Audio4Soul Xtreme 16

02. May 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Amplifiers, D to A Converters · Tags: , ,
Audio 4 Soul front

Audio4Soul is a small company based in Greece and they produce just two items, the Xtreme 16 (tested here) and the Xtreme 16 with USB streamer. The company has an interesting philosophy and one that will appeal to a good few people I suspect – they want to produce a straightforward product that simply allows people to enjoy theOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA very best sound quality at a price point that is achievable for most people. They also recognise that not all music lovers want to have boxes and boxes of hifi equipment strewn all over their living room. Of course, having a box of tricks that does it all means you have more to spend on great quality loudspeakers and this is another important aspect of the company’s philosophy.

It’s an attractive looking bit of kit and worth noting that is it is built by hand, though I’m sure it will have its detractors – the front panel is reminiscent of a piece of lab equipment. However, there is a lovely touch on the top of the unit where the ventilation grill is a cut out in the shape of a treble clef. On the front of the unit there is an SD card slot, a power switch, a small red LED screen, a switch to alternate between optical input and coaxial and a host of LEDs to let you know the status of the machine.

So what is it exactly? With the Xtreme 16 you get a16 watts per channel integrated digital amplifier that has a powered DAC onboard with a PCM/PWM converter. You can connect a CD transport (or laptop with appropriate converter) using Spdif or Toslink (the unit uses a Wolfson 8804 receiver) or you can use the front mounted SD card reader to play Ogg. Mp3 or Wav files. Aceptable files are up to 24/96 (16/44 for the SD card). OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA More »

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Peachtree Decco 65

22. April 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Amplifiers
decco65-23

Digital Versatility

Finding a method able to handle all of a modern living spaces digital home entertainment products these days usually Decco 65 front panelrequires large AV amplifiers which aren’t setup primarily for music or stereo sources. Another option is a DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter), although cheaper ones don’t normally offer more than 3 inputs and add to the overall box count. There are digital preamplifiers available if you search hard enough and there are increasingly more DAC/Preamplifiers (DACS with a volume knob). These however will require the addition of a power amplifier, a set of interconnects, an extra power cable and one more shelf to be seated on  – more boxes and less WAF! More »

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King Rex ‘Headquarters’ HQ-1 Headphone Amplifier

08. April 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers, Headphones · Tags: ,
King_rex_hq-1

Introduction

Headquarters.  Neat name for a headphone amp.  And a very neat pair of small boxes make up this very capable King_rex_hq-1headphone amplifier.  The review sample came with very distinctive and attractive sculpted red faceplates, although I understand that black is available in a plainer rectangular pair of boxes as an alternative for those who prefer a more subdued appearance.

One box is the power supply, the other is the amplification and control unit.
A power on/off rocker switch is located on the rear panel of the PSU, along with a standard IEC mains input socket, and a power output socket for connecting the supplied power lead to the control/amp box.
On the rear of the amp/control box is 1 pair of RCA input sockets and 1 pair of RCA output sockets.  The output sockets are volume controlled so that the HQ-1 can be used as a standard pre-amplifier feeding the rest of your system. More »

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Clones Audio 25i Integrated Amplifier

08. April 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: ,
clones 4

When the Clones Amplifier was first ordered From Hong Kong I just sat back and thought to myself, this will take some clones 4time in arriving! But imagine my surprise,when a few days later the Unit arrived, I was astonished. If only our post office could do as well… the unit was also undamaged. The packaging was well thought out and would have withstood a bomb blast.

The amplifier consists of a hand made brushed alloy case, which has sides, bottom, and top panel fashioned from 4mm thick alloy. The Front panel is made from 8mm material and the fixings are thoughtfully chosen, using Pozidrive headed machine bolts. This method of construction is rather unusual in comparison the the mass produced equipment I have seen over the years where  self tapping screws are the norm. I am sure that we have all cursed Hi-Fi manufacturers when we couldn’t get a screw out of a case because it is poorly built. The Clones unit doesn’t do this, rather the screws are easily removed with the correct screwdriver. And one doesn’t have to be  built like Charles Atlas either, they were just “Nipped”, so they were tight. There are no user controls inside the case!

The controls on the front panel are a three way signal input selector and a volume control. The volume control is an Alps unit. The controls have a “weight” to the touch and operate with no clicks nor bangs. It also sports a green power on indicator, rather than that horrid blue high intensity LED that is the fashion at the moment, the indicator doesn’t draw our attention when powered up, rather it just tells us the the 25i is on! The power switch was put on the rear panel because the manufacturer said that it was meant to be switched on and left on. Although when away from your listening room for long periods of time, I would always switch it off! More »

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Puresound 2A3 Integrated Amplifier

28. January 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , ,
pure_sound_2a3

There are those who argue that valves as used in audio reproduction have ‘no sound’. They are merely devices pure_sound_2a3designed for amplification of current, dependent for their quality entirely on their implementation. We should forget any characterisations of EL34s as sounding sweet, KT88s as warm or punchy, or 300bs as midrange maestros with weaknesses at the frequency extremities. Such sweeping generalisations are entirely wrong, we are told, and expressing them merely a display of ignorance.

