Arcam SA45 streaming amplifier Review
December 15, 2025 § Leave a comment
https://www.hifinews.com/content/arcam-sa45-streaming-amplifier
Equally, the rough-hewn, boogie vibe of The Doors’ ‘Peace Frog’ [Morrison Hotel, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Ed., Rhino; 192kHz/24-bit] was handled as confidently as the ambient swirls and dub-style basslines of Seefeel’s ‘Moodswing’, from their Pure, Impure EP [Too Pure; CD res.]. On this instrumental, the SA45 again showed off its excellent low-end grip and midband detail.
There isn’t overt softness or warmth to this amp’s sound – tonally it’s generally neutral – but it remains inviting to hear. And the comprehensive connections and app controller make the SA45 ready for many sources. During my listening I spent hours with Radio Paradise via the amp’s Internet Radio, aiming for background music. Soon, though, Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s ‘Lucky Man’, from their debut [Island Records], had me paying attention. There was sparkle to the acoustic guitars, the drums were widely staged, and that Moog synth solo sounded as eerie as ever.
Grado Signature HP100 SE Review
December 15, 2025 § Leave a comment
https://www.hifichoice.com/content/grado-signature-hp100-se
Spinning Lyn Stanley’s It’s Magic, vocals and orchestral backing have real presence. The bass is clear and the brass sparkles with great clarity. The performance comes through as effortless, detailed and very refined.
Moving on to Mendelssohn’s Octet performed by The Locrian Ensemble, the detail is absolutely superb and each individual instrument clearly occupies its own position within the soundstage. Finishing off with the rousing Spartacus by Khachaturian and the Vienna Philharmonic, the performance is big, full and very powerful. The drums in particular really seem to resonate with a commanding authority. The detail in the percussion is crystal clear and the strings are not at all harsh. Brass instruments are not over bright, but have a very real presence.
FIR Audio Project K $2,799 Review
December 12, 2025 § Leave a comment
https://www.headfonia.com/fir-audio-project-k-review/
Of course, FIR also uses their ATOM Venting system for pressure relief and isolation control. Project K comes with the Gold (+2dB/-17dB) module preinstalled. There are no extra XS modules supplied. The Gold (+) module lowers isolation to -17 decibels. It has a rated impedance of 15 Ohms and a frequency response range of 20Hz to 20kHz. FIR uses premium silver internal wiring for the drivers and components.
Aurender AP20 reference all-in-one music server class D integrated amplifier Review
December 12, 2025 § Leave a comment
Aurender upgraded my digital audio source in early 2024 from the discontinued N100SC to the N200, a slightly higher performing cache network transport, which is now reusing the same 4TB SSD previously feeding the N100SC. I know people whose music library consists of 8TB of audio files and more, but even the 4TB is going to last me a very long time, partially because I routinely chuck those music that I never accessed. If I haven’t listened to a recording for over a year, chances are it is not important to me and it’s just taking up space and I won’t mi
ss it. Despite my ongoing hording of a considerable CD collection, I access the Aurender more and more. For the review, I installed a separate SSD with 2TB of files into one of the two rear docking compartments of the AP20. There is no discernible difference in sound quality between sourcing the music files from the N200 via an Audience frontRow USB cable or from the SSD in the AP20 itself. Note that there is no digital output on the AP20, meaning its cache player feeds only the internal preamplifier and cannot be used as a reference cache player to pair with an external DAC
Audiophilepure 
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