Audiophilepure

That said, there’s a slight price to pay for this extra musicality. Although the KT88s are capable of cranking more volume than the 6550s in triode mode, they don’t quite match that tube complement’s tetrode muscle. So, one will, on occasion—especially if in a mood to crank some heavier rock—cause a tube to draw excess current, which activates the fault-sensing system to protect the amplifier by shutting down. A deck-mounted LED next to each of the output tubes indicates which one is having a problem, and rebooting takes about a minute. Now and then a tube may completely fail, requiring replacement, but that’s rare and, in any case, is something all tubes are prone to.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/technics-sa-c600

Mahler’s Symphony No.10 is a dense and demanding piece of classical music. The Technics does well, though to be fair if you’re after the last word in insight a well-chosen combination of separates will do better. Regardless, the SA-C600 captures the feel of the music convincingly, delivering a combination of drama and fluidity that grabs a firm hold of our attention. A claimed power output of 30 watts per channel (into 8 ohms) is pretty modest, but the SA-C600 exceeds expectations by sounding surprisingly authoritative and suitably large-scale.

The digital inputs maintain this high standard, provided the source is of the requisite quality, of course. It’s only when we feed a signal through the single line-level analogue input do we feel a tinge of disappointment, as it sounds a little more opaque and dynamically constrained than we’d hoped for. Oddly, the onboard moving magnet phono stage doesn’t exhibit these traits to any serious extent and sounds way better than is the norm from such built-in circuits. This phono stage is good enough for most price-compatible turntables, which is an unexpected but thoroughly pleasant surprise.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/engstr%C3%B6m-arne-tube-amplifier

Ahead of those 300B power tubes, used in push/pull configuration, is a quartet of D3a driver/ phase-splitter triodes – again two for each channel – which are direct-coupled to the power section. The designer explains that ‘the driver stage has a symmetrical ± power supply so the DC level on the output of the driver is zero, making it possible to connect the driver stages directly to the grids of the power tubes which have individual cathode bias’.

The intent of this design, which is entirely in-house Engström thinking, is aimed at extending headroom and reducing distortion without compromising transient performance. Quite apart from the impressive output for a 300B amplifier of this kind, the ARNE promises real speaker-driving capability, without the need to seek out ultra-high-sensitivity ‘made for valves’ loudspeakers to make the most of usually tiny – often single-digit – power outputs. This is a world away from the ‘purist’, though not necessarily ‘pure’, single-ended single-300B amp

My ears were trained years ago, late at night, in dark recording studios. I listened to thousands of hours of music, through the iconic Yamaha NS-10 studio monitors. The NS-10s were legendary in their transparency. No musical sin could hide from these speakers. None. If there was a problem, the NS-10 would reveal it. The Pass Labs X260.8 monoblock amplifiers remind me of these speakers.

If you love power, grace, transparency, and (if you move your equipment around a lot) occasional back pain; I highly recommend you demo a pair of the Pass Labs X260.8 monoblock amplifiers or any of the Pass Labs .8 series amplifiers. You will not be disappointed. Highly recommended!

On a challenging piece, such as the “Intolerance” track from The Mighty Wurlitzer: Music for Movie Palace Organs (New World Records 80227), the NuPrime was able to nicely capture the tonal complexity of a four-manual, 34-rank Wurlitzer Special that was built in 1928 for the Fisher Brothers (of auto-body fame). Here, but not with the Fleetwood DeVille, I was a bit disappointed with its limited macrodynamic reach. I expected more from an amp that is said to generate instantaneous power in excess of 360W into 3 ohms. It sounded like it was just stopping short of fully scaling dynamic peaks. For a better perspective, I switched over to a recent acquisition of mine, the SMc Audio DNA-1/GT-21 Ultra. This Class AB amplifier represents a complete overhaul of the venerable DNA-1 and incorporates Steve McCormack’s latest circuit refinements and tweaks. On the Omega, the GT-21 Ultra was just crushing it with stupendous bass slam and macrodynamics that reached Olympian heights. It also became clear that the GT-21 Ultra offered better image focus, and as a result, more incisive spatial resolution. However, the NuPrime did have an edge in terms of soundstage dimensionality. Both amps resolved low-level detail exceedingly well, though the edge goes to the GT-21 Ultra.

Just as driving a high-performance electric car requires a few slight tweaks on the driver’s part to accommodate and genuinely understand how an electric car performs, we are at a point where listeners are starting to shift their perceptions about how recorded music sounds through amplification. All of which means this amplifier is very likely the Tesla Model S Plaid of the audio world!

On the face of it, the fact the Aavik Acoustics I-180, I-280 and I-580 look similar and share a similar essential performance would make it seem that the big boy is a poor proposition. However, the proof is in the listening, and this is one of the best Class D amps out there, and one of the best amps irrespective of amp design. While understandably at its best in the sublime company of its Ansuz and Børresen peers, it’s both a remarkable performer and a perfect gateway into the company’s ethos… and probably many products from these companies.

However, this single unit can act as the centralized brain of a stereo system when used as a preamplifier, but it’s also a brain that can be attached to a network, which greatly expands the capability of a typical preamplifier. I enjoyed the quality and convenience of the Naim Uniti Atom HE so much I am considering selling off older components to fund the purchase of one.

The Naim Uniti Atom HE is expensive but extremely versatile. Its appearance, construction, and materials befit what you pay for it. You can extend it with essentially any kind of source, whether analog or digital, and you can attach it to a network, whether wired or wireless. It is scalable, because you can attach other components in the Naim Uniti line to it, and you can update its operating system. The Naim App is a joy to use, it sounds great with headphones, and it can act as the control center for almost any kind of audio system. Recommended