Let's establish the following: Very few HiFi audio systems are set up in such a way that they can actually demonstrate their considerable performance capabilities. The more expensive the setup, the more sensitive this issue becomes.

Setting up High-End equipment is particularly challenging, as its components are capable of mercilessly exposing every flaw in the system. If you are not 100% satisfied with the sound of your High-End system, even though you have invested a lot of money and set up a special listening room for it, I am confident that I can help you quickly and effectively.

In order to set up High-End audio equipment optimally, we first need to have some listening experience ourselves. This is not about enjoying music, but about the ability to perceive the interaction of a HiFi system in the room. Every setup error has its own specific characteristics: for example, harsh voice reproduction, a blurred phantom center, missing transients, unnatural reverberation, lack of tonal width, or poor bass reproduction.

For this reason, we need a different strategy to fix each individual setup error. In our consultation, I first listen to your description of the system and analyze the challenges you are facing together with you. We then look at the five most important factors that influence the sound of your high-end system:

1. the power source
2. system grounding
3. the setup
4. all connections
5. the listening room

The selection of audio components also influences the resulting system sound, but far less than one might assume. This aspect only becomes interesting once all other factors have been understood and optimized. Only then can you really hear your devices; before that, you mainly hear the weaknesses in your setup.

Component matching is usually offered by retailers and websites, while little time is spent on setting up High-End systems after purchase in-store or online. Customers then usually have to figure out for themselves how to set up their new and expensive equipment. Scrolling through YouTube tutorials mostly raises more questions than it answers.

The goal of our conversation is therefore to improve the performance of your system in a simple and cost-effective way. Afterwards, you will have a better understanding of the current state of your High-End system and be able to assess what steps are necessary to unleash its full sound. I will show you how your system handles energy and how you can transport this to your ears without loss or interference.

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Dear HiFi community,

Welcome to www.eiaudio.de, the HiFi blog that places more emphasis on the acoustic impression of our ears than on what we assume to know in order to achieve the best possible sound, regardless of brands and prices. Here, we insist on figuring out why one component in the mix of devices works better than another after the fact.

“Ears over mind” is the motto that has helped many audiophiles achieve unimaginable enjoyment. Searching for the best sound and exploring how it is created is not about knowing, but about asking the right questions, step by step. In this way, a superlative HiFi system was created from relatively affordable components in the small German town of Marne at the North Sea.

From the source of power and its distribution via the cables, to the selection of the individual components and their precise acoustic decoupling, to the positioning of the speakers in the room, hardly anything was left to chance in this setup. Speakers are, in the broadest sense, wave generators that interact with the room. The positive use of this interaction at the listening position is one of the factors that determines the sound impression.

And yet it is only since January 2026, with the introduction of a newly developed speaker cable, that I dare to put forward a thesis: the best-sounding HiFi system in Germany, north of Hamburg, is located in Marne on the North Sea. Now, of course, some of you will cry out that it is very assuming to make such a general statement, because it also depends on the playback volume and the type of music. I agree, and that is why I would like to clarify the underlying criteria:

I am referring to the reproduction of acoustic instruments and human voices in any arrangement – from Folk Music to Jazz and Vocal Jazz to Classical Music – in the studio or live, in the correct tonality and dynamics and at a realistic listening volume of approx. 75 dB average sound pressure at the listening position. Further evaluation criteria are tonal width and spatially correct representation.

Forget about the trade shows you have been to, where hastily assembled equipment is set up in randomly assigned hotel rooms. Forget the HiFi stores, where it is sadly very rare to have the opportunity to calibrate a system in a room over several months. Unless you are a HiFi freak yourself with a lot of knowledge, time, and leisure, you have most likely never heard such a system perform. Because this experience leaves you speechless and thoughtful for a while.

But don't just take my word for it, let's arrange a listening session and see for yourself. Bring two or three records or CDs of your choice and listen to them at your leisure over coffee or cold drinks. Let's talk about HiFi and tell me about your journey and your experiences. If, after listening, you still believe your system can do better, I'd be happy to listen to it and perhaps also feature it here. And, just in case you were wondering, this offer also applies if you are a dealer or run a HiFi store. The only important thing is that the system in question is set up and ready for a session and that it delivers comparable or better sound as an ensemble.

