“Since the advent of the CD, listeners have been deprived of the full experience of listening.” - Neil Young PonoPlayers...
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Preamplifiers
Bryston BP-1.5 Phono Preamplifier
John E. Johnson, Jr. has posted a review of the Bryston BP-1.5 phono preamplifier ($2,750; requires MPS-2 Power Supply, $1,500) at Secret of Home Theater and High Fidelity. His conclusions: My overall impression of the Bryston BP-1.5 is that it is very neutral and very clean. There is no particular range of frequencies, such...
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Modwright LS-100 Preamplifier
Srajan Ebaen has posted a review of the Modwright LS-100 preamplifier ($3495) at 6moons. His conclusions: Bottom line, Dan Wright's strategic combination of 6SN7s (preamp) and Mosfets (power amp) offers a high degree of tube tone, a lesser degree of tube texturing aka warmth, then superior foundation detail and mass, greater dynamic range and...
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Vincent Audio PHO-8 Phonostage
Neil Gader has posted a review of the Vincent Audio PHO-8 phonostage ($400) at AVGuide. Here are some o his observations: The sonic personality of the PHO-8 leans gently to the romantic side of the spectrum. The PHO-8 offers a fine balance of warmth and resolution without conveying overly hard edges or pointed sonic...
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Audio Research 40th Anniversary Reference Preampa
Ken Kessler and Paul Miller have posted a review of the Audio Research 40th Anniversary Reference preamplifier ($24,995) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. Their conclusions: Owning a Ref 5 won't prepare you for this: the Anniversary is quieter, offers wider dynamics, tighter bass and faster transients. It sounds like a '5 on steroids:...
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Micromega PA-20 Preamplifier and PW-400 Amplifier
Ken Kessler and Paul Miller have reviewed the Micromega PA-20 preamplifier and PW-400 power amplifier (together, £3288) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. His conclusions: To everyone’s surprise, Micromega ‘Mk II’ is an altogether better proposition than its quirky forebear. This sublime combination shows how the firm has managed to blend Bauhaus elegance, up-to-the-minute...
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Icon Audio PS3 Phonostage
Steve Harris and Paul Miller have posted a review of the Icon Audio PS3 phonstage (£1699) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. His conclusions: This robust-looking pairing is clearly aimed at the real valve enthusiast with its multiplicity of tubes. It offers low midrange distortion and respectable bass extension, catering for both moving-coil and...
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Lehmann Black Cube Decade Phono Preamplifier
Steve Harris and Paul Miller have posted a review of the Lehmann Black Cube Decade phono preamplifier (£1350) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. Their conclusions: …we found the bass subjectively less heavy than it had been with either the £800 Acoustic Signature or £899 Aqvox phono stages also to hand. Let’s put it...
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The AVID Pulsare Phonostage
Jeff Dorgay has posted a review of the AVID Pulsare phonostage ($5000) at TONEAudio. His conclusions: Here’s the bottom line: If you want to pay for nothing but sonic performance, the AVID Pulsare is one of the best $10,000 phonostages money can buy. The good news is that it only costs $5,000. It does...
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Cary Audio SLP-05 Preamplifier
John Brazier has posted a review of the Cary SLP-05 preamplifier ($7500) at Positive Feedback Online. His conclusion: The SLP-05 has all the neutrality one could want in a preamp. It also has just a hint of tube life introduced in all the right places such as the human voice, strings, certain horns and...
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Melody Valve HiFi Pure Black 101 Preamplifier
Ron Nagel has posted a review of the Melody Valve HiFi Pure Black 101 preamplifier ($4499) at Enjoy the Music. His conclusions: The hardest part of a review is getting you in my ears: that is for you to relate to what I am hearing. Let us go back to The Well, Jennifer Warnes...
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Gryphon Mirage Preamplifier and Colosseum Amplifier
Jeff Fritz has posted a review of the Gryphon Mirage preamplifier ($25,750) and Colosseum stereo power amplifier ($43,500) at Ultra Audio. His conclusions: These two brands of electronics are, all things considered, the two best I’ve ever had in my system. If a reader writes in to ask which state-of-the-art electronics I’ve had in...
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Coincident Statement MM/MC Phono Preamplifier
Ron Nagel has posted a review of the Coincident Statement MM/MC phono preamplifier ($5499) at Enjoy the Music. His conclusions: The story of this device has been a test not only of the Coincident preamplifier but of this writer. The high-level preamplifier input sounds exactly like what you plug into it. It is the...
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Sutherland Engineering 20/20 Phono Preamplifier
Brian Damkroger has posted a review of the Sutherland Engineering 20/20 phono preamplifier ($2195) at Stereophile. His conclusions: Since setting the audio world on its ear with the PhD, Ron Sutherland has gone from strength to strength. For $3000, the Direct Line Stage matched the performance of models costing five times as much. The...
