$9,999

Luxman’s newest universal-disc player derives from the company’s flagship D-10X, which we favorably reviewed in Issue 317. The D-07X series bridges the gap between the D-03X at $4195 and the D-10X at $16,995. Priced closer to the 03X at $9995 but in features, performance, and overall design and engineering much closer to the 10X, think of 07X as a scaled-down 10X instead of a hot-rodded 03X. First, the onboard DAC is the BD34301EKV from ROHM Semiconductor, premiered in the 10X and retained here, still in dual-mono configuration with full soup-to-nuts MQA rendering and decoding. Second, the 07X’s transport is the same proprietary Lx DTM-I, with its superior disc-reading mechanism. And third, connectivity and useable formats remain unchanged. Excepting Blu-ray audio, the 07X will play virtually any audio-only two-channel or hybrid disc on the planet, including MQA CDs. The stated goal of Luxman’s engineers is to create products that are “musical and natural, never strident or aggressive. They want you to be able to hear all sorts of detail, even at the micro level, yet without fatigue, for a rich, musical experience.” Luxman has achieved this, but without sacrificing detail, resolution, or transient speed. Its presentation remains within the overall boundaries of neutrality, just that degree more inviting and easeful, a hint of warmth and smoothness, but applied with a commendably light and fastidious hand. Exceptional build-quality and Luxman’s elegant casework round out this superb player. (352)

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$11,100

A technological marvel at a ridiculously low price, the Cadenza C41 network player incorporates unique advancements that perfect digital volume control, improve the handling of jitter, eliminate pre-ringing, and eradicate clipping due to intersample peaks. Given this focus on removing distortions and preserving information that is lost or obscured on other network players, you have to think that chief engineer Jürgen Reis’ brilliant technical innovations are, indeed, the reasons for the C41’s lifelike color and solidity and its rare ability to conjure up near-visible presences rather than insistently drawing your ear to isolate transient details. In JV’s experience, only three other DACs can work this magic consistently—and, of course, they cost a lot more dough. If you’re an analog guy looking for a network player that will give you the sound you love (or a close semblance of same), this is the player for you. And if you’re a digital guy who wants the very best but can’t afford it, the C41 would be JV’s first (and only) recommendation. A shoo-in for 2025’s DAC of the Year Award. (355)

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The Absolute Sound publishes between 25 and 30 reviews in the music section of every issue, and our feature articles add more coverage. It’s natural for TAS subscribers to think, while reading a review, “That sounds interesting, but it would be nice if I could hear a cut off the album.” Now that option exists, as every month we will populate our playlist with tracks from the records we discussed in the music section.

The magazine reviews new releases in a wide range of formats—including compact discs, vinyl LPs, streaming services, and, on occasion, reel-to-reel tapes—and listeners should be aware that when they dive into these playlists they’re usually hearing the release on a different format than the reviewer did. (When the reviewer uses Qobuz to listen to the music, they state that in the review.) But curious readers will definitely benefit from listening to highlights from these albums.

Our first monthly playlist is devoted to the music section for Issue 361. It includes selections from feature articles on reissues by Santana, Skip James, Blind Gary Davis, and Mississippi John Hurt. The other selections contain songs that the writers considered highlights from the album—so if the reviews aroused your curiosity, here’s a chance to give the music a musical taste test.

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$11,100

This moderately affordable streamer/DAC/digital preamplifier from Jürgen Reis of MBL may not have all the features of the seven-times-as-expensive Kalista DreamPlay (it has no built-in disc player, for one), but on streams it comes shockingly close to the French unit’s extraordinary sonics. Indeed, when MBL used it as its sole source-component/preamplifier at this year’s Munich High End (driving two pairs of the German company’s world-class 9011 amplifiers and its 101 X-Treme MKII loudspeakers), both Robert Harley and Alan Taffel were impressed enough to name the system Best of Show. I, too, have tried it with the X-Treme IIs and, putting aside the fact that one cannot use analog sources with the C41 (which, for me, is a big ask), I, too, was greatly impressed. Indeed, alongside the DreamPlay, the MBL C41 will be one of my nominees for this year’s Digital Product of the Year Awards. It’s that good. (Forthcoming) 