So, from one HiFi freak to another: It's high time for new explorations!

Audiophile greetings,

Karsten

I am writing these lines in the week of eiaudio’s fifth anniversary and find that our world, technology, and future outlook have changed dramatically since then. Back in April 2020, citizens around the globe were experiencing government-imposed lock-downs that had been put in place to slow down the spread of the Covid-19 flu-pandemic. In order to stay in business during these restrictions, companies ended up moving vast portions of their communications and operations to cloud-based servers and online platforms, which culminated in the largest synchronous data upload in world history. With my family’s language school business closed down for several weeks and both our kids at home due to the restrictions, I wrote my first article on my smartphone. I wanted to tell the story of HiFi from the very beginning, and so I called the article: “The Power Source”.

My aim was to share what I had learned about HiFi setups and gear with like-minded enthusiasts. I wanted to document my discoveries for my own future reference in a place I could rely on, to encourage my readers to make new discoveries and trust their own ears, and also to set up an alternative platform to my family’s language school operations, which could apparently be shut down very quickly, as the German government had made clear to us. Built on a basis of truthful personal reflection, the blog was destined to become a beacon of audiophile integrity, limited only by the scope of my experience and understanding. Having such a strong basis in personal appreciation proved to be beneficial to the website’s reception, and eiaudio.de soon attracted well over 10,000 individuals each month who stuck around to read many more articles.

Today, my eiaudio blog is even more influential than shown in the numbers above. It helps people around the globe form their opinions on subjects such as HiFi setups, room acoustics, vintage gear, and listening skills. However, in many cases, the people benefiting from my articles do not really need to visit my page anymore. Instead, they ask an AI-bot like Chat GPT to collect the information for them. With most of human data and experience available online, it was only a matter of time, before someone came up with an algorithm that could drink from this extensive pool of human labour without its user having to visit the sources that feed into the pool each time. And there is more: AI bots cannot only extract information from the web but now also organise data in order to create spoken and written texts, images, and also music. The bottom line is that output once unique to us humans is henceforth subject to automation by bots, and those sharing their insights online, like myself, are feeding them for free.

As it looks now, our social stability and order, sense of purpose and justice, personal commitment and resilience, will all be tested at the same time, while AI is leading us towards completely uncharted territory at breakneck speed. Some industries will be affected by these changes sooner than others. The music industry, for instance, has already been forced to make the transformation from the High Fidelity-sound of the 1960s to 1990s (first based on vinyl and later on CD sales) via the iPod (with predominantly MP3 as its basis) to the High-Res streaming services of our time. In the face of local music abundance, due to instant worldwide availability, the formerly large budgets of music labels have shrunk dramatically and with them the incomes of the artists providing the music. With earnings from music sales at an all-time low, the price of concert tickets has skyrocketed. Those artists who do not manage to attract regular crowds mostly go empty handed.

In most modern households, High Fidelity has been reduced to the sound quality of smart speakers, and few people take the time to set up a proper HiFi system or to develop their listening skills anymore. Slowly, we are learning that information without structure and context is disinformation. Just like high-frequency noise clutters the iron core of a transformer and prevents it from working properly, the helpless attempt of today’s global brands of reaching all consumers directly via social platforms makes people withdraw from communication on many levels, unsure of what to believe anymore. There are simply too many companies and too many products for the consumer to process when these make a pitch all at once. The pendulum of globalisation has swung from the scarcity of goods and local production all the way to the abundance of goods with failing consumer demand and a general drifting towards the pointlessness of everything.

After all, what is the point of me writing reviews that are predominantly going to be read by bots and that are therefore no longer linked to my name? And what is the point of factories making products faster and faster in which the workforce has long since been replaced by robots and companies stalking communities online, trying in vain to sell products to people who have lost their jobs and no longer have the means to purchase anything? — One could argue that five years after Covid-19, the full scale of human greed and stupidity is more blatantly obvious than ever before. Although we are family and clan-based social beings and therefore utterly dependent on each other for survival, our current economic model mostly rewards those who most quickly come up with products and services that threaten and break apart the pillars of our social fabric and environment.

