Having been virtually unseen in our region in recent years, the Japanese Analog Relax cartridges are making a comeback in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland through the distributor Ana Mighty Sound, which is now offering listening sessions at its new Paris location at 77 Avenue de Ségur.
With a lineup of five models, Analog Relax has developed a proprietary process for integrating the stylus into the cantilever. Called “IF adhesive,” this bonding method involves attaching very fine diamond particles to a special adhesive to fill the gap between the stylus tip and the cantilever hole. By firmly integrating the stylus tip with the cantilever, this results in a significant improvement in the amount of information reproduced and the sense of presence in the sound.
At the same time, all Analog Relax’s current cartridges have been updated thanks to the work of a new engineer, who has overhauled their entire manufacturing process. This redesign significantly benefits the moving coil design, which now features extremely low internal impedances: 4.5 Ω for the EX300 and EX700, and even 4 Ω for the EX500. The top-of-the-line models feature an impedance of 8.8 Ω, with ruby cantilevers and a rare Yakusugi cedar housing for the EX1000, and a diamond cantilever, pure diamond Super Curve Line Contact stylus, and a Tyrolean spruce chassis for the EX2000.
Featuring an elliptical diamond stylus on an aluminium cantilever, the EX300 kicks off the lineup at 2 890 €, delivering impressive results—you can read our initial impressions in the review of the J.Sikora Aspire turntable in VUmètre No. 64. At 4 990 €, the EX500 upgrades the elliptical stylus and features a solid Romanian hard maple body, typically used in violin making. The EX700 uses the same spruce wood as the EX2000, along with a boron cantilever; it is priced at 7 790 €, with the EX2000 costing more than double that (16 990 €) and the EX1000 falling in between (12 490 €).
Also worth noting, the brand offers two antistatic brushes and two ranges of cables in its catalog for connecting cartridges to a tonearm or headshell. We will tell you more about one of the cartridges we’ve selected for a full review as soon as possible.
Pending final approval from the relevant authorities, the sale of VerVent Audio Holding for €135 million would bring the Focal and Naim Hi-Fi brands under Barco’s umbrella.
Just one year after Samsung acquired Masimo’s audio division (Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, Denon, etc.) for $350 million and two years after Bose acquired the McIntosh Group (McIntosh, Sonus Faber, etc.), it is now VerVent Audio and its Focal-Naim brands’ turn to be acquired by a larger group.
Specializing in integrated audiovisual projection, as well as professional imaging solutions—particularly for the healthcare sector—the Belgian group Barco appears to be seeking products from Focal and Naim that are closer to high-fidelity and professional hi-fi.
With its Car Audio products and a strategy increasingly focused on hybrid and versatile solutions (Bathys headphones, Focal Diva Utopia speakers, MuSo, and MuSo Hekla), the Focal-Naim brands have already shown in recent years a tendency to break out of the mold of home hi-fi to tap into the massive market (>$5 billion) for connected audio and home theater integration.
Backed by a network of over a thousand retail outlets worldwide, including 80 dedicated Focal Powered by Naim stores or corners, the brands will be able to leverage the new group—which specializes notably in cinema projectors—to expand even further beyond high-fidelity. It remains to be seen whether this will bear fruit in terms of R&D and leave ample room to continue producing high-quality hi-fi products.
Best known for its DACs, Totaldac also offers a range of floorstanding speakers, which will be joined in early 2026 by a brand-new spherical model.
Called Balloon, this speaker uses a single 25 cm (10-inch) coaxial driver in a 2-way bass reflex design. Hidden in the center is a 25 mm (1-inch) tweeter, which allows the 50 cm (20-inch) diameter spherical speaker to respond over a frequency range of 40 Hz to 25 kHz.
Isolated in an internal enclosure, a filter incorporates Mundorf air coils and Claritycap capacitors, connected to each other in a point-to-point wiring design without a printed circuit board.
