Spring cleaning—The Short List: Favorite Amplifiers!
Seeing as I took to whittling down my list of Favorite Digital earlier this month to a Short List: Favorite Digital, it was time to prune some amps. The impetus behind The Short Lists is to give you a look at my favorites among favorites.
As you’ll see, the whittling here was certainly successful even though it produced a slightly longer list than digital and the reason for that is, in essence, a question of power and speakers—you may need more or less for yours and I accommodated both scenarios.
I will also highlight the long legs of some the amplifiers on this list with one Favorite now in its 11th year of production which stands in contrast to the entries on the Digital Short List, all relatively recent designs. And this makes perfect sense if you think about the nature of the respective beasts.
As always, these Short Lists represent my preferences in every way including features and performance at this moment in time.
Aurorasound HFSA-01 Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier ($4290) | Review (September 2023)
If you and your speakers can live with 14 Watts of sweet pure power, the Aurorasound HFSA-01 is a fine integrated amplifier for your live with list. Add a very fine MM phono stage, headphone amp, a stereo/mono switch, and EQ curves for properly playing back pre-RIAA records and you’ve got an amp I could easily live with for the long haul.
Leben CS600x Integrated Amplifier ($9995) | I own one
“You are the sunshine of my life.” Did you know that a number of ancient cultures including the Inca, Egyptians, and pre-Columbian societies used gold to represent the sun? Speaking of the long haul, the Leben CS600x has been in production, with a few minor changes along the way, since 2005 and it offers some of the most musically satisfying 28 Watts of EL-34 based power on the planet. On the planet, which is why I’ve owned one going on 7 years.
Aesthetix Mimas Integrated Amplifier (starts at $9950) | Review (July 2025)
The Aesthetix Mimas was first released in 2019 to glowing reviews but I only recently had the good fortune and great pleasure of spending Barn-time with one. Now I get the glow. The Mimas is a hybrid design with a pair of 6DJ8 (6922) vacuum tubes in its preamplifier stage and a “fully differential, zero-feedback, DC coupled, balanced bridge output operating in Class AB” amplification stage offering 150W into 8 ohms, and about double that into 4. Beyond great grip and plenty of grunt, the Mimas adds a level of refinement that typically comes with a much higher price.
Audia Flight FLS 10 Integrated Amplifier (starts at $14,999) | Review (February 2023)
In need of even more power? The Audia Flight FLS 10 to the rescue with 200/380/700 Watts into 8/4/2 Ohms but don’t let those numbers scare you–the FLS 10 sings as sweetly as a lower power amp while offering some of the best bass control/performance I’ve heard. A delicate beast of an amp and a true sweet spot in Audia Flight’s impressive line.
Riviera Audio Laboratories Levante Integrated Amplifier ($24,995) | Review (March 2021)
Even though the Riviera Labs Levante left the Barn five years ago, I still remember its very special way with music offering an uncanny holographic sound image coupled with a just right richness and grace that was pure seduction. The Levante is another hybrid design with a pair of parallel ECC81/12AT7 triodes for signal processing and solid state (Bipolar Junction Transistors and Mosfets) for the power stage offering 30 Watts of output power (into 8 Ohms) when run in Class A or 120 Watts when run in Class A/B. When I dream of integrated amplifiers, the Levante is among the dreamiest.
Soulution 331 Integrated Amplifier (starts at $38,975) | Review (February 2025)
“The level of refinement, drive, voice, and physicality on display made for entirely captivating and deeply involving music-driven experiences that makes the end of this review period the only let down. The Soulution 331 is a standout product in every meaningful way.” Elegant in sight and sound, the Soulution 331 is an endgame product.
JMF Audio PRS 1.5 Preamplifier ($39,000) & HQS 6002 Amplifier ($45,000) | Review (June 2025)
Do you want it all? From my review: “The JMF Audio pre/power combo ranks among the most engaging and astonishingly right sounding amplification I’ve had the great pleasure to live with and I would rank the pair as being among the best to have come through the Barn at the all important task of reproducing music.” When only the most astonishingly right will do.