Furutech plans to improve on the ADL GT40 DAC/amp/phono stage with the ADL Esprit, promising better sound and increased flexibility.

Furutech produced the ADL GT40 in response to consumer demand for computer-stored music aligned with a desire for better sound and flexibility.

Released in 2011, huge sales and several prestigious awards worldwide followed. Combining phono stage with DAC, ADC, and a headphone amp, the GT40 has been described as ’an audiophile’s Swiss army knife’.

The new Esprit is designed around the 24 bit/192 kHz Wolfson WM8716 DAC and the Cirrus Logic CS5361 24/192 analogue-to-digital converter. It features optical, coaxial, USB and 2 analogue inputs. The USB output can be used for recording to hard disk and the S/PDIF output will support digital surround sound formats by allowing surround material stored on a hard drive to be played through a suitable digital surround decoder.

No drivers are necessary with Mac and Linux computers, while a single standard driver is 
required for Windows computers.

Furutech made its name with high performance A/V cables and the Esprit, internally wired as such and fitted with Furutech audiophile connectors, promises a signature sound of smooth, detailed clarity to desktop systems.

The icing on the cake is the addition of a high quality headphone amplifier, capable of driving any headphones with impedance of 16 to 600 ohms.

The Furutech ADL Esprit goes on sale in the UK on 1 May for £835.