Italy has never suffered from a shortage of loudspeaker manufacturers, gorgeous cabinetry, or engineers willing to explain why everyone else has been doing it wrong for the past 40 years.

In North America, however, most audiophiles can probably name Sonus faber before the espresso machine reaches operating temperature. Opera has also enjoyed considerably more visibility in recent years. Diapason? Unless you have been around high-end audio for a few decades, there is a reasonable chance the name draws a blank.

It shouldn’t.

Founded in Brescia in 1987, Diapason has been building some genuinely distinctive Italian loudspeakers for almost four decades. The company never achieved anything close to the North American profile of Sonus faber, but that may finally be about to change: MoFi Distribution has been appointed the exclusive U.S. distributor for Diapason, effective immediately.

And this is not just another distributor collecting an obscure European brand because there was an empty square on the line card. MoFi Distribution already handles more than 20 audio brands including Wharfedale, QUAD, Mission, Audiolab, Leak, Thorens, EMT and MoFi Electronics, with U.S. operations in Chicago and warehouse/service facilities in Las Vegas. 

For Diapason, that kind of infrastructure could be exactly what has been missing.

Related Reading:

Diapason Has Been Here Before

Calling Diapason an unknown company would be unfair. Calling it criminally underexposed in North America would be closer to the mark.

The Adamantes II was reviewed by Stereophile in the 1990s, when Diapason reportedly had around 15 U.S. dealers. The $3,998/pair standmount was praised by Robert Harley for its craftsmanship and musical involvement, demonstrating that Diapason was hardly some recent Kickstarter project operating from the back of somebody’s Fiat. 

Distribution and visibility, however, have been inconsistent over the decades, while Sonus faber evolved into one of high-end audio’s most recognizable luxury brands.

Diapason kept building speakers in Brescia.

Founder Alessandro Schiavi started the company after working as a live classical recording engineer. Unable to find a monitoring loudspeaker that met his requirements, he developed the Prelude I in 1987. That origin story continues to shape the company’s design philosophy: its speakers are voiced using live music as the reference, rather than merely comparing prototypes against other loudspeakers. 

Very Italian. Why trust another loudspeaker when you can argue with an orchestra?

Wood Is More Than Decoration

There is an obvious aesthetic connection between Diapason and some of Italy’s better-known loudspeaker companies, but the cabinets are not merely expensive furniture with drivers installed afterward.

Diapason treats the enclosure as part of the acoustic system. Its Classic models use substantial amounts of solid Canaletto walnut, while the multifaceted front and rear surfaces found on models such as the Adamantes and Karis are intended to reduce diffraction and improve dispersion. 

The company’s Direct Drive approach is another longstanding feature. On models including the Adamantes V, Karis III and Micra III Excel, the midwoofer is connected without a conventional low-pass filter, reducing crossover complexity and shortening the electrical path. 

Diapason currently divides its loudspeakers primarily between its Classic and Reference collections. 

Micra III Excel: Compact two-way standmount using an 11 cm midwoofer, 25 mm silk-dome tweeter, rear bass-reflex loading and a handmade walnut cabinet. Rated frequency response is 60 Hz to 25 kHz with 87 dB sensitivity. 

Karis III: Another compact two-way design, but with Diapason’s more recognizable faceted enclosure. It uses a 110 mm midwoofer, 19 mm silk-dome tweeter and Direct Drive topology. 

Adamantes V: The modern version of a design first introduced in 1989. The two-way standmount uses a 180 mm midwoofer and 19 mm silk-dome tweeter inside an elaborate solid-walnut cabinet. Frequency response is specified at 45 Hz to 25 kHz with 90 dB sensitivity. 

Àstera: A Reference Collection standmount that moves beyond the Classic models with a 29 mm silk-dome tweeter, Nextel-coated paper-cone woofer, extensively matched components and hardwired Van den Hul internal cabling. 

Dynamis: The considerably more imposing three-way floorstander uses a 300 mm aluminum-cone woofer, 180 mm paper-cone midrange and 29 mm silk-dome tweeter. Diapason specifies extension down to 25 Hz and an 89 dB sensitivity rating. 

