https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mac7200-stereo-receiver

I was shocked by the sudden crashing transients that open “2049” from Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s score for Blade Runner 2049 (CD, Epic 19075800852), followed by eerie reverberant echoes and sustained new-age synth chords. The MAC7200 delivered the same explosive dynamics, beginning with a faint, staticky whine followed by crashing heavy-metal chords on another Hans Zimmer soundtrack, The Dark Knight (CD, Warner Sunset 511103-2)—specifically the track “Why So Serious?”

I enjoyed the line stage and amplifier’s tubelike warmth and highly detailed imaging in the title track “Going Home” from a CD reissue of The L.A. Four: Going Home (CD, East Wind 32-JD-10043), which placed Laurindo Almeida’s guitar to the left, Ray Brown’s standing bass just left of center, Shelly Manne’s drums slightly to the right of center, and Bud Shank’s alto flute and saxophone far right.

The Ref160 gives off a lot of heat, but that comes with powerful tube-amp territory. ARC uses cooling fans to keep operating temperatures within optimal range and extend tube life. Since I placed the Ref160S in front of my equipment rack to make connecting it to and from my system easier, I did hear the fan during very quiet music passages, even with the fan speed set to low. I believe most users would place the amp in a more room-friendly position, and that would, no doubt, be farther away from the listening position. Let me add, the Ref160M/S aesthetics are a welcome change for ARC whose typical look has tended to be more industrial and functional. I liked the see-through faceplate, but I turned off the lighted VU meters, as I found them to be a little distracting. A friend thought they looked really cool and wanted to see them with their light level all the way up.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/marantz-model-30-integrated-amplifier

I “get” this amp. The Marantz Model 30 integrated suits my taste for simple sophistication. Its phono stage is so versatile and musically effective that I see this moderately priced integrated as being an especially good choice for young people getting into LP collecting for the first time or older audiophiles who want to start over with analog after having sold their LPs in the ’90s.

Best of all, this stylish new Marantz is a well-tuned, supertransparent, superdetailed class-D amplifier that powered diverse loudspeakers with a captivating élan worthy of its “Model 30” heritage.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/superioraudio/equipment/0121/Dynamic_Sounds_Associates_Amp_I_Review.htm

With rock masterpieces, like the cut “Hotel California,” from the Eagles remarkable 1994 reunion tour, Hell Freezes Over [Geffen GEFD-24725], while the kick drum is located solidly deep into the stage and left of center, is created with enough impact to move your pant leg cuffs. Queuing up choice cuts like “Under the Boardwalk,” from Ricki Lee Jones’ 1983 Girl at her Volcano 10-inch EP [Warner 1-23805], or with the Poco Adagio from the sublimely powerful Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns [RCA LSC-2341], the bass is not only deeply yet accurately extended, with no bloat or overhang, it is presented with a palpable sense of weight and pressure that is uncannily like that experienced live. Granted, considerable credit for this illustrious accomplishment must be attributed to the abilities of my remarkable VSA ULTRA 9 loudspeakers, but I have heard amplifiers, some considerably more costly than the Amp I, that suffer an obvious roll off as they descend into the nether regions, giving up both pitch definition and slam.

And as such, spatial cues were recreated almost as well as I have ever experienced, with realistically sized instruments regenerated with a sense of bloom or body that was unmistakably correct, recording dependent, of course… as not all recordings can deliver to the same degree on these attributes. Listening to recordings like the Cisco Records release of Steely Dan’s Aja [Cisco Music CLP-1006], the London Solti / CSO’s Beethoven’s Ninth [Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFSL 2-516], or even some QSound spectaculars like Sting’s The Soul Cages [A&M Records 75021 6405 2] or Roger Waters magnum opus, Amused to Death [Netherlands CBS/Sony (2) 468761 0], and I quickly realized that the Amp I could wrangle staging and imaging queues just about as well as can be accomplished.

Followers2

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/review-boulder-866-integrated-amp-r968/

 The analog and digital version certainly isn’t inexpensive at $14,450, but it’s a game-set-match component, just add speakers. The 866 Integrated looks really nice on my desk sitting next to my iMac and my headphone stand. The metal chassis is 100% Boulder, making it impossible to misidentify this amp as that from another company. The fit and finish are second to none. When it comes to sound quality, the main reason we are all into this wonderful hobby, the 866 Integrated is fantastic. 

I wrote at the start of this review that an amp must be fantastic or else I’d hear its flaws through the SR1a headphones. The Boulder 866 delivers the goods flawlessly at all volume levels. I played everything from test tracks (not really fun, but necessary for evaluation) to tracks that grip me emotionally, and the 866 handle them all with ease. Reproducing incredibly wide dynamic range on bombastic symphonic pieces and the very fine details in Jewel Kilcher’s voice that bring out the emotion of an 18 year old busker from Homer, Alaska, the Boulder 866 is an all-in-one that can do it all.

Suffice it to say that, as with every Benchmark product I’ve used or reviewed, everything works smoothly, precisely, flawlessly. I must single out for special mention the volume control. While the whole unit is completely relay controlled, with a total of forty “precision relays switching high-precision metal-film resistors,” each channel has its own gain control with 256 steps in 0.5dB increments. An accelerator facilitates rapid movement up and down the range while preserving the 0.5 steps, while exact channel-to-channel balance is maintained regardless of changes in level (if you’ve altered the balance to favor one channel, the imbalance is preserved through any level changes until you alter it again). The volume control is designed to generate a light “ticking” or “clicking” sound when used, which I liked. For one thing, it sounds cool; for another, the steps are so fine that without it you might not know you’ve made a change. By far, without question this is the best volume control I have ever encountered, capable of finer resolution of level increments than any in my experience (hard to imagine a set of conditions in audio usage where finer gradations would be required)

REVIEW: Conrad-Johnson CAV-45S2

There’s a thing about tubes that when it’s delicious, you can’t forget it. But it’s a road with a lot of detours. If your experience has mirrored mine at all, no doubt you’ve heard amplifiers with a silky smooth high end, others rendering a three -dimensional space that is so beguiling you might think you were under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, yet others offer a delicacy that’s almost intimate enough to be obscene.

The CAV-45S2 offers all of this and a well-defined lower register to boot. Whether I was listening to bass-heavy ambient tracks or heavily layered vocals, it comes through like few others. The presentation that the CAV-45S2 provides is deceptively simple. Should you place one in a system achieving an excellent match, you’ll not only find yourself losing track of time while listening, but you’ll also question why you didn’t do this earlier.