CanJam London 2025 just wrapped over the weekend — look for our coverage from James Fiorucci later this week. So yeah, it tracks that news is already breaking about CanJam SoCal 2025, which is less than two months away. The Head-Fi Revolution? Still charging forward like a caffeinated subway train, even with all the financial turbulence in the background. Ongoing tariff battles aren’t doing the personal audio category any favors, especially when most of the major players hail from China, Korea, Japan, and the EU. But momentum is momentum — and the audiophile crowd isn’t backing down anytime soon.
Forte Distribution is making its presence known at CanJam SoCal 2025, rolling into the Irvine Marriott on September 13–14 with some of the flashiest names in high-end personal audio. If you’re into DACs, streamers, tubes, and gear that probably costs more than your last vacation, this is your pit stop.
The U.S. distributor will be showcasing new and recent gear from Eversolo, Shanling Audio, and Luxsin — three brands that have made more noise on Head-Fi lately than a crowded subway full of open-back cans. While the final product list is still under wraps until later this summer, here’s a taste of what Forte’s bringing to the party:
Shanling EC Zero T
A hybrid CD player that mixes tubes and solid-state into a sleek, backpack-ready design. Yes, people are still making CD players. Yes, they can still sound amazing.
For those of us who refuse to let high-end CD playback go quietly into that compressed, lossy night—Shanling’s EC Zero T is a little fist in the air. No, we’re not as noisy or nostalgic as the vinyl crowd, but we’re still here, quietly sitting on stacks of silver discs that haven’t aged a day. When you factor in how many CDs were pressed since 1982 and how much streaming has normalized mediocrity, investing in a proper CD player in 2025 doesn’t sound so crazy.
Especially when high-end CD gear is more affordable than it’s been in decades. Shanling clearly agrees—enter the EC Zero T, a portable, tube-hybrid CD player that debuted at High End Munich with just enough detail confirmed to get us all irrationally excited.
Where to buy: $649 at Amazon
Luxsin X9
A DAC/amp combo with a 6000mW/16Ω output, an AK4499EX DAC chip, and support for 2,500 headphone models thanks to its HP-EQ tech.
Luxsin isn’t just swinging for the fences with the X9 — they’ve dropped a fully balanced, all-in-one desktop juggernaut into the headphone game. This DAC, headphone amp, and preamp combo is designed for those who care about precision, sonic flexibility, and the kind of gear that does more than just sit pretty on a desk.
Anchored by the flagship AK4499EX DAC chip and OPA1612 op-amps, the X9 delivers ultra-low distortion (THD+N -120dB), 128dB dynamic range, and that elusive balance between detail and musicality. Whether you’re running balanced or single-ended headphones, the signal path is fully differential end-to-end, so there’s no signal degradation or corner cutting here.
What really pushes this into nerd-heaven territory is the HP-EQ tech — an EQ engine that adapts in real time to your specific headphones, referencing a database of over 2,500 models and tuning them toward the Harman curve.
Add crossfeed for more natural imaging, adjustable soundstage, and an auto-impedance detection system that recommends ideal gain settings, and you’ve got something that’s truly plug-and-play for even the pickiest planar or high-impedance cans. Volume control? A discrete R2R ladder with 0.1dB precision, because why settle for anything less?
Interface and usability also get the flagship treatment — a 4″ full-color touchscreen with blackout mode and auto-standby keeps things clean and intuitive. You get USB-B and C, HDMI ARC, optical, coax, analog ins, balanced XLR and RCA outs, dual subwoofer outs, and even Bluetooth 5.0 (SBC, AAC) for when you cave and want convenience.
PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit and native DSD512 support round it out, along with an RTOS-based control platform for snappy performance and OTA updates. The diamond-cut aluminum chassis with a 15° tilt is just the cherry on top — form meets serious function. Not too shabby for $1,099 USD.
Where to buy: $1,099 at Forte Distribution
Shanling SM1.3 DAC/Streamer
Designed to be the nerve center of your audio rig. It looks slick, and if it performs anything like Shanling’s recent hits, it’ll give pricier rivals a serious headache.
Shanling’s new SM1.3 Music Streamer just dropped, and it’s looking to muscle its way into the high-end network streamer scene with the kind of spec sheet that reads like a greatest hits list — minus Roon and, thankfully, with only a light dose of MQA nonsense. Retail price: $1,199 USD.
Let’s cut through it: this thing is basically a digital Swiss Army knife. It supports every hi-res format you’ve ever heard of (and probably a few you haven’t), has the latest Bluetooth 5.2 codecs including LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, Low Latency, SBC — the whole alphabet soup. AirPlay 2 is here too, which should please Apple fans. Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit LAN cover your network bases, and for once, this thing doesn’t need a firmware update out of the box just to get Spotify Connect working.
On the streaming front, you’ve got native support for Spotify, TIDAL, Apple Music, Apple Classical (for those of you who own more than two button-down shirts), and Amazon Music. Roon support is notably absent, but Shanling is doubling down on its own platform with a polished Android 12-based OS, a new control app (Eddict), and a full-color 5.8-inch 1080p touchscreen on the front panel — finally, a screen that doesn’t look like it was salvaged from a 2005 TomTom GPS.
Internally, it packs a 64-bit ARM Cortex processor and dual AKM flagship DACs (AK4499EX with the AK4191 modulator), backed by a TPA6120 headphone amp for solo sessions. Inputs and outputs are comprehensive: coaxial and optical digital, RCA and balanced XLR analog, USB input for flash drives, and even an M.2 SSD slot if you’re hoarding terabytes of DSDs. Oh, and an I2S output over HDMI with ten selectable FPGA-based compatibility modes for you tweakers out there.
As for MQA? It’s “supported,” because apparently that’s still a thing — but let’s be real, this isn’t why you’re buying the SM1.3. You’re here for everything else. And it delivers nearly everything but the kitchen sink. Though let’s face it — if Shanling could have stuffed one into the aluminum chassis, they probably would’ve.
Where to buy: $1,499 at Amazon
The Bottom Line
Forte’s booth is shaping up to be one of the busiest at CanJam SoCal — which, let’s be honest, is starting to feel more like CES with fewer suits and better headphones.
The message from Forte Distribution’s CanJam SoCal 2025 showcase is loud and clear — the high-end headphone space isn’t just growing, it’s exploding. With standout products from Luxsin, Eversolo, and Shanling, this segment is no longer a sideshow to two-channel hi-fi — it is the main event. These aren’t just niche curiosities anymore; they’re flagship-grade components driving innovation, performance, and design in ways that should have legacy brands checking their pulse (and their pricing).
From Luxsin’s feature-packed, precision-engineered X9 desktop powerhouse, to Shanling’s tube-hybrid EC Zero T and SM1.3 streamer/DAC, it’s clear: portable and personal audio is now setting the pace for the industry. If you’re not paying attention, you’re already behind.