Components listed here have been formally reviewed in Stereophile and have been found to be among the best available in each of four or five quality classes. Whether a component is listed in Class A or Class E, we highly recommend its…
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Turntables
A+
Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn: $149,995 with tonearm and stand ✩
“Part New Jersey diner, part Wurlitzer jukebox,” the 160-lb Caliburn is the brainchild of Mark Doehmann, whose clever, purposeful design is based on rigorous scientific methodology using finite-element analysis computer programs. While the only serious competition for the Caliburn is the Rockport System III Sirius, MF decided, “The Caliburn beat the Rockport’s overall performance by a considerable margin,” adding an “emotional majesty” that made the Rockport seem analytical. “Better than sex!”…
SACD, DVD-A, & CD Players & Transports & Media Players
Editor’s Note: SACD and DVD-A player ratings are based on how they sound with their respective hi-rez media, not CD.
A+
Ayre Acoustics DX-5 “Universal A/V Engine”: $9950
Based around the Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player, the multichannel-capable DX-5 plays CDs, SACDs, DVD-A, DVD-V, and Blu-ray discs, while its USB port handles resolutions up to 24-bit/192kHz. It uses a new Ayre power supply, Ayre’s zero-feedback, fully balanced audio circuitry, opto-isolators to prevent noise from entering the audio signal…
Digital Processors
Editor’s Note: The sound of any particular CD transport/digital processor combination will be dependent on the datalink used—see “Bits is Bits?” by Christopher Dunn and Malcolm Omar Hawksford, Stereophile, March 1996, Vol. 19 No.3 (Read Review Online). Unless mentioned, processors are limited to 32/44.1/48kHz sample rates. To be included in Class A+, a digital processor must be capable of handling DSD or 24/96 LPCM data.
A+
Ayre Acoustics QB-9: $2750
The QB-9 is an asynchronous transfer mode, USB-input DAC with Ayre’s minimum-phase digital…
Music Surround-Sound Components (other than speakers and disc players)
A
Anthem Statement D2v: $8999 ✩
The latest enhancement of the Statement D2 audio/video processor is the Anthem Room Correction kit (ARC), which includes a calibration microphone and stand and all necessary software and cables. Its versatile controls allow the user to modify the recommended crossovers, insert a variable room-gain bump, and set the upper-frequency limit for corrections. With the ARC’s settings in place, soundstages were wider and more open. “Using the optimized ARC Advanced settings…
Two-Channel Preamplifiers
Editor’s Note: Apart from the AudioValve, CAT, DNM, Fi, Shindo, Tempo, and Placette, all the Class A preamplifiers offer balanced inputs and outputs. And unless noted, the preamplifiers listed do not have phono stages.
A
Aesthetix Saturn Calypso Signature: $6999
Aesthetix Saturn Calypso: $4999 ✩
“A beautifully built, smartly designed, crisply functioning, versatile, and sonically brilliant preamplifier,” the Saturn Calypso is a single-box, tubed unit that borrows technology from the more expensive, two-box Jupiter Callisto to offer “an…
Two-Channel Power Amplifiers
Editor’s Note: Because of the disparity between typical tube and solid-state “sounds,” we have split Class A for separate power amplifiers into two subclasses. Nevertheless, even within each subclass, Class A amplifiers differ sufficiently in character that each will shine in an appropriate system. Careful auditioning with your own loudspeakers is therefore essential. Except where stated, output powers are not the specified powers but rather those we measured into an 8 ohm resistive load. All amplifiers are stereo models, except where designated.
A…
Integrated Amplifiers & Receivers
A
Allnic T-1500 300B: $6900
Made in South Korea and imported by Hammertone Audio, the 12.5Wpc T-1500 boasts exquisite industrial design: polycarbonate chimneys showcase, protect, and ventilate the tubes, while attractively molded handles make for easy lifting. It uses two PCL86 driver tubes, two choke-regulated 300Bs with user-adjustable fixed bias, and output transformers wound around a nickel-permalloy core. Though it lacked bottom-end extension, the T-1500 delivered harmonic richness, excellent transparency, and natural tonal colors,…
Loudspeaker Systems
Editor’s Note: Class A “Loudspeakers” are sufficiently idiosyncratic and differ enough from one another that prospective customers should read Stereophile’s original reviews in their entirety for descriptions of the sounds. I have therefore just listed every system or combination that at least one of Stereophile’s reviewers feels, as a result of his or her experience, approaches the current state of the art in loudspeaker design. (Note that, to be eligible for inclusion in Class A, the system must be full-range—ie, feature bass extension to 20Hz. It must also be…
Subwoofers
A
B&W DB1: $4500
The DB1 is a powered subwoofer in a handsome sealed enclosure measuring 19.3" H by 18.1" W by 16.2" D and weighing 97 lbs. Its solid construction includes: two mechanically opposed 12" woofers separated by a partially open internal partition, 1"-thick walls of MDF with 3⁄4"-thick bracing panels to minimize vibrations, digital signal-processing circuits to run its menu-based control system, home automation capability, and a 1000W switching amplifier equalized to produce linear output. Also included are a calibration microphone, four connector…