Emotiva XDA3 DAC/preamp The marketing line ‘why pay more?’ is as old as retailing itself but, for the longest time, it hasn’t prevented audiophiles answering quite reasonably: ‘above a certain level, small improvements start to cost a lot’. The law of diminishing returns has been a thorny fact of life for hi-fi owning music lovers […]
Quad 33/303 pre/power amplifier Rarely do I receive a press release about a new piece of hi-fi gear that prompts me to contact the sender by return asking for a chance to review said item. However, just such an email arrived heralding the new Quad 33 preamplifier and 303 power amplifier and off went my […]
Ultrafide U4PRE/U500DC pre/power amplifiers The Ultrafide name will be new, but many readers will have unwittingly experienced their pro-audio sister company MC²’s amplification at live events, including Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage. It is equally possible that one of their processors was used during recording sessions of some of our favourite albums, as this company has […]
The Ear’s reviewers pick the best hi-fi of 2024 If you want to know the best hi-fi of 2024, the audio products that really wowed our reviewers this year look no further. These components that made a lasting impression, they are the ones reviewers would have held onto if they could and sometimes did. There […]
McIntosh C55 preamplifier McIntosh Laboratory Inc, to give the company its full name, has been designing and manufacturing high fidelity equipment in Binghamton New York since 1949, which means that when my family and I moved to Broome County (of which Binghamton is the largest town) in New York State in 1985, the brand was […]
Newontech DAC 08, Pre 08, Amp 10 Newontech’s founder, CEO and passionate music lover, Ole Nielsen, is clear about a mission that seems more like a declaration of obsession. It’s all about the sound (well, it always is) but he stresses that many thousands of hours are spent listening and trying out different components before […]
Audia Flight FLS1/FLS4 pre/power amplifiers Italy is a beautiful country in parts, and the Italians are no strangers to the high life. I have never been brave enough to provide a home for any of the many exotic cars I often find myself drooling over, and their racing bikes tend to be too small for […]
Life-Changer Audio Icon 5 Balanced passive preamplifier It would gratuitously underplay Pál Nagy’s formidable intellectual and engineering skills to characterise his newly-launched Icon 5 line control unit as the result of global collaboration. Nonetheless, while the Icon 5 is designed and made by Nagy in Manchester, it has threads linking it to the wider world […]
Burson Audio Soloist Voyager headphone amplifier The days when it would have been fair to characterise Burson as one of the best-kept secrets in the UK and European audio scene are rapidly receding in the rear-view mirror as the Australian brand steadily gains traction here. Burson was founded 28 years ago and now from its […]
Leema Neutron & Graviton pre & power amplifiers Leema Acoustics launched its Quantum range of entry level electronics late last year, the first to come our way are the Neutron, an analogue and digital preamplifier bristling with input options and boasting onboard DAC and MM/MC phono stage, and the matching Graviton is a 150 Watt […]
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 […]