(Vol.42 No.11 WWW), Exposure XM-5: $1895 Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Playing his favorite extreme-bass test track, ""Electrified II" by Yello, with his demanding Wilson Alexia 2 speakers, he wrote that "even if [the Musical Fidelity's] bass wasn't as gut-shaking even if the soundstage didn't seem to reach out to me and gobble me up body and soulit sounded really good." McIntosh. "But driving the modest Zu Audio Soul Supremes, it will play Mahler's Symphony No.5 as performed by the Berlin Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle with dark, moody vigor and delicious, microdetailed insights." Descended from the original Sphinx that HR reviewed in 2014, the V3 is still "an old-school, 25lb, made-in-America integrated amplifier with three line-level inputs . What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. There are no such misgivings about the headphone output. There is a slight coarseness to their movement that we dont like. And there are dedicated phono inputs for both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges, with the latter offering a degree of adjustability to optimise performance. AD was also impressed by the Black's bass: "The lowest notes had plenty of power and reach and a slightly frightening physicality," he wrote, ascribing this to the Jadis's hand-wound output transformers. (Vol.40 Nos.6 & 12 WWW), PS Audio Sprout100: $699 $$$ This classic stereo receiver may well be the most expensive model currently available, but LG was mightily impressed by what if offers. Visit our corporate site. Our own amp and pre-amp selection represents today's best, at great prices - so get shopping and make your inner audiophile happy. McIntosh Amplifiers | Shop Music Direct Art concluded that the ASR is "a very complex product that somehow manages to sound very simple." McIntosh MA8900 Named 2017 Best Stereo Integrated Amplifier And I'll recommend seven of the best integrated amplifiers I've tried. Item # 958MA5300 Free 2-day shipping to Washington . . After all, whats the point of spending thousands on a single-box solution only to find that you still need to add an outboard phono stage or DAC to make your system work? Line Magnetic LM-518IA, replaced by newer model not yet reviewed. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Editor's Note: There are no Class D integrated amplifiers listed. It has a large scale, effortless sound that is inviting and ever so easy on the ears. The Nova offers Bluetooth aptX HD and WiFi connectivity, and provides vTuner Internet radio as well as support for most music-file types, up to 384k PCM and DSD128. Staging is super expansive, holographic to me. Featured in our article: Best integrated amplifiers for 2023. JA's measurements uncovered lower than specified output power270mWpc at 1% THD, 2.275Wpc at 3% THDas well as distressingly high output impedance. Also user-selectable are the 65V-1's output tubes: at the time of purchase, the buyer selects either EL34 or KT88 pentodes, although the tubes not taken, when purchased separately, can be used at any time, without the need for modification. (JA's measurements suggest that the latter will work best with high-impedance cans.) The truly distinctive 65V-1 is a tubed stereo integrated amp whose output architecture is switchable between triode and Ultralinear modes. In measuring the amp, JA noted its low-for-an-integrated gain and a harmonic distortion character that led him to wonder if using the chassis as a heatsink prevented the amp from being biased near to the class-A end of things. (Vol.40 No.12 WWW), Parasound Halo Hint 6: $2995 Once we give the McIntosh a few days to settle it delivers almost exactly what we hoped it would. A great, unique integrated amplifier, and a must-hear for ESL owners. 