Manufactured by Vincent Brient in his workshop in Normandy, these passive speakers weigh 13 kg each and come with a dedicated stand. They can be connected to an amplifier via their rear Mundorf terminals, using banana plugs or spade connectors. With a sensitivity of 95 dB and an impedance of 8 ohms, this new model is clearly easy to integrate even with light amplification (e.g., tube amplifiers) and is sold for €15,000 including tax (per pair).
Back on track since last year, Grado continues to innovate and has announced the release of a fourth model in its Signature series this month.
The Brooklyn-based manufacturer’s new range was launched in 2025 with the HP100 SE with metal ear cups and the S950 with wooden ear cups (tests in VU#60 FR). has since expanded at the end of the year with the S750 (test VU#63), which featured a new 50 mm (2 inches) S2 dynamic transducer and a new type of ‘B’ cushions ; two innovations found on the new S550 model.
Even more affordable than the other three models, as it is advertised as being 40% cheaper than the S750 in the United States (note that prices displayed there are always tax-free), this new model features a thin wooden ear cup, which can also be adapted to the S, F, L, and G foam models. It comes standard with a 6-foot (182 cm) detachable and interchangeable cable connected to the headphones via two 3.5 mm inputs and ending in a 6.35 mm plug. For a small additional cost, you can double the length of the cable or switch to a symmetrical 4.4 mm or 4-pin XLR version.
The manufacturer’s specifications for its new model are similar to those of the S750, with identical total harmonic distortion (THD) and nominal impedance, respectively less than 0.2% and 38 ohms. The SPL is slightly lower than 112 dB (compared to 115 dB), as is the frequency range, which is still very comfortable at 6 Hz to 44 kHz, but slightly lower than the 4 Hz-48 kHz of the S750 and even the 3.5 Hz-51.5 kHz of the S950.
We’ll tell you more as soon as we have the European/UK prices and the headphones in hand!
With a new metallic gray finish, the SL-1500CS is a smooth replacement for the SL-1500C.
Like its predecessor, it retains a double-layer construction, namely a die-cast aluminum chassis combined with a glass fiber-reinforced ABS structure. The height-adjustable insulating feet use a calibrated rubber spring system to dampen transmission from the support. Dense rubber is also used to cover the inside of the 332 mm, 2 kg platter, with the rest made of aluminum.
Weighing a total of 9.9 kg, the new turntable retains a statically balanced S-shaped tonearm with an aluminum tube, gimbal suspension, and high-precision bearings. As with the SL-1500C, the tonearm has the unique feature of lifting at the end of playback, allowing you to relax and enjoy listening without having to concentrate on the music. However, this system can be deactivated using a switch on the rear of the turntable. A built-in MM phono preamplifier and a transparent cover are still included as standard in the box, which has been redesigned to be more environmentally friendly.
The Ortofon 2M Red cartridge is also still included as standard with the SL-1500CS. It can be easily upgraded by either replacing the head with a higher-end version from the same series, unscrewing it from the shell, or simply detaching the entire shell and replacing it with another one on the arm’s classic four-pin connector.
But where the SL-1500CS now stands out as a dangerous competitor in its segment is above all in its ΔΣ-Drive (Delta-Sigma) motor control. Introduced in 2023 on the SL-1200GR2 (1 949 €; test VU#53) and then integrated into the SL-1300 G (2 990 €; test VU#56), this process has since been revised on the more ambitious SL-1200GME and SL-1210GME (5 499 €) released at the end of last year.
Now, according to senior product manager Frank Balzuweit, this digital control derived from Technics amplifiers, which improves the motor’s sinusoidal signal and therefore allows the turntables to rotate more smoothly, is even more effective for a lightweight platter such as that of the SL-1500CS. Thanks to Delta-Sigma and speed control provided by a frequency generator across the entire platter, the announced wobble and jitter rates are around 0.025% WRMS.
At 1 199 € including tax, this new model is already shaping up to be a new benchmark in its category.
