Just how much do we need to spend to acquire a decent integrated amplifier? A budget of, say £1,000, will net a large number of candidates. But if we also want bona-fide high-end sonic credentials, then the number of options becomes markedly smaller. Readers who have read my short bio here on The Ear will already be […]
This standalone upsampler exemplifies one key difference between digital and analogue systems. With turntables and tape recorders less is genuinely more, the fewer the elements that the signal has to pass through before it gets to the amplifier the less the signal is changed or degraded. With digital sources extra processing such as that provided […]
It’s not clear when looking at a single product from M2Tech’s Rockstars range why they have a particular name, but gather the model names together and you have the Crosby power amplifier, Nash phono preamplifier and Young DAC as well as a Joplin ADC/phono stage and a Mitchell active crossover among others. Stills doesn’t seem […]
If you want proof that noise is the enemy of good streaming sound put the Network Acoustics Muon filter and cable between a network switch and a streamer and press play. The sonic benefits are not in the slightest bit subtle, it’s up there with a significant DAC upgrade. Stopping noise getting into a streaming […]
The Chinese manufacturer Jay’s Audio – note the possessive apostrophe – is the personal project of Jay Ho, who also goes by the alternative first name of Jacky. Perhaps his actual given name just doesn’t translate that well into English. There’s no equivocation, though, about Mr Ho’s engineering credentials. His 2021 Red Book CD transport, […]
Linn is one of the few hi-fi manufacturers that makes its own metalwork in house, this is because the company’s founder worked at his father’s engineering business before creating the legendary LP12 turntable and discovered a way to make a mark on the audio world. This is possibly why the latest incarnation of Linn’s ultimate […]
I first heard an Astell & Kern player back in 2014 whilst auditioning a pair of headphones. I remember the dealer raving about it being so good that he had sold his CD player and replaced it with an Astell & Kern AK240, which from memory, was the player used for the demo. It was […]
I have always enjoyed French electronics so, when news broke that the Atoll range was available in the UK, I jumped at the chance to take a listen to the company’s SDA200 Signature, an all-in-one streamer, DAC and integrated amplifier. It’s a concept I have grown very fond of over the years, so much so […]
APL is a Bulgarian company founded over 30 years ago by Alex Peychev. He started out in the fashion of a few other companies by modifying and upgrading products from established brands but now concentrates solely on building a range of components that he dubs Illumi-Fi. These consist of digital source components, pre- and power […]
Back in September 2020 we published a shootout review between three one-box amplifier/streamers: the Naim Uniti Atom, Lyngdorf TDAI3400 and the NAD M10 Master. More than a year later the opportunity arose for me to spend some time with the M10’s more affordable sibling, the NAD C 700, which I was very pleased to do. All I […]
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 […]
Aavik is part of the same Danish company that makes Borresen loudspeakers and Ansuz electronics, cables and vibration control devices and the motto within this triumvirate appears to be: kill noise. They see noise as the enemy of good sound and there’s a very strong argument for this theory in my book. Noise that’s produced […]