As the summer draws to a close and we approach the business-end of 2024, exciting times lie on the horizon for us here at Kantata Audio. We have an abundance of stunning new audio products making their way to our demo room in the coming months - products which represent tantalising opportunities to seriously level-up your music listening experience in new and innovative ways.
In this blog, we’ll preview two of these new product additions, all of which will be available throughout September - but trust us when we say there’s even more to come! For details, keep your eyes peeled for more updates in the coming weeks.
So what have we got for you?
Merason’s brand new DAC, the Merason Reuss, continues to build on the impressive credentials of the Swiss audio manufacturer - winning plaudits and awards industry-wide.
The Hegel H400 Integrated Streaming Amplifier simplifies your system and elevates your digital listening, all at the same time.
Lets look at each in turn, and remember - these products will be available to demo throughout September. Get in touch if you’d like to hear them for yourself!
HEGEL H400 STREAMING AMPLIFIER
The new ‘Streamliner’ from Hegel (as they’re affectionally nicknaming it) has only been available for a few weeks, but it’s already turning heads for it’s quality and compatibility - picking up a slew of early prizes including a much-coveted EISA Best Product Award. This new model features a Class AB digital amplifier, delivering 250W of power into 8 ohms, and is stable down to 2-ohm loads. With a remarkable damping factor of 4000, H400 ensures tight control over your speakers, providing precise and dynamic sound.
Many of the design features of the flagship H600 can be found in this more modestly priced unit, including it’s perfect dual-mono construction, the very same streaming platform, and an ultra-high-quality, bit-perfect DAC that borrows heavily from the model in the H600.
Most crucially for many listeners will be the H400’s deep compatibility. You get a broad selection of streaming options, including AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Roon Ready, Tidal Connect, Google Cast™, and UPnP - all out the box. Via the Hegel Control App, you also get excellent volume and input control, and access to internet radio, podcasts, and media server playback as standard.
This is a really exciting model with the potential to significantly ‘streamline’ your system, whilst elevating sound quality. We have a unit on order that should be available for demo in the coming weeks. Contact us for more info!
MERASON REUSS DAC
With their small but perfectly formed product line of three DACs and associated power supply, Merason have been steadily building a reputation for excellence in the field of digital to analogue conversion. This new model, designed to fit right into the middle of the range in terms of both price and capability, represents a fabulous opportunity to introduce Merason’s peerless engineering into your setup at a more modest price than the flagship line.
As you can see, the Reuss is of a slimline design, but it still has all the relevant connections and a pair classic DAC chips in the form of the BurrBrown 1794A. The Reuss has one USB, one RCA, one Toslink and one AES input. The USB input is based on Amanero technology and ensures a low-jitter music signal thanks to two precise oscillators, which is then galvanically isolated by capacitive isolator components.
This is the kind of DAC that will prove perfect for traditional HiFi lovers who want the convenience of digital music in their setup, whilst still retaining some of that classic sounding analogue quality. In their glowing review, The Ear put it perfectly; “The Merason Reuss proved to be a highly engaging and revealing DAC with a variety of sources and loudspeakers in my system, it consistently made my digital files sound fresh and vivid in a fashion that is indeed more consistent with analogue sources than many of the alternatives.”
The Merason Reuss is in stock now and available for demo - get in touch to book in your preview now!
