A more advanced version of the PP-2000, the new Phasemation PP-2200 – previewed in Vienna and now available for listening in Paris – is designed to rival today’s leading analogue turntables.
Intended to replace the PP-2000 and initially conceived because that model had become too complex to manufacture, the new Japanese cartridge ultimately goes much further in both substance and form. With a titanium body, it features a completely redesigned magnetic circuit, made of barmanjour, whilst the magnets placed around it to move the coil are made of samarium cobalt.
The shape of the chassis has been redesigned, primarily to further reduce vibrations and improve contact points. The connectors have also been revised, though unfortunately they still lack the small colored rings, which means you have to check each time you connect it (or know by heart) where each pin on the tonearm goes.
The PP-2200 retains a boron cantilever, but pairs it with a new natural diamond line-contact stylus with a 0.03 x 0.003mm curvature. It boasts a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, a compliance of 8μm/mN and a relatively substantial weight of 14.9 g, which is unlikely to be an issue given that such an investment will inevitably be paired with a system capable of accommodating it. Its output level of 0.3 mV also calls for a high-quality phono preamp.
Having already been heard in Vienna and then Paris, this cartridge seems set to shake up the high-end hi-fi scene, such is its flawless fidelity in reproducing the information contained in our wonderful grooves. Official launch in July!
As you know, the major international hi-fi exhibition, the High End Show, is moving from Munich to Vienna in 2026.
With this change, we observed a new dynamic this year, where the loss of familiar landmarks meant many exhibitors had to rethink their approach. Nevertheless, most manufacturers from around the world were well represented, demonstrating a genuine desire to use this show – which is now more significant for the trade section on Thursday and Friday than for meetings with visitors on Saturday and Sunday – as a true showcase.
Faced with such a proliferation of products, we initially thought of putting together a report for you, based like the previous ones on a breakdown by floor and hall, organised according to the exhibition halls. But given the sheer scale of the event and the fact that we spent our four days on site rushing from one place to another, from product launches to interviews, stopped every few metres by a new product or a new brand, we decided to focus this feature solely on the new products.
With already more than 115 pages covering around 60 brands, this photo report cannot be exhaustive, and although we had three staff members on site, we apologise to those we did not see. Nevertheless, it aims to be as comprehensive as possible, covering products from all floors and all exhibition halls, and even concluding with those from the adjacent shows, HiFi Deluxe and Tech Gate.
Having launched a Saphir tonearm two years ago based on the tried-and-tested solutions of the 4Point, the company – still led by its founder Franc Kuzma – is now releasing its latest model in a 12-inch (304.8 mm) version.
The heart and soul of the Saphir 12 tonearm lie in its extremely rigid conical sapphire tube – this marks the first time this precious stone, which is highly resistant to all forms of resonance, has been used for this purpose.
As the ultimate product in the range, it outperforms all other tonearm tubes used elsewhere and remains resonance-free up to a frequency of 5 kHz. This quality provides the phono cartridge with a true reference mass, with an effective mass of 60 grams.
For the rest, the bearings on the Safir 12 are identical to those on the Safir 9 tonearm, which are already superior to those on the 4Point. The sapphire tonearm tube is mounted within an assembly of solid aluminium and brass blocks, which provide an extremely inert and mechanically silent support for the tube itself. A two-section brass counterweight, fitted with a locking mechanism, balances the tonearm with precision. The azimuth can be easily adjusted in small increments using an Allen key.
The Safir 12 fits the standard 12-inch Kuzma mounting plinth, but the manufacturer has developed a special VTA tower for it, which forms an integral part of the base. It comes as standard with internal wiring made from a special silver alloy, running uninterrupted from the cartridge pins to the RCA or XLR connectors at the other end.
Weighing in at 1.6 kg, the Kuzma Safir 12 sits at the very top of the manufacturer’s tonearm range, priced at 35 000 €, £32 000 or $43 000.
Building on the legacy of the Gemincore, created by engineers Nicola Lomuto and René Lambruschi in 2005, the Ixycore—now developed in collaboration with Frédérik Dezé—redefines Class D amplification by adopting GaN technology.
Based on Gallium Nitride (GaN) rather than the silicon used in MOSFET transistors, these transistors reduce switching time by more than 100 times (< 5ns) and offer excellent linearity and high power, without generating much heat.
To get the best out of them, GaN transistors require state-of-the-art drivers, with ultra-stable voltage regulation and a high-quality power supply. In this case, the new Ixycore stands out in this regard with a switching power supply (SMPS) also based on Gallium Nitride, delivering very high efficiency at a switching frequency of over 100 kHz.
With a rated power of 200 W into 8 Ω, these mono blocks double that output into 4 Ω and reach up to 800 W into 2 Ω. The phenomenal damping factor (20 000) is matched by ultra-low total harmonic distortion (THD+N) (<0.00005%) and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 140 dB.
The Ixycore is manufactured entirely in France. It is housed in a compact, compartmentalized black or gold aluminium chassis (two units measuring 300 x 65 x 240 mm each) and is lightweight (4.5 kg -9 Ib- per unit). Offering the most efficient connections, it features RCA and XLR input terminals and connects to the mains via an IEC socket, as well as to another device via a 3.5 mm trigger socket. We hope to tell you more soon!
Following CH Precision’s acquisition of Wattson Audio, the Madison range saw the Streamer undergo a minor update (review VU#59 FR), before the power amplifier (Madison Amp) and a separate power supply (Power S; review VU#63 FR) were introduced.
At the same time, we knew that the engineers were working on a phono preamp, based on the same technology as the CH Precision phono module (described in our review of the I1 integrated amp; VU#52 FR), utilised on a grand scale in the P1 phono preamp (review VU#49 FR) and even more impressively in the P10 presented in Munich two years ago.
The first distinctive feature of this new Madison Phono -which will no doubt surprise many of you- is that it uses digital processing to read the analogue signal! Quite astonishing, the process had blown us away on the phono module and seemed just as convincing on first listen at the Tech Gate show in Vienna (right next to the High End).
The second distinctive feature: this new preamp must be selected at the time of purchase (or modified later) for a specific cartridge type. It can be set to read MM or high-output MC cartridges, or alternatively to read the lower-level signal from conventional MC cartridges or the photoluminescent signal (which is also totally analogue) from DS Audio cartridges.
This highly complete Madison Phono offers numerous options, including EQ curves other than the RIAA curve (EMI, Teldel, Decca, Columbia), as well as a wide variety of gain levels and a subsonic filter. Incidentally, if you opt for the DS Audio version, to our knowledge it is currently the only phono preamp in the world to support the aforementioned curves for these cartridges.