But the model that makes this particular distribution announcement much more interesting is the Didascalìa.

Enter Paolo Tezzon

Diapason added Paolo Tezzon as Head of Research & Development in 2025, and anyone familiar with modern Italian loudspeaker design should recognize the name. 

Tezzon spent approximately 18 years at Sonus faber, including almost 14 years running R&D, and worked on products including the Olympica Nova, Minima Amator II and Palladio collections. He joined Sonus faber in 2004 and became R&D manager in 2006. 

That is not exactly hiring the guy who designed the Bluetooth speaker next to the cash register at Autogrill.

His first major Diapason project is the Didascalìa, and notably, it is reported to be the first Diapason loudspeaker not designed by Schiavi. 

The two-way floorstander uses Diapason-designed drivers manufactured by Scan-Speak, including a 29 mm silk-dome tweeter and dual 180 mm midwoofers, supplemented by side-firing passive radiators. The cabinet combines Panzerholz structural elements, CNC-machined walnut/HDF sections and aluminum damping shelves, while the front baffle mechanically time-aligns the driver centers. Frequency response is rated at 35 Hz to 30 kHz with 90 dB sensitivity and an 8-ohm nominal impedance.

MoFi Managing Director Norbert Schmied specifically cited Tezzon’s future R&D work as one of the reasons the distributor took on the brand, while Tezzon noted his existing professional relationships with Schmied and MoFi Director of Sales Dan Wakefield. 

That combination of Schiavi’s history, Tezzon’s engineering background and MoFi’s distribution network gives Diapason something it has rarely enjoyed in America at the same time: product, experience and reach.

There is one geographic footnote worth making. The new agreement specifically names MoFi as Diapason’s exclusive United States distributor. Diapason’s current international distributor page still lists Red Leaf Audio for Canada, so this is not technically a single new North American distribution agreement. 

The Bottom Line

Sonus faber deservedly became the international face of Italian loudspeaker manufacturing, while Opera has continued to demonstrate that beautiful cabinetry and sophisticated engineering are hardly limited to one address in Northern Italy.

Diapason has been quietly making its own argument since 1987.

The difference now is that North American audiophiles may actually get a better opportunity to hear it.

MoFi Distribution gives Diapason an established U.S. dealer network, marketing organization, logistics operation and service infrastructure. Paolo Tezzon gives the company an experienced engineering leader with deep roots in one of Italy’s most successful loudspeaker manufacturers. And Alessandro Schiavi’s original designs remain available alongside the new generation. 

After nearly 40 years of flying beneath the radar, Diapason might finally require a higher altitude.

Andiamo.

For more information: diapason-italia.com

Related Reading:

Abode Security Sensors 2026

Pros & Cons

• 
  
  
  Accurate and speedy sensors for areas other security sensors aren’t made for
• 
  
  
  Tests showed excellent performance on garage door and fence gate
• 
  
  
  Abode’s hub automatically connects to sensors and makes setup one of the easiest I’ve done
• 
  
  
  Offers a variety of automations and alert options through Abode’s intuitive app
• 
  
  
  Sensors have many additional applications for sheds, tilting windows and more

• 
  
  
  Abode’s standard hub requires a permanet Ethernet connection
• 
  
  
  The outdoor contact sensor design could use another pass

Security systems have stayed the same for years, with only minor advances, but 2026 is changing that. I’ve seen new sensors start to hit the shelves, from presence-sensing devices that can detect people without needing security cameras to small sensors that monitor tilting, opening and tampering all at once. But Abode’s latest offering is even more unique.

Abode has two new products available now, a sensor made to monitor garage door access ($35), and an outdoor access sensor ($50) designed for gates, sheds, barns and any door open to the elements. I got to try them both around my home, and found them particularly effective and easy to set up compared to many of the sensors I’ve tested.

If you’ve been looking for a special device to help monitor access to backyards, detached buildings on your property, or garage doors that always seem to get left open, these sensors are a remarkable answer, particularly if you already have an Abode system. If not, I’ll cover what you need to know from my testing.

