Musical Fidelity X-Pre Preamp Reviewed

So aggravatingly prolific is Musical Fidelity that it's hard to know what has and hasn't been reviewed. The excuse for such a flood of products? Anthony Michaelson argues that it's the only way to keep everyone watching his brand, to......Read More

Air Tight ATC-1 Preamp and ATM-1 Power Amp Reviewed

Never, if you value your sanity, thumb through a Japanese hi-fi magazine. If you're an inveterate hi-fi casualty, the pictures you'll see will haunt you the way a girlie mag tortures Adrian Mole. I never take my own advice, so......Read More

Audio Research LS16 Preamp Reviewed

Our friends in Minneapolis didn't make life any easier when they released the Reference 1 pre-amplifier. Everything in its wake has to be compared to it, and little I've heard since - the exceptions being the REF 2, the Nagra......Read More

Audio Research LS2 Line Stage Preamp Reviewed

Price points plummetting like pebbles in a pond. Okay, maybe I forced the alliteration, but you've just gotta wax poetic when the cost of audio ecstasy drops -- and substantially to boot. The remaining digits on the sticker are still......Read More

Audio Research LS25 Preamp Reviewed

Down-scaling - as opposed to dumbing down - has a patchy record in the annals of luxury goods. The VW/Porsche 914 didn't satisfy 911 wannabees, few would-be Leica M-Series owners cherished the economical CL and you'd have to hypnotise......Read More

Audio Research LS8 Preamp Reviewed

All-tubed, classically ARC-styled and featuring a few touches which have filtered down from the dearer models, the LS8 joins the (thankfully) ever-lengthening list of entry-level high-end goodies...just in case you were afraid the Ref 1 pre-amp and Ref 600 monoblocks......Read More

Audio Research PH5 Phono Preamp Reviewed

Continuing to revert exclusively to vinyl usage for my 'pleasure', as opposed to 'reviewing' listening, I'm ecstatic about the flood of killer phono stages available today. My absolute references, but beyond my means, are the Manley Steelhead and the Audio......Read More

Audio Research SP16 Tube Preamp Reviewed

Three words to warm to cockles of any tube lover's heart: Bill Is Back. William Z. Johnson, the mastermind behind some of the greatest valve amps and pre-amps of all-time, has come out of retirement, and the good news starts......Read More

Beard BB 30-60 Integrated Amp Reviewed

Ever less than aggressive, Bill Beard has been quietly - if you'll forgive the term - manufacturing all-tube amplifiers for export these past few years. Those of us who see on occasion magazines from foreign countries have noticed ads for......Read More

Cadence PRE2 Preamp and MA2 Power Amp Reviewed

Budding young (and not so young) valve amp manufacturers turn to me on a regular basis because I was stupid enough to swearallegiance to tubes in these very pages. The assumption was/isthat KK loves anything which glows in the dark......Read More

Cello Audio Palette, Performance II Amps, Cello Stradivari Grandmaster Speakers Reviewed

Name a pursuit or hobby. Better still, think of your own prime passion. Think of the ultimate fantasy which relates to it. Cars? You probably fantasise about owning a Diablo and a place to drive it. Boating? You want a......Read More

Classe DR-5 Preamp and DR-5 Power Amp Reviewed

Networking is all that keeps a journalist well-informed, and my network never fails. A couple of American manufacturers have, time and again, alerted me to new brands or models worth investigating, and it is to one of them that I......Read More

Classe Thirty Preamp and the Seventy Power Amp Reviewed

Minimalism, audiophile credibility, low prices -- these I understand. But remote control? What is going on in the high end? As recently as seven or eight years ago, the mere mention of remote control would have had the Flat Earthers......Read More

Conuterpoint SA-1000 Preamp and SA-100 Amp Reviewed

Bargain-hunting and high-end performance may seem mutually exclusive terms, but certain brands have always placed realistic pricing high on the agenda. Most amusing is that the more cost-conscious of all are the valve amp producers, who continue to create some......Read More

Counterpoint Natural Progression Monaural Power Amp Reviewed

High-end credibility is an elusive quality, endowed because of a variety of qualifications. The most obvious? Sadly, it's price, and there's a long list of components deemed esoteric solely because of their high tariffs. Those we can dismiss outright. Next......Read More

Croft Chameleon Integrated Amp Reviewed

Happy though Croft might be to part you from nine grand for its top model, the company shines best when the budget is tight. Remember: this is a brand which - OTL designs aside - made its mark with a......Read More

Croft Vitale Preamp Reviewed

Plus Áa change: Here we are only just into the new millennium, and ol' Glenn Croft is doing his best to keep us in touch with the century which gave us valves, hi-fi and analogue. Since I'm a firm believer......Read More

Da Vinci Typhoon Preamp Reviewed

Unless you spent Christmas abroad, you'll know that winter 1991/2 found the high streets of this land wanting. Wanting for customers, that is, with a new sense of caution (perhaps out of necessity) limiting everyone's spending. And the natural reaction......Read More

darTZeel NHB-18NS Preamplifier Reviewed

It's been made clear to me more than once just how privileged I am to receive the actual production version of the long-awaited darTZeel NHB-18NS pre-amplifier for review before anyone else. However obscure Switzerland's darTZeel may seem, it's now a......Read More

EAR-Yoshino Stereo Preamp Reviewed

Despite presenting an image straight out of central casting - think Universal films ca. 1932, Gothic towers, Bunsen burners, bubbling Erlenmeyer flasks - EAR's Tim de Paravicini does have, to use street patois, 'his shit together.' Whatever his eccentricities, and......Read More

