Cesare Sanavio founded Mastersound in 1994 with his two sons, Lorenzo and Luciano, channelling five decades’ experience building output transformers for other companies into the design of his own tube amplifiers. With Luciano Sanavio now at the helm, their portfolio has expanded and comprises three preamps, three power amps and no fewer than nine integrated […]
Even if we like to style ourselves as purists, and in the main regard audio separates as the only way, there is still a lot to be said for the well-conceived all-in-one box. Take the Moon 340i D3PX for example. No, the product name doesn’t trip off of the tongue very elegantly, but this integrated amplifier […]
Every once in a while Lady Luck dressed in DHL courier garb brings a particularly notable product to the front door. I had no intention of evaluating the Nash phono preamplifier by Italian design house M2Tech until our Editor Jason Kennedy invited me to take a look at the sample he had received. He’d visited M2Tech in […]
Rega System One record player, amp & speakers At the last Bristol show, in the carefree days of February 2020, Rega launched its first all in one system and called it the Rega System One. Thanks to the pandemic the first examples of this system didn’t reach the shops until December last year, with a […]
As the audio world absorbs what former Bakoon International designer Soo In Chae has achieved with the AMP-23R integrated amplifier, the first product from his new Enleum brand, the aphorism that good things come in small packages might become rather over-used. The AMP-23R is dinky. Coffee tables in the posher parts of west and north […]
Benchmark’s HPA4 is the first item of audio kit I have encountered that peels apart the ying and the yang of audio to expose the fault line between those of us for whom measurements are all that matters… and those of us that approach audio from a more emotional, less scientific direction. But in another […]
As those who read my output will know, vinyl replay is one of my favourite subjects, both from exploring new releases, and from the ‘new bits of kit’ perspective. Those who delve back through the archives will also note that to date most of my hardware reviews has been of the mid- to hi-end variety. […]
Given that it is the hottest day of the year as I write this, and that I am inclined to laziness, the easiest thing for me to do would be to refer you to my review of the Copland CSA150’s less powerful sibling the CSA100 , and simply add the words ‘and more so, with bells on’. […]
We have seen an increasing number of one-box solution devices entering the market in recent times, even music enthusiasts want fewer boxes in their homes and brands including Naim, Hegel and NAD among others are competing in this sector. Recently I have been lucky enough to play host to the NAD Masters M33 BluOS streaming […]
I have reviewed a few integrated amplifiers in my time, many of them involving vacuum tubes (valves), but none has had the weight and physical presence of the Line Magnetic LM-845 Premium. For a start you have the main chassis with its plethora of tubes on the top and a dizzying array of knobs and […]
Back when I started my stint in hi-fi retail, the national chain for whom I worked sold a lot of Cyrus kit, and it was not hard to see why. The unique form factor made it partner-friendly, and it offered very good value for money. Somehow though, I (and quite a few colleagues, truth be […]
March was Hegel month in the Kelly household, not only did I spend many happy hours with their excellent V10 phono stage but I also enjoyed some quality time with its stablemate, the Hegel H390 integrated amplifier, which was here at my request, as the obvious companion. Actually, calling the H390 an integrated amplifier sells […]