DUNU
Some of the sexiest gear at SIAS 2025 was announced by DUNU, and most of it was in their Concept series lineup.
This included the Concept R, which a fair few already knew about, but also the incredibly desirable V or Virtuoso, and a new on-ear called the Concept T.
SIAS 2025 marked the second time seeing the Concept R in the flesh, but the first time I managed to dig out some much-needed space to get some listening time with it.
And it did not disappoint. The CD mechanism is quite fast, the volume slider is smooth and accurate, the buttons are responsive, and the R-2R decoding inside is natural-sounding and emotive.
Its 1.3W of output power is more than enough for most headphones, but it was equally delicate with my more sensitive PMG Audio Apx IEMs.
I would hand some money over without thinking twice. Many of the portable CD players at the show sound fantastic, but the Concept R was the only one to truly capture that Retro spirit. At $699, I would expect nothing less, though.
It is too soon to say much about the Virtuoso because it was just announced at SIAS 2025 and is not on display.
What I can say is that it seems to be wedge modular, has a CD player as its main source, and all controls are tactile and perhaps mechanical. It looks very pro or studio-like in its design.
It reminds me a little bit of the Studer CD deck HIFIMAN has been bringing to shows such as Shanghai, and that one costs around $6000 used, so I am hoping DUNU can capture that same spirit at significantly less money.
What is more affordable and also beautifully designed is their new Concept T on-ear portable dynamic driver headphones.
And yes, it was on show at SIAS 2025, but it was such a busy small stand for 3 days running, you would be hard pressed to get more than a few minutes with anything.
What I can say is they are comfortable, solidly built with CNC-machined stainless steel, and look beautiful. I certainly hope we can get our hands on one to tell you how well they sound under proper listening conditions.
Volk Audio
Both Jack (Owner of Volk Audio) and I were surprised to see each other at SIAS 2025.
I honestly did not expect to see a Volk Audio stand at the show, but there it was, and yup, I finally got to test out the new Etoile hybrid IEM, which was developed in partnership with GRAMMY-winning engineer Michael Graves.
This is a quadbrid 10 driver flagship priced at $3999 with a mix of dynamic, BA, electrostatic, and magnetostatic drivers. It’s not a small IEM by any means, but it feels relatively lightweight and comfortable in your ear.
My listening time was brief, but the sound is true to how Jack likes his IEMs: dynamic, deep, and powerful, yet very detailed and spacious-sounding. It’s a high-end IEM, I have no doubt, and yours truly will be reviewing it in due course.
SIVGA
Most of my team has reviewed SIVGA gear, so I was hearing a lot of their gear for the first time at SIAS 2025.
Up until this point, they are known for headphones and IEMs, so I was a bit surprised to see a branded high-end integrated DAC and headphone amplifier on display called the Kylin, priced at around $1700 or 11988 CNY.
From what I read on the day at SIAS 2025, it is a balanced output amplifier that uses an ES903802M chipset for decoding up to 32-bit/786kHz and native DSD512.
It can deliver up to 10W into a 32Ω load down to 1W into 300Ω, so demanding headphones should not be an issue.
I tested it with the Sendy Peacock, which they hand on the stand using some of their own tracks from a tablet connected via USB, and it sounded dynamic and detailed with no clipping or distortion.
This was also the first time I heard the Peacock, and it is meaty in the lows, buttery smooth beyond, and leaning slightly to a darker tuning overall.
Shanling
Shanling was at SIAS 2025, and oh boy, more CD players on show! I couldn’t be happier to see this platform make such a huge comeback in personal audio.
Of course, Shanling was one of the first to target the portable CD market with the EC Mini and their recent EC Zero T tube portable CD players, which we have here for review.
However, the EC Zero T is priced at $599, so it’s a bit out of budget for some who want a taste of tubes in a CD player.
Shanling’s answer to that is a new ‘budget’ version called the EC Zero, which strips down some of the more exotic features of the EC Zero, such as switching to a delta-sigma AKM AK4493 DAC and no tubes.
The EC Zero is expected to be priced around $320 when it comes out.
There were more tube devices on display at SIAS 2025, including two dual tube dongles from Shanling and their sister brand, ONIX.
Slightly different designs with the tubes on either side for the ONIX version and stacked in the Shanling variant.
I believe the Shanling version is not final, and I have slight concerns about the exposed nature of the tubes despite it being the cooler-looking design. At this stage, the ONIX version looks more durable.
No information on final price or release dates for either unit, but as always, we will review them for sure.
Effect Audio
EA was at SIAS 2025, though I had peaked and listened to most of their new offerings just a few weeks previously at CanJam Shanghai 2025.
What I can say is that the Centurion II is a beast of a flagship cable, sounding so very naturally, spacious, and more refined than the first Centurion I reviewed back in 2023. The packaging and accessories are also more compact and useful IMHO.
Dionysus was also there at SIAS 2025. This is an 8-wire midranger that I tested in Shanghai. It’s more neutral-sounding than the Centurion and seems ‘bang for buck’ with an excellent design.
We will have reviews of both out shortly.
Click on page 3 below to read the final part of my SIAS 2025 Show report.
