July 2026

World Premiere Review!
Charney Audio Kit-1 300B Vacuum Tube Amplifier & Maestro XL Loudspeakers: World-Class 300B SET Power Meets Voxativ Precision To Deliver Extraordinary Musical Realism
A deep-dive listening review of Charney's new 300B amplifier and Maestro XL musical loudspeakers featuring Voxativ AC-2.6 drivers.
Review By Paul Schumann

The loneliest Monk
Walks the street at night
The loneliest Monk
Play the wrong notes right

  When I first walked into the Charney Audio room at Southwest Audio Fest 2025, I was greeted by this charming song by Victor Wooten. It was being projected into the room by a pair of Lumica VI loudspeakers. Despite being a single-driver design, the Lumica VIs were pressurizing the room with their enormous rear-loaded horns. I was intrigued. The room was super busy at the time, so I snapped a few pics, moved on, and made a note to myself to swing back later.

When I came back a couple of days later, "The Loneliest Monk" was once again playing, which I thought was an odd bit of synchronicity. I sat and listened to the Lumica VI speakers and was impressed by how they filled the room with just a pair of Voxativ AC-2.6 drivers. After taking some notes, I talked to Brian Charney about reviewing a pair of speakers. After describing my listening room to him, we decided that none of his speakers would perform their best there. We were both disappointed with our conclusion, but agreed that if he came up with a new line better suited to my domicile, we would review it. When I drove home after the show, I listened to "The Loneliest Monk" and thought about a possible future review of a pair of Charney Audio speakers.

This past fall, as I was looking over Enjoy the Music.com's Capital Audiofest 2025 show report, I saw that Charney Audio had a new amp they were showing off, the Kit-1 300B. I hadn't listened to a 300B-based amp in a while, so I reached out to Brian. After a couple of emails back and forth, Brian suggested I review his new speaker, the Maestro XL. He told me this configuration would work well with my listening room. I said that sounded great. He then told me he needed to put the finishing touches on both the Kit-1 300B and the Maestro XL before he sent them to me. Both? Yup, both. Sometimes life can give you pleasant surprises.

The Maestro XL floorstanding loudspeakers Brian sent me came with Voxativ AC-2.6 drivers. After I tearfully said goodbye to the Voxativ Hagen² Towers, I didn't think I would have another pair of Voxativ drivers in my home so soon. He sells the Maestro XL speakers with either the AC-1.6 or AC-2.6 drivers. He also told me recently that he made a pair with Voxativ field coils at the request of a customer and was suitably impressed.

The loneliest Monk
Wasn't short, wasn't tall
The loneliest Monk
Wasn't lonely at all

When Brian sent the equipment, he was über cautious about it. For the Maestro XL speakers, he sent the drivers and enclosures separately. For the Kit-1 300B, he sent the tubes and chassis in different boxes. Considering some of the shipping mishaps I'd seen over the years, I appreciated his prudence. The Maestro XL speakers vent out the bottom, so I had to carefully turn them over to attach their feet with hex bolts. When I had them inverted, I noticed the beautiful Baltic birch plywood used in the fabrication. After carefully flipping them back over, I then installed the Voxativ AC-2.6 drivers. Have you ever installed 5000 dollar drivers in an enclosure? I hadn't. It was no surprise that I broke into a sweat while I very carefully found the correct orientation, attached the leads, and screwed them into place.

Once I hooked them up and got them in place, I could step back and marvel at how beautiful the Maestro XLs were. The ones Brian sent me had a book-matched rosewood veneer with a clear coat. They were stunning and, while I had them, the nicest furniture I had in the living room.

When I told Brian my living room was carpeted, he suggested I place a hard surface under them to boost the bass. To achieve that with minimal expenditure on my part, I bought a piece of masonite and had it cut in half to make two 24" x 24" squares that fit nicely under each floorstanding loudspeaker.

Installing the Kit-1 300B vacuum tube amp was less challenging. Pulling it out of the box, I immediately recognized it as the Audio Note Kit1-10, with some modifications. Instead of being an integrated circuit, Brain has built it as a single-input amplifier. The Kit-1 300B power supply utilizes the beastly 5U4G as a rectifier. You understand how much current it's handing when you turn the amp, and it makes a high-pitched whine as it energizes. This classic Andy Grove design uses a 6SN7 as a pre-amp driver stage connected to a pair of 5687 tubes that drive the audio signal into the 300Bs.

Brian told me that while it looks like Audio Note Kit-1 from the outside, there are a lot of custom modifications he's made in the components used. When I started unwrapping the tubes, I was excited to see that Brian provided me with two pairs of 300s: TJ Mesh Plates and JJ Electronics smooth plates. I decided to start with the smooth plates as a baseline and switched later.

