Audiophilepure

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.

The Audio Note UK Cobra didn’t scrimp on musical weight, which can be an issue with a relatively low-powered tube amplifier. Bass was always natural and full, with plenty of tangible edges around the notes. On 2L Recordings’ new Trio Mediaeval performance, An Old Hall Ladymass, I heard that weight even though we are talking mostly about a women’s choir backed by an organetto. When those voices are merged together, there should be an increase in the visceral impact of the music–we’re talking “strength in numbers” in its purest apparition.

That’s where the Audio Note UK Cobra made its personality clear–those pieces of music that represent two opposing performances, and how beauty can be found right at the intersection when they collide. That’s a result of the AN system capturing the energy of a performance and saving it for you to hear any time that you desire. This is a truly musical system–one that constantly celebrates the emotions behind the notes.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1194-luxman-l-507z-integrated-amplifier

Luxman’s L-507Z is a fabulous integrated amplifier. Its sound is beyond reproach, being at once linear and dynamic, highly engaging yet non-fatiguing. The Luxman is quiet, more muscular than its modest specs might otherwise indicate. Every track that I fed through the company’s new LIFES amplifier circuit thrilled me. Ally that with high-quality craftsmanship and superb levels of fit and finish for its price point, and it should come as no surprise that the L-507Z has quickly become one of my favorite amps of the last few years. Throw the soft glow of mechanical VU meters in the mix, and it’s clear to me that the Luxman integrated isn’t just great, it’s special. And for that reason, Luxman’s L-507Z is what I’d buy if I were in the market for a high-four-figure integrated amplifier.

Honestly, I feel for the specs, it would be an insane value at $99, $149 is just a maybe from me. Nothing at all wrong with the amp, just don’t hook up some massive tower speakers and it expect it to dance like I did. It’s a cool, very smooth little amp. If you’re looking to build a nice separates system for your desktop, it will fit in just right. This is some very good Schiit, although a bit pricy.

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1784-hegel-music-systems-h600-integrated-amplifier-dac

That the H600, with more than twice the power of the B135², should handle high-volume playback with greater ease is to be expected, of course. What surprised me was the Hegel’s superior resolution and jet-black background at low volumes. As quiet as the Bryston was, the Hegel proved to be quieter still. This allowed tonal texture and delineation to emerge even at low volumes, as amply demonstrated by Angela Hewitt’s piano in the Chopin nocturnes. If you’ve got a big room or highly inefficient speakers (or both), you need power, and in this case, the scale is decidedly tipped in the Hegel’s favor. But even at low volumes, as I’ve mentioned, the H600 still pulls ahead.

Conclusion

The Hegel H600 is an exceptional integrated amplifier. Using the Bryston BDA-2 DAC I was able to compare the H600 and B135 strictly as integrated amplifiers and found the former superior—effortless and pristine at any volume. Remarkably, Hegel includes with this outstanding amplifier a topflight DAC that can easily rival external DACs costing thousands of dollars. This is the finest integrated amplifier-DAC combination I’ve heard in my time as a reviewer. At $12,500, the H600 isn’t cheap, but I suspect it would cost at least as much, probably more, to find another combination of integrated amplifier and DAC, whether as one or two units, that could outperform it.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/marantz-model-40n-review

It’s the same story regardless of which source you’re using – vinyl, hi-res streams or whether listening through headphones – the 40n offers an undemanding listen. This isn’t an analytical beast and we’re fine with that, but we wish it was more willing to dig up textures and nuance, to marshall rhythms with more precision and accuracy to really captivate us. Dynamically, we wish it worked a bit harder to relay the inherent drama and tension within a piece of music.

Obel’s ethereal vocals and that cello in The Cursed should tear at your heart; it doesn’t here. The Model 40n plays it safe, smoothing off the edges of Eminem’s biting lyrics to appeal to a wider variety of listeners. Rival systems such as the Evo and Uniti do a better job of engrossing us in the music; they’re simply more insightful, musically engaging and dynamically exciting by degrees.