Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/quad-platina-integrated-amplifier

This superb performance continued with two of Van Halen’s finest cover versions, ‘Where Have All The Good Times Gone’ and ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’. Here the Quad amp showed breathtaking speed on Eddie’s guitar leads while reproducing all the nuances of David Lee Roth’s vocals. You could almost see him smirk. As with The Heavy Heavy and Led Zeppelin tracks, the percussion was massive, powerful and – had I removed the grilles to see it – pumping a lot of air.

But on to subtlety. Linda Ronstadt’s Prisoner In Disguise [Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-608] is a go-to album for vocals. What I wasn’t expecting, though, was the same powerhouse drumming, even on tracks like ‘Love Is A Rose’ which is inherently gentle. Ronstadt’s voice was sibilance-free, detectably warm and even reminiscent of Quad valves. Whoever engineered this clearly had Quad Classic valve equipment to hand, also emulating their three-dimensionality. I had to keep reminding myself there wasn’t a tube in the audio chain.

Subbass is subtle and stays behind the rest of the presentation, giving tracks a light sense of depth rather than a deep rumble. It is not bad by any means, but it clearly avoids the kind of pressure and weight that bass-heavy sets deliver.

The punchiness of its mid-bass is what feels most noticeably missing, as kick drums do not land with strong impact. There is still a slight thump to keep rhythm sections from sounding empty, but the EPZ 550 does not push mid-bass energy aggressively.

Despite that weakened energy, the drums and bass guitars earn back attention through excellent timbre and texture. Every small tonal shift, drum hit, and string detail comes through with wonderful accuracy, allowing everything to sound as natural as can be.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/tad-a1000-integrated-amp

With those last two recordings, I began to get the feeling I was playing chicken with the A1000, trying to find music to unsettle it, and lose its way due to that underlying warmth. Having failed to do so, I fell back on something altogether more refined and glorious. Having just seen the excellent film The Choral, written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner, I settled for the recently released version of Elgar’s The Dream Of Gerontius by the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Opera North orchestra.

Timed to coincide with the film, this Hyperion set [CDA68461/2] mixes drama with warmth and lushness. The TAD A1000’s easy-going but rewarding presentation did an excellent job of taking me straight to the heart of the piece, sounding grand and impressive while still delivering fine insight into both playing and singing.