In a few short years, our M1.1 has become a classic, setting the standard in terms of both performance and versatility. So superseding it, establishing a completely new level of musical capability was always going to demand a major effort and a complete re-think, re-examining every part down to component level. The result was a unique new input stage that significantly outperforms existing circuits, all new circuit boards, re-laid to minimise induced noise and distortion and upgraded components throughout the signal path – all contributing to a dramatic increase in low-level resolution, transparency, natural tonality and musical flow. But at the other end of the scale, headroom is a major limitation on amplifier performance. Dynamic swings can test even the M1.1’s generous 200 W/Ch rated output, so for the M10 we didn’t just increase that by 50%, we doubled the power supply capacity too, creating an output stage with massive musical potential. That reservoir of power doesn’t just come into play on musical climaxes. It gives the quietest passages and instruments the same stable clarity and presence you hear in real life, it precisely traces changes in level and musical density, it holds instruments separate but places them precisely within a single space. It recreates the energy and chemistry of the original performance – and when that performance reaches its climax, the M10 reproduces that too. Effortlessly!

It’s when you try to put all that musical potential in a box that the physical challenges begin. Power supplies are big – and they’re heavy. Building a single chassis to accommodate the M10 was certainly possible, but the resulting product would have been somewhere between difficult and impossible to move or house. That’s why the M10 amplifier comes in a twin-chassis configuration. Those two outwardly similar boxes are not mono-blocs. Instead they are an amplifier stage and a separate power supply chassis. Even splitting the M10 like this, each box is a two-man lift, although they retain the M1.1’s manageable dimensions and will fit into standard racks.

What the M10 also shares with the M1.1 is that amplifier’s versatile topology and user configurable operating parameters. That makes the M10 four amps in one, with output configurable for stereo, bi-amp operation, high-current or high-power mono – in which mode it delivers over 1KW into an 8 Ohm load. The modular input options have been simplified and users can now adjust global feedback ratio (damping factor) in 1% steps, allowing even finer speaker and system matching.