Integrated Amp Reviews

Wow. For a device >$8000 with relatively low output power, there are quite a few issues!

Knowing JA's standard tests over the years, I would have thought that all audiophile companies by now would have tried to ensure quality over obvious concerns like hum, channel imbalances, phono compensation errors, etc. which could be quite audible in certain systems before submission for reviews! (That the subjective reviewer was unable to notice some of these concerns is unfortunate but perhaps not surprising.)

So when the manufacturer comments that "All the items in the technical review have already been addressed in our production units.", is it normal for the reviewers to test prototypes/non-production units? Maybe they're saying that early units like the one being reviewed has problems - if so are they recalling these early units with issues?

For potential consumers, hopefully an actual "production" unit might be tested to confirm the claim that things have been improved.

On a pedantic, non-hifi note, Bonaparte was repelled from Russia in 1812, hence the 1812 Overture, which celebrated the event. 1815 marked his final defeat at Waterloo.

it's a bit strange (and consumer unsettling) that the last three amplifiers tested at stereophile arrived all damaged.

JA should be charging for his lab service to measure these unfinished products. Clearly these companies aren't investing in the proper equipment to evaluate their own prototypes. Why should they? Just send it to Stereophile and get free data.

Anton: "If a manufacturer can't get an unbroken "production" model to Stereophile, then I'm out."

Yeah, this happens all too often for my liking also, go back over the years there are way way too many of these "faulty" ones showing up for testing/review.
You would think the one the manufacturer sends to Stereophile is even better spec'd and adjusted than a retail one, and wrapped up in bed mattress for delivery so it makes it safely.

Cheers George

This review and the manufacturer's response present quite a dilemma to me as someone in the market for precisely this integrated amp's feature offerings and for whom the price point fits neatly within the scope of what I'm looking to build. On the one hand, I'm quite willing to grant the esteemed Herb Reichert the benefit of the doubt and concede that his experience in evaluating systems significantly exceeds mine. He variously offers that the system sounds "crisp," "pristinely focused," and "transparent" among numerous positive descriptors across the breadth of supporting electronics and speakers. These are all things a potential consumer would want to hear from someone knowledgeable and experienced in evaluating these things.

But at the same time, few people I know would be intrinsically happy purchasing something that was known to be notably flawed. If the sampled unit sounded that way with the issues identified in the changes, should we be reassured that the shortcomings have indeed been addressed in a unit we purchased? Moreover, if those attributes and descriptors are a function of the unit functioning as-is, is it not reasonable to expect that making whatever corrections are necessary to remediate those issues will, at least to some extent, change the fundamental perceived performance it delivers? Would it be unreasonable to expect to see this model revisited soon with a revised listening and measurement re-evaluation? I have to say, I'd be extremely reluctant to pull the trigger on this, as it stands.

My only problem here is that $8K for this particular component, given the reported performance of it, seems more than a little unjustified. Consider that a Schiit Vidar amp can be had for about $800. If one reads and compares the specs of these two amps there can only be one conclusion.

of an underserving boutique brand attempting to exploit the naïveté of audiophiles and their proclivity to of correlating aesthetics and price with performance. With exception of the faceplate, knobs and milled remote, this product likely cost less to manufacture than any $400 mass market AVR.

Hopefully the out-sourced electrical designer made off like a bandit too.

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