Graaf 13.5B II Preamp Review

Eagle-eyed readers blessed with -grade memories know that I've used GRAAF's flagship pre-amp off and on since reviewing it five years ago. The sonic performance of the GM13.5B made it one of my references for a tube pre-amp with balanced......Read More

Gryphon Audiophile Preamp Reviewed

Niche marketing looks to be the only salvation for the over-crowded high-end market. There are, quite simply, too many products out there, and the clever manufacturer can only grab a slice of the pie by offering something unique. With so......Read More

Gryphon Limited Edition Preamp Reviewed

Luxury goods made more luxurious -- do lilies need gilding? Since man (and woman?) has never been able to leave well enough alone, we're faced with a constant flood of 'new and improved' everythings, be it automobiles or soap powder......Read More

Jadis JPS8 Preamp and JA50 Power Amp Reviewed

Here beginneth a lesson in prejudice. No, not just about my utter, abject, all-consuming, obsessive and nearly psychotic hatred of the French, but about audio prejudices - mine yours. Jadis has created a truly 'high end' pre/power combination of so......Read More

Krell KAV-250a and KAV-250p Reviewed

What signals are you receiving from Krell? What do you make of the turnaround that has produced so much prime entry-level gear? Let's not be too glib about this, for even the Krell components we're about to explore sell for......Read More

Krell MD-20 CD Transport, Krell Studio DAC and KRC Preamp Reviewed

Remember what it was like the first time you rode a bike without the training wheels? Passed your driving test? Lost your virginity? No kidding: the first time you switch on an all-Krell system in your own listening room, no......Read More

Marantz Model 7 Reviewed

Twist my arm. Go on. me to review a couple of products I've been dreaming about owning for years. What's that? If I've actually been waiting for 'years', did I suddenly find some mint originals? Not quite: Marantz took it......Read More

Marantz PM-17 Preamp Reviewed

Having established itself as THE brand for affordable audiophile CD players, Marantz is going out of its way to prevent what's known as 'cherry-picking'. Cherry-picking happens when a brand has one outrageously successful product, but the rest of the range......Read More

Marantz SC-7S1 Preamp and MA-9S1 Amp Reviewed

How important is Marantz's latest foray into the true high-end arena? Let's put it this way: they sent Ken Ishiwata along to check the installation. It gets no scarier than that, for K.I. is The Man, and I wouldn't have......Read More

Metaxas Solitaire Power Amp and Marquise Preamp Reviewed

Knowing that Kostas Metaxas is related to the boozemakers of the same name has little relevance to his hi-fi products other than for realizing that both are upmarket offerings. Will the hardware intoxicate as easily as the liquidware? Perhaps. But......Read More

Music & Sound's DCC-1 Digital Control Centre Reviewed

Think of it as the modern day equivalent of a phono section. For years you've been using a pre-amp or integrated amp in which all of the input sections operate at line level. Except for the one on the end,......Read More

Musical Fidelity kW750 Preamp Reviewed

After borrowing Musical Fidelity's humungous kilowatt kW amplifier to see how Apogee's Scintillas would fare with a modern powerhouse, I thought no more of it once it was returned. Astounding amp, sobering price, obscene use of floor real estate: it......Read More

Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300 Preamp Reviewed

OK, so I lied: here's yet another review of a Musical Fidelity product. We simply hadn't reckoned on the speed at which Antony Michaelson turns dreams into reality, but it's with more delight than distress that I report on the......Read More

Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Preamp Reviewed

Anthony Michaelson knows how to push the right buttons. All he had to say was the word 'nuvistor', and every tube crazy worth his weight in anode plates was clamouring for a listen. After all, wasn't the nuvistor the last-ever,......Read More

Nagra PL-L Preamp and PMA Mono Amps Reviewed

Very few brands, regardless of product type, earn 100-point ratings. Even Leica and Rolex have fouled up at least once in the past, however unlikely that seems.* Nagra is the closest audio has come to producing a brand with an......Read More

Panasonic DVD-RV32 DVD Player Reviewed

While reading through current 2003 DVD statistics, I was fascinated to learn some figures about the hottest selling consumer electronic product ever produced. For instance, there are more than 250 DVD player models on the market, representing more than 60......Read More

Quad 33 Preamp and 303 Amp Reviewed

Aaah, if only every manufacturer had this dilemma - too many classics in its c.v.! With Quad, do you think first of the original ESL or ESL63? The Quad 22/II? Or do you picture their biggest-selling pre-amp ever and their......Read More

Quad II Reissue Preamp Reviewed

A feature worthy of our 40th Anniversary issue. A once-in-a-career opportunity. That's what Editor Harris wanted for this issue, something so memorable that it would mark the occasion in style. Something to have every other magazine editor on the planet......Read More

Rothwell Passive Preamp Reviewed

Vinyl's continuing demise means sustained interest in passive pre-amps, as more and more of you move over to line-level-only systems. I've got nothing against passives, other than that I tire of reminding people that they are not substitutes for 'active'......Read More

Sinfonia Preamp and Amp Reviewed

Now this is unusual: A UK reviewer reviewing a UK-made product which the British can't buy. When I was told that Musical Fidelity had produced a pre-amp and power amp exclusively for the Korean hi-fi community, I was naturally curious.......Read More

Sugden Masterclass Preamp and Mono Amps Reviewed

How droll: here we are at a transitional period in audio history, when all of the hooded, scythe-bearing doomsayers are bellowing about the death of stereo, high end and/or hi-fi full-stop, and up pops one of the most impressive efforts......Read More

Unison Research Mystery One Preamp Reviewed

It probably took a bit longer to grow the wood which forms the Mystery One's case. All I know is that nearly a year has passed since I first took delivery of the prototype, and enough detail changes occurred between......Read More