Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/hifi-rose-ra280-integrated-amplifier

Anyone who has ever attended a live gig of the band will know the sensation of being overwhelmed by the sheer scale (and volume!) of their music, an experience the RA280 had a fair stab at emulating. This is a track in particular that benefits from a bit of roughness, and it’s testament to the RA280 that it doesn’t try and smooth things over too much. The amplifier packed a punch, especially with the large Focal Sopra No2s floorstanders.

Back to DALI’s Rubicon 2s and the Womack set sounded more reserved on these smaller, nominal 4ohm speakers, with the amp’s reduced bass emphasis being apparent. Yet there was still lots to love, such as the way it put all the intricacies of the violin playing of Janine Jansen, on the familiar ‘La Primavera’ of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons [Decca 475 6293; 96kHz/24-bit], on show.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/tad-grand-evolution-one-loudspeaker

When I dropped the needle on “Black Cow,” my ears turned red from pure pleasure; you should have seen my face. Fagen and Becker went to extraordinary lengths to generate great drum tracks, chewing up drummers in the process. Pow! Each drum hit here was laid on me like it was some sort of firearm. Don’s unique vocals, delivered with that little lisp he has, were tactile and clear. Emerging from the TAD GE1’s, the diction was unique and excellent, each syllable precise, compared to my experience hearing this “Sgt. Pepper of the ’70s” album over so many years from so many stereos.

I had one more trick up my sleeve. The McIntosh C12000 preamplifier is part of Mac’s “Hybrid Drive” series. It is unique in having two pairs of XLR outputs, one solid state, the other tubed. I usually use the latter, as I am running the preamp into the solid state MC462 amplifier and like the hybrid mix. Would Aja, which itself is a hybrid of sorts (a blend of jazz with rock and pop), sound better full-bore solid state? Would the GE1 reveal this change?

They also prove easy to drive, even with lower powered amplifiers. The BAT is big and dynamic, yet our reference ampsandsound Bryce monoblocks delivered the most delicate listening experience, with layer upon layer of inner detail. Should you purchase a pair of these, you will be surprised at how far you can keep upgrading equipment and still hear more musical information – these speakers are that good. The recently reviewed Enleum AMP-23R is a very close second place.