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It's actually been a year or so since our last news, we try not to bombard our subscribers and customers can see plenty of our regular feeds on Instagram and facebook, but there is now a fair amount to tell in a more formal address so here goes.

At the time of writing the Munich Highend show ended play just a few weeks ago and one of the biggest launches there was the new behemoth Vitus SIA-030 "mega Integrated". We have been waiting a long time for this one, it's what everyone wants these days. All the highend performance you would ever need or wish for but in one single box with the provision for a slot in high performance DAC and phonostage.

Vitus took an extra year developing this unit such was the challenge. Think of it more of a cut down SL-103/SS-103 separates rather than a supercharged SIA-025. The performance at Munich was quite extraordinary and many agreed that it was without doubt one of the top sounding 5 rooms or so. The slot in DAC will perform at a level slightly higher than the £10,200 RD-101 but just for around £5000-£6000 and the amp itself comes in at a respectable £31,000. The DAC will also feature a network input, Roon compatability and of course the excellent Vitus onboard streamer with Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify/Deezer/Radio capability. Just add speakers! This just might become the biggest selling unit here at Lotus. We have had a number of pre-orders and demos booked in already.

Although Hifi is a small contracting industry, it seems to progress at least as fast as many other technologies ... cars, digital cameras, computers, smartphones etc. This new 030 is the pinnacle of Vitus's latest know how and we can't wait to get supplying them into UK homes.

Whilst the relatively recently launched RD-101 reference level Dac with on board streamer has been doing extremely well here, the latest digital source from Vitus to receive a makeover is the flagship Masterpiece MP-D201. We conducted the very first UK demo of this newly revised unit and were bowled over by it's performance. It has similar world class levels of expression and fine detail of the old Masterpiece but is now a lot faster, bolder and more dynamic with a gigantic 3d soundstage. The level of emotion and drama from this device is really quite staggering. It represents a fabulous upgrade for those running the venerable SCD-025.

In our demo the customer wished to demo it against our other flagship DAC the Tidal Camira and it made for a very interesting comparison on which I intend to pen an article very soon. Suffice to say that these are two different entries for the "best DAC in the world" competition and are both sufficiently different to make it worthwhile selling and offering both. You will walk out with one or the other, that's for certain.

One final piece of Vitus news. The much loved and quite exquisite SCD-025 Signature DAC/CDP is now also offered as a pure dac (no cd player) and also with the onboard Vitus streamer, ethernet input and Roon compatible.

Since Tidal Audio launched their value packed Vimberg brand of loudspeakers at Munich 2018, the reception and press has been nothing short of sensational. The only negative here with this new launch has been supply and we hope the factory can catch up with the tremendous demand later this year.

We have had the Mino on permanent demo for around 2 months now and they have provoked lots of grinning faces and open mouths, especially when the starting price of £23,000 is revealed. The UK dealer network is buidling fairly rapidly as interest is high and both Audiotherapy in the North and Audiobarn in Essex have signed up as Vimberg retailers. I wasn't there at the time but I gather both dealers said flat out that they were the best speakers they've ever heard.

At Munich this year, the Vimberg Amea standmount was launched and very beautiful it looks too. Again, you can expect the highest levels of neutrality, resolution and naturalness and we look forward to getting our demo set in due course. There is plenty more planned for Vimberg too so expect more in the near future. We are hoping for electronics at some point and given the value in the speakers, who knows what something like a Vimberg Integrated will be able to achieve once created.

A small bit of news from Stillpoints in the US, but no less important simply because most longstanding Lotus customers will pretty much have everything from Speakers to Mains blocks stillpointed in their systems to great effect.

Well now there are two more products in the lineup, the new Ultra 2 offered at around £370 with accompanying Ultra base. This is an Ultra SS with 2 extra technology pockets at either end as per the Ultra6/LPI and in some instances may equal the performance of an Ultra 5. The other new product is the triangulated component stand which comes with 3 ultra base and can house your SS, 2's, 5's or 6's. In the SIA-030 pictures above you can see Vitus used one at Munich and was very happy with it.

Tidal Audio gave us a very confident and surefooted presence at Munich this year. After years of having one of the very best rooms at Munich, this time they elected to have a meet and greet setup with lots of product on display and a modest small footprint system playing background music. This was a chance for customers and industry insiders to get up close and personal with Jorn, Miriam, Doug White and all the Tidal gang and talk to their hearts content.

As well as showcasing the new Vimberg Amea, they proudly presented their all new Prisma linestage. This should come in under the £30,000 mark and will bridge the gap to the flagship Precensio. Fully balanced, phono option and in standard chassis, it will mean that Preos owners now have a very simple and clear pathway to move into the Camira DAC plus preamp. Factory units should appear in the Autumn. We are really looking forward to this one.