Unboxing and setup

I was able to fully test an Abode starter security kit as well as its two new sensors for this review, providing a clear look at how the security brand functions. As far as setup experiences go, this has been one of my speediest. And I’ve tested many different systems.

Abode’s beginner’s kit is small, offering an indoor sensor, motion sensor and fob, along with the hub. I was pleased to find out, after downloading the app and connecting the hub, the other base devices automatically added themselves and made the setup process effortless, smoother than nearly any other security system except possibly Ikea’s affordable sensors.

Adding the new garage and outdoor sensors also proved quick, with pairing happening only seconds after I installed the batteries and typed in the activation code.

The one problem I have with Abode’s system is how the standard hub connects to Wi-Fi. This hub requires an Ethernet connection to your router or gateway, not only during setup but all the time. That’s a not-so-small problem if, like me, you have a router, gateway and other necessary devices already taking up all nearby outlets, which forced me to jury-rig a solution for the hub while I was testing.

Abode’s Iota hub does offer Wi-Fi, but that requires a more expensive upgrade to a $200 starter kit, not including extra sensors. It’s baffling that Abode’s standard hub still doesn’t support Wi-Fi when every other brand does. Check the outlets near your router before you choose this solution.

Garage sensor installation and performance

Equipped with internal gyroscope technology, Abode’s garage door sensor is made to detect orientation, and setup couldn’t be simpler. Using the included adhesive strips, I slapped the small monitor on my closed garage door, and it began accurately detecting open/closed states immediately in the Abode app.

Smart garage door motors and controllers can also do something like this, plus app controls, but this is one of the first standard home security systems to expand to the garage, and adding a single $50 sensor is far more affordable than replacing your garage controller entirely. Abode let me know if the garage was left open, and advised me on unexpected garage door movement when no one was at home, just as advertised.

Placing the sensor shouldn’t be any trouble, no matter what kind of garage you have. It sticks onto the inside of the garage door where there is plenty of space, and doesn’t require any complicated calibration. You may have to reset the sensor after placement to make sure it’s reading open and closed states correctly, but that, too, takes only moments.

Finally, you could use this sensor on anything that tilts up and down like a garage door, such as tilting windows, so it could have other applications in your home.

Gate sensor installation and performance

Abode’s outdoor access sensor proved more complicated than the garage monitor. Bulkier than most access sensors and equipped with weather-resistance capabilities, it’s made to tell when anything outdoors opens and shuts. The two parts sense when they are close or when they’ve moved apart, with a bit of extra leeway compared to indoor sensors, since outdoor fences and other access zones have varied designs and gaps.

The complex housing proved adequate, but was more frustrating to install and is in need of some future refinements. The screw-in backplate, for example, had pop-out sections to make room for the screws, but the plastic base was so thick I couldn’t put out the sections at all, not even with a hammer that nearly destroyed the base itself (I used another tool to carve them out eventually, not an ideal situation). And the battery casing was so tight and awkwardly designed, I was afraid forcing the batteries in would harm the nearby, unprotected circuitry.

In these ways, the design feels a little too close to a prototype model for me, and it probably needs another pass or two. But it works, and works very well, when it’s finally set up.

Connected to my old fence gate, the sensor accurately and immediately told me whenever it was opened or closed. I’ve found that gate left open more than a few times, so this gave me welcome peace of mind. I also tested it during a stormy downpour, which did nothing to affect the performance of the sensor.

You may want to turn off beeps from the hub that sound every time it alerts to the sensor being opened, but Abode provided a setting to do just that. However, alerts and monitoring aren’t the only things these sensors can do.

App automations that benefit from Abode’s support

One of the most impressive parts of Abode’s security platform is how it maintains connections to other third-party smart home gadgets, from Google Home connections to the rare-to-find Apple support for certain devices. There are also Abode’s own devices, including cameras and smart locks, which naturally work with the system

When Abode’s system is armed, triggering one of these garage or gate sensors can trip the system and sound a siren. But using the CUE automation tool in the Abode app, I found you can also set up many other types of automations, depending on what you want to activate.

