Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/dagostino-mxv-integrated-integrated-amplifier

Turning to digital, the mainly unplugged remakes of his back catalogue on Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom [Columbia/Legacy 19658767492 CD] are tricky ones to employ, because decades (literally) of familiarity with songs such as ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ and ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ are thrown out with the bathwater. The performances bear no resemblance to the well-known originals, so it’s harder to focus just on the sound.

That said, I had played the disc enough times to feel confident about using it, and there was a reward in the way the MxV Integrated handled vocals. Those who have followed Dylan over the past 60 years have heard the changes in his voice – the same applies to all singers, from Cher to Springsteen to McCartney – and this soundtrack CD most assuredly is Dylan circa-the-2020s. Dan D’Agostino’s designs have always viewed music through a micro lens, and the tiniest traces of rasp and richness underscored the more common nasality.

Overlapping with the Aegir review was our take on recent Atlantic and Rhino records 15th anniversary reissue of Jason Mraz’s We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album offers up a diverse array of measuring sticks for auditory consumption, from slow acoustic rollers like the stripped down Lucky and I’m Yours to the full band funkiness of Butterfly. The latter particularly impressed me with its dynamic range and capabilities for start/stop sonic motion. The leading edge through the Aegirs was better than I had heard from any Schiit product to date, and coupled with a deep texture supplying ample heaps of measured sweetness, the setup matched my expectations for high end sonic retrieval at this price point and above.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/brilliant-corners-12-balanced-audio-technology-vk-80i-integrated-amplifier-ortofon-cadenza

What didn’t I love about the VK-80i? Though its sound is difficult to criticize, compared to some favorite tube amps, like the Manley Mahi or the Ampsandsound Red October, it can come across as a bit mechanical and studious, lacking the very last measures of presence, drama, and fun. Then again, those amps lack the BAT’s admirable neutrality and ability to drive speakers of average sensitivity, so pick your poison.

Finally, in operation the VK-80i produces some positively Hadean heat—its power consumption dwarfs that of the ungodly-hot Line Magnetic—so if you live in the tropics or spend your summers in New York City, you may want to keep this in mind.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/dagostino-mxv-integrated-integrated-amplifier

How could I not know that this amplifier’s lower registers would have reach and mass tailor-made for head-banging? Whitesnake shows greater finesse, or rather employs a lighter touch than, say, Motörhead, so it wasn’t all screaming and buried meter needles. What iced this (bottom octaves) cake was the layering which gave the drums and bass their own sonic strata.

If that sounds like the flat images of Viewmaster 3D or the antithesis of soundstage or imaging cohesion, forgive my failure to communicate precisely how these layers of sound complement each other. You just know by the way it all comes together that the art of creating a flawless wall of sound isn’t solely a skill belonging to Phil Spector. This amplifier rocks.

The further upshot of time with Audio Hungary’s Qualiton A75 was making plain to me, again, that music is about enjoyment not extraction of every iota of sound. More information is more information it is not necessarily more joy. As an audiophile, my musical interests have blossomed and include far more genres of music than when I started. I’m not going into a hermit state. I’ve poked into a lot of corners of music that I was never interested in. Some proved just interesting and some really enjoyable. So it goes. 

The Qualiton A75 is a compelling offer to buy, simplify, and just enjoy. Have great sound without having to give up so much real estate while retaining some visual beauty. It’s an opportunity to bask in the joy of an evolved system. Instead of studying reviews of amplifiers to determine what your next audio purchase should be. Maybe what’s next is to continue exploring new music or it’s immersing yourself more deeply into your record collection or taking friends to your desert island system and basking in the full glory of what you’ve constructed. Audio Hungary’s Qualiton A75 could be that. Highly recommended.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/rogue-audio-dragon-monoblock-power-amplifier

The ESS Transtatic I is a hybrid-electrostatic loudspeaker (footnote 4). The fabric-wrapped 120lb cabinets are three-walled, open on the inside face. Low frequencies are transmission-line loaded and radiate from bass ports above each laminate-veneered loudspeaker pedestal’s cardinal directions.

Each speaker uses a 9″ × 12″ foam, flat-piston KEF B139 oval “racetrack” low-frequency driver and a rear-ported KEF B110 midfrequency driver, coordinated with an array of three RTR electrostatic panels. These drivers were fairly common in the 1970s, used by various manufacturers including Infinity. According to the specifications, the Transtatic I’s lows extend below 15Hz, the highs up to 32kHz, with a ±3dB range of 25Hz–20kHz. Admirably, ESS specified a minimum—not nominal—impedance, of 4 ohms. Sensitivity wasn’t specified, but I estimate it as in the vicinity of 90dB/W/m. The user manual suggests a minimum amplifier power of 60W and says it can take “greater than 650-watt musical peaks without distortion.”

Uncolored and unboxy, these are the best-sounding loudspeakers I’ve ever heard at low volume. For this review, I used them exclusively.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1220-audionet-humboldt-integrated-amplifie

Audionet’s Humboldt integrated amplifier isn’t just a reference-level integrated amplifier; it’s a statement-level integrated amplifier. At a scarcely believable $58,500, it damn well should be. And after months of listening across a variety of partnering loudspeakers, I can report that it’s not only the highest performance class-AB integrated amplifier I’ve reviewed but also the most enjoyable. I found its combination of deep power reserves, extreme transparency, and cavernous soundstaging beguiling. Allied to a dead-neutral frequency response, I’m not sure you could ask for anything more from a topflight, modern integrated amp. It’s costly, but the best often is.

The ULTIMA INTEGRATED is a 125-watt device designed by Chord Electronics’ founder, owner and chief engineer, John Franks. It features the latest dual-feed-forward error-correction topology, plus the company’s unmistakable industrial aesthetic.
The amplifier takes advantage of the very latest developments in advanced low-distortion power supplies, devices offering exceptionally low noise and outstanding operation.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2023/6/11/49fkfmqfnubr67p4v3hwqf1mmlipym

Decware comments “This is a pure Class/A single-ended triode amplifier with 2 high-current watts per channel and the ability to drive speakers between 2 and 16 ohms (my unit had a switch for both 4 and 8 ohm speakers). It features a potentiometer volume control (which I used during the listening period) and two pairs of input jacks making preamps completely optional. Also, it can be bridged into mono for around 6 watts. “Because of our floating output stage design, a pair of these amps can even be run as fully differential balanced monoblocks”