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When I swapped in the A-50 for the WiiM Amp, I immediately heard an improvement: deeper, firmer bass, a warmer but still precise and detailed top end. I invited my audio buddy Dave (aka Father Time, an old dude who's a drummer) to listen; Dave owns and enjoys daily the KEF LSX wireless speaker-gadgets. We agreed that the Onkyo A-50 is a great partner for KEF LS50 Metas. We spent most of an afternoon streaming favorite songs. One album Dave turned me on to that day was Bill Frisell's Guitar in the Space Age! (Okeh, Qobuz 16/44.1 stream). Frisell's reverb-heavy take on Brian Wilson's "…

I used optical and coaxial S/PDIF data to test the DAC/streamer module's digital inputs, as well as network data played with Roon. The Roon app recognized the amplifier as "Onkyo A-50." While the optical and coaxial S/PDIF inputs—the latter is labeled "CD"—didn't lock to data with sample rates >96kHz, the A-50 accepted network data sampled at 176.4kHz and 192kHz. The digital inputs preserved absolute polarity at the speaker, Preamplifier, and headphone outputs.

With the volume control set to the maximum, the output level with a 1kHz tone at –30dBFS…

I performed a full set of measurements on the Onkyo A-50 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. Except when noted,the A-50 was set to Direct mode for the testing, which bypasses the analog/digital conversion and digital signal processing. Before I started the measurements, I preconditioned the amplifier by operating it at 1/8 the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the temperature of the top panel over the internal heatsinks was 98.1°F/36.8°C. After a couple of hours of operation, the temperature had risen to 102.9°F/39.4°C.

Takeshi Godai founded Osaka Denki Onkyo ("Osaka Electric Sound Harmony") in 1946. Its name was shortened to Onkyo in 1971. Godai had worked for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita. Matsushita had worked for Godai's father in the older man's bicycle shop in Osaka, Japan. Today the company is a global giant, home of Panasonic, Technics, and other brands.

Onkyo's first products were loudspeakers. It expanded to manufacturing audio-related electronics and was able to ride…

Halfway through day two of AXPONA 2026, I had an answer ready for whenever friends or colleagues inquired about my "best of show" nomination. It was a small, fantastic-sounding, sub-$10,000 Canadian-Danish system that I'd heard on day one and will write about shortly.

Description: Stereo streaming integrated class-AB amplifier with built-in phono preamp, room-correction software (Dirac Live), DSP-based bass, treble, and loudness controls, and remote control via Onkyo Controller phone/tablet app and wireless remote. Analog inputs: phono (RCA, switchable MM/MC), three line-level analog (RCA), microphone (1/8" front panel for Dirac Live and DSP loudness setup). Analog outputs: line-level Preamp Out (RCA); ¼" headphone jack, one pair multiway loudspeaker binding posts. Frequency response: 5Hz–100kHz, +1, –3dB. Tone controls: ±10dB…

When I put headphones on, I feel like I am teleported to a new place. Sometimes, it's to a large venue; other times, it's a small room in a club—and sometimes, it's tight like a telephone booth.

To find out where I might be teleported to next, I visited RAAL 1995's Danny McKinney (shown below) in EG8114 at AXPONA 2026 to see what the hype around his newer ribbon headphones was all about.

I put on the Immanis ($10,500), a triple-ribbon headphone where each ribbon has been tensioned to different resonant frequencies. They were powered by the Allnic ASRA 41-step…

Analog sources: Technics SL-1200MK5 turntable with KAB 3-speed mod, fluid damping, and tonearm wiring; Technics SL-50C turntable; Hana SL MKII, LP Gear The Vessel, Ortofon 2M Red, Audio-Technica AT-VM95C cartridges.
Phono preamplifier: Pro-Ject Phono Box RS2.
Digital sources: dCS Bartók APEX, Rega Jupiter CD player. Minim server.
Preamplifier: Benchmark LA-4.
Power amplifier: Benchmark AHB2, WiiM Amp.
Integrated amplifier: McIntosh MA6500.
Loudspeakers: EgglestonWorks Andra 5, Ø Audio Verdande, Amphion One18, KEF LS50 Meta.
…

Upscale Audio's Kevin Deal talks with Ken Micallef about the Auris Luminis 300B integrated amplifier ($19,900) at AXPONA 2026. According to Deal, the Luminis "runs a pair of 300Bs in each channel in parallel, so you're going to get up to 20 watts of power. […] What makes it different is that there are four power transformers in it. All the transformers are wound in house, in Serbia."

Deal shares more details about the Luminis, its innards, and its performance on our YouTube channel.

Outside of Vincent Van Gogh, Brian Wilson had the most infamous—and ultimately the most valuable—left ear in the world. Wilson—the chief architect of countless Beach Boys pop classics, who passed away at age 82 on June 11, 2025—lost the hearing in his right ear at an early age (footnote 1). One could reasonably argue that he only ever heard all the sonic masterpieces he constructed, for that…