While eiaudio is about deep contemplation and making time for appreciation, the current trend of placing everything at our disposal at once, seemingly without the need for personal understanding and growth, is luring us down a dark alley, ill-prepared for what awaits us. I would have liked to see a deep connection to evolve between the readers of my blog (commenting section) and myself. This can still happen, of course. But with bot visits heavily on the rise, the risk of us never getting to know each other and drifting further apart as HiFi enthusiasts, families, and nations seems very real.

Best wishes,

Karsten

Sleek, slim, and beautifully enigmatic. The Devialet Expert 250 combines its timeless design with plenty of 21st century features to facilitate multi-level integration in contemporary home entertainment systems. It clearly shows that versatility and High-End sound quality need not be mutually exclusive.

When I began my journey into the subject of HiFi, I soon discovered that simplistic designs tended to offer a superior sound experience. Reduced form, dedicated functions, and direct wiring were the high-end cornerstones of my formative years. I marveled at the simplicity of David Hafler amplifiers and at the effectiveness of such timeless classics as the Lenco L75 turntable. At this time, even CD players were perceived as a risky deviation from this no-frills design philosophy due to their digital to analogue conversion and complex integrated circuitry. In a sweeping generalization, tone controls, graphic equalizers, and colorful displays were all considered a bowing to convenience and served as ugly reminders of the feature-packed designs of the 1980s.

To the purist, the increasing prevalence of digital technology and integrated circuitry, as it has found its way into audio electronics today, can be disconcerting. In fact, when setting up vintage HiFi gear, we explicitly attempt to filter out high-frequency emissions where they have a negative effect on musical fidelity. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the power supply level often has adverse effects on tonal balance and sound stage. As a consequence, ferrite beads have become commonplace to prevent cross-device leakage. Meanwhile, the power grid itself has become infested with distortion from switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) as they are found on LED lights, home automation, routers, etc. What once used to be a calm pool of energy today requires conditioning from shunt filters and other contraptions. An increasing number of audiophiles has given up on the grid itself and is sourcing its power from large batteries instead.

But would it not be great if we could befriend the beast and move beyond these early restrictions? After all, conventional linear power supplies are dinosaurs that have not evolved much since the beginnings of the technology. They often make High End audio amplifiers inconveniently heavy, bulky, and expensive. Formidable Class A and A/B amplifiers that are able to handle difficult loads can easily weigh 20 kg and more. Many of them consume considerable energy, even when they are not playing music or playing it softly; and they tend to run very hot in the process. As humanity is embracing digital and smart technology in all walks of life, why should High End audio be exempt?

The Devialet D-Premier was born in this time of transition. It was launched during the uncertainties of the world economic crises of 2008 and promised to technically amalgamate the properties of a traditional integrated HiFi amplifier with the versatility of the digital advancements of the 21st century. The chief developer and co-found of Paris-based Devialet, Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel, is a true expert in a new design philosophy that he christened “Analog Digital Hybrid” or ADH.

[...Article in progress. Full review coming up...]

Specifications

• Type: Integrated hybrid class A/D amplifier
• Power output (RMS, 6 Ohms): 250 WPC (from v7.0)
• High-current stability: 2 Ohms
• Frequency spectrum: 0.1 Hz-87,000 Hz (-3 dB)
• Total harmonic distortion: 0.001% (at power max)
• Signal to Noise Ratio: > 130 dB
• Digital features: Built-in DAC, WiFi-streamer, DSP
• DSP specifications: 400MHz, four channel, 40-bit
• Analogue inputs (RCA/cinch): 24 bit / 192kHz (up-sampling)
• MM/MC phono stage: capacitance/resistance matching
• Line-level inputs: 2x customisable
• Digital inputs (S/PDIF RCA): 4 assignable slots (max.)
• Further inputs: Toslink, AES/EBU, optical/RS232, USB, RJ45
• Wireless connectivity: built-in Devialet “AIR” WiFi
• Speaker outputs (banana/spades): 2-channel
• Subwoofer output: via line/RCA
• Digital outputs: AES/EBU and RCA
• Wireless sampling rates: 16-bit, 24-bit, 32kHz - 96kHz
• Coaxial and optical S/PDIF: 16-bit, 24-bit, 32kHz - 96kHz
• USB: 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit, 32kHz – 192kHz
• Dimensions: (H)4.05 cm x (W)40 cm x (D)40 cm
• Weight: 7 kg
• Country of manufacture: France
• Year(s): 2013 (based on original D-Premier)

If you are a cables-don’t-matter-person and believe that even lamp cord is perfectly suitable for amplifier-to-loudspeaker connections, then this article is not for you. To all those who know how to set up a good HiFi system and have the ears to approve it, the Symphonic Line High End music electric cable is a valuable asset in unleashing the performance of your High End amplifier.

