STU AND LIN HEAD OVER TO THE POLISH NATIONAL STADIUM, PGE NARODOWY, FOR THE NEXT PART OF OUR AUDIO VIDEO SHOW WARSAW 2025 REPORT
In the second of our Audio Video Show Warsaw 2025 reports, Stu and Lin head over to the PGE Narodowy Stadium.
AUDIO VIDEO SHOW WARSAW 2025 REPORT PART TWO PGE NARODOWY STADIUM
With a whole extra section of the stadium opened up for the show, with some very large rooms, this is a huge venue and a HiFi Show all by itself that took us two days to cover. It really is a fantastic venue with all the facilities for visitors, including food, cloakrooms, bathrooms etc, that you would expect at this calibre of location.
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LAMPIZATOR & CLARISYS AUDIO
First up at the National Stadium (and before the crowds arrived) was the Amsterdam room where Lampizator unveiled the Aphrodite DAC at 88,000€ plus taxes, but Lukaz tells us he has already sold 26, even before people have heard it – now that’s a great reputation to have. This new DAC is positioned above the Horizon. It used a dual power supply with two rectifier valves and eight KT88s. The digital section introduced a new reclocking system with a FIFO buffer and very low noise quartz oscillators.
Clarisys Audio presented the 143,000€ Aria in this room. It is a four panel dipole planar magnetic ribbon loudspeaker. The construction focused on low colouration and seamless integration across the range.
The amp used in the room was by VAC from Florida in the States. Specifically, the amp was the VAC Master 300 iQ stereo power amp being controlled by the Lampizator Neptune balanced tube pre.
All cables in the room were by David Laboga and they alone added up to 40 or so grand. The total price of the kit in this room was a tad shy of half a million euros, and boy, did it sound great in this huge room, cleverly split so you could sit in front of, or behind, the system.
J. SIKORA, KHARMA, GOLDMUND, & AIDAS
Polish manufacturer J. Sikora showed their Reference turntable. Founded in 2007, the firm is known for meticulous engineering, and the turntable is the top of the range and costs 50K Euros.
The cartridge is the Aidas Mammoth Gold that uses mammoth tusk and costs 9K. Making its world debut was the J.Sikora Reference Line phono stage designed by Doshi Audio. It was in its prototype and will cost a classified amount.
Kharma showed the Enigma Veyron 2D loudspeakers at about €475,000. The EV 2D uses a larger cabinet in the range and makes extensive use of diamond tweeters, with three at the centre of each speaker.
The amps are the Golmund 4800 that retail at 400,000CHF. They are from the Telos range that have 1K of power a side into 4 Ohms. Everything is made of aluminium for strong mechanical grounding to avoid micro-vibrations, both in and out. Look at them, they are freakihng huge! The pre-amp is Mimesis Reference at 100KCHF.
The system used Kharma cables throughout.
We got them to play some electronic music in the shape of Hania Rani (Live at Studio 1, Warsaw) which I’ll be buying when we get home. Needless to say this was a megabucks system, but it also sounded it. It’s clear that opening up these big rooms at the National Stadium was a good move for these high-end brands as they really do allow the systems to breathe.
AUDIOTITE – LORENZO AUDIO LABS & ZENSATI
Lorenzo Audio Labs presented the LM1 Mk2 flagship loudspeaker at around 200K euros. This four way design uses a 16 inch woofer, an 11 inch midrange with Alnico magnets, a beryllium compression driver into a horn, and a 25 mm super tweeter. Sensitivity is 96 dB with 8 ohm impedance. These have to be one of the most exquisitely finished speakers on the market today.
The system also included the MSB Cascade DAC and MSB M500 amplifiers.
Audiotite is the authorised distributor of ZenSati cables and displayed the full range including Zorro, Authentica, Angel, Cherub, Serafin, sILENzIO, number X, Razzmatazz, and number 1.
Take 5 got its first airing in this room, but I’m sure it won’t be the last given the Polish folk’s love for jazz!
Another really fine sounding room to my lugs with the tom on the drums standing out as being really LIVE and in the room real!
NAUTILUS POLAND – CIRCLE LABS, DYNAUDIO, SILENT ANGEL
Nautilus operated several rooms. In London A at the PGE Narodowy, Dynaudio loudspeakers played with Circle Labs amplification.
The system featured Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Edition and Confidence 60, driven by Circle Labs M 500 power amplifiers and the P 300 preamplifier. Dynaudio’s in house driver work has gained awards including EISA 2025 to 2026 and the German Design Award.
Circle Labs introduced two new amplifiers at the show. The M500 is a hybrid stereo power amplifier that can also run as a monobloc with a fully balanced topology. Power ratings are 600 watts into 8 ohms and 1,200 watts into 4 ohms as a monobloc, or 180 watts into 8 ohms and 340 watts into 4 ohms in stereo. A three step sensitivity setting aids matching. The AS100 is a solid state integrated amplifier rated at 75 watts into 8 ohms and 140 watts into 4 ohms. It uses a resistor ladder volume control with 0.1 percent tolerance and relay switching. It includes remote control and targets compact high performance systems.
The streaming front end was Munich, Rhein, Forester, Genesis, and Bonn by Silent Angel.
We got to listen to Diamond by Gossip, which was a really cool tune to show off the system’s power and control. Also nice to hear real world tunes!