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Ayon Polaris III Preamp, Vulcan II Amp, CD5s Player
Peter Breuninger has posted reviews of the Ayon Audio Polaris III preamp ($28,620), Vulcan II monoblocks ($39,500/pair) and CD5s CD player ($11,995) at AVGuide. His conclusions: Taken as a set, the Ayon Vulcan II, Polaris III and CD5s offer “game over” sonic reproduction—the most involving I’ve ever experienced. If you value panoramic soundscapes and...
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INEX Innovation Photon A200 Preamp, Amp and Cables
Doug Schroeder has posted a review of the INEX Innovation Photon A200 Preamp ($12,500), Photon Monoblocks ($14,000/pair) and Photon Cables (interconnect $2400, digital $1300) at Dagogo. His conclusions: I believe that INEX Innovation with the Photon series of components and cables have a bright future. These engineers have proven that you can look at...
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Audio Research LS17 Preamplifier and VS60 Amplifier
Paul Messenger has posted a review of the Audio Research LS17 preamplifier ($3995) and VS60 amplifier ($3995) at Hi-Fi Choice. His conclusions: But we can say that we were immediately transported into a familiar comfort zone. Valve amps always seem comfortably able to deliver a midrange purity and realism that's clearly and obviously superior...
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Audio Research Reference 5 Preamplifier
Martin Colloms has posted a review of the Audio Research Reference 5 preamplifier ($15,000) at Hi-Fi Critic. His conclusions: This is a remarkable performer. Minor technical issues have been closely addressed in this version leading to an excellent lab test results with very low noise and distortion and very versatile balanced, single-ended and combination...
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Conrad Johnson Classic Preamplifier
Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the Conrad-Johnson Classic preamplifier (~ €2000) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: How would I describe the sound - full, warm, organic, vivid, connecting everything in one symbiotic whole, etc. This is how the Classis is, and how it probably was meant to be. The power amplifiers from...
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Eddie Current Balancing Act Linestage Headphone Amp
Srajan Ebaen has posted a review of the Eddie Current Balancing Act linestage and headphone amplifier ($3995) at 6moons. His conclusions: Craig Uthus' direct-heated triode machine is headphone amp first, preamp second. That's not slighting its performance in the second application. It's simply a reflection on equivalent—similar if not identical—results being possible with rather...
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Benchmark DAC-1 HDR DAC, Preamplifier and Headphone Amplifier
Jeff Dorgay has posted a review of the Benchmark DAC-1HDR linestage, DAC and headphone amplifier ($1895) at TONEAudio. His conclusions: If you break it down, the Benchmark DAC-1 HDR is essentially a $700 linestage, a $700 DAC and a $500 headphone amplifier. The sound quality and resolution of each stage compares favorably, comparing each...
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Croft Micro 25 Preamp and Series 7 Power Amp
Jeff Dorgay has posted a review of the Micro 25 preamplifier ($1295) and Series 7 power amplifier ($1295) at TONEAudio. His conclusions: Regardless of where you are on the audiophile path, if you are building a high performance, yet reasonably priced system I can’t suggest the Croft Micro 25 preamplifier and Model 7 power...
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Audio Research Reference 2 Phono Stage
Martin Colloms has posted a review of the Audio Research Reference 2 phono stage ($12,000) at Hi-Fi Critic. His conclusions: Audio Research continues its winning run, and once again we must sing the praises of yet another top class design that above all delivers infectious musical involvement and high resolution from LP recordings. The...
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E.A.R. 869 Integrated Amplifier and 834P Phono Stage
Kari Nevalainen has posted reviw of the E.A.R. 869 integrated amplifier (€4770) and E.A.R. 834P phono stage (€1195) at Innerworld Audio. His conclusions: Its sound possesses many strong points. The ability to follow the dynamics of the music is one: the amp goes quieter and quieter and quieter, and waits until the very last...
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Shindo Giscours Preamplifier
Jack Roberts has posted a review of the Shindo Giscours preamplifier ($27,900) at Dagogo. His conclusions: For me the most important instrument to get right is the human voice. This is part of what draws me to the Lowther-based Teresonic Ingenium Silvers. They are so articulate and human voices sound so natural and easy...
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Allnic Audio L-3000 Preamplifier
Marc Mickelson has posted a review of the Allnic Audio L-3000 preamplifier ($10,900) at The Audio Beat. His conclusions: The L-3000 is the second Allnic product I've reviewed, and it's the second Allnic product that's set a new personal standard in a couple of ways. There are many reasons to like the sound of...
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