A world of magic.

Join any public HiFi forum today, and you’ll quickly find fiery discussions about audio cables. These conversations often reach a stalemate between those convinced that quality cables significantly impact sound and those who argue that nearly any cable that completes a connection is sufficient. Interestingly, this pattern repeats itself, whether discussing interconnects, speaker cables, or power cords.

While many debates boil down to two questions—'Do cables really matter?' and 'Are High-End cables just snake oil?'—perhaps a more productive approach would be to step beyond personal opinions and anecdotes and to ask: Are forums, where contributors often use pseudonyms and vary greatly in experience, truly the ideal place to explore complex technical issues like cable quality?

Essentially, what cable-effect skeptics do not realise is that they ask us to believe in a magic trick by suggesting that they can change the medium without this having any effect on the crucial properties: capacitance, resistance, inductance, internal resonances, eddy currents, level of signal loss and interference, etc. To the skeptic, a cable will have the same effect on the frequency spectrum and the dynamics of music, regardless of whether it is of an unshielded silver solid-core design or, quite the opposite, a copper-clad aluminium multi-strand with mesh shielding. And this is simply not the case.

The magic of reality.

Back in the real world, the characteristics of cables are so divergent that I have hardly heard two signal cables on a HiFi system that had the same effect on music. Each cable has specific strengths and weaknesses that I accept and have learned to use to my advantage when setting up a system. Since on High End music systems, we normally do not have any attenuators for bass and treble, cable characteristics can be used to darken tonal colours, slow down or increase speed, or to make the HiFi system sound crisper, until the resulting balance sounds just right.

However, despite my personal experience with the importance of signal cables, it did take me some time to accept that this also applied to power cords. Music signals are obviously delicate and span a whole range of frequencies, whereas power cords are directly connected to the house electrical grid (often by means of a power distributor) and only have to handle one specific voltage and frequency (240 volts, 50 Hz for Europe). At first, this seemed like a simple enough job to me that just any cable could do, but, surprisingly, the audible differences between power cords are also quite substantial. Power, after all, is the basis for everything.

How is it possible that power cables contribute to sound?

For one thing, the home electrical installation is made up of solid-core copper wires. These are not certified for movable devices, because solid-core wires are rigid and can easily fracture when bent repeatedly and cause fires. It is for this reason that we change from solid-core to flexible multi-strand wires in a power cord. Doing so causes audible deviations within the electrical current flow. And since this degrading effect is located right before the music-processing device (CD-player, amplifier, etc.), where power integrity should ideally be getting better and not worse, the effect can be considerable.

The power cord is in a crucial position, because it becomes part of the resonance circuit of the respective music device. Its ability to provide clean, resonance free electricity in abundance is essential for the music signal to remain intact. Contrary to popular belief, the ability of a cord to support clean music reproduction does not show in the dimensions of its cable nor in the design of its shiny plugs. Power cords need to be evaluated in their effectiveness when applied in a real-world listening test. And this is precisely where the Symphonic Line High End music electric cable meets its mark.

Built for music.

The authentic reproduction of music signals across the frequency spectrum, with life-like dynamics, correct timing, and natural tonal colors, is a challenge and demands more attention to detail than the power supply of a heating, cooling, or light emitting device. Different rules apply to the design of a power supply and the cord that feeds it, and it takes lots of experience to get the balance just right.

Symphonic Line can look back on a 40-year history of engineering audio devices that satisfy the needs of audiophile High End listeners around the world. The company is owner-operated by its founder, Rolf Gemein, and offers a full range of true-to-source music devices, spanning from CD players, analog drives, integrated amplifiers, pre- and power amplifiers, to loudspeakers and the cables that make each device perform at its best. And as the resulting performance hardly ever hinges on a single device, improving the connections between them has been as important as the devices themselves.

