Onkyo A-50 jack of all trades, master of most
Onkyo A-50 streaming amplifier The Onkyo A-50 stands out as a powerful, feature-rich, and great-sounding all-in-one amplifier, with only minor usability and connectivity drawbacks holding it back. Indelible association A quick search through the archives of The Ear reveals that the A-50 is the first Onkyo product to be reviewed on the site. For many […]
Gold Note IS-1000 MkII Deluxe an amp with style and substance
Gold Note IS-1000 MkII Deluxe streaming amplifier Italian brand Gold Note have certainly been making waves over the last decade. From its beginnings back in 2011, this once-boutique brand now produces a full range of equipment that covers all bases, from vinyl and digital replay to loudspeakers. I also spotted some rather natty-looking racks in […]
Is Primare’s Allt-i-Ett the ultimate one box system?
Primare Allt-i-Ett one box system Allt-i-Ett. No, not a secret keyboard shortcut to hack Elon Musk’s PIN number but, if you speak Swedish or Norwegian, simply ‘all-in-one’. After a 41 year run building some of the world’s sleekest Scandi-fi separates for both music and home cinema lovers, Allt-i-Ett is Primare’s long-awaited lifestyle concept album, the […]
Atoll ST300 Signature/AM300 Evo: the French power couple
Atoll ST300 Signature/AM300 Evo streaming pre & power amplifier Having made Atoll’s IN400 Evo integrated amplifier a Product of the Year in 2025 I was very excited when two large boxes arrived containing the latest power amplifier and preamp/streamer from the same stable. I know that the AM300 Evo power amp will drive more or […]
How well does the Hegel H150 do what it says on the tin?
Hegel H150 streaming amplifier The 75W Hegel H150 integrated streaming amp replaces the brand’s popular H120 but with a world of difference. The timing is also apt because my long-in-the-tooth original H190 has had a hard life over the past six years and has been surpassed by Hegel’s latest circuitry; not least the option of […]
Axxess Forté 3 streaming amp proves that noise reduction is key
Axxess Acoustics Forté 3 streaming amplifier Axxess Acoustics is the entry level range from Audio Group Denmark (AGD), a company that already has the Aavik, Ansuz and Børresen brands under its umbrella and which brings out more new product than your average conglomerate. This is entry level Danish style however so we’re not talking beer […]
Primare PRE35 streaming preamp with hygge appeal
Primare PRE35 streaming preamplifier Primare is a Swedish company that conducts its design work in Sweden and manufactures in China. Their philosophy is based on the very Scandinavian concepts of lagom and hygge. Lagom roughly meaning ‘just the right amount, not too much, not too little, everything in perfect balance, harmony, and proportion – just […]
Vitus RI-101 MkII: is this Danish streaming amp worth over £20K?
Vitus Audio RI-101 MkII streaming amplifier The Danes appear to have a knack for producing great hi-fi. Vitus may be a niche brand for some but for those who have experienced the brand’s products, it is a name often mentioned in hushed tones. Indeed Vitus’s products, and particularly their range of amplifiers, are considered by […]
Cambridge Evo 150 SE: real streaming power
Cambridge Evo 150 SE streaming amplifier Launched with its new branding to the fore, sans Audio, the Cambridge Evo 150 arrives sporting an SE suffix as a new version of this ‘all-in-one’ streaming amplifier in a condensed package bristling with digital and analogue facilities. But does new branding come at the expense of the sonics? […]
Hegel H400 streaming amp: darn near perfect
Hegel H400 streaming amplifier The H400 was something of an ‘expected’ product from Norwegian hi-fi brand Hegel, using trickledown technology from its powerhouse H600, which I have been using more-or-less daily since it arrived last year, along with the lower-powered but nonetheless excellent H190 in a smaller system. The company’s latest streaming integrated adds to […]
How much bang does the Wiim Ultra deliver for the buck?
Wiim Ultra streamer DAC preamp Wiim has taken the budget end of the audiophile streaming market by storm since the launch of the Wiim Mini three years ago. Followed by the Wiim Pro and Wiim amp range, these products have formed the basis of many entry-level and secondary streaming systems. The company is a subsidiary […]
Hegel H190v streaming amp for vinyl lovers
Hegel H190v streaming amplifier Having secured the very first UK review sample of the Hegel’s new H190v (v for vinyl), the immediate observation is that a moving magnet phono stage has been added and so we have an additional pair of RCA connectors alongside a ground tag on the rear panel. Other than that it’s […]