Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/998-linear-tube-audio-z40-integrated-amplifier

I played the Cars as loudly as I could bear but could hear no compression from my 87.5dB-sensitive KEFs. More impressive, this self-professed solid-state guy who’s a sucker for immaculate-sounding, high-power amps found the Z40 as generally enjoyable as my reference Hegel H590 integrated ($11,000). The only performance parameter in which the Z40 came up short against the solid-state Hegel was in bottom-end power and control. While David Robinson’s drumming had none of the softness or bloom that it might through a traditional tube amp, I think that most of the solid-state integrateds I’ve reviewed in recent years — most of them far more expensive than the Z40 — edge out the Z40 in terms of outright slam.

But a recording from 1978 — even in a high-resolution remastering such as this one of the Cars’ “Just What I Needed” — isn’t the sternest test of a tube amp’s linearity and transparency. So I opted for a torture test: “Brothers in Arms,” from the stupendous score for Mad Max: Fury Road, composed and performed by Dutch DJ Thomas Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL (16/44.1 FLAC, WaterTower Music/Qobuz). This track is an entropic melding of wailing strings, thunderous drums, and distorted electric guitars, all coalescing into rock-operatic madness that makes a lot more sense if you’ve seen George Miller’s visionary film. The Z40 more than held its own up to reasonably high volumes with this demanding cut, allowing me to make out all the cacophony laid out before me. Every aspect of the performance was highly resolved — and, even better, I could hear no bowing of the LTA’s frequency response at either end of the audioband.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gryphon-essence-mono-power-amplifier

Next, I tried Gryphon’s BlackSpikes. I found the sound somewhat fuller and more fleshed out in the lower midrange, with a concomitant boost in color saturation. With more there there, the perception of air and depth increased. Although the change was not huge, anyone who can afford these amps would benefit from shelling out an extra $700 for the BlackSpikes.

My entrancement was momentarily shattered when I began to explore other kinds of music. Enter Chris Bell, who is working on a video that explores the journey of Art Dudley’s former Altec Flamenco loudspeakers to their new home. Because Chris was passing through Port Townsend and was eager to take a listen—and because I always benefit from hearing music I don’t usually play—I invited him to cue up some of his favorite tracks. Due to COVID-19, we sat masked at opposite ends of the couch, where neither of us could fully appreciate the Essence’s superb depiction of spatial relationships.

Air Tight ATM-300R Power Amplifier

“The Air Tight ATM-300R wowed me with countless hours of listening pleasure. It consistently brought to life the full sonic promise of the 300B, and fully justified its reference appellation. Its performance rests on four major sonic pillars working in synergy: velvety textures, remarkable timbre fidelity, superb soundstage transparency and image focus, and a satisfying bass foundation.  It gives me great pleasure to crown the ATM-300R as the new king of low-power amplification. I’ve yet to audition a more musically convincing low-power amplifier at any price point. Simply put: an awesome display of the power of the first watt!”

https://www.stereophile.com/content/grandinote-shinai-integrated-amplifier

It has the spirit of a revealer. It speaks the truth—not ruthlessly, but honestly. It showed me, with conspicuous clarity, the sonic differences among music formats, speaker models, song-to-song recording quality, that section on an LP where, on my rig, the sound seemed to have spontaneously gotten much better, and the Shinai’s own conspicuous improvement after 45 minutes of playing music. More importantly, it revealed myriad strains of musical information I’d not known were there.

It also forced me to face up to the fact that my tubed electronics were sweetening and homogenizing the sound.

Does the Shinai’s tube-based circuitry make it sound like a tube amp? Not exactly. The Shinai sounds like its own thing, worthy in its own right. It’s rich but not in the voluptuous, warm way of my combo of Audible Illusions preamp and vintage ASL monos. The Shinai is more neutral sounding. The Shinai did some things better than my tube gear—definition, detail, space, scale, touch—at a price I think fair considering that, for the money, one gets a line stage and two powerful-sounding (even if rated at just 37Wpc), class-A monoblocks, designed and hand-built in Italy.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/ayre-ax-5-twenty-integrated-amplifier

The last aspect of the AX-5 Twenty’s performance that caught my ear is its soundstaging. This is highly impressive, and goes back to the amplifier’s overall sense of grip and effortless power. It drove my big NS-1000Ms like they were tiny little Wharfedale Diamonds, absolutely commanding them. This in turn made for a superb rendition of the recorded acoustic of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s ‘Country Girl’ [Deja Vu; Atlantic 7567-82649-2].

By no means would you call this an audiophile recording, yet the AX-5 Twenty picked through the murky soundscape to give a really clean, architectural sound with everything neatly in its place. There was no sense of instruments being placed in the mix incorrectly, or indeed vaguely. Instead, everything was practically nailed down to the floor. Depth perspective was impressively good too, giving a really immersive feel to this classic track.”

https://www.hifinews.com/content/rotel-michi-m8-mono-power-ampiifier

Whether with powering guitars and pounding bass and drums, or delicate solo and small-ensemble music, these amps are entirely in their element, as evident when falling back on an old audiophile favourite, the Antonio Forcione/Sabina Sciubba version of ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ [Meet Me In London; Naim cd021].

The sheer focus of the sound is breathtaking, from the openness of Sciubba’s voice to each strike on string or tap on the body of Forcione’s guitar, and the subtle additions of percussion. It has probably been demonstrated to death, but in the hands of the Michi P5 preamp and M8 monoblocks it still has the wherewithal to tingle and show what made it so special.