This week’s system is a simple set up capable of playing both digital and analogue. The featured speakers are one of our absolute favourites this year, the Wilson Audio Tunetot.
Released last year the Tunetot was the first speaker to be primarily designed by Daryll Wilson, son of legendary designer David Wilson. Although they are the smallest speaker in the Wilson range, they are one of the real highlights of the collection. We have found the Tunetots to have a certain unique musicality similar to you find with the Sasha DAW. They have been designed to be placed on a flat surface or side board, but we believe they sound better on proper stands. We are using custom sized stands from British company Hi-Fi Racks.
The amplification in the system is the AVM Audio Ovation CS8.2 which is an integrated amplifier with built-in streaming and CD player. This is a more high-end version of products like the Naim Uniti or the Linn Selekt. If you are looking for a one box solution which is of true audiophile quality, this is a great option. The build quality is excellent as you would expect from a German manufacturer and the versatility is impressive, it is able to integrate uPnP, Tidal, qobuz, internet radio and more.
For the analogue source we added the Vertere MG-1 turntable with a Vertere tonearm and Lyra Kleos moving coil cartridge. The AVM does not have a built in phono stage so we are using the Vertere Phono-1. A great match with the MG-1.
All the cabling used is from the Vertere HB (Hand-Built) range which are their flagship cables. This includes the mains, interconnect and speaker cables. For conditioning we have added in an Audioquest Naigara 1000 Power conditioner. The rack used is a Bassontinuo Revolution Argo 2.0. A beautiful audiophile stand built in Italy.
Wilson Audio Tunetot – From £11,000
Vertere MG-1 + Arm – £7,250
Vertere Phono-1 – £995
Lyra Kleos Cartridge – £2,495
AVM Ovation CS8.2 – £11,695
Audioquest Niagara 1000 – £995
(Prices as of June 2019)