CES 2012: Furutech showcases Esprit DAC and Stride headphone amp

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Award-winning Furutech GT40 gets a bigger brother

Furutech Esprit

We spotted a couple of neat little products from Alpha Design Labs by Furutech here at CES 2012.

First up is the Esprit DAC and digital preamp, described as a "faster, more luxurious GT version" of the Award-winning Furutech ADL GT40. It costs €900.

It's a compact DAC/preamp/headphone amp that can also record and play back from hard disk in analogue and digital.

Fitted with 24-bit/192kHz Wolfson WM8716 DACs, it also has USB, optical, coaxial and a pair of line-level inputs for connecting any device in your system.

Also new from Furutech is the portable Stride headphone amplifier. It's smaller than the existing Cruise, but has the same aluminium casework design and comes in silver or black for €360.

It runs on USB power or a mains adapter that recharges the battery. Features include a gold-plated 3.5mm analogue input and USB digital input.

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Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.