The standard of the systems is already proving to be very high at the show!
There were plenty of static stands including Audio Group Denmark, Kanto, Cayin and more plus record sales and even art, in the area between the two sets of big rooms on the new top floor exhibition area.
LOUTD
Loutd were on the Start Ups stand at Munich earlier this year. This is the Musegg a fully active streaming loudspeaker. They have all the usual streaming protocols and later next year Qobuz. Next year they will also make a smaller version of the Musegg. They are fully digital and so all you need to play music. There is a host and a second speaker connected by cables. Expect a review in the coming months. Price for a stereo pair is 7800 Euros which seems very reasonable to me. You can also rent them for 99 Euros a month which I think is a very interesting concept! The speaker part of the system stays the same, but if there are hardware updates you can slip those out and insert a new one – very clever and future proof – another great idea!
ONEIROS AUDIO
Falcon Acoustics from Oxford gave the European debut of their high end brand Oneiros, with their first loudspeakers at about £499,500. The design is a bit of a departure from the Falcon BBC style monitors while drawing on nearly sixty years of know how. Cabinets use advanced carbon composite sandwich panels. Each stands 160 cm tall and weighs120 kg. The system used Audio Research amplification, VPI turntables with DS Audio cartridges, AudioQuest cables, and GIK room treatment.
The full system was: VPI Vanquish turntable with a Fatboy arm on a Vanquish rack – very cool. The cart was th DS Audio Grand Master with the TB100 tube equaliser. Amps were from Audio Research (Reference 10 pre, Reference 330M monos, and all cables were by Audioquest. There was also a WADAX CD player in the system, but we didn’t get a listen to that.
The way this room was set up was very impressive with an inner sanctum area with lovely and very comfy chairs. The perfect environment to listen to a bit of John Martyn’s Solid Air.
This is the first time I’ve personally sat for any time with these speakers and they are such a wonderfully effortless and relaxed sounding loudspeaker.
LIROGON & EVEREST
Down the way from Oneiros was Polish brand Lirogon who were showing off their Origin electrostatic loudspeakers, designed and built in house by Lirogon Instruments.
Everest Audio Labs, another Polish that makes high end music servers, presented its latest project after fifteen years of development. The server uses a fully linear very low noise ATX supply and a JCAT USB XE EVO card with an external JCAT Master OCXO clock. Both run from independent very low noise supplies with dual 900 F supercapacitor banks. Two shielded transformers at 250 VA and 60 VA feed the stages. The system runs a customised Linux platform tuned for low latency.
We got to listen to a bit of electronic music on these speakers, which surprised me a tad, given that electrostatics aren’t known for their bass performance, but these did a splendid job, though I wish folk wouldn’t flick through music and would play the whole of a tune!
DREAM AUDIO
DreamAudio is a distributor focused on complete systems. At the show the company presented the world premiere of the Kroma Atelier Maribel loudspeakers, driven by Ypsilon Electronics Silver Edition 4 monoblocks and a matching preamplifier. The setup included the Taiko Olympus server, Stage III Concepts cabling, Carbide Audio isolators, HiFi Stay racks, and Telos power distribution and grounding. The Maribel stands over two metres tall and is priced at about €425,000.
The new Kroma Atelier speakers are really very interesting. Javier Millán has been designing and hand-building loudspeakers since the age of 14. Now working alongside his son, the father-and-son team have created what they describe as their most complete and unconstrained project to date. The Maribel embodies Kroma Atelier’s pursuit of natural, musical reproduction and traditional craftsmanship, says the company’s press information. The Kroma Atelier Maribel is a large four-way floorstanding loudspeaker with a driver complement of dual AMT tweeters, a 3-inch dome midrange, two 8-inch paper-cone mid-woofers and two 15-inch paper-cone woofers. The design offers a claimed frequency response of 20Hz to 27kHz, with a sensitivity of 93dB and selectable impedance of 8 or 4 ohms via four binding posts. Recommended amplifier power ranges from 20W to 1000W. Each speaker measures 201cm tall and weighs 220kg. Price is 400K Euros plus taxes. Great to hear a brand that isn’t afraid to play electronic music and play at realistic volumes. We got Liquid Hook by Liquid Soul and Captain Hook and inevitably Ghost Rider’s Make Us Stronger.
Very impressive!
SOUNDCLUB
The Barcelona room alternated between two stereo systems.
System one centred on Göbel Divin Noblesse with two Divin Sovereign subwoofers. The Noblesse uses AMT ribbon tweeters, large 8 inch midrange drivers, and two 12 inch woofers, with sensitivity up to 95 dB. We didn’t get to hear this system.
System two should have used Marten Mingus series loudspeakers, shown alone and with Ascendo The28 subwoofers. However, the night before the Diamond tweeters on these got blown by someone (no names will be divulged here, Brandon). So we got to listen to the Parker Quintet in the standard form with ceramic tweeters rather than the diamond edition.
Amplification came from Boulder, Halcro, Soulution, and Tenor Audio.
Digital sources were from Wadax Studio Line, including the Reference System and the new Studio Player System with Studio Clock and Studio PSU. Analogue playback used a Brinkmann turntable and tonearm with an Air Tight cartridge.
Franc Audio Accessories joined the presentation with anti-vibration products, including Alu Master Reference Series racks, 15th Anniversary Alu Master Reference platforms, Wood Block racks, and Wood Block Fat platforms.
