LATEST ADDITIONS

There’s much more to Boulez than the abrasive provocateur, says Peter Quantrill, as he picks out highlights from a life’s work driven by an ambition to fuse poetry and music

Two years ago, when Musical Fidelity relaunched its Nu-Vista hardware line with the four-box PRE/PAS amplifier system [HFN Mar ’23], owner Heinz Lichtenegger – whose Audio Tuning company had acquired the brand in 2018 – confirmed plans for two sibling integrated amplifiers. The first of those, the 800.2, surfaced a few months later [HFN Aug ’23]. Now, perhaps belatedly, comes the turn of what Lichtenegger told us would be the ‘lower-power’ Nu-Vista 600.2.

The standalone Preciso DAC is the latest offering from Florence-based Volumio, which was founded ten years ago by CEO Michelangelo Guarise. With the Preciso, the company has opted to deliver a USB DAC at an affordable, rather than more rarified, price point. And while the congenial £699 tag fits into Volumio’s broader strategy of accessible products, it could not practically be achieved without outsourcing its PCB build to China. That said, there’s no mistaking the Italian flair on offer here!