This can include setting lights to turn on a warning glow if a fence gate is left open, or automatically unlocking your door when the garage is opened. You can also set times for these triggers to work, so they only function in the evening, on weekdays or only trigger after a certain time (the gate has been left open for 2 hours, for example). This adds more possibilities if you want to expand your smart home, but it’s not necessary to get value out of these sensors.

If you want to pay for an Abode subscription, you can add more features with plans starting at $80 a year, but these are mostly camera-focused, and I don’t think they’re necessary for these sensors at all.

Final thoughts on Abode’s new access sensors

Abode’s newest sensors offer exceptional performance in spots other sensors aren’t really made for. They’re also more expensive than typical sensors, and the outdoor sensor might need another design pass in the future, but I otherwise found them easy to set up and start using for customized, helpful alerts.

One word of caution: Abode’s standard hub requires an Ethernet connection, so consider where you’ll put it, and if you’ll need to run Ethernet cable anywhere during installation. Otherwise, this system sets itself up in minutes.

I’m enjoying this 2026 wave of security tech innovations. They’re finding new applications in the home – and finding them with success. Aqara’s multipurpose sensor is one such model. Abode’s proved another strong example, so if you’ve been looking for extended security capabilities outdoors or in the garage, take note of this update.

Tyler Lacoma

Senior Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

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Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks and top recommendations.

With degrees in business management, literature and technical writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon, gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading or gaming with good friends.

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‘Our models took actions we did not intend,’ an OpenAI spokesperson said.

OpenAI took weeks to inform Australia that its agents hacked a government website – an admission which comes as the technology giant simultaneously pushes for broader AI safety.

In the latest OpenAI cyber incident to surface, the company’s agents gained unauthorised access into a healthcare statistics portal administered by the Australian government’s welfare agency.

The AI accessed public and non-public files, and rewrote internal files, prime minister Anthony Albanese told the press at the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday (23 September). No personal information is understood to have been compromised at this point.

Australia has launched a forensic investigation in response and established a taskforce to review the matter. The government is also establishing whether a crime has occurred, Albanese said.

A matter of ‘extreme concern’

OpenAI’s agents hacked into the statistics reporting portal for Australia’s universal health insurance scheme, Medicare, Albanese told the press.

The incident occurred on 18 June when OpenAI’s research team used an internal model to conduct internet-based research into public medicine spending. The agents were faced with blocks when trying to access data from Medicare, but bypassed them. They “didn’t accept ‘no’ for an answer”, said Albanese.

Three other government systems may have been impacted, he added, including the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Victorian Department of Health.

Independent research has already shown that advanced AI agents, like those from OpenAI and Anthropic, can take risky and deceptive actions without specific prompting.

“This situation is obviously unacceptable,” the prime minister said. “I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to express Australia’s extreme concern about this incident.”

Altman addressed the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, touting the benefits of AI while warning of its potential abuses.

An OpenAI spokesperson told news publications that the company only discovered the breaching incident in August after extensive checks into its models’ activity.

The AI giant then took weeks to inform the Australian government of the cyber incident; when notice came, it was in the form of an email sent to the public mailbox on 10 September. This led to a further five-day delay in relevant authorities being informed.

Albanese said that he shared his disappointment with Altman over the delay and the manner in which the company informed his government.

“During [the] review, we identified activity involving several Australian government websites and services as our models attempted to look up answers and available statistics for questions about Australia during an internal evaluation,” the OpenAI spokesperson said.

“In the course of that, our models took actions we did not intend.”

The company said it found no patient records to have been accessed in the Medicare breach.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Anthony Albanese, prime minister of Australia. Image: NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

For years, consumer VPNs were easy to explain: choose a server, create an encrypted tunnel, and route your traffic through it. The product category was built around a fairly simple idea, and the buying criteria followed the same logic, speed, server count, and price.

That description is becoming less complete.

