Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/line-magnetic-lm-845ia-integrated-amplifier

Rubens came to mind while I was searching for a way to explain the abundance brought into my life by the Line Magnetic LM-845IA, an integrated amplifier that has altered my understanding of how hi-fi components work together. Everything about the Line Magnetic is Rubenesque: It weighs 77lb, crowds most equipment racks, and its 845 tubes—each the size of an ear of corn—glow brighter than some table lamps. It replaces the company’s LM-518IA amplifier, which Herb Reichert reviewed in 2015 and still uses, happily. What sets the LM-845IA apart from most other commercially manufactured amplifiers is that it uses a single output tube per channel—a topology that many audiophiles revere for its pellucid sound, rich tone, and textural detail—while generating enough power to effectively control speakers of only average sensitivity. As it happens, it has much more to offer, but more about that in a moment.

Line Magnetic is a decidedly unusual company, having gotten its start manufacturing replicas of classic American audio equipment by the likes of Altec, Jensen, and Western Electric. Made in Zhuhai, in China’s Guangdong Province, the LM-845IA is part of Line Magnetic’s more affordable line of original circuit designs with a more contemporary look, though the company’s devotion to prewar tube equipment is apparent here. The LM-845IA relies on a single 845 tube per channel—first released by RCA in 1931 for use in AM radio transmitters—to produce a whopping 22 watts.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/7/16/ps-audio-stellar-strata

I relied on the assumption that the version available on streaming services came from the same master as my CD. Ohio is impeccably produced and sounded great through the analog outputs of the Yamaha, just as it always has. But switching to coax instantly via the remote was a revelation. At first I thought the Stellar Strata’s DAC must somehow add more gain than analog inputs. Even after playing around with volume matching the sound was bigger, bolder and warmer. It’s not that the Yamaha was missing anything outright, the Stellar Strata’s DAC just created a sound with real meat on the bones. Streaming the album gave the same overall presentation as playing the CD through the DAC. Slightly less realism, perhaps, but close enough that without an A/B comparison they would be indistinguishable. Why exactly they sounded different is beyond me but the experiment was a victory for both the DAC and streamer

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/5/18/uwo8qezl1oq1y1gvtphmj66gjx123f

Over the years I’ve acquired a number of performances of this piece but the one I listen to most often is an EMI Classics of Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. These amps highlighted the drama of the performance and hit all the right notes with power and precision. The brass instruments shone with full-bodied power and just the right amount of warmth. Flash, you saved us again.

Frank Sinatra. What can you say about Mr. Sinatra that hasn’t been said already? I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have at least three or four of his albums. His artistry is without peer and most of his recordings are superbly done. A classic recording, Sings For Only The Lonely, with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra, shows off Frank’s ability to set the mood, in this case a sombre, reflective one. The detail and nuance of his voice are captured so completely you want to pull up a barstool and buy the poor guy a drink. We’ve all been down that road before. It’s a quarter to three….

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-51-feliks-audio-arioso-amplifier-western-electric-300b-tube

Replicas or not, the Cossors were hyperbolically eloquent and water-clear. Their overtly appealing liquidity made the new Western Electrics seem a bit stark and the Electro-Harmonix EH Golds a bit coarse. The EHs specialized in making snare drums, double bass, saxophone solos, and spring reverb sound tangibly present. The more delicate and transparent Cossor WE 300Bs specialized in making church choirs, sitars, string quartets, and sultry female vocals seem unabashedly beautiful.

After a couple of weeks of studying the new Western Electric 300Bs, I went back to the Cossor “replicas” and played a stunning, gloriously transparent recording called Bloom featuring Armenian singer, songwriter, pianist, and storyteller Areni Agbabian backed by Nicolas Stocker’s sparse, mystical percussion (24/96 FLAC, ECM/ Qobuz). The Western Electric tubes played Bloom with unprecedented clarity and transient authority. In contrast, the Cossors played it with conspicuous delicacy and detailed refinement.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/class%C3%A9-audio-delta-premono-dacpreamp-monoblocks

By any standards, the latest Classé Delta amps are a triumph, combining a hugely flexible and ultra clean-sounding preamplifier with power amplifiers as capable of mighty clout as they are revealing of the smallest of detail. They look the part, are superbly engineered and constructed to impeccable standards, and can cope with even the most complex of systems without any signs of compromise in their performance.

The McIntosh MC1502 Power Amplifier

You might be surprised at how much of the music you feel is unlistenable because you find it overly compressed, is actually running your amp and speakers out of power. Your room size, and speaker sensitivity will play a big part in this, but again, 82db isn’t exactly concert hall levels. Even turning the volume down lower to a 76db average level, is still generating 100db peaks on a lot of tunes.  The 150 watts per channel that the MC1502 deliver comes in handy, and at much lower listening levels than you might think.