“Goldmund, isn’t that a Bond villain?” That’s the question a friend down the pub asked when I told him I had to skip drag bingo night, as I’m on a press trip in Switzerland. To be clear, it’s not.
Editor’s Note: He’s thinking of Goldfinger from the book and film of the same name. Or if we’re going lowbrow (which would make sense for him), Goldmember from the Austin Powers satire.
But there is a connection with the franchise’s fictional villains, as Goldmund – which, to be clear, is a Swiss high-end hi-fi brand responsible for some of the best premium amplifiers we’ve tested recently, including the five-star Goldmund Mimesis 37S NextGen/Telos 300 from 2023 and Telos 690 from 2024 – does have a penchant for secrecy and rarely lets people into its Geneva headquarters.
So, when I got the golden ticket and was offered a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look and listen with its latest Goldmund Mimesis Statement pre-amplifier (price TBC) and Telos 9800 power amplifier (£370,000 / €430,000 / $500,000), which both include numerous firsts for the firm, I couldn’t get on the plane fast enough.
Here’s what my audio sleuthing revealed.
Lots of changes are afoot
Both products are being pitched as “a new beginning” by Goldmund, which shifted its leadership 18 months ago, when CEO Marius Chapel, CCO Gaspar Baldunciel, and COO Paul Tétaz took over the company.
The firm says this means every circuit and aspect of its new pre- and power-amps are new, rather than tweaked versions of old designs. After a chat to the R&D team, and a sneak peek at both units’ internals, I can confirm there is proof in the pudding – though the firm remained fairly tight-lipped when pressed for specific details on its technology.
Capable of delivering a staggering 1560 watts of power into 8 ohms, the Telos 9800 is being pitched as the firm’s most powerful and advanced mono power amp to date. Featuring a towering design that physically separates the power supply and amplification circuitry into two interconnect boxes, the unit comes loaded with a wealth of custom hardware.
Though Goldmund didn’t go into detail, these include everything from a unique PCB (printed circuit board) design to creating custom capacitors and transformers – each “designed by and only manufactured for Goldmund”.
On top of this, the amp features a proprietary power management system, with what it describes as “the largest capacitor bank ever developed by the company”, and backed up by Goldmund's 'Leonardo' processing algorithm tech. Leonardo works to digitally realign frequencies, reducing phase distortions and “dreaded accidental oscillations”.
“Pure, precise, stable” – the three words are muttered throughout the demo.
Outside of this, the Telos 9800 features all the trappings of a high-end power amp, featuring balanced XLR and RCA inputs and a quartet of speaker binding posts. The power amp also features a coaxial digital input, letting you connect digital sources with a volume control directly to it, should you so choose.
The new Statement preamplifier continues the theme, being the first analogue design from Goldmund to feature a dual mono power supply housed in two boxes.
The twin power supplies feed into the preamp, which, while a single box, has a ‘twinned’ design Goldmund claims “you won’t find anywhere else”, where the left and right channels are isolated and physically divided by a “unique heat dissipation component” on the board.
The circuit has an atypical "symmetrical" design the firm claims reduces noise and interference while improving overall “signal purity", resulting in a more accurate, precise and articulate sound.
When it comes to connectivity, the Statement offers three balanced XLR and seven single-ended RCA line-level inputs. Three balanced XLR and three RCA outputs then follow.
But the important question is: after all these changes…
How do they sound?
I was able to listen to this pre/power combination as part of a system in Goldmund’s newly built listening room – which, sadly, hadn’t been fully finished while we were visiting, with things like a bare, reflective door next to the system and unfinished treatment making for less than optimal conditions.
The system featured a Mimesis Statement and two Telos 9800s connected to Theia Passive speakers (£190,000), with the Eidos Excellence SACD player (£55,000) and Eidos streamer (£25,000) acting as sources.
We can’t make any final judgments about sound quality until we have them in our listening rooms. But Dr Véronique Adam, Goldmund’s long-standing head of acoustic research and development, told us the firm’s mission to create the most transparent – to the point of being brutally honest – sound possible, and not try to “fix” a bad source, has not changed. That was apparent the moment the listening session began.
Starting with Prince’s Get On The Boat, the system delivers a punchy, dynamic sound, ably dealing with the interlinking grooves with a solid sense of rhythmic timing and precision. The soundstage feels expansive and wide, creating an accurate stereo image, where every part of the freeform big-band funk experience holds its spot, refusing to congest in the middle and devolve the piece into a muddy wall of sound.
This continues as we transition to Philip Glass’s Floe, where the complex arrangement retains a suitable sense of drive, while leaving enough room for each interlinking instrument to breathe – the dreaded bass synthesiser remaining firmly in its lane, rather than drowning out the more subtle sections, making it possible to count along with the composition’s direct 2:3 polyrhythm.
Moving to SMV’s Thunder, the booming basses hit you in the gut as the system delivers an impressive amount of low-end heft. But the higher-frequency scooped slap bass sections began to take on a hard edge and feel a bit raised compared to the other parts, making for occasionally unpleasant listening, despite its otherwise capable handling of the tricky piece’s dynamics. I suspect the less-than-perfect acoustics of the unfinished demo room are to blame here.
Pressing the issue with Steve Vai’s Touching Tongues, a famously bright song, this continues, as the system delivers the squealing lead guitar with so much force it veers towards forthrightness in its earnest delivery. Again, the system occasionally feels forced, with the track not quite sticking the landing with the upper frequencies, in particular – an issue that, again, could easily be explained by the room.
All in all, it left an impression, but we’d really like to listen to it again in a room we’re familiar with that has been fully treated – at this level, it’s not fair to play the hardware in anything less.
Final thoughts
While I didn’t get enough time with the new Goldmund amps to make any final judgments, our time with them and the company’s new leadership team shows the firm is looking to make big changes, both to how it runs and its product range.
That alone makes me eager to hear more and see what that means for the iconic Swiss hi-fi brand and its offerings – especially given the sweeping changes that have been made in developing the new Telos and Mimesis amps since the new leadership team took over 18 months ago.
Add to this the strong impression of its bold designs and ongoing unapologetic focus on a pure, unadulterated sound, and I can’t help but feel we should all be keeping an eye on Goldmund, as it continues its metamorphosis.
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