This was a wonderful sounding room playing some choral music.
ELECTROCOMPANIET & ROCKPORT TECHNOLOGIES
HiFi Club had a number of systems and rooms at the show, but in this one was a system featured Electrocompaniet AW 800 monoblocs, EC 5 Reference preamplifier, ECM 1 MkII streamer, and EMC 1 MkV CD player with Rockport Technologies Lyra loudspeakers.
I’ve said it many times before, but the new EC5 Reference preamplifier is my most anticipated product of the year and I cannot wait to hear it fronting our AW 800 monobloc amps in our home system. The price is still to be confirmed, but speaking to Lasse earlier in the day this doesn’t seem to have deterred buyers and he said that the Norwegian brand already had around 100 units ordered. Needless to say I want one as I reckon it is made specifically for the AW800M amplifiers that aren’t moving out of HiFi PiG Towers for the foreseeable future.
This was another very large room and this system had no problems filling it with lovely sounding tunes.
DIVALDI
Divaldi, one of Poland’s longest established audio manufacturers, presented four new Gold Series components after two years of development:
Gold PA One power amplifier
Gold In One integrated amplifier
Gold Pre One preamplifier
Amp 05 Gold headphone amplifier
The company continues to combine modern engineering with traditional craft.
This room was a bit tucked away and right next to AlphaTheta (pioneer DJ) who were playing a bit loud given their proximity to this room. I did get a listen to the 05 headphone amp that was very nice and gave a good deal of isolation from the DJ oriented kit. The price on this cute little amp is 2500 Polish zloty.
HiSENSE
We don’t normally cover many of the AV rooms but this was very cool and good to see younger people enjoying the experience, though they seem to be more interested in playing a football video game – quite a change from the jumpers for goalpost days that I vaguely recall from my dim and distant past.
A really well set up and thought out space.
STUDIO 999
Studio 999 had set up an old (but fully restored) Sony reel-to-reel player fronting this system made up of humungous Audio Research amplifiers being ably controlled by a Karan preamplifier. Speakers were the Stenheim Alumine loudspeakers and they made for a really dynamic and exciting listening experience.
MARANTZ
Anyone of a certain age will remember Marantz for their “champagne” coloured kit of yesteryear. Well, times have changed and the new kit is all lovely looking and chunky black gear that looks quite high-end.
At Warsaw AVS Marantz presented the Model 10 integrated amplifier, along with the Link 10 streamer. There was also the SACD 10, whose name says all you need to know. Speakers were the DALI Epikore 7s.
Also on show were the funky round Grand Horizon speakers that we saw at the Dutch Audio Event, which were indeed in a champagne colour.
TRANSROTOR
Transrotor had a static stand featuring a wide range of their turntables.
DENON
Denon used the Warsaw AVS to show of a range of their electronics and their turntable through a pair of Focal Aria Evo X no3 speakers. And the first outing for Fink’s Trouble, which is a bit of an audio show playlist classic.
SONUS fABER
Italian loudspeaker brand Sonus faber presented their Sonetto V G2 and VII G2 speakers with a system fronted by Marantz electronics. They played us Dance Macabre, which I haven’t heard since I was about ten years old where we were forced to do interpretive dance to it.
As well as the “live” system they also had a number of speakers shown off around the room.
UNISON RESEARCH & OPERA
A Unison Research valve integrated amplifier was on show, but what we got to hear was the Unico Pre and Unico DM power amp. The speakers presented at Warsaw were the Opera Grand Callas special edition which are a beautiful looking and quite large loudspeaker.
A static display of their Opera speakers was also on show in this room.
DALI
Danish loudspeaker brand presented a pair of their Rubikore 8 loudspeakers partnered with Marantz electronics.
A static display showed off the very cute little Kupid speakers. I was also drawn to a perspex SUB V-16 F subwoofer.
PREMIUM SOUND
A rather gorgeous pair of Audio Solutions Vantage M floor standers in matt black with orange details fronted this system that was powered by Van den Hul The Excalibur power amps and The Emerald preamplifier. A Rokna Wavestream dealt with the digital front end. All cabling was (needless to say) by Van den Hul.
FERRUM
Ferrum used the Warsaw show to announce their brand new streaming transport, the BROEN. BROEN is designed as a digital transport to connect network sources with DACs, expanding Ferrum’s growing ecosystem of HiFi components. The Ferrum BROEN represents Ferrum’s first step into network streaming, building on the company’s Ferrum Streaming Control Technology (FSCT). FSCT was first introduced in a firmware update for Ferrum’s WANDLA DACs and allows direct integration and control between devices. The name BROEN, meaning “bridge” in Danish, reflects the product’s purpose as a connection between the network and the digital domain.
The Ferrum BROEN offers a number of notable features, including:
SERCE Digital-to-Digital Converter module
FSCT integration with Ferrum DACs
Ultra-low jitter audio clocks
Galvanically isolated outputs
Multiple playback sources including USB, NAS, and streaming services
Flexible network connectivity through Wi-Fi or SFP modules
Broad compatibility with third-party DACs
BROEN will be available early 2026, but the kit certainly looks the part and is compact and really rather lovely. You can read more about it here. The speakers being used were a pair of ATCs.
