Integrated Amp Reviews

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A FollowUp RoundUp
John Atkinson  |  Jan 10, 2024  | 
Three products were recently subjected to second opinions: I reviewed the revised RS250A version of HiFi Rose's RS250 streaming D/A preamplifier and the optional DC1 DAC module for Audio Research's I/50 integrated amplifier; Ken Micallef wrote about his time with the Volti Razz loudspeaker.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Aavik Acoustics U-380 integrated amplifier
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 19, 2020  | 
Finally—a way to get a handle on the sound of Aavik Acoustics electronics. I'd heard the Danish-made components many times at shows, but always in the context of Ansuz Acoustics cables and Børresen Acoustics loudspeakers. As much as the threesome was inevitable—all three companies are owned by Michael Børresen, Lars Kristensen, and a third shareholder—there was no way to determine the unique sound of each component in the mix.
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
Acurus DIA 100 integrated amplifier
Corey Greenberg  |  Jul 13, 2008  |  First Published: Nov 13, 1993  | 
Stereophile should start a "Personals" section in the back of the mag—maybe stick 'em in with the classifieds:
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Integrated Amp ReviewsJ. Gordon Holt
Advent 300 receiver
J. Gordon Holt  |  Aug 11, 2015  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1977  | 
This receiver includes a rather respectable little tuner, almost comparable to the Dyna FM-5 in performance, a 15Wpc power amplifier of passable quality, and a preamplifier section that in some ways gives some of the costliest preamps a run for their money.

If you don't live in a difficult receiving area or are trying to receive long-distance FM, the tuner should satisfy any perfectionist. It is far superior to the FM transmission quality in most US cities anyway. The power amplifier is better than any we have previously found driving the dinky little speakers in most compact systems, but it has neither the power nor the other attributes to replace any of the amplifiers currently in favor with perfectionists.

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Integrated Amp Reviews
Aesthetix Audio Mimas integrated amplifier
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jul 23, 2019  | 
I love listening to new audio products and discovering how they make me feel. I do my best to open my mind, ears, and pores, to trust the process and see where it leads me. Ultimately, for all the words and analogies I or any reviewer may conjure up, what we do isn't very different from a dog sniffing out a new patch of grass or an insect sending out its antennae to determine what's what.

In all cases, the spirit and care with which we approach new territory helps inform our conclusions.

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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
AMC CVT-3030 integrated amplifier
Jack English  |  Mar 07, 2008  |  First Published: Jun 07, 1993  | 
All right, class. Your assignment is to write a paper persuading people to do something good for themselves that they really don't want to do.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
An Integrated Amplifier Shootout: Ayre Acoustics EX-8 vs Cambridge Audio
John Atkinson  |  Apr 02, 2019  | 
In our February 2019 issue, when I reviewed a new integrated amplifier from Colorado-based Ayre Acoustics, I concluded that "the EX-8 Integrated Hub is a high-end contender at a competitive price" (footnote 1). In that review I promised a Follow-Up in which I would compare the EX-8 with Cambridge Audio's Edge A integrated amplifier, which Ken Micallef had positively reviewed in our January 2019 issue (footnote 2). While I'd enjoyed my time with the EX-8, I'd found its balance rather on the light side, and that it projected voices somewhat forward on the soundstage.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Anthem Electronics STR D/A integrated amplifier
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 26, 2018  | 
Stop me if I've said this before (okay, I have): There's much to be said for integrated amplifiers. While separates have long dominated high-end audio, an increasing number of integrated products not only bundle a preamp and power amp, but sometimes add digital inputs of various flavors, phono stages, bass and treble controls (long on life support in audiophile gear), and more.
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CD Player/Transport ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
April Music Aura Note V2 CD receiver
Art Dudley  |  Mar 24, 2016  | 
Described by manufacturer April Music as an "all-in-one music center," the Aura Note Version 2 ($2500) is a 125Wpc integrated amplifier with a built-in CD player, USB DAC, and FM tuner. The Aura Note is further enhanced by a Bluetooth receiver, a pair of line-level output jacks, and a headphone jack.

The hackneyed but not inappropriate comparison to a Swiss Army knife comes to mind—but where that well-loved tool does a great many things with less than perfection, I've now heard the Aura Note V2 do at least two different things well enough that no excuses need be made on its behalf.

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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  | 
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
Arcam DiVA A85 integrated amplifier
Chip Stern  |  Feb 17, 2002  | 
Although audiophiles may muster little enthusiasm for the home-theater-driven audio marketplace of the 21st century, its prerequisites have inspired manufacturers to cram as wide a range of flexible programming features into as highly resolved a set of performance packages as possible. Thus we're now witnessing a new generation of exceptionally musical electronics with high-end performance targeted at two-channel enthusiasts, but all primped and prepped for integration into an expanded audio-video rig.
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
Arcam FMJ A19 integrated amplifier
Stephen Mejias  |  Jan 02, 2014  | 
"J-10? What's an integrated amplifier?"

It was fall 2000. I'd just begun working at Stereophile, and I clearly remember sheepishly, innocently putting this question to former senior editor Jonathan Scull.

I think the question confused him—not because he didn't know the answer, but because the answer seemed so obvious, the question itself should have been unnecessary. How could anyone not know what an integrated amplifier is? I might as well have asked, "What's a song?"

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Integrated Amp Reviews
Arcam FMJ A22 integrated amplifier
Lonnie Brownell  |  Dec 07, 2003  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2000  | 
Have you ever gone into a high-end audio emporium dressed not to the nines, but more like the threes or fours, and been ignored by the shop's staff because they've sized you up as being too low-budget? Even though you were carrying a high-powered, fully equipped, state-of-the-art wallet in that fanny pack, they assumed the opposite and shunned you.
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Arcam FMJ SR250 stereo A/V receiver
Kalman Rubinson  |  Jun 01, 2017  | 
Stereophile seldom reviews A/V receivers. We made an exception for Arcam's FMJ SR250 ($3600) because it's that unusual two-channel device: one that includes room-correction software, in this case Dirac Live. Many of us who listen in multichannel are comfortable with room correction, but a week doesn't pass without my hearing or reading someone say that they bypass room correction when listening to music in stereo. Spock-like, I find that illogical and, from experience, pointless.
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
ARCAM Radia A25 integrated amplifier
Herb Reichert  |  Apr 09, 2024  | 
I've been to a few bowling parties and passed a bottle around a few fire pits, but I've never watched an audiophile unboxing video. Lately though, I have been paying closer attention to my first impressions of each new audio product as it enters my realm.

I'm finding it interesting to notice how a device previously unseen and unheard declares itself one small step at a time as I open its box, feel its heft, observe its form, study its manual, and, finally, wire it into my system. Those start-up experiences, plus my gut feelings during my first moments of music listening, establish a tone of innocent discovery I wish would last the whole month. It never does.

I mention this because my first impressions for my first-ever review of an ARCAM product, the Radia A25 integrated amplifier, were in that "innocent and receptive" mode from the instant I saw the box sitting outside my door.

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