By enlisting Ross Lovegrove to design its new connected speaker, the British company KEF aims to give its LS line a more modern, less “hi-fi” look. Like the LS50 Wireless II, the LSX II, and the recent Coda W, the LS Luxe takes things a step further with a new...
Never short on innovation, the South Korean company Astell & Kern continues to lead the pack against new Chinese entrants in the world of HD digital audio players. And after once again impressing with the SP4000T and its four Raytheon JAN6418 tubes in Vienna last...
Based on the latest Qualcomm 6.1 chip, Questyle’s QCC Dongle Pro 2 builds on the concept of the QCC Dongle and QCC Dongle Pro but takes it a step further. As a reminder, the QCC Dongle provides a reliable Bluetooth audio connection to devices that lack this...
Unveiled soundlessly at the Vienna High End show, the ARTA is set to become the new flagship model from Romanian manufacturer Meze, surpassing both the Empyrean II and the Elite Tungsten. Its main innovation is a brand-new, high-impedance planar-magnetic transducer...
A naturally evolved version of the N1—which debuted in 2025 on the new Compass turntable—the Clearaudio N2 retains the same design in a 3D-printed upper chassis made of carbon-fiber-reinforced composite (PETG-CF). Featuring a laser-engraved black finish, the N2 weighs...
Founded in 2022 by engineer Audrius Balčiūnas, Silent Pound is now based in Kaunas, Lithuania, and continues to collaborate regularly with Kaunas University of Technology (KTU). The company currently offers two speaker models. Challenger II The Challenger II was...
Ten years after releasing its first tube integrated amplifier, McIntosh is back with the MA2375. Directly inspired by the iconic MC275 power amplifier, the MA2375 features the same KT88 tube push-pull circuit and four 12AT7 driver tubes and also delivers 75 watts per...
A recent addition to the Asterion V2 (7 200 €) lineup, the Asterion V3 allows Slovak manufacturer Canor to offer a more affordable phono preamplifier—though it still features vacuum tubes. Designed to handle signals from both MM and MC cartridges, the Asterion V3—like...
The change isn’t major, but it reassures us that, following continuous development of the new Diva Utopia connected line—recently expanded to include a third model, the Alta—the French manufacturer is still committed to its passive models. On paper, almost nothing has...