And in a purely technical sense, this is true. Given clever design, high enough quality transformers, and a sympathetic choice of speakers for any given product, limitations posed by individual valves’ characteristics can be transcended, stereotypical results avoided, critics’ prejudices confounded, and listeners’ ears delighted.

Sadly, this happens all too rarely. An initial design may be stunning but once production begins, corners are frequently cut to keep component within cost targets, limitations are exposed, and the resulting products all too often fit into stereotypical pigeon-holes. At the same time, a considerable number of designs currently in production are merely rehashings, sometimes inexpertly done, of ancient circuits from the 1950s or even earlier.

Directly heated triodes, while top of the tree in terms of audiophile desirability, are perhaps the biggest sufferers from dubious execution of all the various tube types. I used to own an 845 single ended amp from a prominent continental manufacturer, that despite a hernia-inducing complement of transformers on board needed double digits of negative feedback to hold the circuit together, and made the bass cones in my 97db Tannnoy 15in Monitor Gold GRFs sound like they were made of soggy lettuce (while it wasn’t a great deal better with many other speakers). There are certainly better 845s around than my example above (it didn’t hang about long), but getting the best out of the 845 tube, as with the 211, or indeed the 300b, is an expensive business. More »

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Roksan Caspian M2 Integrated Amplifier

08. January 2013 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , ,
M2 integrated front NBG nbt(1)

Quite compact but reassuringly solid and heavy, this 85wpc stereo integrated amplifier is purposeful in appearance. M2 integrated front NBG nbt(1) Eschewing the current Euro-fad for ultra-clean starkness, the Caspian M2 looks like a purposeful high-tech machine, unashamed of its lights, buttons and knobs!  I like it – it has a blunt and honest ‘this is what I am’ attitude that also carries over into its sonic performance.

So, yes, 85WPC – and with 6 line level inputs, and a stereo pre-amp output allowing bi-amping or a separate power M2 Rearamp to be used.  Also, and quite unusually, there is a stereo input to access the power amplifier section directly, bypassing the Caspian M2′s own pre-amp, although this has to be set at the factory.  A single set of stereo loudspeaker output posts is provided.
If you use a turntable for playing vinyl, then you’ll need a separate phonostage.
The current UK retail price is £1699.

The Caspian M2 has remote control of source and volume, plus volume ‘mute’.  Unusually, the mute function only drops the output level by 20dB, which isn’t a massive reduction in sound level.  Personally, I would prefer a full mute with no sound at all when the mute function is selected. More »

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Tortuga Audio LDR6 Passive Pre-amp

05. January 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: ,
LDR6_Front

Rod Alexander does some running repairs…

Some hi-fi companies are just instantly likeable. I’m not exactly sure why. An easy-going friendliness helps – the kind ofLDR6_Front attitude that sees staff excited to speak to a real customer, calling to ask for advice about a product. Maybe it’s humour and a general refusal to take themselves too seriously. Tortuga audio definitely fall into that camp, with a website that pulls off the trick of being both informative and light-hearted, along with a head honcho whose default state of mind is “No problem! Can do!”

Founded in 2010 and based in Cape Coral, Florida, Tortuga Audio is the brainchild of

Morten Sissener, an engineer and blues guitarist, who emigrated from Norway to the US as a young boy in the 1950′s. Morten puts his love of engineering down to growing up surrounded by the tools, tinkering and hands-on mechanical genius of his merchant mariner father. Clearly, some of that rubbed off – though given Morten’s love of music and computer technology, setting up a high tech, high end audio company has an air of inevitability about it.

Selling direct from their website, they have just one product – a passive pre-amp, currently available (in single or six input versions, priced at $1195 and $1475 respectively). Tortuga Audio have ambitious plans for their product range though, with an active pre-amp nearing completion and scheduled for release soon. More »

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Linear Audio Research IA30 Mk 2 Amplifier

11. December 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , , ,
LAR THUMB

Introduction

Linear Audio Research is a little known brand here in the uk and is manufactured in Poland.  It seems these days that there are some very good things hifi-wise coming out of Poland so I was intrigued to see how this modestly specified EL34 based valve amplifier would fare driving a set of amp-fussy Tannoy Turnberrys.

A little about Linear Audio first.  It was started by a Polish audio engineer,  Eugeniusz Czyżewski.  He had been making amps for friends when he decided to go into production with his designs.  Mr Czyzewski’s background includes obtaining a doctorate in technical science from the Politechnika Wrocławska, one of the foremost technical colleges in Poland.  From there he had a career in the military sector before going on to form Linear Audio Research.  His attention to detail certainly shows within the IA30 amplifier and this is in no small part due to the standards expected with his previous military technical support role.  This attention to detail on close inspection does seem lacking today even in so called “high end” hifi.

