Articles
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Hi-Fi+ Awards 2016: Amplification
|Integrated Amplifier of the Year Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty In making the AX-5 Twenty, Ayre Acoustics pulled together many important elements of design from existing higher-end Ayre amps into what has become the company’s only ...read more -
iFi Audio Pro iCAN balanced, hybrid valve/solid state headphone amp/preamp
|My very first exposure to the iFi Audio brand, which is a spin-off of the British high-end audio electronics manufacturer Abbingdon Music Research (AMR), came at an audio show a number of years ago. I ...read more -
conrad-johnson GAT Series 2 preamplifier
|For the last decade, high-end audio has been on a seemingly inevitable trajectory, its controls set for the heart of the luxury market sector, propelled by the twin impetus of soaring prices and the influx ...read more -
Questyle Golden Reference DAC/preamp/headphone amp system
|Back in Issue 133, we reviewed Questyle’s excellent CMA800R headphone amplifier. At the time, we suggested there would be a follow-up review of a pair of CMA800Rs for balanced operation. But then, an idea was ...read more -
First Listen – Schiit Audio’s new Jotunheim
|The past weekend I had the privilege of attending an event called ‘Schiit Show II’, which was sponsored, of course, by Schiit Audio and held at the Marina del Rey Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. ...read more -
Audio Alchemy DDP-1 DAC/preamp, PS-5 power supply, and DPA-1 power amplifier
|Those of us with long audio memories might recall Audio Alchemy. Back in the mid nineties, Audio Alchemy was the main protagonist in providing no-nonsense, low-cost DACs in basic boxes. At a time when DACs ...read more -
McIntosh C52 preamp and MC301 mono power amplifiers
|McIntosh has been around for so long that it must be viewed in the home market in much the same way that the British view Quad. Both have been around seemingly forever and have a ...read more -
Soulution 520 preamplifier
|The full-function preamplifier has become something of a rarity, especially in the high-end, but Soulution’s 520 preamplifier – central to the company’s more ‘attainably priced’ range - sports an exceptionally capable moving coil phono stage ...read more -
COS D1 digital converter/preamplifier
|If one were to judge this particular book by its cover it would not be hard to come to the conclusion that an awful lot of effort and expense had gone into the casework and ...read more -
Primare PRE60/ATC SCM150 ASL system
|Not all component combinations are predictable. Sometimes you find an amp and speakers that despite coming from different schools of audio thought seem to gel in ways that few would have expected. On this occasion, ...read more -
The Bespoke Audio Company passive magnetic preamplifier
|The process of reviewing audio equipment is well documented. In some respects, it’s all about the bit before the review, which could be likened to a dating agency. As the reviewer is going to live ...read more -
Amplifiers – A Baker’s Dozen from Munich High End 2016
|Munich High-End is a hot-bed of amplifier activity, and that is reflected in the sheer diversity of products on display each year. Not all are in demonstration – many appear in the main halls and ...read more -
Luxman C-700u preamp and M-700u stereo power amplifier
|Luxman long had more cachet than many rival Japanese audio brands. It sits in a relatively underpopulated strata it shares with Accuphase, positioned above the mainstream of Yamaha, Pioneer, etc., but more widely known than ...read more -
System Feature: Naim Audio NAC-N 272 network preamplifier and ATC SCM40 active floorstanding loudspeakers
|It seems that we live in an age where less (in the way of audio equipment) is seen as more (in the domestic acceptability sense). Linn has been using this approach and has honed almost ...read more -
Boulder Amplifiers 2110 preamplifier and 2160 stereo power amplifier
|At the top end of any discussion about high-end audio, there is Boulder. The 2110 preamp is currently the biggest and best preamplifier the company makes, but the new 2160 is about middle of the ...read more