News

Gone are the days of blacks and grays. Thanks in large part to the new face of Wilson Audio, color reigned supreme in Audio Reference Munich's impressive Atrium spread.

In celebration of Esoteric’s 35th anniversary, the company’s Shota Terai offered a sneak preview of the Grandioso T1, the first turntable in Esoteric's long history. Due to be finalized soon, the T1 employs the company's "patent-registered unique contact-free Esoteric MagneDrive System that inductively synchronizes the rotations of a magnetic driver and platter, realizing a quiet and silky-smooth rotation at an extraordinarily accurate rotation speed."

In the US market it isn't every day you see big, shiny red speakers—cars, yes—but less often flagship floorstanders. Here, a pair of tall, Danish flagships, the Audiovector R11 Arreté Titanium speakers clad in red enclosures graced the room. A model above the Audiovector R8 Arreté that Jim Austin reviewed, they use the company's Quasi Dual Drive Avantgarde Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeters.

Vitus Audio, now in its 27th year, introduced its forthcoming entry-level RD-101 Mk.II DAC/Streamer ($15,000, release date TBD) at Munich High End. The unit sports a redesigned streaming module—the old one is obsolete—a newly optimized power supply, and significant noise reduction. There's also a new DAC chip, the ESS9038 Pro, which replaces the 9028 Pro.

For elegance of presentation, the separate but related companies of Siltech and Crystal Cable have few peers. Given such care, it was near-impossible to resist peering further and investigating the two companies' latest offerings.

The German loudspeaker and cable manufacturer released its new Divin Sovereign Referenz Subwoofer ($29,500, with extra charges for special Black 24k Gold, White, and White 24k Gold finishes). Demonstrated with Göbel's Divin Marquis loudspeaker that John Atkinson reviewed in October 2020 and billed as the company's "ultimate benchmark," the active, DSP-controlled, closed-chamber sub includes an 18" driver in a resin-bound composite board cabinet with "massive acoustic baffles" of 75mm maximum thickness and extensive internal bracing. Weight is 145kg—that's almost 320lb—dimensions are nearly as major, frequency response is 10–200Hz depending upon DSP filters, and total output power is 2500W.