⌈ THE KRAKOW SONIC SOCIETY is an informal group of music lovers, audiophiles, and friends who meet together to learn something new about audio products, records, music, etc. The idea for KSS was born in 2005, although its roots go back several years. Below you will find a report from the 153rd meeting. ⌋

THIRTY, MAYBE TWENTY-NINE, or perhaps even thirty-one years ago, Ancient Audio was founded. Although today we take it for granted, in the mid-1990s it was something of a phenomenon, a small miracle that happens on the banks of Vistula River. It grew out of one man's passion and is still driven by that passion today. It has had its ups and downs throughout its history, but it has never fallen below its very high standards.

I can’t claim that it’s been exactly “thirty years”, since the company was founded, hence the +/- one-year margin, because audio companies rarely have a clear “zero point”. Most often, it starts with DIY activities, for one's own needs and out of necessity. Over time, if all goes well, friends, acquaintances, or family become interested in purchasing units for themselves. That is when money changes hands for the first time. Most often, it is a small, even symbolic amount, but it allows the creator to follow their passion and gives them an “imprimatur” for what they do.

⸜ A cake prepared by Jarek’s wife – happy anniversary!!!

And only then, if – once again – everything goes well and the manufacturer exhibits the right amount of madness and stubbornness, which in this case are one and the same, does the company commence official operations, with registration in the National Court Register, assignment of a tax identification number, and payment of the first taxes. The history of Ancient Audio is just such a whirlwind of decisions, chance, courage, and finally a lack of self-preservation instinct, and from their point of view, the only possible decision and a way of living, typical of perfectionist and passionate companies.

As Jaromir Waszczyszyn, founder and chief designer of Ancient Audio, wrote for us in 2013, the initial impulse came in high school, when he saw a Michell Reference Hydraulic Transcription turntable, known from Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the A Clockwork Orange novel, at a consignment shop (A Clockwork Orange, 1971). Ignited by an unquenchable desire, Jarek made a (quasi) copy of it, which he still has today; more → HERE ˻PL˺.

The second impulse, this time professional, was the appearance on the Polish market of Magazyn Hi-Fi, the first Polish magazine devoted exclusively to audio. Published in Pomerania by a group of enthusiastic Pomeranians sailing under the flag held by their editor-in-chief, Grzegorz Świnarski, it introduced many audio industry terms into the Polish language that we still use today, promoted a specific approach to testing, and, above all, discovered many new brands from Poland, including Ancient Audio. As Jarek goes on to write, “Hybrid was warmly received” by its first reviewer, the aforementioned Świnarski, and this was followed by other successful devices, such as the Solid model, reviewed in 1996.

And it is amplifiers that have remained at the core of Ancient Audio's lineup throughout all these years – as we have already established and agreed: thirty of them. Over time, a second, equally important side of the equation has been added, namely Compact Disc Players. Let us recall that for many years, the Lektor Prime Air V-Cap model was the basis of my audio system. An important technology that had the chance to become the next “big thing” on the market was the SDMusA file player, which read files from a FLASH card; more → HERE. The project, developed in collaboration with Kingston Technology, unfortunately failed due to a lack of interest from major record labels. Today we know that they were already ready for another revolution – streaming.

⸜ Jarek claims, it was his wife, who enabled his success, and so she received a bouquet of flowers

However, it so happens that my first professional contact with this company's products was related to speakers. The first issue of “High Fidelity,” published in May 2004, featured a micro-report from a show held at the Big Fox showroom in Krakow, which focused on Harmony speakers. At the time, I sang the praises of the organizer:

(…) Among the faces, I spotted many friends from the theater, many people from Krakow universities, musicians, etc..It was a professionally prepared show including promotional materials. This is how demonstrations of expensive equipment should look like. Let's not delude ourselves that only audiophiles have a monopoly on good hearing. Locked in a kind of ghetto, we fail to notice that most expensive systems end up with “laymen” who simply want to listen to music in decent conditions.

WOJCIECH PACUŁA, Harmonijne współdziałanie. Kolumny Ancient Audio Harmony, „High Fidelity” № 1, May 2004, → www.HIGHFIDELITY.pl, accessed: 10.09.2025 ˻PL˺.

And although once again in the history of this company, speakers played an important role – it was the → WING ˻PL˺, which plays in the living room of John Tu, owner of the aforementioned Kingston Technology company – after thirty years, history came full circle and the meeting Jarek invited the Krakow Sonic Society to was devoted to amplifiers, Grand Silver Mono II monoblocks, and the source was the latest anniversary CD player, the Lektor 30 Anniversary model.

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▲ A few simple words…

JAROMIR WASZCZYSZYN

⸜ Jarek and yours truly with a commemorative diploma from the Krakow Sonic Society

MY MOST IMPORTANT AMPLIFIER, the Silver Grand Mono, was developed after careful consideration of which amplifiers are considered the best and what standards apply in the world of audio. My goal was to combine these two things – a top-of-the-line design and a device that would interest audiophiles, not just me and a few of my friends. And the “gold” standard in the world of audio is the tube amplifier using a directly heated tube operating in single-ended mode, created by Hiroyasu Kondo.

His amplifier canon is based on the use of silver as a conductor, not only in the wiring, but also in the output transformer, and directly heated triodes, because they are the most linear tubes, plus a tube rectifier. To be honest, this rectifier was a thorn in my side as an engineer. I thought to myself, “Damn, tubes in the amplification stage are great because they don't need a lot of feedback, but in the power supply?!”

It bothered me, so Janusz, with whom I spent dozens, if not hundreds, of hours listening to music with KSS members, and to whom I owe a great deal, and I prepared a series of experiments that involved comparing solid-state and tube power supplies. I prepared those mounted on vegetable slicers, and for two years I was unable to prepare a power supply without a tube that would be better than the one with a tube.

On the website, Ela Waszczyszyn, Jarek's wife "Now I finally know where all those slicers were – I think I bought everything they had at IKEA :). On the other hand, when I made cakes and covered them with jelly, I tied them with silver wire to prevent them from sliding off. I didn't know it was “audiophile” wire – there was just a lot of it, whole spools, lying around everywhere, so I took as much as I needed..."

For two years, there was no progress. My power supplies had no power at all compared to tube power supplies. One evening, I finally told Janusz that I would bring an auto-transformer and supply the amplifier with 260 V. So I did, I connected it and said that whatever happens, I’m turning it on. The first attempt blew all the fuses in the building. Janusz quickly got to grips with it and after the first five seconds you could hear that this was a different world. So, the amplifier needed to be recharged with energy.

If you take a look at the photos in Wojtek's review of the new amplifier, you will see how many capacitors there are in the power supply. The energy accumulated by these high-voltage capacitors is so great that when I once dropped a screwdriver, there was a whistle, a bang, and everything within a radius of twenty centimeters was covered in metal dust – the entire centimeter of the screwdriver simply evaporated. But that's how the Silver Grand Mono was finally created.

We listened to this amplifier many, many times at Janusz's place. The Mk II version is not the same, it is actually a completely new device. The number of different changes and improvements is enormous. The tubes are also different – they are regular Psvane tubes, but we will listen to them in both cases.

But today there is also a brand new product – the Lektor 30 Anniversary CD player. Initially, it was supposed to be a player with a tube output, but I thought it might be better to make something less expensive. Especially since Comrade Putin invaded Ukraine, which cured me of Russian tubes for good – and my players used 6H30Pi triodes. This is how the Joy model was created first, and now the anniversary model, both with semiconductor outputs.

⸜ Top view of the new anniversary CD and Mk I monoblock

The second choice we had to make concerned output voltage regulation. We compared two versions, one with analog volume control in an integrated circuit and one with digital volume control using a circuit “embedded” in the DAC. It turned out that the simpler signal path with digital control yielded better results. The ESS Technology chips I use operate internally with 32-bit resolution. As we know, adjustment in such a system is done by cutting off successive bits. The range of volume adjustment we encounter when listening to music is so narrow that there is no change in the resolution of the CD – everything happens “above” 16 bits.

I cut out all the things that audiophiles rarely or never use, such as digital and analog inputs, but it is possible to connect a digital processor. The drive is a CD-8 Pro from StreamUnlimited Optical Storage (SUOS-hifi). It is a system partly made in the Far East, but developed and assembled in Europe. It is very easy to work with them because it is a small company, so the choice was simple. Someone once said that it is best to work with a company of a similar size, hence SUOS, but also Chris VenHaus, who makes wonderful capacitors under the V-Cap brand. I don't know any better ones... JW

▌ SOUND

HOW WE LISTENED • The “anniversary” meeting took place at the headquarters of Ancient Audio in Krakow, in a room where KSS had been a guest many times before. The idea was to compare the first version of the Silver Grand Mono amplifier, which we listened to during meetings at Janusz's place, one of the founding fathers of the Society and the man thanks to whom both this amplifier and Ancient Audio CD players sounded the way they did, with its contemporary Mk II version. I wrote about the Mk I version → HERE, and about the Mk II → HERE ˻PL˺.

⸜ Ancient Audio Silver Grand Mono Mk I Power Amplifiers

As already mentioned, the signal source in this system was Jarek's latest CD player, the Lektor 30 Anniversary. It is the cheapest device of this type in Ancient Audio's offer, costing as much as the Lektor Prime model did a dozen or so years ago. The system was connected with Siltech cables from the Legend series. The speakers were unusual and did not match the class of the rest of the system, but they also belong to the “family” – they are the latest version of the Arte model from Fram, the second venture in which the Ancient Audio designer is involved.

The comparison consisted of listening to tracks from CDs brought by the participants using the first version of the amplifier and then replacing it with the Mk II version and listening to the same material again. Before that, however, we had the pleasure of welcoming a new member of the Krakow Sonic Society, Andrzej. I would like to add that the cables were provided by TF Audio-Consulting.

» RECORDINGS USED FOR THE TEST ⸜ a selection

⸜ NATALIE MERCHANT, Paradise is Here: The New Tigerlily Recordings, Nonesuch Records 7559-79501-5, CD ⸜ 2015.
⸜ NICK CAVE I PRZYJACIELE, W moich ramionach, Luna Music LUNCD 059-2, CD ⸜ 2001.
⸜ LADY BLACKBIRD, Black Acid Soul, Foundation Music | BMG 538709402, CD 2022.
⸜ ROGERS WATERS, The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, Columbia COL 507981 2, CD ⸜ 1984/2003.
⸜ GEORGE MICHAEL, Faith, Columbia Records/Epic | Sony Music Japan International SICP 30190, „Legacy Recordings”, Blu-Spec CD2 ⸜ 1987/2013.
⸜ KAT, Oddech wymarłych światów, Polton/Silton & Stapis 004, CD ⸜ 1988/1992.
⸜ DEAD CAN DANCE, Anastasis, [PIAS] Recordings PIASR311CDX, CD ⸜ 2012.
⸜ MAREK DYJAK, Moje Fado, Agora SA J0541-RPK, CD ⸜ 2011.
⸜ MICHAEL HEDGES, Oracle, Windham Hill Records 01934n11196-2, CD ⸜ 1996.
⸜ LHASA, La Llorona, Audiogram ADCD 10101, CD ⸜ 1997.

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ANDRZEJ G. ⸜ for the first time as a full member of the KSS (!)• We listened to the Dead Can Dance album I brought, so I will mainly comment on my track. The Silver Grand Mono Mk II amplifier – perhaps we will refer to it as “the second” or “the new” – played, in my opinion, more accurately, in a more analytical way. There was more going on at the bottom of the range, there were more layers of bass, but it seemed to me that it sounded a little less colorful.

⸜ Ancient Audio Lektor 30 Anniversary CD Player

Maybe why I think that is that with the first amplifier I was impressed by the beautiful soundstage that stretched across the entire room. With it, I heard something that I hadn't heard in my system before, namely the enormous depth of the soundstage. It has improved in my room recently, but that's a story for another time... In any case, I'm not used to such a deep soundstage and such cool holographic sound – with the first, older amplifier, it made a huge impression on me.

However, during the second listening session, I thought, that the center of gravity shifted to a different place. There was a little more detail, but the treble was slightly withdrawn and not as prominent as in the first listening session. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but there was less treble in this playback, which meant that the electronic bells did not catch my attention as much as before.

I think the second listening session was so different that I can't say at this point which amplifier I liked more. Maybe tomorrow, when I sleep on it and think about it, I'll be able to say more. In my opinion, this is not a continuation, but two different concepts. I liked the first one better.

ARTUR REICH ⸜ Audio Video Summit, KSS • I also found the first, older amplifier to be definitely more impressive. The only drawback I can see is that it struggles with larger ensembles. As the sound amplitude increased, there was, how can I put it, a slightly shrill, screechy sound. However, when a soloist and one, two, or three instruments were playing, i.e., more intimate ensembles, then it was, in my opinion, cool, even great.

The bass was clear, the instruments and vocals were more transparent, more emotional. With the second amplifier, the new one, it was immediately apparent, you could hear it after a few seconds, a kind of “blanket” as if the sound had been muffled, dimmed, maybe even averaged out. But also, I repeat, those jarring elements disappeared with larger ensembles. So that was a plus. But, for me, it's definitely a difference in favor of the older amplifier Mk I. I guess, Jarek may shoot me now...

⸜ Jarek with Ancient Audio Silver Grand Mono Mk II out of the case

TOMEK HATYLAK ⸜ Radio 357 • Maybe he won't have to – I will defend the other amplifier, the Mk II, which is closer to my “school” of sound, my sound. I can comment on three albums that I know well: George Michael, Lady Blackbird, and Natalie Merchant. In each case, I heard everything a little better, a little cooler, with a little more warmth, more of the “tube” school of playing. That's how Harbeth and Dynaudio speakers sound – and that's the kind of sound I like. So I vote for the newer version of the monoblocks.

RYSIEK B. ⸜ KSS • I have to say that listening to the first part made me a little sad. I was disappointed with what I heard. It seemed to me that the older Silver amplifier was completely cold. It sounded harsh, and the shrillness that Andrzej mentioned was simply annoying. In my opinion, the older amplifier was definitely less musical.

JAREK WASZCZYSZYN ⸜ Ancient, Audio, KSS • What do you mean by „musi-cal”?

RYSIEK B. • For me, Jarek, the indicator of “musicality” is when my “foot starts moving”, when my whole body moves, responding to the music. If not, if I sit motionless, it means that the sound lacks musicality. And with the first version, I sat motionless and listened to it like some kind of “transistor radio”. And yet I had listened to this amplifier a hundred times at Janusz's place, in a different configuration, of course.

Secondly, the new amplifier brought the vocals to the fore, especially on my album by Lhasa. She began to sing in front of us in the foreground. With the older amplifier, she was hidden in the background, she was unclear, and I didn't like those recordings at all. The music only opened up to me with the new version of the amplifier, and I wanted to congratulate you, Jarek, agreeing wholeheartedly with Wojtek's review. And yet we usually disagree – this time, Wojtek, I completely agree :) I think, Jarek, that this is a significant step forward. I listened to the new amplifier with great pleasure.

⸜ Ancient Audio Silver Grand Mono Mk II amplifiers

WICIU ⸜ KSS • The second amplifier, the new one, is less impressive to me. That is, it plays with greater resolution, better instrument positioning, and is pleasant to listen to because it doesn't “boost” anything. But I also wonder if it has taken away some of the expression in the midrange, if there is less midrange in the sound and that is why it becomes more clear. But I don't know if the quartet would sound well here. Overall, I liked it, albeit with reservations.

JANUSZ TUCHOWSKI ⸜ Audiopasja.pl, KSS • In my opinion, the second amplifier, the new one, did something with the midrange that made it thinner, and flatter. This made it more resolving in the sense that more different elements appeared there. Here I agree with Wiciu, that we got more information, but the sound was – in my opinion – flat.

This was clearly audible with Dyjak, who simply became less „alive”, and nothing happened in the midrange. Similarly with jazz, where the first presentation was really very nice, especially the rhythm section, the bass was great, but with the second amplifier, the new one, all of that disappeared.

But I also have some general comments, for example, that the bass here, in this room, is either booming or drag-ging. It's not quite in sync with the midrange. It plays on its own, the bass plays on its own. And I think that's a problem with the speakers. That's why, I have to say, Kat sounded like a band from an oasis song festival play-ing instruments from a Biedronka sale on the first and second listen. After all, there was no drive, no powerful guitars, just so-so – a tiny little Kat (the name means executioner), not the real, powerful KAT.

⸜ Andrzej, the latest member of the Krakow Sonic Society

MARCIN B. ⸜ KSS • I agree 100% with Wiciu and also with Tomek Hatylak. I liked the second version better for many reasons, mainly because the sound was delivered precisely, dynamically, nicely.

I would like to add that it reminded me of listening sessions at Janusz's place, when we listened to Kondo Ongaku, and then you could see the difference between it and the older version of Silver Grand Mono. The “Japanese” amp sounded outstanding, and here, for me, the differences between the Mk I and Mk II versions were very similar, with the latter coming out on top. Maybe it's a bit showy, but I like that kind of thing, and it made a big impression on me.

TOMEK L. ⸜ KSS • Congratulations to Jarek on his perseverance and success. Thirty years is a long time to devote to his passion, and, as we can see, he still enjoys it.

The first topic of the meeting was supposed to be the new CD player, Lektor 30 Anniversary. By eliminating a few elements, it was possible to lower its price while maintaining high sound quality. And it sounded very nice, even with such a diverse repertoire as today. Big applause! It is a very good model. Remembering previous meetings at Jarek's, I must praise the progress made with the Fram speakers, even if they are not in the same league as the amplifiers. Now it is a mature design. I was sitting in the corner, sideways, and yet I liked it.

Although KSS is about listening to music using various systems, we spend most of our time talking, so due to other responsibilities, I didn't have much time left for listening in the second part of the meeting. I only had the opportunity to listen to one of my songs, Natalie Merchant, from the Paradise is Here: The New Tigerlily Recordings, entitled Carnival.

During the listening session, I changed my seat to one in the front row, so I expected significant progress, even though I had enjoyed listening to music in the corner. This delicate, acoustic piece in the first part of the meeting, played on an older, well-known and well-liked version of the amplifier, sounded too intrusive and nervous to me, compared to how it sounds in my system. This was not what I expected from the tube amplifier and after hearing the records of the other KSS members.

After the break, I also presented Stanisław Soyka in a duet with Nick Cave, Pieśń o płaczu / The Weeping Song, in tribute to the artist who recently passed away. Then I listened to Carnival again. I expected minor differences compared to the previous presentation and that I would have to search for them persistently. But here's the surprise: for me, it sounded completely different, just as I expected from the tube. Now I listened to the music with pleasure, because it was delicate, smooth, with a touch of warmth. Natalie wasn't shouting, she was singing intimately for us. The sound was organized and clear.

For me, this is a change in good direction. I regret that I couldn't listen to how the other albums turned out, for example Marek Dyjak, who sounded great in his first attempt, and outside my interests – Kat, because I was curious how he would cope with more aggressive music. I wish you a warm welcome on the market and good sales, and may we celebrate the company's 40th anniversary in ten years!

Tomek couldn’t stay longer with us so he wrote the text at home - ed.

WOJCIECH PACUŁA • I would like to say that we did not agree on this, even though we were traveling here together, but I agree with what Rysiek said. It would be the first time in a long time.

But before I explain why I agreed with Rysiek, I wanted to say that I think the speakers don't match this amplifier – my impression was different from Tomek's above. I think they need a powerful solid-state amplifier to perform to their full potential. This combination lacks power both the first and second time around. That's why it sounded dynamically flat to me. With the older amplifier, it seemed more robust because it mainly plays the midrange, including the strong upper midrange. Of course, in perspective, it's an outstanding device.

The newer amplifier, in my opinion, sounds better. When the older one played louder, it immediately had problems with distortion. The power is supposedly the same, everything is supposedly the same, but if we add a little bit of lower midrange, we simply have to put more energy into the speakers, right? And the first one has a little more lower midrange, which is why it seems more full. As far as I'm concerned, that's why the older amplifier is more flashy, because it boosts something, while the new one sounds very clear and transparent, presenting everything in a way that allows you to match all the other elements of the system to it. And the older one, the Mk I, seems a little closed in on itself to me.

It is obvious that, as Tomek said at the previous meeting, we are hyperbolizing, i.e., exaggerating in our assessments. That is why both are outstanding, top-of-the-line high-end products. But they are so different from each other that it is hardly about a continuity, and more about a new beginning.

ZBYSZEK BIELAK • As it happens, I have listened to both of these devices. I heard the old amplifier for the first time at the Audio Show in Warsaw, which Tomek and I attended together. It was a formative moment for me as an audiophile, because that was the day I bought the Primare i30 amplifier. But it was also the day I attended the Audio Show for the first time, and Jarek was there too, presenting the older Silver Grand Mono monoblocks with Little Wing speakers.

And it was a sound that simply killed me, completely. There was something incredibly beautiful, musical, artistic about it, and that's how I've associated that tube ever since. And even though it didn't really work in my room, or at least not the way I wanted it to – there were many different reasons for that – I still remember that sound. From then on, it was my benchmark for the tube sound.

