Most of our readers should be familiar with British turntable company Avid and some of the more alert ones must have taken note on how Avid evolved into a complete high end audio manufacturer. After a series of reference amplifiers, they moved into speakers, again some halo products so this year it was time for the trickle-down version of such designs.
There is a new integrated amplifier, the Integra, good for 110 credible Watts @8 Ohms, at least when considering the 25Kg weight, but more importantly there is a new line of speakers, the EVO. We listened to the three-way floorstander EVO 4 with side mounted woofers but there is also a slightly smaller two and a halfway floor-stander and a classic two-way compact-ish stand mount model. All models are veneered in real wood and Conrad Mass of Avid told us that are relatively easy to drive. The finish is excellent, front panels are made from aluminum while tweeters are of the soft dome type that I vastly prefer over the hard/ metallic ones for their smoother presentation and lack of sibilance.
Another interesting addition, a moving coil cartridge named Ruby Reference, a first for Avid. The generator was tuned by Avid in the UK and is handcrafted in Japan while Avid also takes care of the CNC machined housing. Price should be around 6.500 euros for this medium output and medium compliance cartridge that should fit most tonearms and phono stages. Considering Avid also makes cables the only thing missing to their portfolio is a DAC and a streamer, being a well-regarded turntable company I am not so sure about them being eager to make digital. For all the rest of your audio system this could be a one-stop shop.
