchmark brand in Swiss high-fidelity, is always seeking to go one step further in sound definition quality. Faithful to CD and SACD playback, the company had already released the D1.5 transport in its Series 1 (test VU#43&45), which is now completed with the ultimate D10.
In two chassis like all 10 series elements (to which we can still add a T10 external clock chassis), the D10 is a resolutely ultimate product set apart not only by its separate power supply, but also and above all by its new mechanics.
As explained by the chief engineer in Munich during the show, the D1.5 initially used the best OEM playback mechanism on the market, the Esoteric VRDS, subsequently withdrawn by the Japanese manufacturer to make it exclusive to its players. So, the Swiss engineers had to find an alternative solution with one of the only other mechanics available: the Denon. But when they received this one, they immediately identified that it could not meet the expected performance criteria, particularly in terms of vibration interference.
So the engineers went back to this mechanism to recreate a more massive one and a new drawer, moving from an element weighing just a few hundred grams to an in-house version weighing close to 2 kilos. But with the D10, they went even further, this time creating a huge block, developed for a proprietary aluminium composite version named MORSE, weighing a total of 13 kg and totally controlled in its vibrations (particularly in the subwoofer range) by the fact that it is suspended on alpha-gels in the chassis and the disc is loaded from the top, to avoid a drawer.
In the power supply unit, four totally galvanically isolated sections separate the current for the transport motor, control, DSP and clock, resulting in a total absence of feedback and therefore perfect fluidity of all components. Identifiable by its magnificent top-rotating closure system, the D10 can read CDs and SACDs, and boasts all the digital outputs you could expect from a device of this level, from classic TOSLINK optical and S/PDIF coaxial to AES/EBU and above all CH LINK HD, more ideal than USB for linking the transport to the DACs, and why not to the C10 presented last year and adapted this year in an even superior version.
Weighing between 64 and 66 kg (including the power supply chassis), the D10 is priced at 95 000 € (without the option of connecting it to the T10 clock).