Moving on to record players and the much admired german brand Brinkmann, they had a surprise launch at Munich of a new direct drive deck named the Taurus. This supercharged Bardo features a more substantial Duraluminium chassis engineered from the flagship Balance turntable, the ability for dual 9"-12" tonearms and a neat infra red Controller. You can expect more dynamics, greater more visceral bass and a worthwhile performance lift on the already giant slaying Bardo. We are expecting this to do really well here.

The Brinkmann Nyquist DAC has been going well here. At low teens it represents a nice alternative to Vitus's reference and signature DACs and although it has valves nside, gives us an delightful linear and neutral sound.

Moving back to the entry Brinkmann Bardo deck for a second, this unit has been especially popular in the last 12 months. There has been a price rise but still, at under £10,000 with the 10.5 tonearm it represents a sizeable upgrade for all but the most lofty decks that you encounter in the typical UK home. The pathway from a full blown LP12 SE to Bardo is particularly well trodden and recently we had the chance to AB these two very directly in succession and the margin of difference was actually quite startling. So much so that I felt it deserved it's own proper article.

In the last 12 months the Dohmann Helix deck has also proven to a be resounding success. The Helix series of decks sit comfortably in the very top echelon of record players you can buy today but the prices are very much "BS free". We have placed a really good number of these mostly shod with Etna MC and Allnic H7000 phonostage.

Dohmann Audio has seen some expansion too. Production has moved to Australia and there is a new website and new products too including carbon fibre top plates and armboards and some new finishes. At Munich they were showing their new improved flagship Helix 1V2 with powerbase and improved power supply and motor speed control software.

New for Summer 2019 at Lotus, we are excited to add Shunyata mains products to our portfolio. We like Shunyata's dedication to UK mains application and in particular their dedicated UK 3 pin plug. The Denali mains districution block is something quite special as is the Venom UK 6 block at a more modest pricepoint. We also like the people behind Shunyata UK who are driven, professional and very much on the pulse. Commercial viability, aftersales, support and availability is always as important as out and out sonics.

We tested the Alpha, Delta and Sigma mains cables here and all provided a high level of performance and generous and balanced scaling as you pay more for your money. We also really like the dual NR and EF options for each mains cable, giving you the customer a small sonic choice at each price level.

The Denali is already doing the rounds at Lotus customers homes and impressing with what it can do. Looking forward to having a permanent one flexing its muscles in the Lotus demo room.

Shunyata joins TelluriumQ, Entreq and Tidal to make for a very robust suite of mains products. On demo from today.

Avalon that curious idiosyncratic sleeping giant of the industry. You don't hear or see from them very much and they like to keep an almost invisible profile but here at Lotus we love their speakers as much as we ever did and the delectable synergy with Vitus electronics never stops giving.

New for 2019 was the £17,000 PM1 floorstander. The "performance monitor" range represents a new wave of loudspeakers for the Colorado based company, still effortlessly natural and musical but with a small but noteworthy emphasis on greater precision, speed and neutrality.

The PM1 was played and extremely well received in the Kog room at last year's Windsor 'Hifi News' show and has since been racking up the sales in systems up and down the country. Quite a bit smaller than a Transcendant it has a more obviously open sound, a projecting and hugely mesmeric midrange but still enough richness and tonal saturation to unmistakably be an Avalon. Imaging and dimensionality is of course first rate as is the bass performance. The PM1 has quickly won many fans and is a very loigcal stepping stone up from the entry £11,500 Idea but still compact enough for many of the UK's smaller listening rooms.

Avalon's bigger PM2 arrives in UK shores shortly and we look forward to exploring the second addition to this new range.

With the sad demise of Transfiguration we have been concentrating on Lyra cartridges for our Vinyl customers. Lyra need no introduction and we mostly have been supplying Etna SL's. This is an incredible MC ! Look no further for what is ultimte performance. We prefer it to the more expensive Atlas.

Allnic is one of our oldest brands but still one of our favourites. Whilst the apetite in the UK for vacuum tubes is relatively small these days, we still sell a very healthy stream of Allnic equipment. Their updated H1202 phonostage is the biggest news out of Korea in recent times. This £3000 entry level phono preamp has been improved significantly over it's outgoing H1201 model and all for a very modest price rise of £250. It's such an important and key unit here at Lotus that it deserved it's very own article.

With the birth of the Vitus SIA-030, the new Prisma preamp from Tidal, more Vimberg on the horizon and the arrival of Shunyata there is plenty to keep us busy this Summer. We seem to have a formula that works, have every base covered and I don't like or believe in too much choice especially when extra product is just more of the same.

That said, we are looking very closely at a new flagship series of digital storage/streamers. This should happen very soon so stay tuned to or Instagram and Facebook. For those with no compromise systems, those who want the ultimate, those who want even more performance than the superb Melco range of Streamers that we support so staunchly, this new brand will hit the bullseye. We all like Halo products and this will be just that in no uncertain terms.

It just remains for me to thank all customers for their custom and support and wish you all a fabulous Summer. If there is anything we can help you with, as ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch.