Luxman SQ-N150 £3,000 Review

April 13, 2021 Comments Off on Luxman SQ-N150 £3,000 Review

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/luxman-sq-n150

No less importantly, provided that the speaker it’s matched with is suitably sensitive, the performance manages to deliver heavier and larger scale music without sounding strained or lost. The live studio edit of Bring Your Lovin’ Back Here by Gomez captures the heavyweight swagger of the band and the punch and drive of the music is central to the experience. Although certainly not a recording for the ages, the SQ-N150 takes the experience further with a level of refinement and airiness in the midrange that ensures any limitations of the music are avoided.

T+A PA3100 HV integrated amplifier Review

April 12, 2021 Comments Off on T+A PA3100 HV integrated amplifier Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/ta-pa3100-hv-integrated-amplifier


The T+A PA 3100 HV integrated amplifier makes a strong, consistent statement about sonic realities and the pathway to pleasure. Its consistently musical presentation, which emphasizes smoothness and ease over strong contrasts and abrupt shifts, renders it a powerful transmitter of musical truth—specifically that delivered farther back in the orchestra sections of many acoustically superior halls I’ve visited as well as in some drier or less-resonant venues.

Anyone wishing to get as much as possible from a single, very solid box will also find its headphone amp, optional phono card, and APM with tone controls and room equalization quite attractive. Put it all together, and you’ve got an excellent, meticulously engineered, beautifully made integrated amplifier that seems tailor-made for many audiophiles.

Linn Majik DSM Streaming Integrated Amplifier Review

April 10, 2021 Comments Off on Linn Majik DSM Streaming Integrated Amplifier Review

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/linn-majik-dsm-streaming-integrated-amplifier-review

I checked out the Majik DSM’s HDMI functionality using a Sony UBP-X800 Blu-ray player, with the player converting soundtracks to 2.0 PCM for output. Streaming the Afghanistan war movie The Outpost, the Linn nicely reproduced the crackling flames that followed in the wake of explosions. Of course, asking the Majik 109 book- shelf speakers to convincingly reproduce the ultra-low sound of explosions by themselves would be unfair. To quote Emeril Lagasse, I “kicked it up a notch” by connecting a JL Audio Dominion d110 subwoofer to the Majik DSM’s line-level analog RCA outputs. While this didn’t exactly turn the Majik DSM into a full-fledged home theater system, the sub added low-end impact and allowed the amp to deliver even louder movie sound.

Marantz Project T-1 Amplifier £30,000 Review

April 8, 2021 Comments Off on Marantz Project T-1 Amplifier £30,000 Review

https://www.hifinews.com/content/marantz-project-t-1-amplifier

With speakers which never exploit its lower registers, like LS3/5As without a subwoofer or the old Quads, the T-1 behaves just like you’d expect of a classic tube design. Only you’re not sampling all it can offer. Still, even those of you not using speakers which operate below 80Hz would still enjoy the textures with in-your-face realism, and not just the various vocal tics which help you to distinguish Crystal Gayle from Dolly Parton.

The amp’s way with textures carries over to each and every instrument, enough to allow you to use a compilation like the tribute, Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music Of Peter Green, as a guide to different guitar models. lt also means that incredibly fine details come through without a fight, with spatial clues so vivid that you can picture the walls of Abbey Road’s Studio 2 when you play the Fab Four. And you will hear vertical images just like the Cheskys said you would. It’s a near- magical experience, restricted only by speaker sensitivity rather than frequency response, driver type or impedance. Still, it has power to burn, compared to a SET.

NAD C 298 Stereo/Mono AmplifierReview

April 7, 2021 Comments Off on NAD C 298 Stereo/Mono AmplifierReview

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1528-nad-c298-stereo-mono-amplifier

With the C 298’s balanced and single-ended inputs, auto-on sensing, fixed and variable gain, enough power output for most applications, the ability to be used as a far more powerful monoblock, and the serviceable but nonextravagant build quality and visual design long typical of this company, NAD has done a wonderful job of implementing Purifi Audio’s Eigentakt amplifier technology into a commercial product that is, at least in features and looks, distinctly their own. The C 298 is also a conventional-looking amplifier that will visually fit nicely into any traditional audio system.

Classé Delta Stereo and Delta Pre Review

April 6, 2021 Comments Off on Classé Delta Stereo and Delta Pre Review


Of all the power amplifiers that I have reviewed after the CH A1.5, the Delta Stereo power amplifier has honestly impressed me most. Possessing of a solid and full but natural and even-handed sound with a hint of smoothness, the amp is never cool or sterile. Its articulate directness and positively huge dynamic impact make that is always engaging and lively. In certain areas, such as bass solidity and slam, it outperforms even my Swiss reference! I much enjoyed my time with it and the match with the Magico S1 mk2’s was absolutely perfect. The Classé clearly has a very well-thought-out design and it is one of the best transistor amplifiers that I have heard.

B.AUDIO B.DPR ONE PREAMPLIFIER AND B.AMP ONE POWER AMPLIFIER £8,990

April 5, 2021 Comments Off on B.AUDIO B.DPR ONE PREAMPLIFIER AND B.AMP ONE POWER AMPLIFIER £8,990

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/baudio-bdpr-one-preamplifier-and-bamp-one-power-amplifier/

By this point I had moved onto Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 speakers which have a brighter balance than the PMCs, the combination with the B.audio delivering a more detailed result that worked better at low and medium levels than at full chat. These amps are themselves highly detailed and the combo can sound a bit forward if you turn it up. That said another track from Mingus, ‘Dry Cleaner from Des Moines’ really bounced with energy and finesse, if you are looking for an in-the-room result this is a pairing that delivers.

NAD C 298 Stereo Amplifier Review

March 27, 2021 Comments Off on NAD C 298 Stereo Amplifier Review

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1528-nad-c298-stereo-amplifier

I let the rest of the album play out, enjoying all the layers of detail presented to me by the C 298 with such apparent ease. In each track, voices and synths are added over electric bass and those drums, layer upon layer. Random Access Memories highlighted some of the NAD’s strengths—the C 298 delivered huge amounts of detail across the entire audioband. The album’s high energy came through in spades, the amp always providing quick-sounding bass, mids, and highs. Its reproduction of the treble was excellent—I heard no faults whatsoever. I soon began to prefer its ever-so-slightly more “polite” sound over the slightly splashier highs I’m used to from my Bryston, whose sound can, at higher volume levels, be a little too hot for my taste.

Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier £5,500 Review

March 21, 2021 Comments Off on Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier £5,500 Review

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/anthem-str-integrated-amplifier

Anthem’s STR Integrated Amplifier is generous yet refreshingly understated. It does exactly what you want, combining plenty of power and connectivity with a completely even-handed and neutral performance. Phono inputs are excellent and the DAC is extremely natural. Straight out of the box it sounds like a pedigree performer, but dive into the advanced Anthem Room Correction measurement and adjustment and you can fine tune the sound qualities to exactly fit your listening space. Anthem’s deft touch on improving real-world listening is seriously impressive and although I thoroughly enjoy playing with the DSP sophistication, make no mistake, the beating heart of this amp is its superb analogue signal handling.

Decware Zen Triode Amplifier Review

March 19, 2021 Comments Off on Decware Zen Triode Amplifier Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-46-decware-zen-triode-amplifier

He reminds me of my least favorite teacher, Professor Grausamkeit, who was just like that and said similar things. Every time I smarted back, “Accurate to what?” he’d whack me with a wooden yardstick.

Grausamkeit would twist my ear painfully while scolding me but would never explain what “accurate” sounded like or why it didn’t sound pleasant. Best I could figure, he meant gray and stern, like him, or bland and flavorless like our school lunches. Professor G was constantly reminding us, “Pleasure-seeking is a congenital defect that defines the ignorant classes.”

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