2023 McIntosh Laboratory, Inc. Of interest to users with problematic listening rooms is the STR's built-in Anthem Room Correction (ARC) processor: using the supplied microphone, ARC can be set up using a PC that's been configured with the appropriate (downloadable) software and connected to the Anthem's miniUSB or Ethernet jack. We play Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture and the McIntosh sounds right at home. is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Two years after his first Devialet experiencesharing a Paris apartment with two Gold Phantom speakersJim Austin spent time with the manufacturer's integrated, the Expert Pro, in entry-level guise. It retains the Mk.II's mostly hard-wired circuitry and the fixed bias for each channel's push-pull pair of 6CA7/EL34 power pentodes but uses transistors to provide voltage gain. Detail levels are good and the general character retains the listenability we so like from the analogue inputs. Its phono stage is versatile and musically effective. New version keeps performance the same but eliminates AM radio and adds Wi-Fi. Amplifiers Featured The best amplifiers in the McIntosh family September 12, 2020 Author While there are many brands prevalent, one of the most outstanding brands in the field of Hifi amplifiers will be the world-renowned, McIntosh. In 2018 the Sprout underwent a redesign and was christened the Sprout100. Best Tube Amplifier: McIntosh MC2301 MSRP: $22,000/pair Here at Audioholics, we're not known for being fans of tubes. The I1 handles up to DSD2565, and converts all DSD data to 24/352.8 before playback. ", Yamaha A-S3200: $7499.95 Best McIntosh amplifier for Klipsch - 2-Channel Home Audio - The (Vol.43 No.11, Vo.44 No.4 WWW), Jadis Orchestra Black: $4295 On the test bench the M33 exceeded its specified continuous output power of 210Wpc into 8 ohms and delivered 460Wpc into 4 ohms. Boasting both digital and line-level analog inputs, the Edge A is specified to deliver 100Wpc, operating in what Cambridge calls class-XA, described as less efficient than class-AB but more efficient than class-A. The 2.3Wpc Zen Triode is a class-A, zero-feedback, single-ended stereo tube amplifier that uses just two resistors and one Jupiter Beeswax film capacitor in its signal path. (Vol.44 No.1 WWW), Cary Audio SLI-100: $5995 McIntosh MA8900 Stereo Integrated Amplifier. The built-in DAC cannot decode multi-channel Dolby Digital signals. Look at the McIntoshs front panel and you will find a usefully large digital display that shows the volume level and input chosen, and proves handy in the initial set-up process. He summed up the Musical Fidelity by writing that not only was it the most powerful and least expensive of the seven integrated amplifier he has reviewed in recent years, it was also one of the best-sounding. Writing from his test bench, JA praised the I1's "excellent measured performance." The MA8950 has the insight and organisation to make sense of the mass of instrumentation and couples that with wide-ranging dynamics and sledgehammer punch when the music demands. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. AD praised the XM5 for its freedom from upper-frequency etch and found its phono performance, though temporally precise, a bit dull: "CD playback, through its line stage, was more colorful and vibrant," he said. (This may have been a sample fault.) McIntosh's namesake black faceplates claim an equally famous pedigree. A built-in DAC with USB, coaxial, and optical inputs. His conclusion: "That this single box can do so much so well . Although the Moonriver has single-ended preamplifier outputs, JVS found that these "buzzed" with his reference monoblocks and JA found that there was a high level of ultrasonic noise on the preamplifier outputs. THD. So sweet and a joy to listen too. Best desktop amp NAD D 3020 V2. A push-pull tubed integrated amp that uses two KT150 pentode tubes per side, operating in Ultralinear mode, to output 100Wpc, the SLI-100 provides the user with four line-level inputs, all unbalanced, and a choice of 8 or 4 ohm output taps. With their nova300 integrated amplifier-DAC, Peachtree Audio made a number of transitions: from iPod docks to Lightning connectors and WiFi; from tubed preamp buffers to all solid-state; from line-only preamps to an onboard MM phono preamp; and, most notably, from Chinese to Canadian manufacture. What Hi-Fi? Find out more about how we test. Even so, despite the obvious clarity of the moving-coil input, we prefer the bolder, more dynamically punchy presentation we hear through the moving-magnet option. Best for playing high-res music files Primare I35 Prisma. The McIntosh MA8950 combines a generous spec sheet with an articulate and composed sound. NAD C 328: $599 $$$ Happily, the sound was anything but: "Once fully warmed up, the Black ACI 600 shattered all notions of class-D sounding colorless and uninviting," wrote