Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/hifi-rose-rs250a-network-attached-dac

The RS250A offers the usual HiFi Rose combination of civility and musical excitement and is as adept with a large-scale classical recording or a heavy rock track as with audiophile-approved small ensemble content. Thus the calypso take on Cole Porter’s ‘Night And Day’ on Everybody Digs Bill Evans, in its 2007 remastered release [Riverside Records RLP-1129], found the player probing deep into the track’s knockout bass and drums – there are times when the pianist seems almost like a passenger. Yet it did so without calling attention to itself, allowing the listener to enjoy the virtuoso playing.

Even with the slightly rough sound of ELP’s At The Surgery release of live broadcasts dating back almost 50 years [X-Ray XRYCD015], which is a counterpoint to the whistle-clean Brain Salad Surgery album of the same time, the RS250A is all about the main event here – the musicianship and tightly locked interplay of the trio. Emerson’s whizzing and whirring synths mesh with Lake’s taut, unflashy bass playing and Palmer’s ‘max attack with total control’ mastery of his massive kit. This is the band at the peak of its pomp, for better or worse, and the massive sound was conveyed convincingly by the RS250A, bringing waves of nostalgia to this ‘I was there’ – well, at some point of the massive tour – listener. There’s even an 18-minute gallop through ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ here, and a Palmer drum solo running to almost 12 minutes until it segues into a breakneck ‘Rondo’

The tonal flexibility of the Stereo 40 became evident yet again when I switched to the Fleetwood DeVille loudspeaker. With its livelier balance, it benefitted from the no-feedback setting, cutting down the perceived treble extension a bit and resulting in a slightly softer presentation, but with billowing image outlines. However, there was more to it than just imaging. It resolved layers of orchestration exceptionally well, and low-level detail floated to the surface naturally without the help of any gratuitous upper-midrange brightness. It was far more revealing than that great and beloved classic UL amplifier, the Dynaco ST-70, which practically sounded fuzzy by comparison. One of the critical factors I look for in any power amp is a low annoyance factor. By annoyance I mean a bright disposition, obvious textural grain, or lack of transient speed and rhythmic conviction. The Stereo 40 excelled when it came to the music’s boogie factor, as well as refined grain-free-textures and fidelity to tonal colors. This was most evident on female voice, which was capable of floating in space with emotional expressiveness. Brahms’ orchestral works define beefy musical textures, and the Stereo 40 seemed to be the perfect partner, facilitating a most enjoyable delivery of the Double Concerto.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/zesto-bia-200-select-power-amplifier

The Haut Brion—both versions—is a wonderful, expressive amplifier. But it has nowhere near the sparkle, precision, resolution, or extension of the Bia 200. It also lacks the Bia 200’s tight, well-controlled, tuneful low end. It compensates by seeming more immediate, organic, and natural than the Bia 200. Both exist to serve the music, but they do it in different ways. The Bia 200 is transparent, powerful, resolving, fun. Maybe it’s the top end that seems to go out for miles, or the sonorous bass, or how it steps out of the way of recordings and lets them shine on their own terms.

Different people expect to hear different things from their hi-fi—different versions of transparency, as Herb Reichert would say—even as they seek musical truth. We’re all wired for the particular sounds that make our particular hearts sing. The Bia 200 is wired in a way that, for the right person, can make that happen.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/nad-c-3050-le-integrated-amplifier-review

NAD’s C 3050 LE fully delivers on its promise of serious audiophile amplification with a side serving of streaming tech in a comfortably/not-painfully retro package at a very fair value. That statement is complicated, however, by NAD’s bewildering array of fully one dozen other integrated amplifier models, including a few that are variously equipped with network streaming/BluOS, DiracLive, and other hybrid-Class D technologies at power levels from 80 up to 200 watts per channel and at suggested prices from a few hundred dollars all the way up to the Master Series M33 that I raved about in these pages a couple of years back and which remains a jewel today at an eye-watering $5999.