German analog powerhouse Acoustic Signature roared into High End Munich with a trio of new products: two feature-packed phono stages and a cutting-edge tonearm. Their booth was a showcase of gleaming AS equipment, from precision tonearms and turntables, including the behemoth Invictus Neo, to meticulously crafted, matte-finish phono stages.
AS’s Gunther Frohnhöfer proudly manned the booth showcasing the massive, military-bold Acoustic Signature Tango Apex NEO phono balanced preamp (€24,998) featuring one balanced (XLR) and two unbalanced (RCA) inputs, adjustable gain, switchable capacitance, adjustable impedance, a subsonic filter, balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) outputs, and a built-in headphone amplifier.
The new Acoustic Signature TA-1000 NEO tonearm (€49,998) gets its top-of-the-line kick from bespoke bearings that are “DLC treated to make them ultra durable, and further reduce friction by over 50% compared to any other high-class bearings in the market,” see the website. “Our DLC bearings are simply the best in terms of precision, low friction, and innovative vibration-absorbing material.”
Special features of the TA-1000 include an “extensively damped multi-structure aluminum armtube,” available in 9″ or 12″ lengths, new NEO stainless steel tonearm axis design, optional titanium headshell, SME-type mounting versions, and a brass counterweight. On-the-fly VTA adjustment is available.
Finally, the new Acoustic Signature Tango Reference NEO phono preamp (€5998) works in MC, MI, or MM configurations, has a resonance-optimized chassis made from nonmagnetic aluminum, short signal paths, a subsonic filter, adjustable load impedance, four selectable gain steps, and what AS calls an “over-dimensioned power supply.”
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