Benchmark DAC3 HGC DAC/pre and AHB2 stereo power amp I suppose it’s having grown-up with it, as it were, in my early BBC days but I just love the look, feel and operation of professional audio equipment. When the chance presented itself to try some Benchmark electronics from the US, I just could not resist. […]
Naim NSS 333 streamer, NAC 332 preamplifier, NAP 350 power amplifiers Apparently the NAC 332 is the first Naim preamplifier to have an onboard power supply. In a day and age when finding any preamplifier without its own power supply is unlikely this is hardly shocking but it’s clearly a change of approach for Salisbury’s […]
Bricasti Design M19 SACD/CD transport, M1 Series II DAC, M20 preamplifier and M25 power amplifier Bricasti products reveal their heritage in the casework design, a style that comes from company founders Brian Zolner and Casey Dowdell whose backgrounds were with Lexicon and who work closely with former Madrigal Labs engineers. The latter manufactured Mark Levinson […]
Moon 791 preamplifier/streamer/DAC and 761 power amp As the owner of a Moon integrated amplifier and streaming DAC, I have been looking forward to trying this combination since news of its launch surfaced earlier this year. Even for those new to this most prominent Canadian audio brand, we at The Ear feel that the launch […]
Quiescent T100MPA monoblock amplifiers Jason Kennedy reviewed Quiescent’s T100SPA stereo power amplifier in February this year. A second review sample was doing the rounds at the same time and I was able to add a short note on my own thoughts at the end of that review. Both Jason and I felt the T100SPA to […]
Zinamp SCA Power Amplifier My first forays into the world of current dumping were rather underwhelming. Having ‘upgraded’ from a Quad 303 to a 405 the clarity and openness of the 303 seemed to have deserted my much-loved ESL57s. Things weren’t much better with the KEF Calindas which were my second speakers at the time. […]
Moon 760A stereo power amplifier Pity the audiophile with an amplifier to buy and the asking price of a Moon 760A burning a hole in their pocket. It’s a first-world problem sure enough, and no doubt one that many of us wish we had too. But it’s a tough one because round about that price […]
Naim NSC 222, NPX 300 & NAP 250 The Naim New Classic range marks the beginning of an era for the Salisbury based electronics brand, a company that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is the first change to Naim’s core product line since the introduction of Naim Classic in 2002. The Mu-So and […]
Quiescent T100SPA stereo power amplifier Kevin Fiske reviewed a balanced mains supply from Quiescent recently and that piqued our interest in a relatively new British brand that’s turning out some extremely well made products. It turns out that the name is a lot newer than the company behind it which started out as VertexAQ in […]
2021 may not have been the year that many of us had hoped for, there was only one hi-fi show in the UK and not many more elsewhere, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers both large and small who have produced some absolutely outstanding audio components in that time. Our best of the year round up […]