Products of the Year

Joint Amplification Components of 1997

Krell Full Power Balanced 600 power amplifier ($12,500; reviewed by Martin Colloms, Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)
Pass Labs Aleph 3 power amplifier ($2300; reviewed by Muse Kastanovich & John Atkinson, Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)

Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Audio Research VT100 power amplifier ($4495; reviewed by Robert J. Reina, Vol.20 No.3, March 1997)
Ayre Acoustics K-1 preamplifier ($5250–$7100; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.3, March 1997 Review)
Balanced Audio Technologies VK-5i preamplifier ($3995–$4495; reviewed by Robert Deutsch, Vol.18 No.12, December 1995; & Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)
Balanced Audio Technologies VK-P10 phono preamplifier ($4000; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.20 No.6, June 1997 Review)
Conrad-Johnson Premier Fourteen preamplifier ($4395; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.19 No.12, December 1996)
Graaf GM 200 OTL power amplifier ($12,500; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.20 No.9, September 1997 Review)
Jeff Rowland Design Group Model 2 power amplifier ($5800–$8400; reviewed by Robert Deutsch, Vol.18 Nos.8 & 12, August & December 1995; Vol.19 No.6, June 1996; & Vol.20 No.7, 1997 Review)
Mark Levinson No.333 power amplifier ($8995; reviewed by John Atkinson & Muse Kastanovich, Vol.19 No.12, December 1996; & Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)

Though these two contenders tied with nearly twice the number of votes as the next runner-up, they would seem to have little in common other than the approbation of our writers. The Krell is undeniably pricey, complexly constructed (over 120 output transistors), and delivers a walloping 600Wpc. On the other hand, the Pass Labs, while not cheap, is affordable, has only two gain stages, and puts out a scant 30Wpc. Yet the two have this in common: When reviewed in Stereophile, each inspired its reviewer to call for a total re-examination of Class A of "Recommended Components."

The FPB 600 is the culmination of Krell's design philosophies of the last decade or so: fully regulated power supply, DC-coupled, complementary push-pull, and fully balanced. Yet despite the complexity of the design, reviewer after reviewer commented on how fast, open, and transparent it sounded. Like last year's winner in this category, the Krell Audio Standard, the FPB is a big amplifier that has all of the virtues of a small one. Martin Colloms, normally quite mild in his praise of even the finest gear, nearly ran out of superlatives when listing the FPB 600's virtues. That alone would have made it stand out. But reviewer after reviewer had similar reactions—first being struck dumb, then unceasingly singing its praises. Could this be the Krell for the ages?

Worlds apart, it would seem, stands the Pass Aleph 3. Yet it, too, has a winning lineage: the Pass Aleph 0 was Stereophile's "Amplification Component of 1995." Like the Krell, the Aleph 3 is the culmination of its designer's philosophy, though Nelson Pass reached this culmination by reduction rather than extension: direct-coupled, all-discrete, power-MOSFET, low-feedback, single-ended class-A, with only two gain stages.

It would seem as though there's not much there, but what's there sounds choice—which is more or less what Nelson Pass claimed when he stated, "Everything that has been done to the signal is embedded in it, however subtly." Comparing this amplifier to those in Class A of Stereophile's "Recommended Components," reviewer Muse Kastanovich called for a higher classification to be created for such products as the Aleph 3. Our other reviewers also seem receptive to the idea—certainly they deem the Aleph 3 a superlative sonic contender. JA, for instance, won't let his out of his system for longer than a few hours.

Amplifier design seems to have made giant leaps forward in 1997; our hats are off to Nelson Pass for showing us the joys of simplicity, and to Dan D'Agostino for surpassing himself after more than 15 years of producing amplifier designs that have never sounded less than excellent.