Audiophilepure

“And I was beguiled by the MC1.25KW’s reproduction of bass. At low volumes, there was a sense of weight, kick drums were punchy, and notes were articulated, transparent, and tonally accurate enough that I could easily discern the differences among electric, synth, and double basses. I don’t hear this level of resolution from my reference monoblocks, because at lower levels there simply isn’t enough bass volume for me to do so. At moderate volume levels, the weight, punch, and dynamic drive of the MC1.25KW grew in scale and articulation, and this control and body is maintained even at outlandish listening levels, much as I heard from Simaudio’s Moon Evolution 888. Male and female voices were consistently vivid and intricately communicated, which goes a long way toward implying that the requisite level of detail is there, even though it isn’t. I suspect that, without a more resolving pair of amplifiers sitting right next to the MC1.25KWs for instant comparison, some listeners might not notice that anything at all is missing.”

https://audiofi.net/2019/12/hegel-h390-amplifier-and-more-norwegian-good/

“Now that we’ve established what the H390 is not, what it does purely as an integrated amplifier is quite amazing. Planar-magnetic speakers such as Magnepan are notoriously power-hungry, and it takes a special amp to really make them sing – the H390 is one of those.

Music simply flowed through the H390, which handled anything that I could throw at it with poise and ease. Vocals, instruments and percussion, and all genres of music from classical, jazz, rock and even metal – the H390 took everything in its stride.”

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/pbn-olympia-eb-sa3-amplifiers-lxi-preamplifier/

“Where this neutrality becomes very useful aside from distinguishing the recording’s origins and pure musical enjoyment, is what the changes made upstream yields. Changing from the PBN Lxi preamp to the D’Agostino Momentum was not a difficult shift to grasp. The Momentum is a bit of yin to the Lxi’s yang. It’s a shade darker, a shade warmer, a touch deeper in stage, and just as wide, if not as forwardly detailed. Textures are a bit more organic, but these qualities come at a 30% premium in price. The Lxi was livelier where the Momentum’s depth of stage seemed to shave a hair off dynamics. The bass is an equal in terms of extension, a bit heavier feeling-voiced, more bottom up, though with the tone controls the Momentum possesses, it can be transformed in either direction. I have grown so accustomed to having the tone control feature, especially one as well executed as the D’Agostino, I would find it hard to live without. But the Lxi was in the same league, and despite the quirk of not having the ability to switch sources with the remote, and no balance adjustment, I could live very happily with the Lxi. The one caveat beyond those inconveniences would be the Lxi would best suit a system that needs a kick in the pants, and move the stage and upper frequencies a bit forward in mix. “