Jason Victor Serinus

You gotta love press releases. “This May in Munich, history won’t just be written—it will be heard.” Thus opened the invitation to a joint press conference of “two Norwegian powerhouses” whose system “doesn’t whisper innovation—it roars it.”

The big news in the Constellation room was not the Revelation 2 Series, complete with its special Constellation Switch-Mode Power Supply (C-SMPS)—we’ve reported on it previously, including at AXPONA 2025. Rather, it was the chance to glimpse prototypes of the higher-level Performance 2 stereo amplifier and preamplifier, both due later this year.

Gryphon's long-awaited pure class-A Antileon Revelation amplifier, the successor to the Antileon EVO, will hit dealer shelves late August in both stereo ($39,800) and mono ($45,500/each) versions. We used to say, “It will arrive late August if the creek don’t rise;” these days, we replace creek with tariffs.

The big news in Nordost land was twofold. First, the company has upgraded its entire entry-level Leif line to the new Leif 3 series. The latest offerings, presented by PR representative Meredith Gabor, include Blue Heaven 3 digital interconnects, Ethernet and USB 2.0 cables, and (soon) a White Lightning 3 tonearm cable.

Moonriver brought a prototype of its forthcoming 606 integrated amplifier to Munich. Due in the fourth quarter, with a projected, tariff-dependent price of approximately $12,000, the unit will offer optional modules for phono, DAC, and streaming.

Drawn by the lyre emblem on the faceplate and the promise of Swiss engineering, I took note in early April when longtime distributor Jay Rein of Bluebird Music was named exclusive North American distributor for Orpheus Lab. My interest deepened when I learned about Orpheus Lab’s five Absolute components ($12,900–$22,900/each) and the brand’s newer Heritage Opus II lineup.

Soulnote, a Japanese brand established in 2004 by former Marantz Japan director Norinaga Nakazawa, made a strong showing at its third Munich High End. Present in Soulnote’s exhibition space were the handsome P-3 preamplifier ($22,990), M-3 monoblocks ($21,990 each), and a turntable outfitted with a DS Audio DS E3 optical cartridge ($2750). A pair of M-3 monoblocks are headed my way for review, so I’ll soon have a handle on what these babies can deliver in my system.