Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/mcintosh-mi502-class-d-power-amp

I partnered the amp with sources including a Primare PRE35 [HFN Dec ’19] for a balanced connection and Oppo UDP-205 CD/SACD player [HFN Jul ’17]. Via both the result was a largely neutral sound, especially in the bass and lower-mid, and with the transparency to reveal the limitations of the source when given a CD rip of the title track of Prince’s Purple Rain [Warner Bros/NPG 9362-49132-0]. Pairing the McIntosh amp and Oppo disc-spinner created an easy-to-use two-box set-up that yielded a fine performance with Barb Jungr’s cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Sara’ on SACD [Linn Super Audio Collection: Volume 5; Linn Records AKP 389], where the delicate handling of her haunting vocal was countered by the weight and body of the piano that accompanied her.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/boulder-866-integrated-amplifier

Some integrated amplifiers might offer slightly more functionality as a system hub, but Boulder’s 866 is well specified, impressively built and a knockout performer. This has all the attributes of a muscle amp, but it’s not simply power which grabs your attention. Balance, detail and sweetness make listening sessions seriously enjoyable, and in this analogue/digital guise, it brings its talents to all your sources.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2022/10/25/s1ywey29591p1wt0q9smr6fnpdka55

The DAC section of the HINT 6 provided a wonderful foil to the sameness of digital that can be apparent when streaming a variety of genres. Even great-sounding DACs can impart a common cleanliness to the sound of any recording played through them. Without being too revealing or edgy the HINT 6 DAC stepped out of the way of the music better than the outboard options I tried for comparison. Hoodoo Man Blues by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy (Delmark, 1965) is a classic slab of Chicago blues that sonically stands apart from most ‘60’s blues albums. The sound has an immediacy that is apparent on virtually any system. It’s a studio record that doesn’t sound like it came from a studio—it jumps right out and grabs the listener. This raw effect was more present when using the HINT’s own DAC than the Ferrum ERCO which kept things slightly more reserved. 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/karan-acoustics-master-collection-powera-mono-power-amplifier

As I got my power act together and fine-tuned the system (as I always do, as a matter of course), the POWERa monoblocks surpassed that initial assessment. By a lot. I queued up an old standby, Yello’s “Electrified II” from Toy (24/48 MQA, Polydor 0602547879851/Tidal). Whoa! Even more than the soundstage, which covered the width of the room and extended far up, what stood out was the strength and solidity of deep bass—and beyond. Everything from the pounding beat to Dieter Meier’s recitation and Malia’s vocals seemed to have greater presence. For visceral impact, swiftness of attack, and sheer, apparent accuracy, the POWERa monoblocks top every other monoblock, stereo amp, or integrated I’ve reviewed (footnote 7). Ditto for color saturation, shading, dynamics, and the ability to portray the most complex passages without a hint of compression.

Another, far more system-trying test of bass is the second movement explosion in Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11 as performed by Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on their award-winning live recording, Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 “The Year 1905” (24/96 MQA, DG/Tidal). I’ve heard this recording on many systems, including those with speakers far bigger than the Wilson Alexia V‘s. But never have I heard a huge bass drum portrayed with such convincing realism: The virtually instantaneous transition from the initial sharp attack to the forceful resonance and decay; the size and weight of the sound; and the depth of emotional impact felt true to the source.