What if I told you the best linestage I have ever heard in my system wasn’t the $28,000 tube preamp I loved for so long or the incredible $38,000 transistor unit that I recently had in the house” If you have to have an active linestage, these two units are the best I have heard. If you can get by with a passive unit that is so plain looking that it’s almost invisible, then I can tell you the best linestage I have ever had in the house is the silver version of Emia Remote Autoformer. Truth is it’s not even close in my system.
Jeffrey Jackson and Dave Slagle created Emia to fulfill the need for affordable high-end audio components using clever design and quality parts. On the Emia website it says, “Emia represents a way of thinking or a concept if you will, rather than a specific product. Our unique way of thinking blends the knowledge and experience of Jackson of Experience Music and Slagle of Intact Audio with the goal of integrating the subjective and the objective to further both the art and science of musical reproduction. While so many people today are simply trying to copy and bring a vintage technology to market, we strive to understand the underlying concepts and apply them to contemporary sound reproduction through the introduction of new designs.”
Jeffrey and Dave have chosen to use unassuming chassis design that puts the bling on the inside as Dave Slagle is fond of saying. Everything they make is hand-made in their workshops. Emia is not even close to being a mainstream high-end audio company. You have to place an order and most often wait for the product, but I promise you it is worth the wait. Click to read the complete review on Dagogo.com.