Amplifier Reviews

Reviving a classic brand comes with perceived pluses and minuses.

These days I get most excited about exceptional performance which is exactly what I heard when I sat down and listened to the Aurorasound HFSA-02.

When it comes to hifi, can we really have it all—looks, style, substance, and great sound? This is one question the Devialet Astra Opéra de Paris Edition raises and my answer, after having lived with one, is a very confident hell ya!


Sometimes there’s no way around Watts. And pounds.

Form and fun(ction).

When there’s over 2ft. of fresh icy snow covering your large gravel driveway, the simple wisdom of having the right tool for the job becomes self evident.

Settling down with an integrated amplifier over the course of nearly 3 months allows for a certain amount of ease. Relaxed listening, if you will, which is among my favorite kind.

Small, medium, and large. I’ve now reviewed four products from Civitavecchia, Italy’s Audia Flight—the FL Three S and FLS 10 integrated amplifiers and the subject of this review, the Strumento Series N°1 evo Stereo Preamplifier and N°8 Monoblock Power Amplifiers.

Fans of the complete package—design, craft, engineering, performance and quality—can spot many of these traits built into the Treehaus Audiolab The Preamplifer and 300B-2 SET Amplifier from a listening seat away.

Pretty damn exquisite. That’s one of the things I have to say about the sound of the Audio Note Konzertmeister—it’s pretty damn exquisite.

I’ve reviewed my fair share of amplifiers and integrated amplifiers that employ the 300B triode vacuum tube in the output stage.

In today’s world of overload, that second-by-second flood of data, it’s kind of rare to find a quiet gem.