Munich 2025

Japan’s Phasemation has always occupied a special place in my audiophile fantasies. I’ve heard the company’s products in the rooms of American Sound’s Angie Lisi at AXPONA, but auditioning a complete Phasemation system? Never had the chance—until Munich.

A Yukiseimitsu Audio AP-01 Rec-Player and tonearm ($49,975) was fitted with a Phasemation PP-2000 MC cartridge ($7999), which uses custom-made 35µm 6N oxygen-free copper wire wound around an iron core. Either a Phasemation EA-550 Phono Amplifier ($9600) or Phasemation EA-1200 Tube Phono Amplifier ($19,800) fed the recently introduced SA-1500 300B Integrated Amplifier ($16,800), which drove Wolf von Langa WVL 12639 SON loudspeakers ($19,995/pair). A Phasemation CM-1500 Control Meister sat in static repose. Cabling was all Phasemation.

Phasemation’s published goal is “to reproduce the state of musical performance. It’s about the expanse of the stage, consisting of instrument position, stage depth, and height, and freshness of sound.”

This was evident in Phasemation’s room, where music was reproduced with faithfulness, delicacy, and soulfulness—qualities I rarely hear in audio gear. Playing one of my favorite records, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell’s El Corazón, I heard the visceral weight of Blackwell’s snare drum, the acute pressure and sensitivity of Cherry’s trumpet, and the wide-open atmosphere of the ECM studio.

In the whirlwind of High End Munich, this small-scale setup offered rare calm. Listening to it soothed both my mind and my jet-lagged body. The rig delivered glistening treble, caramel tones, and a surprisingly large soundstage for its size. One of my top-five systems at the show.