Audiophilepure

If it excels at the big and complex, then it is equally impressive on the seemingly simple. ‘Wayfaring Stranger’, the classic American folk tune from Grateful Dawg [Acoustic Disc] by David Grisman and the late Gerry Garcia is a simply arranged live recording with a couple of gloriously out of tune vocals that is so compelling because of its sheer reality and straightforward instrumentation. It could hardly be more different from Bill Laswell’s Divine Light but it is no less compelling. The Constellation shows what a charmingly intimate amplifier it can be. It even makes a banjo sound good and that will do for me. The song is from Grateful Dawg which is not an offering that has undergone much in the way of studio mastery or post-production enhancement, I would think. But it’s the straight-up charm and, of course, the quality of the playing from the guys and their bluegrass sidekicks which make it so real and so interesting. The Inspiration Integrated 1.0 just lets it all through. Atmosphere all the way but very different indeed from another largely acoustic album that has charmed me. Julian Lage is, I believe, one of the finest guitarists on the planet at the moment, electric or acoustic, and I am particularly fond of his collaborations with Chris Eldridge. On Avalon from 2014 [Modern Lore] they use a simply recorded, dry acoustic space to demonstrate some stellar musicianship and show just how expressive, versatile and real this classic format can be. The Constellation showcases the wealth of tonal shading, stunning clarity and texture that these two embellish through thicker, wound strings to breathe life and touch-ability to the music. The speed and eloquent note control plays right into the amplifier’s considerable strengths and illustrates exactly how to tell a story through an instrument. I’ve never heard it sound better.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/10/26/6difo4beq7hy6zrt1kyjbzb1nfk45a

As you can see from the promotional images above, the integre4 is a good looking integrated amplifier. It has excellent sound and is very easy to use. It will grace any listening space. It’s not especially ‘tubey’, but does present as typically pentode. However, lovers of tube designs will enjoy the emotion the integre4 bestows on the music. And if swapping tubes is how you roll, the integre4 is your guy.

Lab 12 is now 10 years old, and, as they transition into their next generation, you can be sure you are getting quality production and fine design from a Greek audiophile with his listening ears on. Highly recommended.

The ART 150’s performance envelope isn’t limited to solo voice or small-scale instrumental recordings. Its ample power supply (with ten times the capacitance of the original ART Series) provides the requisite muscle to deliver the instantaneous current that takes large-scale, complex, and demanding musical passages by the scruff of the neck and shows them who’s boss. A term I’ve coined after living with big floorstanding Dynaudios for a number of years is “dynamic slam”: the ability to quickly, cleanly, and effortlessly scale from pianissimo to fortissimo, and, man, the ART 150 has sure got it. 

“Asturias (Leyenda)”on Isaac Albeniz’s Suite Española performed by the New Philharmonia Orchestra [Decca, CAPC 6355 SA] is presented with such drive and immediacy that you feel you’re sitting in the orchestra rather than the audience. At the big crescendos, the brass and timpani have the speed and power of a crack of thunder; the cymbal crashes are shimmering and clean. 

Bringing the best of the 1960s into the 21st century needs some addressing. First, there was an operational ‘quirk’ to the Stereo 20 that is echoed here; the phono connectors are on what might seem like the front right of the amplifier and the logo runs along the right-hand side, meaning the amp is designed to sit at 90° to most designs. More importantly, while a 14W stereo amplifier will meet (and exceed) many listener’s demands, loudspeakers with more challenging sensitivity and impedance figures will result in a smaller, quieter or even thinner sound (of the line-up of small loudspeakers I regularly use, the 21c fared well with the KEF LS50 Meta, was fine (but no roof-raiser) with the Audiovector R1 Arreté and didn’t like the upper-bass impedance dip of the Wilson Audio Duette Series 2 at all.