_Amplifier Reviews Archives - Page 2 of 3

Review: A Stack of Ayre 8s – CX-8 CD Player, KX-8 Preamplifier, VX-8 Power Amplifier

October 5, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

I lived with Ayre’s AX-5 Twenty integrated amplifier for a few years and I’ve reviewed a bunch of Ayre gear so I feel I have a good grip on Ayre’s house sound. I am more than happy to report that the new 8-Series products sing […]

Review: Java Hi-Fi Single Shot Integrated Amplifier

September 28, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

A friend, whose ears and judgement I trust, pointed me to Java HiFi and their GaN FET-based amplifiers. I’d heard the buzz about GaN FETs, more than a murmur, as being able to offer Class D amplification without the sizzle.

Review: Aurorasound HFSA-01 Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier

September 7, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

There are times when I forget I’m reviewing, something that happened more than the norm during my time with the lovely Aurorasound HFSA-01.

Review: Octave V 16 Single Ended Integrated/Headphone Amplifier

August 23, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

The Octave V 16 is, as its name says, a single-ended design running a pair of KT120s (or KT150, KT88, or 8550) in triode mode for about 8 Watts of output power per channel, i.e. more than enough power for a few pair of speakers […]

Review: Thrax Enyo Signature Integrated Amplifier

August 3, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

No matter how deep I tried digging into the sound of the Thrax Enyo Signature Integrated Amplifier, music kept smacking me in the face foiling any attempts to listen past the tunes.

Review: A Desktop System – DeVore Fidelity micr/O | Enleum AMP-23R | Weiss DAC204

July 27, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.”

Review: A Cambridge Edge Stack: Edge NQ Preamp/Network Player & Edge M Monoblock Power Amplifiers

July 6, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

“This magic moment, So different and so new.”

Review: Unison Research Simply 845 Integrated Amplifier

June 22, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

I don’t know anyone who looks at glowing vacuum tubes and thinks—Damn! That’s ugly! My best guest is light, and heat, still touch most humans in places that are connected to survival.

Review: Enleum AMP-23R Integrated Amplifier

May 25, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

Read just about any review of the Enleum AMP-23R and you’ll find likes and loves. This review will not stray from this well worn path of praise, so reader’s who just want to know whether or not I like the AMP-23R, you can stop reading […]

Review: Cocktail Audio X45Pro Streamer/DAC/CD Player/Ripper/Server/Tuner/Preamp

May 18, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

That’s right—the Cocktail Audio X45Pro packs a lot of digital source stuff and preamp functionality into a single chassis acting as streamer, server, CD player/ripper, DAC, FM tuner, and MM Phono Stage which helps explain its 127-page manual.

Review: BAT VK-80i Integrated Amplifier

May 11, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

On September 6, 1976 a Russian fighter pilot decided to defect by landing his MIG-25 in Hokkaido, Japan. One relevant discovery found inside that MIG was the Russian 6C33C-B dual triode vacuum tube.

Review: Fezz Audio Alfa Lupi Integrated Amplifier

April 27, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

Power isn’t everything.

Review: A Parasound Stack | JC 5 Stereo Amplifier, JC 2 BP Preamp, JC 3+ Phono Stage

April 11, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

Sometimes it takes time for the stars to align.

Review: A Sonnet Stack: Hermes Streamer, Pasithea DAC, Kratos Mono Amplifiers

February 21, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

If we want to understand the sound a hifi designer is after, what better way than to sample a stack of their gear. Here we’re going to be digging into the Kratos Mono Power Amplifiers, Pasithea DAC, and Hermes Streamer from Cees Ruijtenberg of Sonnet […]

Review: Audia Flight FLS 10 Integrated Amplifier

February 2, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

The Audia Flight FLS 10 is among the most engaging integrated amplifiers to have graced the Barn. Its performance is in some ways remarkable while being wholly engaging in every way. Why not begin at the end for a change?

Review: Mola Mola Kula Integrated Amplifier

January 18, 2023 Michael Lavorgna

When it comes to pleasure purchases, I want it all.

Review: Riviera Labs APL10 Preamplifier & AFM25 Monoblock Amplifiers

November 30, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been having a recurring dream about finding a hidden room in whatever house I was living in.

Review: PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Tube Integrated Amplifier

November 1, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

My hifi underground, yours may be a different one, spoke with a unified voice about the PrimaLuna EVO 300—“You have to hear this.”

Review: Bel Canto e.One C6i DAC Integrated Amplifier & e.One Stream2 Network Bridge

October 20, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

A stack of Bel Canto. But a stack that includes an integrated amplifier with a DAC inside and a streamer that has a DAC inside? What gives?

Review: Bluesound Powernode Streaming Amplifier

October 13, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

$949. Between that price and the product name, which describes its function, some people are already ready to click “Add to cart”.

Review: Linear Tube Audio Z40+ Integrated Amplifier

October 6, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

The LTA Z40+ incorporates David Berning’s patented ZOTL amplification for 51 Watts of transformer-less output power generated by four pentode tubes that peak out from the unit’s top plate.

Review: AVM OVATION A 8.3 Integrated Amplifier

August 4, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

The AVM Ovation A 8.3 Integrated Amplifier is a hybrid design, featuring a pair of AVM-branded ‘803 T’ dual triodes in the preamp married to a Class A/AB high current MOSFET output offering 200 Watts of power into 8 Ohms and 330 into 4.

Review: ModWright KWH 225i Hybrid Integrated Amplifier

July 20, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

Power. Sweet, sweet power. I suppose there’s such a thing as too much power when it comes to hifi, but I think it’s actually bad sounding power we’re talking about as opposed to too much.

Review: Feliks Audio Arioso 300B Integrated Amplifier

June 23, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

Few amplifier topologies in and of themselves conjure blissful thoughts and of those rare birds that do, perhaps none bring to mind more vivid imaginings than the single-ended 300B. It is the stuff of audio legend.

Review: LSA VT-70 Integrated Tube Amplifier

June 2, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

How? That was the word and question that nagged at me all the while the LSA VT-70 amp was lighting up the Barn. How can you get so much for so little?

Review: Kinki Studio EX-M1 Integrated Amplifier

May 24, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

You can’t argue with the numbers. Or so the saying goes.

Review: NAD M10 V2 Streaming Amplifier

March 31, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

If I could sing, I’d sing the praises I’m going to lavish on the NAD M10 V2 because it is many good things in one, and with the right speakers, you could easily be done.

Review: Audio Hungary Qualiton X200 Integrated Amplifier

January 27, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

Back in my early Bennington College days, a local bar just across the Vermont border in NY State decided to make Thursdays dance night. They were clearly trying to attract a Bennington crowd and it worked.

Review: Constellation Audio Inspiration Integrated 1.0

January 11, 2022 Michael Lavorgna

Have you ever had a day where you feel as if every move you make is in sync with movements greater than you? As if you’re in step with something larger than the span of a step or day or lifetime?

Review: Technics Stereo Integrated Amplifier SU-R1000

November 18, 2021 Michael Lavorgna

Technics and I could have known each other in high school seeing as the company was born in 1965 (if only the Japanese brand was also from New Jersey). It has been the job of the people behind the products at Technics to make things […]