MICROLAB
Microlab were demonstrating a range of powered loudspeakers.
SOUNDCLUB
The 432 Evo Master Music server fronted this system. The Roon-compatible flagship music server has an audio-grade dual USB output clocked by a separate dedicated low jitter superclock. It has up to 8 TB SSD on spring suspension system now with optional space agency grade linear PSU for SSD. Bitperfect TEAC cd-only ripdrive. Logitech Media Server or Roon library server. Bitperfect output or custom upsampling up to 24/768 with SQi and/or 432 Hz post processing. Software jitter tuning, dedicated audio processing core and tuned realtime audio kernel. It includes a separate custom high-end external true triple linear power supply with 3 independent buffered ultra low noise ultra fast DC rails for server, USB output and superclock boards. There is no shared transformer to help it sound better. If you aren’t aware of 432 Evo then you should check them out as they have a very interesting way of playing the music that is too much to go into here.
Benchmark amps and pre supplied the power to a pair of Harbeth speakers.
There were also a large number of static stands in this area from brands including Data Group Distributions / Stealth Acoustics / Waterfall Audio, Tech Evolution, Steinway Lyngdorf, Nautilus, Leica Smart Projection, Popori Acoustics / Costa Soniqa and our Audio Video Show Warsaw 2025 coverage sponsor Tellurium Q. There was also the Graal vibrating…and very relaxing, rocking chair/headphone combo just at the edge of the Headphone zone, which we both had a go on.
On the Friday the connecting corridor between the East and West side of the stadium was closed because offices were open, meaning we had to go down to the carpark on level -3 and across to the other side of the stadium. The connection was open for the rest of the weekend, and this minor inconvenience has been my only criticism of the event so far.
CLOSER, ELINS AUDIO MANUFACTURE
Closer Acoustics demonstrated the Blocks loudspeakers with elinsAudio amplification. The source was the debut J. Sikora Aspire turntable with the KV9 tonearm.
Elins Audio Manufacture showed the Mille and Concerto stereo amplifiers and the Cello MM and MC phono preamplifier.
I believe this is the first time I’ve come across the Ellins Audio electronics, but they certainly looked the part and did sound very nice with the Closer Blocks. Basically, the Blocks, as the name suggests are cubes that you can put together to achieve what you want. The BOB MKII bass models made up the bottom two layers (other than the Closer Acoustics Anti-Vibration Platform, upon which the whole lot stands and is said to be a crucial part of the system) and then at the top you have the Closer Acoustics OKHO, a high-fidelity full-range speaker designed to deliver an immersive audio experience with remarkable frequency balance. The Fostex tweeter is around 1500 Euros extra. This is a very clever concept that certainly sounded excellent at Warsaw AVS playing a cello piece.
INTRADA, AVID HIFi, & B AUDIO
AVID HiFi components included the new Relveo turntable with Altus v.2 tonearm and Ionic cartridge, with the Accent integrated amplifier, and Intrada Erik loudspeakers.
A second system used B.audio B.dpr EX DAC, streamer, and preamplifier with B.amp Monopower amplifiers driving Intrada Maurice Mk II loudspeakers. Cabling was Zavfino. This is the system we got to hear. And it would have been nice to have had the time to return for a listen to the AVID set up as Janine gave the last turntable (Acutus Dark Iron) from this British company the Reviewer’s Preference award when she reviews it for HiFi PiG.
I don’t know the tune that was playing on the system when we went in, but the bass guitar sounded fabulous.
GRIMM, AUDIO RESEARCH, & WILSON AUDIO
Wilson Audio brought the Sabrina V compact floorstander for its Poland debut. The model features a redesigned cabinet, upgraded drivers, and a revised crossover.
Electronics included Audio Research valve amplifiers and the Grimm Audio MU2 which serves as a music server, preamplifier, and DAC.
Grimm Audio also debuted the PW1 phono preamplifier with the Grand Prix Audio Parabolica turntable.
Artesania Audio supplied racks and accessories. Cabling came from Stealth Audio, Shunyata Research, and Synergistic Research.
The room was very busy and we got to listen to a very nice and chilled jazz tune that showed the system off very well.
AUDIO SYSTEM
Audio System presented a set of systems at the PGE Narodowy.
In room 204 Blumenhofer from Germany presented the Genuin FS 2 two way horn loudspeaker.
In room 205 Clarisys Audio showed loudspeakers with pure aluminium ribbon drivers. Many models operate in a bipole configuration. Sensitivity is high with a stable impedance curve, apparently. PS Audio demonstrated the AirLens streamer, DirectStream DAC Mk2. We were promised the Aspen FR10 loudspeakers with planar magnetic drivers but they were not in use when we went in the room, however, the smaller Clarisys Audio sounded really nice playing some metal and being driven by a pair of PS Audio monobloc amplifiers.
PLANETA DŹWIĘKU – VIVID AUDIO
Vivid Audio had the world premiere of the G1 Spirit Cu loudspeakers. The Giya form had been around for almost 18 years, and this third iteration added copper clad motor assemblies in the midrange drivers. The cabinet had been re engineered to be lighter and stiffer.
Mola Mola amps and an EAT Fortissimo S turntable were also being demonstrated in this skybox room.
It’s always a treat to bump into the Vivid head-honcho Laurence Dickie and he was on excellent form at Warsaw AVS. He’s clearly hugely passionate about his creations, and given their performance today, he has every right to be.
