Advance Paris Apex Series

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Written By Taps Das

I've been waiting for this one.

Advance Paris just announced the new APEX range. It is said to be products that take all of what People love about their Classic series and elevate them somehow.

Things like:

  • upgraded electronics surrounding the DAC sections

  • lower noise power supplies,

  • precision ESS Technology voltage regulators,

  • and premium passive components, including resistors, capacitors, and operational amplifiers.

  • Full eARC HDMI compatibility,

It consists of four core products that come dressed in an exclusive limited edition black livery finish with high-contrast White VU meters. And its this new look that has me pretty excited.

The products are the A8 APEX, A10 APEX, A12 APEX integrated amplifiers, and the ACD APEX compact CD player. As we can expect, all the amps use their hybrid tube/transistor topology, The A8 APEX and A10 APEX feature the ESS9018 DAC, while the A12 APEX features the top-tier ESS9039 DAC. All three APEX amplifiers are compatible with the brand-new A-BTC Bluetooth dongle—the first release from Advance Paris' forthcoming flagship Nova range, which debuted this year at Munich High End and is expected to arrive Q1 2026. The A-BTC enables wireless streaming from smartphones, tablets, and computers to the APEX amplifiers. Additionally, when used with the A10 APEX and A12 APEX, the A-BTC provides the unique ability to stream any connected source to Bluetooth-compatible headphones, perfect for private listening sessions or late-night movie viewing.

The ACD APEX compact CD player completes the range, and if you're into CD players, you're going to like this one. It's got its own tube-based analog outputs in both RCA and XLR configurations.

The Suggested MSRPs are:

  • A8 APEX: $2,999 (US) / £1,975 (UK) / €1,999 (EU)

  • A10 APEX: $3,499 (US) / £2,450 (UK) / €2,490 (EU)

  • A12 APEX: $4,999 (US) / £3,400 (UK) / €3,490 (EU)

  • ACD APEX: $1,399 (US) / £890 (UK) / €890 (EU)

These Products are due in January 2026. Of these amps, the A8 looks like the one that I would naturally gravitate toward. I like the slimmer design. It's got every connection that I think I want. Though the A10 has dual sub outs...

The only Advance Paris product I got a hold of was a doozy. It was the My Connect 250.

And it was a big monster of an all-in-one product. It was stuffed to the gills with every possible feature that I could want and others that I simply haven’t even considered being on a product:

  • It’s streamer

  • a CD player

  • an integrated amplifier

  • a digital connectivity hub

  • has HDMI

  • tone controls,

  • Home Theater bypass,

  • power VU meters

  • tube preamps

  • and just every connection ever.  

And it would have been the kind of product that I would recommend to anybody. Except I couldn't. Even though sonically it was awesome. I didn't like the way it looked. And regardless of what some might say, looks matter in this hobby.

The Starting point or at least the elements of this, had promise.

  • It’s got the black glass front panel like McIntosh

  • It has all silver knobs.

  • It’s got bluish VU meters, orange tubes, and LCD screens

  • Silver CD player knobs

  • Regal looking Advance Paris logo, but then MyConnect 250 is just some random sans font.

I even did a bit of a render of what I thought they could have done to make this look a bit better.

But with this Apex Series. I like this industrial design so much more. And if this new design language were to bleed over to the rest of the range well, I'm on board.

Taps Das
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