The Symphonic Line High End music electric cable is based on a relatively new concept and was designed to unleash the full performance of High End amplifiers and related audio gear. It is an optical understatement and does not demand much visual attention. It feels light, soft to the touch, and is surprisingly flexible. The cord is moderately priced in the high-end segment, especially when we factor in the sound experience. Its conductors are made up of 2.5 mm2 and 1.5 mm2 multi-litz wires paired with an ultra-fast dielectric with the benefit of low dielectric absorption and fast polarity reversal. The cable uses a filler that is chaotic in structure for higher resonance absorption paired with a soft and transparent outer sheath for better decoupling from the floor.

The quality of workmanship is at the high level that has become the trademark of Symphonic Line products, and the resulting sound is breathtaking. “I wanted to design a cable that would indicate endless clean power reserves to the amplifier under all conditions”, Rolf Gemein said to me, as he was handing me the High End music electric cable for testing at the Norddeutsche HiFi-Tage. “Let me know what you think. And feel free to write about your experience.” On that day, I was taking the Manger P2 loudspeakers to write a review, and the prospect of having a great power cable to choose from presented a welcome opportunity for me.

Since then, I have tested the cable in combination with a Symphonic Line RG10 MK4 Reference amplifier, the Manger P2 bending wave transducers, and my own Martin Logan SL3 electrostatic speakers with a variety of music styles. And I have documented my highly positive experiences in my reviews on the RG10 MK4 Reference amplifier, the Manger P2 loudspeakers, and the WSS Platin Line LS4 speaker cables. All these articles have one thing in common: a power source that is fast and clear of harmful resonances.

Ways to perfection.

I did detect traces of HF interference, however, that the cable did not manage to filter completely, and I therefore decided to add one ferrite bead about 12 cm before the cable enters the amplifier. This immediately freed it from any trace of interference. The RG10 MK4 Reference is a sensitive and powerful amplifier that will take whatever we feed into it and amplify it to well above 50,000 Hz. As we have a large cellphone tower in our neighborhood with visual contact when looking out the window, I have not been able to use any power cable without a ferrite clamp. With cellphone coverage being present in an increasingly tight mesh, this same phenomenon might also apply to your location.

The finished setup allowed for clear and calm sound reproduction. Freed from resonances and HF interference, the RG10 MK4 Reference could realize its full dynamic potential. The music could sound powerful and massive yet delicate and sweet simultaneously, or shift dynamically within milliseconds.

This new potential changed my listening habits and made me favor Broadway musicals simply for the joy of dynamics and the multitude of instruments and voices. Rolf Gemein often talks about the importance of an even power distribution across the entire frequency range, rather than focusing on a single measuring point for better specifications. It is this characteristic that is special in the context of Symphonic Line amplifiers, especially when they are fed from a high quality power source.

With energy effortlessly moving to and from the amplifier, the recording distinguishes itself from the HiFi setup and becomes audible in all its dimensions. There is order on the tonal and dynamic scale at once. Performances take shape, and the body of music can be felt and not only heard in all its dimensions. Marco Kolks (link shows PDF of the German article) wrote about his experience with the High End music electric cable in the German publication “Hörerlebnis”, and I can only agree with his findings and congratulate him on his thoughtful and detailed analysis.

I feel that Rolf Gemein has succeeded at building a cable that provides amplifiers with unbridled clean power, which was his declared mission. If you have the chance to test it on your amplifier, this is certainly an experiment worth your time. Don't judge a book by its cover. The High End music electric cable will easily dwarf cables that look three times more impressive and are much higher priced. Here is one piece of the puzzle on the way to a true High End system.

Specifications

• Type: High End power cord
• Application: High End music sources and amplifiers
• Inner conductors: 2.5 mm² / 1.5 mm²
• Cable length: 160 cm (without plugs)
• Variations: Also available per meter.
• Cable diameter: 9 mm
• Weight: 350 g
• Country of manufacture: Germany
• Year(s): 2022 -