At AXPONA 2026, T+A elektroakustik demoed two new top-level components: the A 3100 HV amplifier ($29,900) and the SDX 3100 HV streaming DAC/preamp ($44,900).
The A 3100 HV, outfitted with a beefy screen, succeeds the German company's A 3000 HV. Its #1 new party trick is a dual-winding transformer that gives the amplifier two operating modes. High power mode delivers the same performance of its predecessor: 380W into 8 ohms, 700W into 4 ohms, stable into 2-ohm loads. The fun happens in high current mode, when the amp runs in pure class-A up to 60W per channel, trading roughly half the rated output power for greater current delivery into any load. T+A believes that for most listeners, "the new high current mode will offer the greatest resolution along with the greatest sense of ease, dynamic realism, and harmonic purity."
The A 3000 HV can also be configured for mono operation using parallel (not bridged) outputs, which doubles current delivery while adding modestly to power. An external power supply—the soon-to-be-released PS 3100 HV—can be used to dedicate the internal supply entirely to the input and voltage gain stages, leaving the outboard unit to handle the output stage.
The new SDX 3100 HV replaces the SDV 3100 HV as T+A's reference streaming DAC/preamp. The company has added a third analog input. Users can slide in an MC or MM phono board, instead of having to get creative with a screwdriver. Fully analog tone controls are new as well, operating independently per channel, with four discrete turnover points for both bass and treble. One use scenario: you can make adjustments to tune rooms where the left and right channels have differing reflectivity or bass resonances.
On the streaming side, the SDX now supports native DSD via Ethernet—up to DSD 1024, plus PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit. T+A says that it uses fully separate, independently optimized pathways for each format.
When I visited the T+A room, the A 3100 HV amp was operating in high current mode, driving Solitaire S540 speakers ($76,900/pair). The music I requested included "Ratchets" by Hedegaard (originally released as a digital single in 2020). The Dane's piledriver synth bass sounded clean and appropriately brutal. I could detect no compression or dynamic limitation.
Next, as I've done a hundred times, I admired James Calvin Wilsey's crystalline lead guitar on Chris Issak's "Wicked Game" (originally from 1989's Heart Shaped World, on Reprise). In a just world, Jimmy Wilsey should have gotten a songwriting credit for his contribution to this song. His signature Stratocaster part sounded wonderfully clear and transparent through this flagship T+A system.
The new SDX 3100 HV replaces the SDV 3100 HV as T+A's reference streaming DAC/preamp. The company has added a third analog input. Users can slide in an MC or MM phono board, instead of having to get creative with a screwdriver. Fully analog tone controls are new as well, operating independently per channel, with four discrete turnover points for both bass and treble. One use scenario: you can make adjustments to tune rooms where the left and right channels have differing reflectivity or bass resonances.
On the streaming side, the SDX now supports native DSD via Ethernet—up to DSD 1024, plus PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit. T+A says that it uses fully separate, independently optimized pathways for each format.
When I visited the T+A room, the A 3100 HV amp was operating in high current mode, driving Solitaire S540 speakers ($76,900/pair). The music I requested included "Ratchets" by Hedegaard (originally released as a digital single in 2020). The Dane's piledriver synth bass sounded clean and appropriately brutal. I could detect no compression or dynamic limitation.