J. SIKORA AIDAS CARTRIDGES, DOSHI, JOSEPH AUDIO, H.E.A.R
After an all too brief natter with Laurence, it was onto room 207 where Aidas Laboratory were demonstrating. Aidas builds moving coil cartridges by hand with close control of materials and assembly. Models on show included Mammoth Gold, Trustone Violet, and Durawood Bee, presented with J. Sikora.
Doshi Audio, founded in 2006 by Nick Doshi, presented amplifiers built in the United States with minimalist circuits and a focus on reliability and serviceability.
On the end of these were the wonderful Joseph Audio Pearl Graphen Ultra loudspeakers. I’ve raved about Joseph speakers countless times when I’ve heard them at shows and they always sound excellent on the end of Doshi valve powered electronics.
H.E.A.R. showed high end racks made from steel, non ferrous metals, and advanced alloys, with an anti resonance focus. Soyaton supplied the cables.
The full system was:
J. Sikora top of the range turntable, Doshi Audio EVO series electronics, Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene Ultra speakers, Aidas True Stone Viloet Gold & Durawood Bee, Soyaton complete cabling, and HEAR rack systems.
AUDIOKULTURA
A static display with some very interesting phonostages which seemed to offer very good value for money.
TECHNICS
My love of Technics’ turntables is pretty well known, and I use a 1200G for all our reviews at HiFi PiG Towers; it’s a fantastic tool of a turntable for reviews, given that it is consistent time after time. So, when we got an invite to take a look at the new product from the company, my interest was piqued, and it was a launch we really didn’t want to miss.
Technics is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and we were here to have a look at the Japanese brand’s latest vinyl spinner, the SL-1200GME. You can read all about the new Grand Class Master Edition turntables here.
The presentation was made by Frank Balzuweit. We got a bit of a run down on the history of Technics and interestingly enough they actually started out with the Technics 1 loudspeaker in 1965.
A fitting end to our first day at the stadium, we headed back to the Sobieski to catch up with many industry friends …there really is a social aspect to this show like no other, which is just as important as actually listening to all the fab new gear.
On Saturday morning we headed back to the Stadium to pick up where we left off.
HIFI CLUB
HiFi Club presented several reference brands in several rooms
Karan Acoustics showed the Powerb power amplifier and Lineb preamplifier with Rockport Technologies Atria III. VPI, from whom Mat had made the journey over from the States, were also present in this room. We got to hear Take Five in this first room, which was a nice way to start the day.
VTL showed Lohengrin power amplifiers (a new product that we have heard at a few shows now and is now in production). Lohengrin is $100K and uses eight KT88 a side. The rest of the system included the TL 7.5 III preamplifier, and the TP 6.5 II phono stage with Rockport Technologies Lynx and a VPI Dragon turntable with a Lyra Etna cartridge. We got to hear a bit of Malia and Boris Blank. Harmonic Resolution Systems provided the racks in all these systems and the cables were Transparent.
DIAPASON & VAN DEN HUL
Diapason gave the world premiere of the Didascalìa loudspeaker system within the Diapason Reference Collection. The model uses in house designed transducers and solid wood construction. Limited listening sessions took place in the Diapason and Van den Hul room, and unfortunately, we didn’t get chance for a proper listen.
AUDIO CENTER POLAND
Well-loved British brand Arcam were showing their SA45 all-in-one system through a pair of Spendor A7.2 loudspeakers and used Chord Company cables throughout. The concept of all-in-one systems might be a little alien to some people, but as I’ve said a million times before, not everyone wants a thousand and one boxes in their homes, and many folk just don’t have the room to accommodate a full system.
Room 212 presented the Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE with Monitor Audio Bronze 300 7G and two REL T9x subwoofers, with Cardas cabling on a Blok rack.
Room 213 featured the European premiere of the Moon 371 streaming amplifier with Acoustic Energy Corinium in a new finish that is a similar colour to the Aston Martin DB7 grey, two REL S 850 subwoofers, and Wireworld cabling. The RELS had a very nice new walnut grille which looked very attractive. I kind of really like how companies are begging to realise that kit needs to look nice and the grilles are hand made and hand finished, but also acoustically transparent.
Room 214 housed a Chord Electronics Ultima system with Ultima power amplifiers, Ultima Pre, Dave DAC with the latest Hugo upsampler, and Audiovector R10 Arreté loudspeakers. Nordost cables and a Pro Ject turntable completed the system, giving two European premieres in one room. This is a wonderful sounding system, and it dawned on me that I’ve now heard a few systems with the Chord Ultima amps powering them and they’ve all been universally excellent. The relatively new Audiovector R10s are a stunning speaker and take the R concept (we own the R6) and take it to what I guess it the ultimate conclusion and iteration. Lovely.
In the corridor of this area, there were loads of vinyl sellers who always seemed very busy.
WiiM, KLIPSCH, ONKYO, JAMO, SVS
This was a well set up room showing a whole load of the brands above on static displays but also a system fronted by the Onkyo Icon series electronics and a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls.
BRYSTON, PERLISTEN & MELODIKA
A slightly odd set up (but very effective) housed the Canadian brand Bryston who had a system playing that was fronted by their T10 loudspeakers. I say this was an odd set up because it wasn’t really a room, but an open area that had been cordoned off to make a room. Cabling was all by Melodika who were showing off their HiFi PiG award for the Sky Blue cables.
