Circle Labs A200 integrated amplifier Circle Labs will be a new name to many, yet this Polish manufacturer has been producing high-end audio products since the latter part of the twentieth century. The two guys behind Circle Labs, Krzysztof Wilczyński and Krzystof Lichoń, took the company, whose core business is in the design and manufacture […]
Back in January 2021 our esteemed editor reviewed the Primaluna EVO400 integrated amplifier, which is currently the largest of the the Dutch brand’s all valve (or tube, depending on your locale) amplifiers. He was most complimentary about it and gave it our five star award. I had also had a chance to review the next […]
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 […]
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’. […]
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 […]
Prior to the EVO 400 my Dutch colleague René van Es got in first when it came to Primaluna reviews in the past. Despite the Italian name, this company is from the Netherlands, and owner Herman van den Dungen is a major figure on the scene there. Having read his enthusiastic reviews of these valve […]
A few months ago I visited a lucky man who had a rather splendid sound system that he was more than happy with, the reason for the visit was that this was the first system with Silbatone electronics in it that I had heard about in the UK. Silbatone will be familiar to anyone that has visited […]
When I reviewed Audio-Technica’s flagship open-back headphone in June last year, the ATH-ADX5000, I was mightily impressed by the Japanese audio giant’s achievement in raising the bar and creating a reference quality earspeaker that surpassed all of its previous feats. I was therefore delighted to be given the opportunity to spend considerable time with A-T’s statement […]
ifi Pro iDSD DAC & headphone amplifier Ifi have a good go at blinding you with science on the webpage for the Pro iDSD, the list of features and technologies is confusing even if you know what half the terms mean. This is a marketing approach that is often inversely related to the sound quality […]
What do you do after you have set up a vinyl mastering studio using vintage hardware and established its credentials with some truly great sounding records. If you’re Darrel Sheinman founder of Gearbox you decide to make a turntable using the brand that’s been so carefully nurtured. And not just any turntable, the Gearbox Automatic combines technology […]
AVM announced their 30th anniversary last year with a new entry level range and at this year’s Sound & Vision Bristol show I asked MD Udo Besser how he got into the hi-fi business, his jokey response was: “Very easy, I just filled in a form, it was the wrong form!”. He went on to describe a […]
Cute, that’s the reaction that this smallest of the current Quad amplifiers elicits. And it is I guess, a valve integrated in a chassis that’s about the size of an original Quad II is an unusual thing. But they sold an awful lot of Quad IIs back in the day, so perhaps it’s a popular […]