But the new amplifier, Mk II, offers incredible selectivity. It has enormous potential, because it is such a huge “cloud of sound”. Something like Hades, the Tartarus of sound, which may not locate sources with super-precision, but they are there and they are very vivid. However, it is indeed a more contemporary, some would say “transistor” sound. But I like this kind of sound, I use a Naim transistor power amplifier myself. That's why, for me, the new amplifier rocks.

But it is also true, as Wojtek said, that these speakers are not particularly suitable here. Indeed, there is a feeling that this system, excluding the speakers, i.e. the new monoblocks and the player, are several classes above these speakers, that there is room for an extremely beautiful sound, just not with these speakers. To sum up – the new amplifier has great potential, it's a great job, congratulations! And it's very nice, I really like the design. If it wasn’t a tube device, the design would be perfect for me. :)

TOMEK FOLTA ⸜ TF Audio-Consulting, KSS• Zbyszek went back eighteen or nineteen years in his story. So I will say that I listened to the older Silver Grand Mono amplifier for many years at Janusz's place. This time, however, while listening to it, I kept thinking back to the listening session last December on Christmas Eve, also here, at Jarek's place.

I have no idea what amplifier we used back then. Anyway, the whole system with these or very similar speakers stuck in my memory, in a word, as “stage sounding”, not audiophile. Now, listening to the Mk I version of the amplifier, I thought that perhaps all the Siltech cabling added sophistication to the system, that it was like listening to something from the audiophile canon and that it now sounded better. But it still wasn't the same; it didn't sound like it did in Janusz's system.

Switching to the latest amplifier added a great breath of fresh air to the sound. I realized then that this was a thoroughly modern sound. I immediately dismissed the first comparisons that came to mind, because I realized that I would be making a fool of myself if I said that it sounded similar to amplifiers from Moon, Epsilon, or Vitus. But after what has been said so far, I am absolutely not afraid of this comparison, because it was my first thought. This is an amplifier that produces an absolutely modern sound, i.e., a detailed, vivid, and homogeneous sound. Even if something was cut off at the top or bottom of the frequency range, as Wojtek mentioned, it only seemed that way, and in reality the resolution was excellent.

And perhaps, for some reason, only with Dead Can Dance would I have doubts as to whether I liked the sound of this track better on the older amplifier, Mk I. However, everything else was definitely much better with this new amplifier, more colorful, more accurate, more dynamic, with a punch. It was a system I could live with and enjoy listening to music with, without worrying about trivial details. So, like Zbyszek and Wojtek, I am a fan of Ancient Audio's development and the progress it has made, and I think this is a very good amplifier.

I agree with those who said earlier that they would like to hear this new amplifier with other speakers, and I am very curious to hear how it would sound. I am thinking of some – please don't be offended, Jarek – high-end, well-known speakers.

JAREK WASZCZYSZYN • Gentlemen, I am not offended, I listened to everything with interest, because this is how progress is made. Listen, please write all this down “on paper” as a decent piece of our substantive work. And with that, I will conclude the official part of this meeting and move on to the unofficial part. (...)

▌ Summary

AFTER LISTENING TO AND COMPARING two versions of the Silver Grand Mono amplifier, an interesting conclusion emerges: on the one hand, we are talking about progress, and on the other, about a change in sound that not everyone will appreciate. The Mk II sounds “modern” in the sense that it is very versatile, transparent, clean, accurate, but also extremely “musical”. The Mk I, on the other hand, emphasizes the lower midrange more strongly, but is also slightly more chaotic in its sound presentation.

And that makes sense, but only if we understand that we are talking about top-of-the-line high-end products and that for the vast majority of consumers, each of these presentations will simply be... top-notch. The differences in question only make sense when we choose something for ourselves “forever”. That's when we focus on aspects that “suit” us or not. Which again draws attention to the unusual nature of our industry, a kind of non-linearity. After all, even products that are forty, fifty, or even sixty years old can play in such a way that it sends shivers down your spine.

⸜ Once more – all the best Jarek!

On the other hand, progress has been remarkable, and the change in how audio components sounds today compared to the average level of even ten years ago is truly striking. It seems that the technical advantages of certain technologies have finally been “translated” by engineers into audiophile language and embedded in the dominant trend in audio, namely: sound above all else. That said, it cannot be denied that we were listening to a tube amplifier at Jarek's place, celebrating the 30th anniversary of his company. Such is our beautiful, captivating, mysterious, but also joyful world of perfectionist audio. ●