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$79,000 

The Kalista DreamPlay XC from France is by design impossible to reduce to a single component category. The DreamPlay isn’t just a DAC or a streamer; it is both, as well as a CD/SACD player and a preamp with Leedh Processing volume control. In Kalista’s words, it is a “universal digital source.” Sitting on its optional, floating, anti-vibration Silent Base, it is also an object of considerable beauty. On physical discs, the DreamPlay’s presentation is so sumptuously rich, full, continuous, and complete that, on first listen, I was momentarily astonished—it sounded that much more like an LP or RTR tape. And it was near-equally analog-like on really good streams. With sonics that are like (and in some respects even a bit better than) those of my reference Soulution 760, it would be hard not to recommend the DreamPlay XC, especially since it also includes state-of-the-art disc playback. If you’ve got the dough for this gorgeous French number, you really should give it a long listen. You may find, as I did, that with CDs or SACDs very little else digital (in a single box) favorably competes or compares. (344)

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One of the challenges today in audio is how to get Gen-Z and Millenials involved in the joys of high quality music. Those generations grew up with everything in the palm of their hand on their smartphones. Well, NAD may have met that challenge with its C 700 V2 BluOS streaming amplifier.

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Brittania may no longer rule the waves, but the UK-based company dCS has reasserted its dominance in the digital world with the superb Vivaldi Apex DAC. The principal improvement is a new all-analog output board that is said to lower the noise floor by no less than 12dB, immensely improving the overall musicality of the Vivaldi DAC by eliminating many of the pesky artifacts that have often plagued digital sound. The benefits of the analog board are immediately audible, particularly in the realm of instrumental imaging, where the grandeur of an orchestra is conveyed with true panache and verve. Not only do trumpets and drums explode out of a loudspeaker with greater verisimilitude, but orchestral instruments are also more robustly fixed in their respective spaces. The interaction between the various sections of an orchestra is much easier to decipher, ensuring that the music draws you in rather than posing a challenge to interpret.

Streaming is also a real pleasure with the Apex, which is compatible with a number of music management services, including Roon and Tidal. A staggering variety of music, retrieved with the utmost fidelity, is literally at your fingertips. Throughout, the linearity of the frequency spectrum and the timbral weight of vocals and instruments render the illusion of live music less elusive. The Apex, you could even say, stands at the apex of digital musical reproduction. (333)

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$9995 (in Expert Pro 220 amplifier)

“Suppose they gave a revolution, and nobody came?” Five years ago, Devialet introduced a DSP system, programmable to a wide variety of speakers from numerous manufacturers, a system that improved bass performance by utilizing adaptive DSP processing so that the speaker would have corrected extended bass, while at the same time being protected from overload. This remarkable device should have been universally acclaimed and widely used. But the world seems largely to have gone right by it, perhaps because it is embodied in specific amplification devices from Devialet. These amplifiers are themselves superb in all respects so that should not really have been an issue. In any case, revolutionary the SAM system was and is. Audio should get with the programmable (as it were) here! (298)

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$1795

The Abyss from French speaker-maker Cabasse is a compact, easily used, and sonically satisfying streaming amplifier, which also allows analog input and non-streamed digital inputs. What makes it of truly exceptional interest is an abundance of user-adjustable DSP that deals effectively with fundamental audio issues often otherwise ignored. It has Fletcher-Munson compensation for level, tonal balance adjustment to fit room acoustics, including bass adjustment according to speaker positioning, and, for Cabasse speakers, amplitude smoothing and phase linearization. It has been almost three decades since Arion-Essex demonstrated the possibility of such speaker correction externally (REG, Issue 106). Here it is in a mainstream product and more power to Cabasse for creating a product that points the way to what ought to be the future. (346)

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$20,950 ($22,950 with Class A headphone amp); Apex upgrade for existing owners, $9000

To begin, I couldn’t have been more satisfied with the performance of my Bartók DAC. So, it was with a tiny dose of disbelief that I took the plunge and upgraded to Apex level—a comprehensive package of software and hardware advancements. Was this going to be an “emperor’s new clothes” moment or a sonic home-run? Well, Apex did the unthinkable, and a Golden Ear nod became inevitable. It furthered what the first-generation Bartók began and then surpassed it—and not by a small margin. The DAC remains as tonally accurate as ever, but its voice is more open and exhibits superior bloom and wider micro/macro-dynamic swings. Music felt as if there was a weightier unmovable foundation supporting it and locking it down. Yet ambience was airier and “wetter” with reverberant fields of energy. Like an ultra-high-resolution photograph, the edge-to-edge expanse and focus within the soundstage was pristine. It’s like witnessing a recording from inside the microphone capsule—from opening transient to the last gasp of acoustic decay. In summary, the Apex “effect” was more than just a laundry list of subtle and not so subtle improvements. Apex is not inexpensive, but the sonic improvements floored me—a  triumph of naturalism and harmonic  detail. The end result was a stirring and more emotional experience of the music I treasure. A component that continues to endure. (300, 344)

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