Integrated Amp Reviews

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Integrated Amp ReviewsMusic in the Round
Music in the Round #16
Kalman Rubinson  |  Jan 29, 2006  |  0 comments
In September 2005, for the first time, I attended the Expo of the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA), in Indianapolis. Although I saw many familiar faces and companies, it was apparent that the event was dominated by a spirit very different from the one that pervades this magazine or the high-end exhibitions at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). That spirit, however, does suffuse the rest of CES, and is well represented at Primedia's own Home Entertainment shows. That spirit encompasses video, and a view of audio that differs significantly from that of traditional audiophiles. Multichannel surround sound is taken as read, and novel technologies are prized higher than the proverbial "straight wire with gain."
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Integrated Amp Reviews
PS Audio GCC-100 integrated amplifier
Robert Deutsch  |  Jan 22, 2006  |  0 comments
Lovers of Italian wine, travelers to Italy, and, of course, Italians, may be familiar with this story. It seems that in the year 1111, Henry V was traveling to Rome to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. A member of his entourage, one Giovanni Defuc, was very fond of wine, and had the practice of sending ahead one of his servants to sample the wine in each place. When the servant found a wine that he particularly liked, he would write "Est!" on the door of the establishment, which was a signal to his master that the wine is (est) good. Having arrived at Montefiascone, the servant found a wine he thought so superb that he wrote on the door of the inn "Est! Est!! Est!!!"
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
Exposure 2010S integrated amplifier
Art Dudley  |  Nov 19, 2005  |  0 comments
Yet another of the best systems I've ever heard at a hi-fi show was an exhibit by some former distributors for the English manufacturer Exposure Electronics, at a Chicago Consumer Electronics Show in the late 1980s. The exhibitors seemed to believe it was better to impress with a humble product than to overwhelm with a full-bore assault, because they limited their display to a single amplifier: the then-new Exposure X (as in "10") integrated, mated to a record player comprising a Linn LP12 turntable, Ekos tonearm, and Troika cartridge, and a pair of Linn Kan loudspeakers.
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CD Player/Transport ReviewsBudget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
Arcam Solo CD receiver
Art Dudley  |  Jul 24, 2005  |  0 comments
Here we are, back to the Arcam I know and love: a company that not only invents good products, but good product categories as well. Like the Arcam Black Box of the 1980s, which gave so many people fits at the time—yet which, once you heard it, made good musical sense. It made good marketing sense, too: With that one stroke, teensy, weird, nestled-away-in-the-English-countryside Arcam did nothing less than create the domestic market for outboard digital-to-analog converters.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Kora Explorer 150SB integrated amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 12, 2005  |  0 comments
The French-made Kora line has been in and out of American distribution over the past decade. It's currently imported by Norman AV of Aventura, Florida. With the window of opportunity open again, I decided to listen to Kora's modestly priced hybrid integrated amplifier, the Explorer 150SB ($2030).
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Classé CAP-100 integrated amplifier
Robert Harley  |  May 30, 2005  |  First Published: Sep 01, 1997  |  0 comments
With the price of high-end audio increasingly reaching for the stratosphere, audiophiles appear to becoming much more value-conscious. This trend is reflected in the recent popularity of CD players over separate transports and processors, and particularly in the sudden resurgence in integrated amplifiers. An integrated amplifier makes a lot of sense: the buyer saves the cost of two chassis, two power cords, two owner's manuals, and an extra pair of interconnects. You also get a simpler system.
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
Cyrus 6vs integrated amplifier
Art Dudley  |  May 15, 2005  |  0 comments
Living with a brand-new Cyrus amp was a pleasantly nostalgic thing to do, even from the start: It arrived in a clean and downright attractive carton that seemed designed specifically to contain a brand-new Cyrus amplifier. Think of it! And I haven't even mentioned the nice owner's manual or the balance control or the headphone jack. As I said: the good old days.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Rega Brio integrated amplifier
Wes Phillips  |  Apr 10, 2005  |  First Published: Sep 10, 1998  |  0 comments
You can read all about an automobile, check its gear ratios, and ponder the engine's horsepower all you want—but until you put yourself in the driver's seat and take that baby out for a spin, you have no idea whether or not it's going to be fun to drive.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Arcam Alpha 10 integrated amplifier & Alpha 10P power amplifier
Wes Phillips  |  Mar 27, 2005  |  First Published: Dec 27, 1998  |  0 comments
Consider the lowly spork, that modern marvel of versatility: half spoon, half fork. In theory, you should be able to eat just about anything short of a flank steak with it. But the sad fact is, whether you're eating soup or salad, you might as well try to shovel it in using a tongue depressor. The damn thing's so versatile, it almost doesn't work at all. There's a lot to be said for specialization.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Prima Luna Prologue One integrated amplifier
Art Dudley  |  Feb 20, 2005  |  0 comments
My first reaction to the Prima Luna Prologue One was based solely on looks: For $1095, I might not have been disappointed had it sounded no better than a Bose Wave Radio. Its casework straddles the breach between vintage and modern in a way that little else does, at any price. The dark gray-blue finish, hand-rubbed to a tactile gloss, wouldn't look out of place on an Alfa GTV (the new one, which resembles a drop of oil). And for the first time in my experience, a high-end audio manufacturer has figured out a way to make a protective tube cage easy to remove and replace: with banana plugs and sockets. Why couldn't one of the high-price American brands have figured that out?
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Krell KAV-400xi integrated amplifier
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 20, 2005  |  1 comments
How times have changed. When Krell first debuted its KAV-300i, in 1996, it risked having people question its high-end credibility simply for having considered producing an integrated amplifier, much less an affordable one. After all, Krell was the company best known for massively overbuilt—and, many claimed, overpriced—power amplifiers that were uniquely capable of driving speakers of ridiculously low impedance. In Martin Colloms' review of the 300i in the July 1996 Stereophile, he asked the question on everyone's minds: "Is Krell risking its reputation?"
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Integrated Amp Reviews
VAC Avatar integrated amplifier
Chip Stern  |  Sep 01, 2004  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2000  |  0 comments
In Hinduism, an avatar is an incarnation of spirit—a god who descends to earth in bodily form. For Kevin Hayes of the Valve Amplification Company (VAC), the Avatar was meant to be nothing less than his defining statement of the state of the audio designer's art. Drawing on the high-tech refinements and scrupulous attention to individual components that distinguish his flagship high-end amps and preamps, Hayes has filtered it all down into one attractively priced integrated amplifier.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
T+A V10 integrated amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  May 16, 2004  |  First Published: May 01, 2004  |  0 comments
"That sounds really great—what are you listening to?" my wife hollered to me from her home office, adjacent to my listening room.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Conrad-Johnson CAV50 integrated amplifier
Martin Colloms  |  Mar 07, 2004  |  First Published: Aug 01, 1998  |  0 comments
The search for signal transparency has led to much experiment and debate concerning losses in fidelity that can be traced to the preamplifier or—as it's more often and awkwardly called these days when the phono stage is omitted—the "line controller."
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Integrated Amp Reviews
EAR V20 integrated amplifier
Chip Stern  |  Feb 29, 2004  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1999  |  0 comments
The women in my family and extended circle of friends are generally captivated by good sound, but are often appalled by the brutish, monolithic packaging that passes for "styling" in high-end gear. "Not in my living room," is the refrain, often played in a minor key.
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