Amplifier Reviews
Review: A Naim New Classic Stack—NAC 332 Preamplifier/NPX 300 Power Supply/NAP 250 Power Amplifier
Does anyone really review Naim gear or does Naim gear review us?
Amplifier Reviews
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Triode Evolution 300 Integrated Amplifier
While I’m no fan of violence, someone needs to take the idea that 300B-based amps are soft and wooly out behind the barn and shoot it.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Audionet HUMBOLDT Integrated Amplifier
When you buy most anything, you’re paying for everything involved in designing, making, packaging, distributing, marketing and selling that thing. You’re certainly not, as some audiophiles appear to think, just paying for some parts.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Thöress EHT MKII Integrated Amplifier
Hybrids are half-loved by some because ideologies can outweigh outcomes. In the case of integrated amplifiers, the outcome I’m most interested in is how power can turn an electrical signal into waves of emotive sound energy as music.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Viva Solista Integrated Amplifier
I can count on one hand the number of integrated amplifiers that stand above and apart from all of the others I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. Here’s the list:
Amplifier Reviews
Review: A Bel Canto e.One Stack | Pre5 Preamplifier / REF501S Stereo Amplifier
I know my way around some Bel Canto, having reviewed their e.One C6i DAC Integrated Amplifier and e.One Stream2 Network Bridge along with the more upscale E1X Integrated Amplifier.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Audio Research I/50 Integrated Amplifier
Tung-Sol introduced the world to the 6550 beam tetrode vacuum tube in 1954, with early production coming out of their Bloomfield, NJ plant. I grew up about 8 miles away and that plant, the Electron Tube Division, remained in operation until I was a teen. […]
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Soulution 330 Integrated Amplifier
When it comes to listening to music on the hifi, I’ve been wondering of late if a sense of refinement is innate or learned. In other words, do we know a refined sound or does the gear teach us about it.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Audia Flight FL Three S Integrated Amplifier
The only thing I would change about the Audia Flight FL Three S, if I could change anything, is to have the volume knob stick out a bit more. Other than that, there’s nothing to criticize and everything to like. If not love.
Amplifier Reviews
Aurorasound HFSA-01 Review Followup: EQ Curves & 78s
Do you remember the Monkeyhaus? This was the name John DeVore of DeVore Fidelity gave his listening room/office that lives inside his factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: A Stack of Ayre 8s – CX-8 CD Player, KX-8 Preamplifier, VX-8 Power Amplifier
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 […]
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Java Hi-Fi Single Shot Integrated Amplifier
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.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Aurorasound HFSA-01 Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier
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.
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Octave V 16 Single Ended Integrated/Headphone Amplifier
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 […]
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Thrax Enyo Signature Integrated Amplifier
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.