JVS, though "treble extension was a bit toned-down from what I'm accustomed to." The McIntosh MA8950 combines a generous spec sheet with an articulate and composed sound. (Vol.43 No.12 WWW), Grandinote Shinai: $15,000 The Most Popular Vintage Receivers - Gear Patrol This one deserves to be high on the list. However, RS concluded that the Shinai "did some things better than my tube geardefinition, detail, space, scale, touch." (Vol.41 No.5 WWW), NAD Masters Series M33: $4999 AD wrote that the Black initially had "that treble lisp that I assume many of you have heard from amps and preamps that aren't yet run inaudible here as an exaggeration of note attacks from violins," but found that as the amplifier broke in, it became considerably more listenable, though still slightly on the dry side. Ayre's EX-8 integrated amplifier is available as an analog-only base unit for $5990; the $7850 fully loaded Integrated Hub version that JA wrote about in the February 2019 Stereophile adds an onboard D/A processor, an Ethernet port, and Roon readiness. The Exposure XM5 blends retro and cutting-edge with apparent ease, combining an MM-friendly phono stage with a 24/192 USB DAC in a case whose half-width size calls to mind the pre-1993 Naim Nait. Brio . The CXA81 is a versatile, solid state integrated amplifier with analog and digital inputs, headphone, preamplifier, and subwoofer outputs, and the usual loudspeaker outputs. As just an integrated amp, without add-onsin which guise the Rag 2 sells for less than the cost of its predecessorthe redesigned amp also adds an improved volume-control circuit and remote handset. Summing up, he wrote that "In its ability to create a supercharged musical presentation within a large soundstage populated by big images, allied to superb definition and resolution, with good tone, the E.A.T. The MA252 arrived in a sturdy box that was almost twice the size of the unit. Bass felt quicker and more articulate. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 MA352 2-Channel Hybrid Integrated Amplifier Includes our Hybrid Drive technology that uses the best of vacuum tubes and solid state to produce the best sound performance Vacuum tube preamplifier and solid state power amplifier 200 Watts into 8 Ohms 320 Watts into 4 Ohms 5-band tone control FIND A DEALER He states the MA12000 has a "seductive presence" via its "striking aesthetic language" that is consistent with . And with its rated power output of 120Wpc into 8 ohmsnot to mention its weight of nearly 65lbthe solid-state Luxman L-509X is indeed a beast, and one whose subtly retro styling impressed KM, who called it "a behemoth of beauty." Compared with the more expensive Yamaha A-S3200, HR felt that while the Yamaha represented "bright-n-ready, old-school, class-AB vivo," the Marantz sounded darker, less extraverted, with "more silence in the silences and more space in the soundspaces." Yes the Mc lacks the pace of naim but is up there with everything else. . MA252 Integrated Amplifier. Vacuum tube preamplifier and solid state power amplifier, Comes with DA2 Digital Audio Module installed, 55% increase in Dynamic Headroom for better music peak reproduction, Comes with DA1 Digital Audio Module installed, Optional dealer installed upgrade to DA2 Digital Audio Module available. (Vol.42 No.2 WWW), Decware Zen Triode Amplifier: $999 $$$ Compared with the more expensive, "fully loaded" Schiit Ragnarok 2, the CXA81 had better top-end air, a slightly wider and deeper soundstage and a more laid-back presentation; the Schiit amp offered better tone, slightly better drive, and more intimacy. ; multiroom capabilities; Dirac Live LE room correction (one hopes not the Delbert Grady sort); and a big "Gorilla Glass" display on its front panelall this plus a 100Wpc class-D (nCore) amplifier. The digital module, though, was based on an AKM DAC chip that is no longer available following the disastrous fire at the Japanese manufacturer's factory, so the review didn't discuss the digital input. The budget-priced NAD C 328 combines Bluetooth connectivity, a 24-bit/192kHz DAC based on a Cirrus Logic chip, an MM-ready phono stage, and a Hypex-based class-D amplifier rated at 40Wpc into 8 ohmsall in an enclosure whose size and appearance are closer to those of the company's legacy products than this amp's contemporary stablemate, the odd-looking D 3020.