Tube Power Amp Reviews

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The Fifth Element #44

John Marks Oct 28, 2007 First Published: Oct 28, 2007 0 comments

Ars-Sonum is a Spanish audio company that, as far as I can tell, makes only one product—but it's a doozy (footnote 1). The Filarmonía SE is a tube integrated amplifier that is, in many ways, an homage to Dynaco's iconic Stereo 70 power amplifier of 1959, but the Filarmonía is by no means a slavish copy. Get down to specifics, and it's actually more of a clean-sheet-of-paper design.

Tube Power Amp Reviews

Audio Research Reference 110 power amplifier

Robert J. Reina Aug 18, 2007 First Published: Aug 18, 2007 0 comments

When I attend Stereophile's annual Home Entertainment show, I rarely sit and listen to music for very long. Instead, I try to hit every room, press the flesh, find out about new products, and play a little jazz.

Art Dudley Listening Tube Power Amp Reviews Tube Preamp Reviews

Listening #55

Art Dudley Jul 29, 2007 First Published: Jul 29, 2007 0 comments

When audio designer Ken Shindo was a little boy, his father kept an enormous collection of 78rpm records in their home in Tokyo. During the final days of World War II, the Japanese authorities did their best to evacuate the city, but the elder Shindo was steadfast: He refused to leave, for fear that the records would be gone when he returned.

Tube Power Amp Reviews Art Dudley Listening

Listening #53

Art Dudley May 27, 2007 First Published: May 27, 2007 0 comments

Today is Monday, February 5, and it's so buttercupping cold outside that the custodian couldn't get our school's oil burner started. Consequently, my daughter is home for the day, playing on the rug in front of the fireplace. (Santa brought a wooden castle and a fine selection of medieval figurines, some of which are headed for the dungeon as we speak.) I'm at my desk in the music room, on the upwind side of the house—and the wind is murder. The west wall is cold. The north wall is cold. The floorboards are cold. But the air inside is warm as toast: I'm driving my Quad">http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/706listening">Quad ESL speakers with a Joule Electra VZN-80 amplifier ($12,000) that isn't at all bashful about squandering a goodly amount of energy as heat. I can't think of a more delightful quality for an amp to have, at least on a day like this.

Tube Power Amp Reviews Art Dudley Listening

Listening #52

Art Dudley Apr 29, 2007 First Published: Apr 29, 2007 0 comments

"Men must eat, though angels be their guests."
—William Laird, "Träumerei at Ostendorff's"

Tube Power Amp Reviews Budget Component Reviews

Rogue Audio Atlas power amplifier

Fred Kaplan Mar 18, 2007 First Published: Mar 19, 2007 0 comments

When I unpacked the Rogue Audio Atlas, I didn't know how much it cost. After examining its chassis of high-grade steel, its silver-anodized aluminum faceplate, its sleek and slightly rounded edges, and, above all, its two chunk-o'brick transformers—for such a little thing (a foot-and-a-half square by half-a-foot high), it's heavy—I guessed around five grand. Then I called Rogue Audio and learned that it retails for $1395.

Tube Power Amp Reviews Tube Preamp Reviews

PrimaLuna ProLogue Three tube preamplifier & Seven monoblock amplifier

Robert Deutsch Dec 24, 2006 First Published: Dec 24, 2006 0 comments

Everybody loves a bargain. No—make that: Most people love a bargain. Some just want the best, and they don't care about the cost. Some even distrust and reject out of hand any product that's not expensive enough. If you're one of these people, you might as well stop reading this review right now—the PrimaLuna ProLogue Three and ProLogue Seven are not for you. $1395 for a tube preamp? $2695 for a pair of 70Wpc tube monoblocks equipped with four KT88 tubes each? Must be based on old designs in the public domain using cheap parts carelessly assembled...

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AudioValve Baldur 70 monoblock power amplifier

Michael Fremer Apr 23, 2006 First Published: Apr 23, 2006 0 comments

In this hobby, nothing's for nothing. To get that gorgeous midrange, with its harmonic depth and inner detail, tube-amp enthusiasts are willing to give up some things in the bass. Tube folks put up with heat and occasional maintenance—routine or otherwise. To get the ideal middle, fans of single-ended triodes are even willing to shave off considerable dynamic range and settle for ultra-efficient speakers that often have limited response at the frequency extremes. Those who say nothing is lost by preferring tubes are in denial.

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Yamamoto A-08 power amplifier

Art Dudley Mar 17, 2006 First Published: Mar 17, 2006 0 comments

My stepfather wore only second-hand clothes as a child and never understood why anyone would deliberately wash the color out of his new dungarees. By the same token, the senior members of our hobby, many of whom recall with fondness the transistor's advent, don't understand why anyone would now wish to throw away their newfound power. Some people deserve to be blessed for their point of view, even as the world moves away from it.

Tube Power Amp Reviews

VTL S-400 Reference power amplifier

Brian Damkroger Dec 24, 2005 First Published: Dec 24, 2005 0 comments

When I reviewedhttp://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/152">reviewed; VTL's MB-750 monoblock amplifier in the December 1997 Stereophile (Vol.20 No.12), it was a transitional time for the company. Luke">http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/153">Luke Manley had recently taken it over, and he and his wife and partner, Bea Lam, were aggressively retooling. They introduced new business systems, including rigorous inventory and quality control; rebuilt VTL's dealer network around top-rank dealers; and systematically upgraded the products themselves to improve their consistency, reliability, manufacturability, and performance. VTL's goal, Luke explained to me at the time, was to build amplifiers that competed with the very best, and to "make the tubes invisible to the customer."