However, there was also a more conventional, but equally well put together room that housed Bryston electronics partnered with the excellent value Perlisten loudspeakers. The whole lot was wired up with Altas cables from Scotland.
UNITRA AND DIORA
Unitra presented new products from the revived Polish brand. Current production includes amplifiers, turntables, and loudspeakers made in Poland for export worldwide. A new digital to analogue converter made its debut, adding streaming and digital playback to the portfolio. The new DAC is called DSH805 that has the ESS Sabre DAC chip inside. The DAC is about 3K Euros. Loudspeakers were from the excellent Diora, who have recently been acquired by Unitra to save the iconic Polish brand.
SVS
CANOR AND TRIANGLE
Many of the rooms that precede this one were being run by Polish distributor Rafko. In this room we had the excellent Magellan 40th anniversary Triangle floostanders in a rather beautiful finish partnered with the Slovakian brand Canor’s electronics. The source was the Gaia C2 a tube based DAC with a CD player onboard. The amp was the A3 Virtus. We reviewed the excellent Canor Virtus A3 here
This was a really good sounding system in a very nicely presented room.
The static display showed the Virtus i4s integrated solid state with built in phono and headphone, Verto D4S solid state DAC from the new entry level and due for release in January. Also on display was the new generation of Triangle’s active speaker system, the Triangle Capella 2.
Cabling was all by Melodika.
HORNS & LUCAS AUDIO LABS
Lucas Audio Lab presented the latest MiniMax music server. The design combined precision engineering with distinctive finishes in exotic hardwoods or painted aircraft grade aluminium. At Warsaw AVS the streamer was partnered with the excellent hORNS loudspeakers from Poland. Amplification was from Qualiton of Hungary.We got to listen to The Heroic Weather Conditions of the Universe by Alexandre Desplat which was a good choice to show of the dynamic nature of the Universum hORNS, they are perhaps one of the more recognisable speakers out there.
T+A
German brand T+A had a very cool room at Warsaw that was really nicely laid out and lit. They were showing off a number of products in static display. However the main feature was the 8500 Euro Symphonia. Symphonia is an is an all-in-one “without compromise” and so it uses the the Pre stage from R series of products, the amp is a Purify module with a sine wave power supply from the brands higher level products, and it has all the usual connectivity you’d expect. It looks fab in the brushed silver finish and the round VUs are very cool. Speakers were the Talis 330 floorstanders.
Also on display was an MP3100 HV and PA3100HV in a striking red finish to show that the company can do other things than the silver and black finishes.
GATO AUDIO & CLC AUDIO
Danish brand Gato Audio introduced the Copenhagen Loudspeaker Company CLC65 speakers, which they say is the first commercial loudspeaker built entirely with Purifi drivers. It is a three way with three 10 inch bass units. The system used Gato Audio electronics. The sales model is direct worldwide with shipping included, taxes included, and a 30 day home trial.
The set up in this room was interesting as they had the system firing diagonally across the room, which is not as daft as it sounds. We got to listen to Stronger and it was and energetic and dynamic sounding system.
INNUOS
Innuos, of Portugal, presented the new Stream Series. The Stream1 and Stream3 replace the Zen Mk3 and Pulse lines and combine a server and streamer.
Outputs include USB, I2S, and SPDIF. Optional internal DAC modules include PerformanceDAC and PhoenixDAC. Demonstrations included A and B comparisons between Stream1 with PerformanceDAC and Stream3 with PhoenixDAC. Also on show was the PhoenixNET.
Innuos rooms are always consistently well put together and Warsaw was no exception.
You can read more about Stream3 and PhoenixDAC here and you can read about our recent visit to the Innuos factory here
AUDIOPUNKT
Immediately on walking into this room (playing a live version of Hotel California) I was struck by the laid back sound. The speakers are by Polish brand Horn Acoustics (not to be confused with hORNS) and were the Vivo model costing 18300 Euros.
Electronics were SoulNote from Japan, the A 3 amplifier and the S 3 Reference CD, SACD, and DAC player. Cables came from WK Audio.
MCINTOSH
Iconic American brand McIntosh had put together a very cool room filled with their unmistakable electronics and speakers. Needless to say the room was rammed!
In the next room was a pair of Rockport Technology speakers being powered by a very understated stack of McIntosh electronics. Specifically, McIntosh Laboratory showed MC2.1KW 2000 watt monoblocks, C12000 preamplifier, MCD12000 CD and SACD player, DS200 streamer, and the MT10 turntable with a Lyra Etna Lambda cartridge. Rockport Technologies Orion loudspeakers completed the system.
EMM LABS AND MAGICO
It was starting to get really rammed now (it’s around 13:00 on the Saturday) and the rooms are beginning to fill up.
EMM Labs, led by Ed Meitner, ran an extensive demonstration organised by distributor Dwa Kanały and hosted by Amadeus Meitner. Electronics included MTRX2 V2 monoblocks, the upcoming PREi preamplifier set for 2026, the DA2i DAC, and the TXi CD transport. Magico’s new S5 loudspeakers partnered the system. This was the first large scale Polish presentation of the latest EMM Labs designs.
