“Since the advent of the CD, listeners have been deprived of the full experience of listening.” - Neil Young PonoPlayers...
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Ron Doering has posted a review of the Micromega IA-180 integrated amplifier ($2495) at Soundstage! Hi-Fi. His conclusions:
The Micromega was also all about slightly warm sound, and this was comforting warmth. While no detail maven, the IA-180 offered an excellent timbral balance regardless of volume level. I simply could not get this amp to sound shrill. And although bass performance in absolute terms was slighter than I would have expected given the power rating, I never felt that the bass that was there was less than engaging: nice and tight rather than rafter-shaking, which isn’t a bad compromise at all. A result was that the low, synthesizer-generated series of notes in "New Star," from Tears for Fears’ Elemental (CD, Mercury 858 499-2), didn’t bloom as dramatically as I’ve heard. Mind you, that was a synthesizer; I couldn’t find fault with the IA-180’s reproduction of music made with real, natural, unprocessed instruments.
You can read the full review here.