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Chord Electronics opted to use the High End Show in Munich (see full show report in the July issue, now on sale)to debut its next-generation analogue amplifier design – claimed to be its first fundamentally new topology since the company’s inception back in 1989. Developed and implemented by Chord’s owner and managing director, John Franks, the Choral Étude stereo power amplifier is describedby the Kent-based company as heralding a new era for powerful, wide bandwidth, low noise and low distortion amplifiers. Based upon multi-feedback and dual feed-forward error-correction amplifier technology, the new design intelligently adjusts and compensates the high-powered MOSFETs, which have been arranged into two banks of four. Power output is rated (conservatively according to Chord) at 150W into 4ohm or 300W in bridged mono mode and comes from proprietary ultra-compact switch-mode high-frequency power supplies – one of which controls the auxiliary rails, while the othertwo feed the high-current active power rails.

Flagship loudspeakers are usually designed to stand out but as range toppers go, few models are as instantly recognisable as Focal's eye-popping Utopia III Evo series. The Utopia DNA has been around since 1995 and as with any crowning model or series, the current Utopia III Evo lineup is the very embodiment of what the company's ambitious team of designers, engineers and craftsman can achieve and a complete showcase of the French company's impressive audiophile capabilities. Back in May, the brand chose the High End Show in Germany (see Show Report in the July issue) to introduce two revamped models to its flagship Utopia III Evo series, which is now in its tenth year, with the Grande Utopia EM Evo and Stella Utopia EM Evo floorstanding loudspeakers. Focal has been in business for more than 35 years and all its products are designed and developed at its base in Saint-Étienne.

There are times when the full benefit of a particular product cannot be totally realised until other changes and developments in seemingly unrelated areas have come to pass. In the case of active loudspeakers, the technical advantages have been known for some time in professional studio applications, but in terms of what that actually means for home audio fans constructing a system, any benefits have to be measured against the practicalities and upgrade path of a more traditional setup. In truth, you have to be completely on board with the active loudspeaker concept to go to the effort of constructing an audio system around it. The blurring of where source ends and amplifier begins has recently started to make the active speaker look like a much more enticing concept.

Elipson has become the latest manufacturer to get into headphones as it launches its new Bluetooth In-Ear No. 1. We’re told the in-ear headphone is but the first of a comprehensive series of portable audio products from the French company better known for its loudspeaker and turntable designs. Offering Bluetooth with aptX compatibility, the new in-ears utilise an 11.

When approaching its latest turntable, Rega’s designers were tasked with making their most successful model yet even easier to use and more accessible to a wider audience. The result is the Planar 1 Plus, which ditches the USB interface for digitising music in favour of a built-in moving-magnet stage based on Rega’s Fono Mini. Like the Planar 1 on which it is based, the Plus additionally boasts Rega’s RB110 tonearm, which rather handily includes automatic bias adjustment, making setup easier for beginners. Rega’s Carbon moving-magnet cartridge is supplied, as is a new ‘Plug and Play’ balance weight and redesigned feet to increase stability while minimising vibration transfer.

IFi Audio has unveiled the latest addition to its range of portable DACs and headphone amplifiers in the small but perfectly formed shape of the xDSD. Supporting PCM and DXDfiles up to 32-bit/768kHz and up to DSD512, the customised ‘True Native’ Burr-Brown chipset handles PCMand DSD natively as well as offering MQA support. Proprietary low-noise op-amps and dual-mono headphone drivers are onhand to provide power to high-impedance headphones along with a claimed ultra-low noise performance with high-sensitivity cans. Connections include Bluetooth, asynchronous USB Type-A, coaxial and optical (via a 3.