The loneliest Monk
Round and round at his place
The loneliest Monk|
Flawless living, bitter taste

I relate to these lyrics as an audio reviewer. How can I put into words what I'm hearing in my living room with the  Kit-1 300B/Maestro XL duo? Can I even begin to describe the see-through clarity of the Maestro XL speakers? They reproduce music with such low distortion that recordings you thought you knew well take on a whole new personality. One of the albums I inherited from my dad was Petrouchkaby the Boston Symphony with Pierre Monteux at the helm [RCA Victor Red Seal – LSC-2376]. While I loved this performance, I always felt this recording was a bit shrill in places.

When I started listening to it with the Maestro XL speakers, I was stunned at how all the higher frequencies were handled with aplomb. What once had sounded bright had become lustrous. The opening scene, "Vivace", has high-frequency energy that will part your hair with its synchronized fff brass, cymbals, and triangles. No longer a cringy moment, I was able to relax and enjoy the music as if I were at a live concert. The "Shaded Dog" records have always had a great reputation among audiophiles. This album reinforced why.

The loneliest Monk
Keeps his checks to himself
The loneliest Monk
All the memories in a shelf

When I am listening to new equipment, I always have to ask myself the same question, "Am I excited by what I am hearing because it's an improvement, or just different?" It's always a thrilling moment to listen to a familiar piece of music and hear details that had escaped you before. When I put on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (2 CD Anniversary Edition) [Parlophone – PCS 7027], I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had listened to this music so many times in various formats that I was sure there wasn't something new for me to discover. While I did hear a previously hidden detail here or there, what blew me away was how present everything sounded. I felt like Paul, John, George, and Ringo were recording their vocals in my living room.

On "Within You and Without You", the bite George's sitars took me by surprise. The piano on "A Day in the Life" was punchy with rich overtones. Paul's vocals on "Fixing a Hole" sounded more weary than ever. I know there was a lot of controversy around this remix of this milestone rock album, but for the past ten years, it's been my go-to if I want to listen to Billy Shears and the blokes. With the Charney gear in my system, I was able to enjoy Sgt. Peppers on a deeper level.

The loneliest Monk
Used chopsticks to eat ice cream
Saw the things that go unseen
Knows exactly what I mean

One of the sorrows of an audiophile is to have a beloved recording that, for one reason or another, just doesn't sound that great. One of those for me is Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra's performance of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 3 [LSC-3281]. Vaughan Williams put every bit of sorrow of a nation that lost over 45 million countrymen into his symphony. Previn and the LSO did a brilliant job of capturing this sorrow. But, like many classical recordings from the late 1970s, the record companies had lost their way when transcribing large symphony orchestras. My first purchase of this album was on CD, which had shrill strings and was muddy and congested during the louder passages.

I recently purchased an unopened vinyl of this masterpiece, and while that was an improvement over the CD, many of the flaws are still evident. Still, I'm going to listen to it because I love the music. While mournful throughout, the anguish of this music reaches its climax in the final movement. This movement opens with wordless voices sung over a soft drumroll. With the Charney equipment in my system, I could hear the emptiness of Kingsway Hall. As the rest of the orchestra slowly filtered in, it seemed like the weight of the world was carried by the musicians. Vaughan Williams understood the emotional impact of strings, and the Charney duo did their best to make them shine. From ppp to fff, they never sounded harsh or strained. The brass had tremendous punch and clarity. I know this isn't an audiophile-approved recording, but it's one of Andre Previn's shining moments with the LSO. The Kit-1 300B/Maestro XL did an impressive job of rendering the emotions of this performance.

The loneliest Monk
Never renatured from his rent
The loneliest Monk
Never cared that he was strange

In many ways, the complete opposite of Vaughan Williams' Third Symphony is Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Archora And Aiōn [Sono Luminus – DSL-92268]. These pieces are as cold and dispassionate as the Icelandic winter. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Eva Ollikainen, gives a thrilling performance of these pieces. Masterfully produced by Ragnheidur Jónsdóttir for the audiophile Sono Luminus label, this recording pulls back the veil to reveal every musician. During the beginning of Archora, the strings play a combination of legato and pizzicato to create an eerie effect. This piece is dissonant throughout, and the haunting overtones created by the clashing notes will set one's teeth on edge. The spookiest moment of Achora is 6.5 minutes in, when the flutes echo the strings in a series of descending chords.

If you want to test your system, this is a good recording to try. The timbres of the instruments are well rendered, the dynamics stunning, and the  Iceland Symphony Orchestra is spread out before you.  Listening to these pieces with the Charney equipment many times left me shaking my head in amazement.

