After creating a surprise in 2024 with the presentation of two loudspeakers, the French cable manufacturer Esprit continues to expand its range with an even more imposing version.
At Munich’s High End 2025, the wooden stand has been further enhanced, and is visible from afar thanks to a handsome orange cube with the brand’s name and logo, placed just above it. But if in the middle of the stand you will find modulation cables that have obviously been redesigned in terms of connector quality compared to the G9 that we know, this year’s highlight is once again a loudspeaker.
Presented for listening in the manufacturer’s showroom, the Lisa becomes a three-way designed to surpass the Amelia floorstanding, from which it takes the drivers and tweeter technologies. But whereas the Amelia has a single mid-woofer, with a 20 cm-diameter NEXTEL-treated paper cone and an ALNICO motor, the Lisa uses two in a perfectly symmetrical structure, with the top one devoted to midrange and the bottom one cut to handle bass, up to 28 Hz. The AMT ribbon in the center measures 160 cm and is designed to deliver high frequencies up to 30 kHz.
As meticulous as ever, the cabinet’s thickness has been increased from 30 to 40 mm, in an MDF-bitumen-MDF sandwich structure designed to combine rigidity and flexibility. The filter circuits have been redesigned to differentiate the three channels, and are still made from the finest materials on the market, incorporating copper/tin Duelund capacitors and pure copper Mundorf coils, while the internal cabling is, of course, Esprit.
Placed on a decoupled feet structure to keep vibrations to a minimum, the Lisa also adds the option of integrating a plate at the rear to control frequency response in complex environments. Its two speaker terminals do not currently allow bi-amplification. Available in Satin Black, High Gloss White and Walnut, the Esprit Lisa is positioned at the very top of the range, priced at 38 000 € per pair. We will let you know more as soon as we see her!
It’s not as big news as the EmmLabs brand, but this news is an opportunity for us to wish creator Ed Meitner a happy 80th birthday!
Based on the MA3i, available with the front panel in black or silver on a black chassis, the MA3i SE becomes entirely silver over the entire chassis, obviously still made from high-quality Canadian aluminum using precision machinery. Like the other, this version uses in-house MDAC2™ converters and an MDAT2™ DSP, able to read DSD128 or 2xDSD or DXD media, as well as MQA or PCM files up to 192 kHz / 24-bit rates.
Also a streamer and preamplifier, the MA3i SE uses a similarly proprietary volume control (VControl™) and manages jitter from an MFAST™ system based on an MCLK3™ asynchronous clocking process. Even though it’s very complete, it remains above all a very high-end DAC, offering five digital inputs, including USB audio and a USB port for integrating a hard disk.
Beneath its new, more refined gray exterior, the Meitner MA3i SE still boasts all the musical assets discovered in recent years. However, this comes at a price, with this limited edition priced at 12 500 €, compared with 11 500 € for the standard version.
Announced for the 3rd of July on the Wilson Audio website, the Sabrina V could be seen at the Munich Show alongside a Sabrina X, placed side by side on the same spinner as two WATT/Puppy (old and new) last year.
In fact, the new Sabrina could have been called Sabrina H rather than V, as it is this new high-density composite material that it incorporates in place of X on the front end, around the loudspeakers. Just as rigid as X, H material is slightly softer and promises a gain in midrange musicality.
The drivers have all been revised, with the integration of the CSC (Convergent Synergy Carbon) dome tweeter from the Alexx V, a 7“ QuadraMag AlNiCo (Aluminum-Nickel-Cobalt) midrange (vs. 5.3/4” on the previous model) already present on most top speakers, and the 8″ woofer already heard on the Sasha V and WATT/Puppy (VU#58 test). As you will see in our Munich 2025 dossier – to be downloaded freely from our site shortly – the Sabrina V’s size evolves very slightly upwards, at the same time as it becomes slimmer in width.
The insulating feet gain a new patented V-MCD technology and the vents are revised in size and geometry, while the resistor panel becomes more accessible with four screws, whereas the two speaker terminals remain on the bottom. We look forward to hearing more on it the 3rd of June!
First launched in 1997 by American manufacturer EgglestonWorks, the Andra has been renewed several times, and became better known in Europe from the Andra 3 model, which appeared in 2009. In 2015, an improved version took the name of Andra 3 SE, finally considered today as a real number 4, since it’s now an Andra 5 that we discover this year in Munich.
Once again extensively modified, the Andra in this new 2025 version takes a step backwards in terms of dimensions and weight, dropping from 188 lbs (85 kg) to just 139 lbs (63 kg; i.e. -22 kg). Sleeker and much more dynamic in appearance, the Andra 5 loses a woofer, placed internally at the rear of the 3 SE in an Isobarik process.
Its four remaining drivers stay faithful to a three-way decomposition, with a 1-inch ultra-fine carbon-fiber dome tweeter, two 6.5-inch midrange drivers (16.5 cm, up from 15 cm), and a 12-inch (30 cm) paper-cone woofer. The advertised covered frequency range loses 2 hertz at low frequencies (20 Hz vs. 18 Hz) and remains stable at 24 kHz at high frequencies, with sensitivity rising from 88 to 87.5 dB.
With its superior precision and finesse (we were able to discover a very fine example of this at Munich’s High End), the Andra V is easier to place in many rooms, and if it keeps its metal plates clearly visible, it also offers the possibility of being chosen in any of the RAL automotive colors, i.e. over 160 colors. On the other hand, its price has risen by 5 500 €, bringing it closer to that of the Viginti (48 990 €), since the Andra 5 is marketed at 42 500 €.
Founded by Ole Nielsen, NewOntech has been present in France for several months through distributor RB Acoustique. The company offers compact solutions, mainly oriented towards DACs, with the addition of an amplifier-preamplifier combo and, soon, a phono preamplifier.
Comprising two ranges, Black and UniQue, the Danish brand uses mainly Burr-Brown chips for its converters, with for the moment a DAC 07 & 07 SE model and a top-of-the-range DAC 08 model. Other products including an original DAC30 with 300B output tubes are expected, along with the RIAA 12 phono preamp.
In the UniQue series, the DAC 08 is accompanied by the Pre 08, on a 100 kOhms input impedance, with volume management based on a Khozmo Acoustic attenuator. Inputs and outputs are on Neutrik XLR and Nextgen RCA WBT connectors. The Amp 10 placed into the same compact chassis develops proprietary PurePath™ UltraHD feedback technology and uses the same connectors as the preamplifier. Based on Class D amplification, it delivers 100 W into 8 ohms and 150 W into 4 ohms.
Priced in the mid-range of Danish hi-fi, with a DAC07 at 2 300 € and a DAC08 at 3 900 €, NewOntech is to try for those who enjoy Nordic-style music listening.
