Audiophilepure

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/copland-csa-100

The CSA 100 is a rare beast in hi-fi terms in that it manages to be almost absurdly competent, but never feels dull or soulless in doing so. There’s nothing within the extensive specification that feels anything other than exactingly thought out, but beyond that it rarely fails to delight across its many inputs and a very broad spectrum of music. Throw in the superb build and rather lovely appearance, and you have an absolutely outstanding amplifier that’s likely to delight anyone who spends any time with it.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2023/4/3/kb8llwi7wcd825zi32ii2lybjshajl

Van Alstine’s vision for a better, more powerful monoblock amp has come to life with the DVA M750 Monoblock. I know of no other monoblock amp on the market, at a price of only $5598/pair that can perform like this, with such power, and finesse, and endowed with such a  large quiet soundstage presented with exceptional clarity. Very highly recommended.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/audio-research-i50-integrated-amplifier

I experienced one bug with the amplifier’s control software. Occasionally, the amplifier spontaneously went into standby mode, at least as indicated by the Lexitubes’ single dots, while the tubes all remained powered up. This could be some sort of tube-protection feature except that it didn’t seem related to playback level; the average voltage the last time it happened was <3V RMS, and it never occurred during high-power measuring on the test bench. Pressing the Power button on the amplifier’s top panel, after waiting the requisite 3 minutes, always brought the I/50 back into action.

After we had listened to the SVSs, we then drug out his pair of JBL ES80s and swapped out the SVSs for these for comparison. We were instantly disappointed. Not in the S300+ mind you, but in the ES80s! Just as the S300+ revealed what the SVSs could do, it also revealed what these ES80s couldn’t do. Again, I go back to the word “revealing.” With the S300+, you’ll either fall in love with your speakers, or you’ll want to throw them off a cliff. (Hopefully the former!)

All told, I have only about 20 hours of use so far. I think it’s just starting to break-in, so some of my comments should be considered to be provisional. As is sometimes the case with higher end gear like this, it gets better with continued use. At least that’s what my ears are telling me. (Think “bloom”!) In addition to all the aforementioned titles above, I’ve also been enjoying the remasters of Andre Prévin’s recordings of Shanker, Gershwin, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky. It’s a real joy to listen (and re-listen) to these on a better version of my own speakers thanks to the KECES S300+.

Some final thoughts on the KECES S300+

Remember to place this amp in a very well-ventilated area. I have mine sitting on a credenza about a foot away from the DAC. Nothing else nearby. I would advise against putting this into any type of fully or semi enclosed cabinet. If you do plan on putting it somewhere other than out in the open, a small quiet low RPM fan wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’m thinking about placing a spare 140mm PC fan on top of the unit just to assist in the convective airflow for cooling.

If you’re facing a choice to either upgrade your speakers or upgrade your amplifier, choose the latter. Upgrade the amplifier first. As the KECES S300+ shows, you likely have no idea what your current (or new) speakers can do if your amplifier is sub-par compared to the true capabilities of the speakers.