The loneliest Monk
Made the most of what he got
The loneliest Monk
He chased the straight line, not

I consider Phoebe Bridgers one of the most intriguing artists of recent years. Her Stranger In The Alps album [Dead Oceans – DOC142] was a stunning debut in 2017. Listening to this vinyl with the Charney duo drove home the dichotomy between her angelic voice and dark lyrics. The classic song "Scott Street" starts as a simple guitar-and-voice duet and adds instruments as it progresses. At the end, it is a very dense mix that can sound very congested. The Kit-1 300B and Maestro XL handled this with ease, presenting a fantastic wall of sound.

The loneliest Monk
Knew the rules but kept them bent
The loneliest Monk
He never tells, but here's a hint

As many of you have guessed by now, "The Loneliest Monk" is about the great jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Let me make this clear, while I related to many of these lyrics, I'm not comparing myself to one of the greats of bebop music. I'm just a dumb audio-equipment reviewer, while he revolutionized how the piano was played and wrote a plethora of jazz standards. Brilliant Corners [Riverside Records – RLP 1174] is one of his best albums. He recorded it with saxophonists Ernie Henry and Sonny Rollins, bassist Oscar Pettiford, and drummer Max Roach. It consists of all original compositions. Even though my vinyl has seen some wear and tear, it sounded great on my system with the Kit-1 300B vacuum tube amplifier and Maestro XL floorstanding loudspeakers.

On the title track, Sonny's saxophone popped and sizzled, Oscar's bass growled, Max's toms and snares were tuned perfectly, and Monk's piano was startling in percussiveness. This album was recorded in the same time frame as the Petrouchka album, and I was once again blown away by the craftsmanship of the engineers.

Before I go into the overall sound, a quick side note about the two sets of 300B triode vacuum tubes. I switched out between the TJ Mesh Plates and JJ Electronics smooth plates a couple of times. While the mesh plates were a little more refined in the top end, I ended up preferring the smooth plates for better dynamics and a stranger bass. As always, when comparing tubes, these results were with the Kit-1 300B amplifier. They might sound different in another amp.

The marriage between a single-ended triode amplifier and a full-range driver is a thing of beauty. No phase splitters or crossovers are present to get between you and the music. Listening to the Kit-1 300B and Maestro XL combo, I repeatedly got goosebumps. Every musical texture was so vivid. Dynamic shifts were effortless. The ambiance of the recording hall enveloped you. Performers had a three-dimensional quality. While this fantastic duo revealed all sorts of musical details, it never made it sound harsh or etched. I found the Kit-1 300B and Maestro XL combo to be very honest in reproducing the recordings I played through it. Different recording technologies and techniques were laid bare before me. While all the recordings sounded great, listening to golden-age vinyl really blew my mind. Who knew listening to music could be so beautiful?

The late, great audio designer Susumu Sakuma said that he knew certain speaker drivers had magic in them; he just needed to bring it out. The Charney Audio 300B stereo vacuum tube amplifier and the Voxativ AC-2.6 driver are such items. Brian Charney has done a wonderful job at unleashing their magic! My time spent with the Kit-1 300B and Maestro XL floorstanding loudspeakers revealed a new world of musical wonder to me, and I'm grateful for the experience.

Specifications
Kit-1 300B
Type: Vacuum tube stereo amplifier
Type: Power Vacuum tube audio power amplifier 
Output Power: ~5 Watts per channel (single ended), two channels 
Circuit topology: Zero feedback, simple three PCB layout (Power Supply, Driver, and Filament)
Vacuum Tube Compliment: 300B, 6SN7, 5687, and 5U4GB
Transformers: T 199 mains, CH 165 choke, and OP 300 Triple C core output 
Connectors: Silver plated RCA jacks
Resistors: AN non magnetic resistors
Capacitors: AN Copper Film Capacitors
Outputs: Stereo Pair 8 or 15 Ohms
Dimensions: 17” x 2” x 12” (WxHxD)
Weight: 50 lbs.
Price: $6500

Maestro XL
Type: Floorstanding Loudspeakers 
Frequency Response: 22kHz to 32Hz
Efficiency: 101dB/W/m
Internal Wiring: Jena Labs
Dimensions : 45: x 15” x 12” (HxWxD)
Weight: 40 lbs. each
Available in a wide range of custom veneers
Price: Veneer with Voxativ AC-1.6 Drivers $13,000
Veneer with Voxativ AC-2.6 Drivers $16,000

Company Information
Charney Audio
92 Girard Ave.
Somerset, NJ 08873

Voice: 732-586-1108
E-mail: bcengines@comcast.net  
Website: CharneyAudio.com