Audacious Audio

"Panel speakers that do bass? Sign me up!" That was my reaction when I first heard a pair of Diptyque Reference loudspeakers, at AXPONA 2023. The Reference is a 6'-tall, French planar magnetic speaker whose designers, Gilles Douziech and Eric Poix, make no secret of their love for Magnepan, the Minnesota company famed for its dipole panels. The French duo has improved on Magnepan's pioneering technology by addressing the number-one shortcoming of such designs: a lack of low-frequency extension.

In ancient times, when I first ventured beyond playing files stored on a USB stick or NAS to streaming from Tidal and Qobuz, I ran a USB cable between a MacBook Pro and my DAC. For playback software, I alternated between Amarra, Audirvana, and—sometimes with a dCS DAC—dCS Mosaic.

Imagine navigating the hectic rooms of an audio show at which a sea of similar-looking, similar-sounding gear blends into a predictable thrum, drawing a chorus of familiar nods. Then you stumble into the room occupied by Rich Pinto and his Treehaus Audiolab components. Here, the expected evaporates, replaced by designs that offer something different, both inside and out, sparking curiosity among jaded journalists and seasoned listeners.

Back when gasoline had lead in it and amplifiers came with circuit diagrams in the back of the manual, there was an unspoken understanding that power meant weight. A professional camera was a Graflex Speed Graphic or a Hasselblad 1000F, built like a small battleship and nearly as heavy. Powerful car engines were cast-iron V8s with cylinders you could stick a fist in. And of course, serious amps had transformers that could double as boat anchors.

These days, amplifier design often emphasizes efficiency. Class-D amps in particular have come a long way. Many are terrific, and they're undeniably practical. But there's still something uniquely satisfying about a design that prioritizes timeless expression over economy of electricity or space.

The Pathos InPoL Legacy, a class-A design, is unapologetically massive and so gloriously overbuilt that moving it requires a tactical plan and a chiropractor.

Stemming from the foundation of Kondo Audio Note of Japan, Peter Qvortrup's Audio Note UK is, for many, a custodian of the definitive audio heritage. The debut of each Audio Note piece sparks obsession among adherents—ardor that outstrips mere fandom.

It was during a visit to my music room by five members of the small Off-Islanders Audio Society that the magic of the dCS Varèse Music System ($267,500 as reviewed; $305,000 with CD/SACD transport) became clear.

One member had requested the 24/192 version of "Splendido Sundance" from Saturday Night in San Francisco (24/192 FLAC, Columbia-Legacy/Qobuz), performed by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucía and recorded live in the Warfield Theatre on December 6, 1980. I'd attended the unveiling of the LP remastering of this recording, presented by the album's co-executive producer, Abey Fon, in the Audio Reference room at High End Munich 2024. The system, which was first class, included a VPI Titan turntable, D'Agostino Relentless preamplifier and Relentless 800 mono amplifiers, a VTL TP-6.5 Series II Signature phono preamplifier, Wilson Audio XVX loudspeakers, Nordost cabling, a Stromtank power generator, and an unheard three-piece dCS Vivaldi APEX music system.

The Innuos ZENith Next-Gen ($20,700 as equipped) does what streamer-servers do: store music files, read them into memory, and send them on to a D/A converter to make music. In Innuos's complex (yet logical) lineup of streamers and streamer-servers, the ZENith Next-Gen sits just below the flagship Statement and above the ZENith Mk.3. The ZENith Mk.3 remains in the Innuos lineup for now but will be replaced at AXPONA shortly after this issue hits mailboxes and newsstands.

Though similar in many respects, with a very similar appearance, these two products—the ZENith Next-Gen and the ZENith Mk.3—are very different beasts. There is one rather obvious difference: a CD slot on the Mk.3 (with, of course, a CD drive inside), which makes it easy to rip CDs to the server's internal memory. This feature is absent from the more purist ZENith Next-Gen. But with the Next-Gen you can have your cake and eat it: Attach any USB CD ripper to one of the USB ports, and it will work just the same as the built-in ripper on the Mk.3. The other differences between the Mk.3 and the Next-Gen are less obvious, but those differences go much deeper; see the Details section in this review.