AXPONA offered the public a long-anticipated first listen to prototypes of Mytek’s forthcoming Empire Streamer DAC ($24,995) and Empire GaNFET class-D monoblock amplifier ($9995/each or $19,990/pair). The former, which I’ll review, may be in production by Munich High End in May; the latter is expected to launch in September.
The Empire monoblocks weigh only 30lb each. Mytek’s Chief Design Engineer, Michal Jurewicz, told me they output 300Wpc into 8 ohms and 600Wpc into 4 ohms. He also claimed that their gallium nitride transistors are 10 or 20 times faster than MOSFETs and produce far more of the squarewaves essential for distortion and overshoot-free playback. “The transfer characteristic is a straight line similar to what tube amplifiers produce,” he said.
“Our goal is to create a one-box solution by combining the highest performing DAC with an internal Roon system that includes an integrated streamer,” Jurewicz told me.
“The Empire platform allows for continual upgrades. We are planning all kinds of software updates, including DSP for both rooms and headphones. The Empire’s preamp function will also allow you to play vinyl and, with a future software upgrade, convert analog to file format.” The DAC, which Mytek’s website touts as “most likely the best DAC ever made,” uses two ES9038PRO 8 channel chips, one chip per channel, in dual mono fully balanced configuration.
The chip claims a 140dB dynamic range in balanced mono mode
Paired with Wilson Audio Sasha DAW loudspeakers ($39,000/pair) and connected by Mytek interconnects and Transparent Ultra speaker cable, the system sounded open, clear and dynamic on a track from Steely Dan, and solid, clear, fast, and warm on Mickey Hart’s drum heavy “The Gates of Dafös.” I’m not a Hans Zimmer fan, but there was no denying that the bombastic “Theme from Dark Night Rises” filled the room with sound. (I expect there is more to say about the sound, but I was too busy wishing that the track would end to pay close attention.) Happily, Wesley Schultz, the lead vocalist of The Lumineers, sounded really fine on “Salt and the Sea.”
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