When it comes to high-end audio, the integrated amplifier represents our strongest example of democracy in action. By combining the preamp and amp in a single chassis—itself a costly part of any component—and by paring ...

An interesting shootout is shaping up chez Valin. As some of you already know from previous posts and blogs (see www.avguide.com/blog/best-amp-ever-soulution-710-amplifier), I’ve had the Soulution 710 stereo amp, the Soulution 700 monoblock amplifiers, and the ...

The Italian high-end audio manufacturer Goldenote is based in Florence, perhaps the world’s most beautiful city as well as the birthplace of the Renaissance. That beauty and history is reflected in the company’s S-1 Signature ...

Founded in 1978, T+A Elektroakustik of Germany began by building loudspeakers and by 1988 had expanded to electronics. By 1997 T+A which stands for Theory + Application was into active loudspeaker design, CD players, tuners, ...

Few components strike fear in an audiophile’s lumbar region like the heavyweight electronics from Krell. Its current lineup includes the Evolution series of electronics and LAT speakers. And no one will forget the Master Reference ...

Entry-level may mean different things to different manufacturers, but at C-J it definitely does not denote a major sonic penalty relative to its ultra-high-end products. Cost containment may be implemented through circuit simplification, judicious passive ...

It’s been a while since I’ve laid my hands on some new Rotel products. Fact is, I was beginning to wonder what was up since the line was getting a little long in the tooth ...

Clearaudio Nano Phono, Musical Surroundings Phonomena II, Graham Slee Era Gold MK V and Era Gold Reflex and Elevator EXP The three phonostages represented in this survey cover a range of reasonable price points. They ...

Let me begin this review with the punch line. The new Pass XP20 is one of the best linestage preamps around, and the XA160.5 power amp one of the best Class A power amps I’ve ...

Integrated amplifiers continue to surprise and inspire me. Just when I think I’ve heard pretty much all there is to hear from this segment, along comes the Muse Model Two Hundred. And to look at ...

I don’t know audio history well enough to remember when the first tube/solid?state hybrids were introduced. But in the eighties I used to roll my own by using a Nova solid?state preamplifier (with apologies to ...

As I previously reviewed and recommended the Atma-Sphere MA-1 Silver Edition OTL for induction into the Audio Hall of Fame, it didn’t take long for the hallmark purity and neutrality of the more affordable M-60 ...

In recent years the sleepy CD-receiver market has not just regained its footing, it’s even, well, become kind of sexy. Like audio Swiss Army knives, the latest CD-receivers have added cool new tools to support ...

It’s serious business striving to be taken seriously. Even when you’ve been producing exceptional electronics for years, as Cambridge Audio has, the moniker “value high-end” is a stigma that tends to stick. But some companies ...

If someone had told me a year ago that TEAC’s Esoteric Division was about to release a KT-88 tube amplifier I would have dismissed the news out of hand. After all, Esoteric has made its ...