The way people connect to the internet is now far more fragmented than it was when VPNs first became mainstream consumer software. A laptop may spend the morning on home Wi-Fi, the afternoon on a corporate network, and the evening tethered to a phone. A smartphone can move between Wi-Fi and cellular data repeatedly without the user thinking about it. Travel adds hotel networks, airports, roaming, and increasingly eSIMs.

The network keeps changing. The expectation that connectivity should remain private, usable, and largely invisible does not.

Connectivity has become the harder problem

This changes what users need from a VPN. Encryption still matters, but the practical question is no longer simply whether a tunnel can be created. It is whether that connection remains usable when the network around it changes.

That helps explain why protocol choice, once something largely left to technically minded users, is becoming more relevant. WireGuard has become a popular option partly because of its deliberately lean design and focus on performance. But different protocols can respond differently to network conditions, leaving room for alternatives when the obvious choice is not the most practical one.

The point is not that users should spend their day manually comparing protocols. Ideally, they should not have to think about them at all. Giving the software more than one way to establish a protected connection simply gives it more room to adapt.

GnuVPN is a useful example of that approach. The service supports several connection options, including WireGuard, OpenVPN, SoftEther, and AmneziaWG. WireGuard can serve as an everyday option, while the alternatives provide other ways to establish a connection when network conditions become less straightforward.

The same principle applies beyond protocols. A service intended to sit quietly in the background of everyday internet use also needs to work across the devices people actually use.

GnuVPN’s downloads page currently offers clients for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Ubuntu, and Debian. Android distribution also extends beyond Google Play to Huawei AppGallery and Xiaomi GetApps. That breadth matters less as a box-ticking exercise than as a reflection of how fragmented personal computing has become: one person may work on Windows, travel with an Android phone, and keep another machine on Linux.

Cross-platform support is therefore part of the same connectivity problem. The tool needs to remain available as the user moves between devices, not just networks.

When privacy tools meet connectivity tools

The more interesting shift starts one step earlier.

A traditional VPN assumes the user is already online. It protects a connection that already exists. An eSIM solves a different problem: getting the device onto a mobile network in the first place.

Technically, those are separate jobs. To someone landing in another country, the distinction matters much less. The immediate task is simply to get online without unnecessary roaming friction and then use that connection with privacy in mind.

That is why the growing overlap between VPNs and travel connectivity is worth watching. GnuVPN now offers eSIMSecure plans that combine mobile data with a VPN subscription, placing access and privacy in the same product flow rather than treating them as completely separate purchases.

The broader mobile market helps explain why that combination is becoming more plausible. According to the GSMA Intelligence 2025 Global Consumer Survey, 12% of consumers who had travelled internationally during the previous 12 months used an eSIM while abroad. More than 70% of those users obtained a travel eSIM from a mobile operator.

This does not mean every VPN will become an eSIM provider, or that the two products are interchangeable. It points to something simpler: the line between tools that provide connectivity and tools that protect it is becoming less rigid.

For VPN companies, that changes the competitive picture. Server count and benchmark speed still matter, but so do continuity across devices, resilience across different network environments, and ease of everyday use.

The VPN is becoming less visible

None of this means a VPN is becoming an all-purpose connectivity tool.

It cannot repair a poor mobile signal, guarantee access through every restrictive network, replace endpoint security, or prevent a website from recognizing a signed-in user. More protocols do not remove those limits, and adding an eSIM does not make mobile connectivity itself a privacy technology.

What is changing is how much of the surrounding experience a VPN is expected to handle.

The original consumer VPN flow was deliberately visible: open the app, choose a country, press Connect. Increasingly, the expectation is that the service should simply keep working as the user moves between devices and network environments, with fewer reasons to think about what is happening underneath.

Taken together, protocol flexibility, broad platform support, and travel connectivity point to a wider shift in the category. They are increasingly being treated as parts of the same product experience rather than separate technical features.

That may be a more useful way to think about where VPNs are heading. The next stage is likely to be less about adding another headline feature and more about making protected connectivity fit more naturally into the way people already get online.