KALISTA ARRIVES EXCLUSIVELY AT LOTUS HIFI

How do you proceed when you are already one of the world’s premier manufacturers of High End Digital replay equipment but then go on to produce something which reaches so much further out into the stars that it needs very clear differentiation from your existing produce ? Well in the case of industry luminaries ‘Métronome Technologie’ based just a stones throw from Toulouse, the answer in 2003 was to create the Kallista, a multi award wining masterpiece CD player and then go on to spawn a whole new flagship brand from that one single statement product.

A few decades ago were told that vinyl was dead. More recently with the development of excellent sounding digital servers from the likes of Melco, Innuos, Aurender and Taiko, we were told that CD was dead. Just a brief exposure to the product range from Kallista though will firmly put paid to that particular axiom. Say a big welcome then to the Kallista Dreamplay, a small series of products all essentially revolving around the world’s  most advanced and ambitious CD+SACD player.

Some of us are still emotionally connected to the process of selecting and installing a silver disc in the same way as cherishing a piece of Vinyl. The slower, ritualistic pace of music selection and handling of physical media and its associated increase in human effort, arguably primes the listener with a more attentive and focused frame of awareness, augmenting the final amount of listening enjoyment extracted. For these people, Kallista has all the answers. There is no need to compromise on performance and you can still spin discs yet enjoy a source that is every bit the equal as the best present day hard disk based sources or indeed vinyl front ends. With optional digital inputs, optional Leedh Volume control, and optional streamer unit Dreamplay can also mirror other types of digital source alongside CD play if so desired. No need then to compromise on modernity and current expected functionality.

In the case of the beautiful Dreamplay XC why not simply feature it as the statement Hifi system in its entirety, hide a stereo power amplifier out of the way and just connect to the very best loudspeakers you can acquire. These days the best audio systems needn’t overpower the whole room with a myriad of boxes and wires and indeed at the Munich High End show this year in 2023, I would say there was a distinct disconnect between how good individual rooms sounded relative to their complexity and number of boxes. A strong trend is definitely underway and has been for a few years now.

Kalista is available exclusively in the UK at Lotus and it sits very comfortably inside the walls of our demonstration room. Customers familiar with our incessant pursuit of naturalness and emotional conviction within the music will understand this product immediately. Its singular presentation builds upon the bold, beguiling and fleshy fingerprint of the best of the latter day CD laser transports which many of us grew to love but have now lost. It staunchly avoids assualting you with an overwhelming, clumsy cipher of detail and instead, brings you pure organic joy. Enveloping, fluid and implausibily delectable on the senses. This isn’t the correct sequence of numbers processed through the world’s faster processor but something very human at its core, poignant passion from a burning heart. It will linger, it will mood enhance, it will move you to a higher state. Unashamedly French and all the more incredible for that and, well, just look at it; what a gorgeous jewel like device to adorn your living room, ownership pleasure that extends well beyond just mere sound waves.

Now on permanent demonstration and exclusive to Lotus Hifi in the UK. Models pictured are the Dreamplay XC (top) and Dreamplay Stream (bottom).