Amadeus did a short presentation about the system. The was the first time in Poland that EMM Labs had presented this whole system and it’s a very impressive system that was received by the audience with a degree of quiet reverence. Once again the Magicos were sounding excellent, and I think I’m beginning to appreciate what these speakers can do when they are partnered with excellent electronics – it was clear the the MTRX2 V2 amps have power to spare (they’re a 1000W a channel) and controlled the Magico speakers very, very well. One of the sounds of the show for me, so far.
GRYPHON
This was a case of “bind-and-drive” to get into this room to see and hear a totally insane system. The system was fronted by the flagship Kodo loudspeakers with the new Antileon Revelation monoblocks. The Antileon series, first introduced in 1995, had reached its fourth generation in mono and stereo versions. The system included the Commander preamplifier and the Ethos CD player. Aurender supplied the N50 music server with the MC10 master clock. Racks were Gryphon StandART, with cabling and accessories from Gryphon, Stealth Audio, Shunyata Research, and Synergistic Research.
NAIM AND FOCAL
Visitors found a full Dolby Atmos installation using Focal Grande Utopia EM Evo loudspeakers which was another very, very busy room. Specially prepared Atmos soundtracks and a truss mounted speaker array created an immersive setup. The front channels used Focal Grande Utopia EM Evo, with a Viva Center Utopia Evo, four 1000 IW LCR Utopia with 1000 IW SUB for surrounds, and an overhead layer of 1000 IC LCR 5. Low frequencies came from four Focal Cinema Utopia subwoofers powered by four Naim CI NAP 101 amplifiers.
The front system ran on Naim Statement electronics, with stereo playback from the Naim ND 555 and two NAP S555 DR power supplies. Processing came from the 16 channel Focal Astral processor, with multi channel material from the Magnetar UDP900 Blu ray player. The room also hosted the premiere of the active Focal Diva Mezza Utopia loudspeakers, presented with Warner Music Poland and Polskie Nagrania.
DCS, WILSON, & D’AGOSTINO
TV Studio 2, another hectic room that we had to fight to get into, featured an ultra high end setup centred on Wilson Audio Alexx VFx loudspeakers and Dan D’Agostino Relentless 800 monoblocks, paired with the new Momentum C2 preamplifier. The digital source was a full dCS Vivaldi Apex system with upsampler, master clock, and a Synergistic Research Voodoo server. Additional components included Shunyata Research Altaira X grounding, Artesania Audio racks, and cables from Stealth Audio, Shunyata Research, and Synergistic Research.
There’s some folk that moan about the kind of kit in this room and at this price, but the truth is that the visitors come for this kind of kit. Yes it’s insane, yes it’s spendy, but the people love it! And there’s no getting away from it, this was an excellent sounding system!
BOWERS AND WILKINS
Impossible to get into this room…there’s a bright red pair of B&W Nautilus loudspeakers somewwhere in there, that were so popular they kept the room packed with folks all day on Saturday.
LOEWE
PLANETA DZWEIKU – FYNE, ESOTERIC, LUMIN, & EAT
This room was a bit of a relief after the chaos of the previous handful of rooms. It was still very busy, but not so busy that it wasn’t manageable.
DSV and Planeta Dźwięku presented TEAC, Esoteric, and Fyne Audio. Esoteric reference players, amplifiers, and transports were on show alongside TEAC electronics. Fyne Audio supplied the loudspeakers.
I’m a big fan of the Fyne Audio Vintage 10 speaker as they combine great sound with classic looks and they did sound great on the end of Esoteric electronics.
TOP HiFi & VIDEO DESIGN
Room 106 hosted premiere demonstrations of Indiana Line loudspeakers. Displays also covered Loewe Stellar televisions and XGIMI Horizon 20 smart laser projectors, led by the Horizon 20 Max with Google TV and up to 5700 ISO lumens.
New products from NAD, Bluesound, and PSB Speakers were on show. A headphone area featured Stax, Meze Audio, Audio Technica, Bowers & Wilkins, and Audeze.
Turntables from Clearaudio, Thorens, and Audio Technica were displayed. The company also showed custom installation products for residential and hospitality spaces from Sonance, Lithe Audio, NAD, and Bowers & Wilkins.
The final room from Top HiFi & Video Design featured products from French design-led brand Devialet, including the Phantom Ultimate loudspeakers.
Well, I thought that was their last room, but we also had a Linn and ELAC room, and an Indiana Line and Hegel room.
Top HiFI & Video Design clearly know what they are doing with their brands and the public were lapping it up.
TAGA HARMONY
Taga Harmony, who we’ve been following around for years, presented new components and prototypes. The highlight was the world premiere of the HTA 2500B v.2, a dual mono hybrid integrated amplifier rated at 2 x 400 watts into 4 ohms, using twin 12AX7 valves and Bluetooth aptX HD.
The system also included the TCD 70T valve CD player, TWA 10B network player, and DA 400 DAC, shown with Nostalgic TH 15 loudspeakers and Diamond F 100 v.3.
Power was supplied through the PC 9000DC conditioner and a prototype LPS 100 linear supply.
Other displays included the prototype HTA 1200B, PF series power filters, full cable lines, and additional speakers and electronics.
