This review first appeared in August 2016 on HifiKnights.com. By request of the manufacturer and permission of the author, it is hereby syndicated to reach a broader audience. All images contained in this piece are the property of Dawid Grzyb or Divaldi - Ed.

Reviewer: Dawid Grzyb
Digital source: Xonar Essence III as DAC
Amplifiers: Xonar Essence III as amp
Headphones: Meze99 Classics, HiFiMan HE-1000
Headphone cables: Forza AudioWorks Noir Hybrid
Music: NativeDSD
Playback platform: Roon
Retail price of reviewed component in EU: €627 [ex. VAT]

Mediam of Poland are known for organizing big live events on a professional and complex scale. Think laser effects, smoke and associated tech. A while ago a new brand under the Mediam umbrella emerged. Known as Divaldi, their AMP-01 headphone amplifier stirred our domestic market quite a bit. Now it’s high time to bring it to the attention of the global public.

Mediam owner Włodzimierz Duval has been at the audio game for several decades already starting in the 80s. Portable audio solutions capable of handling big club environments and complementary AV became his core business. Then something happened along the road and Mr. Duval shifted his attention to home audio of high calibre. As an engineer, he wanted to create something of his own. Once he met another skilled tech, Waldemar Łuczkoś, things shaped up in the fashion Mediam’s CEO had envisioned. Fast forward to 2010 when the Divaldi brand officially launched. From the very beginning it gained lots of interest in Poland. By 2015, the most prominent display of our Audio Video Show in Warsaw was the British Living Voice Vox Olympian system which ...

...being awfully expensive, spectacular and simultaneously intimidating all at once, was there thanks to Włodzimierz Duval as Living Voice’s official domestic distributor. It goes rather without saying that with a setup of this calibre in Mediam’s portfolio, no prisoners are taken. But the main point is that our man is very dedicated to what he does.

Usually I wouldn’t even mention it. But I’ve met, talked, laughed and agreed with him on many levels; enough to know that above all else he remains a bona fide enthusiast. The same goes for Mr Łuczkoś who knows his technical playground intimately. It actually comes as no surprise that these two would work together. If one is curious about Divaldi the name, Duval pronounces Dival and Waldemar Łuczkoś is known to his friends as Valdi. Mystery solved and the Antonio Vivaldi association undoubtedly adds some glamour.