JBL
JBL use the Warsaw show to unveil the Summit Makalu flagship loudspeaker. The driver array features the patented 3 inch D2830K compression tweeter with dual diaphragm and dual magnet. An 8 inch midbass unit and a 12 inch woofer use cast baskets and HC4 triple layer cones made from a hybrid carbon and cellulose composite. The speakers were fronted by Mark Levinson electronics.
The next room had all sorts of portable gear and more from JBL and was also very popular.
Also many more static exhibits including from Pro-Ject and Ruark in this area.
CANTON & ADVANCE PARIS
CANTON & CYRUS
Reference 5GS speakers in a rather splendid sand colour with the Cyrus 40 series electronics. Cables were by Inakustik. This was a relatively accessible system and it sounded excellent.
DWA KANAŁY
DWA KANAŁY presented Magico the new S2, a compact all-aluminium floorstander that carries design elements from the company’s flagship models. It uses a beryllium tweeter and Nano Tec graphene cone drivers in a sealed enclosure.
The system also included the Pilium Leonidas MY25 amplifier, the MSB Cascade DAC, and new digital sources such as the Scion music server and streaming transport from Pink Faun, along with the Métronome Technologie DSAS server and DST CD transport. Vinyl playback came from the Acoustic Signature Tornado Neo turntable.
Also on the rack was a lovely looking Acoustic Signature turntable, but sadly we didn’t get to listen to that.
Cabling from Ikigai Audio included the Sugure series and the debut Tanoshimi line. Components sat on Finite Elemente Master Reference Mk2 racks.
Given that is wasn’t even Halloween yet, we got to listen to a rather nice choral Christmas tune. There was a real effortlessness to this system. Not the biggest system at the show, but certainly one of the best sounds!
PMC AND MUSICAL FIDELITY
Powering this system was the Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 800.2 amplifier into a pair of Prophecy 7s floor standers from the legendary home and studio speaker manufacturer PMC – the Professional Monitor Company – the clues in the name.
We attended the launch of the Prophecy speakers back at the start of the year and have heard them a few times now, and they never fail to please. The speakers use an Advanced Transmission Line design along with Laminar X technology that vents the end of the ATL. You can read the review of the standmount Prophecy here.
Again, the coridoor area had plenty of static stands, PMC, Musical Fidelity, Ortofon, MoFi, Lucas Audio Labs and Graphite Audio to name but a few.
MOFI & BAT
A pair of Point Source v10 floorstanders fronted this system with BAT stereo amplifier providing the juice. A pair of large Synthesis monos were on the floor, but we didn’t get to hear these. The V10 Master Edition were launched earlier this month and were designed by Andrew Jones. The MoFi SourcePoint V10 Master Edition builds upon the core design of the two-way SourcePoint 10, developing it into a full three-way floorstanding loudspeaker. Jones has added twin 10-inch woofers and dual rear-firing 10-inch passive radiators to create a more extended low-frequency performance while retaining the clarity and coherence associated with the original model. As its name suggests, the “V10” configuration refers to the use of five 10-inch elements. This design allows the custom 10-inch concentric driver, combining midrange and high frequencies, to operate within an optimised bandwidth, while the additional woofers handle bass duties. The result is intended to provide detailed and balanced performance across a wide frequency range, quoted as 27 Hz to 30 kHz.
PARADIGM & ANTHEM
Anthem, Paradigm, and Martin Logan shared two rooms.
One room used the Anthem MRX 740 8K A and V receiver with Paradigm Founder 80F loudspeakers.
The other used the Anthem STR preamplifier and power amplifier with Martin Logan ESL 13A electrostatic loudspeakers. Models from the Motion XT, Motion, and Foundation series were also shown.
INSTAL AUDIO
Instal Audio showed EverSolo DMP A10 and AMP F10 with Rosso Fiorentino Siena Series 2 on Neo racks. Other models from EverSolo, Luxsin, and Rosso Fiorentino were also present.
Opposite, in room W11, LAiV presented high end DACs, preamplifiers, and power amplifiers. Ricable showed hand made Italian cables from 7N copper with OFC connectors. Viablue from Germany showed cables with silver plated and tinned OFC conductors. Proson from Sweden showed hand built affordable cables. Simply Analog from Greece presented turntable accessories.
New to the portfolio was ArcSound with portable Bluetooth speakers and Power Audio systems.
21 DISTRIBUTION
It was really excellent to see Ophidian represented at the Warsaw AVS, though they weren’t being played in the 21 Distribution room when we were in there. It was also good to see the Fezz brand that we’ve been championing for years being shown, again a static display…Fezz could be heard in their main exhibit with Pylon over at the Sobieski, more on that later!
However, the system we got to hear was all Rega electronics and the Vienna Acoustic The Music speakers.
Brands in here included Rega, Fezz, Audiolab, Vienna Acoustics, iFi Audio, Ophidian, Buchardt, Velodyne, and Leak. Systems included Vienna Acoustics The Music with a Rega Planar 10, Fezz Olympia separates, and the Rega Mercury and Solis combination. The iFi Audio stand focused on Valkyrie, Neo iDSD 3, iDSD Phantom, Zen DAC 3 with Zen CAN 3, and the iPhono 3 with a Rega turntable.
Then at the end of this floor was more from JBL.
And that was the Stadium…stay tuned for more from the Sobieski and the Headphone Zone.
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Follow all of our Audio Video Show Warsaw 2025 coverage here
Linette and Stuart Smith