The IA30 is a push-pull EL34 design with a difference.  Particular emphasis has been paid on low distortion and an even bandwidth, so great attention has been paid to the transformer windings in the power supply and output transformers and in general to the quality of components used throughout the circuit, and the circuit layout itself. More »

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Epiphany Acoustics EHP-O2 Portable Headphone Amplifier

01. June 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers, Headphones · Tags: , ,

This is another bit of kit that I’ve had for a good while (it was payment from Epiphany for some website work I did for them) and thought I really ought to write something about it. Epiphany are a small UK based company with a handful of products to their name but a growing reputation for great compact kit at reasonable prices if the comments on their website and forums are anything to go by.  

The EHP-O2 is a compact little unit (8 x 11 x 3cm) but feels pretty substantial in your hand – it’s not an ultra lightweight item by any stretch of the imagination. It comes with a wall wart power supply to recharge the batteries that can be used as a power supply if you want to use it as a desktop amplifier. Epiphany say that it is perfectly safe to leave the EHP-O2 plugged in continuously and this is down to a clever in built power management system. If I was to have anything to say about the power supply it would be that the input is pretty inconveniently placed on the front of the headphone amplifier which is a bit of a pain. The circuit used in the EHP-O2 is the same as designed by the blogger NwAvGuy. More »

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Custom Hifi Cables HA10 & HA10SE Headphone Amps, DC1 & DC2 PSUs

01. June 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers, Headphones · Tags: , ,

Custom HiFi Cables Ltd. (CHC for short in this review) was established in 2010 in the fine old English city of Leeds.  It produces a wide range of hi-fi and home cinema accessories, including cables, power supplies and mains conditioners.  Recently they have ventured into the area of dedicated headphone amplifiers and their 2 models are the subject of this review, along with two DC power supplies .

Design Features

The HA10 (£234.99) headphone amplifier is based on a hybrid design, using a high quality E88CC dual triode valve for the first stage of amplification and then a pair of audiophile-grade MOSFETS for the second stage of amplification, which work in a class A configuration.

For the higher spec HA10SE (£269.99), improvements include an ALPS Blue volume pot, audiophile grade resistors in the signal path, and for the input audio signal capacitors high-end film input caps from Solen.

The DC1 (£139.99) and DC2 (£249.99) PSUs are both linear, not switched mode designs.  For the DC2, improvements include a larger toroidal transformer (more than twice the power rating of the one in the DC1), larger reservoir capacitors (almost twice the capacity of the DC1), and mains surge and filtering. The DC2 is about twice the size and weight of the DC1. More »

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Absolutor Pre-amplifier

29. May 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , ,

A lot of very interesting hifi equipment is coming out of Poland these days.There seems a real passion and drive for innovative excellence and a lot of this work is targetted at the higher echelons of audiophilia.

The item under review is a two chassis valve (tube)-based pre-amplifier, with the PSU housed in an identically-sized and -finished casing of its own.

Designed in Poland by valve-guru Andrzej Markow and built by Wojciech Korpacz whose obsession with this preamp resulted in 3 years of work on its design and the eventual formation of his own company to promote the Absolutor in its current form.

A quite thick but flexible umbilical cable links the pre-amp and the PSU, the one on the review sample was 1m long.

Drop dead gorgeous to look at – the review sample had a piano black finish with large central aluminium volume control on the main pre-amp chassis. The Absolutor pre is also available in white with a black volume control.There is a small green, not too bright, power indicator light on each chassis. the front fascias are subtly contoured. Beautifully finished, this is a work of art. Very, very, nice. More »

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Radford Revival STA15 Meets the Original

07. May 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , ,

More and larger Images at the bottom of the page

Hot on the heels of the original review of the Radford Revival STA15 I had the chance of a direct comparison with the original recently.  I won’t say “with the real McCoy” as the Revival unit is just as “real” in terms of circuit topology and design.  There were a few critics doing the rounds voicing opinions that older valves in unrestored versions were bound to sound softer, so setting the newer version in a glowing light, but if you read on, you’ll see that they completely missed the point.

During a brief recess in the downpour, which had been of biblical proportions of late, a knock came at the door last Friday and I found William Moores from Radford Revival was at the door accompanied by a large box containing an original STA15.  The revival unit was still with me following the last review and so we settled down to an uninterrupted afternoon of music and amplifiers.  They way it was going to go was to first listen to the system playing the recordings used for the previous review (all on LP) so that Will could get a feel for the system and each of the recordings before switching from my own amp to the Revival unit, then immediately to the original STA15.  An important (as far as I was concerned) part of the review was to compare not just the sonic merits of each ‘amp, but also the physical characteristics, looking at internal build quality, exterior appearance and discussing measurements for both amps.

What’s immediately apparent is just how similar both units are – you have to look really hard to spot which is the Revival unit.  A brief glance shows both to be identical, and only on second inspection do the slight changes become apparent.  The biggest giveaway is the Revival unit is newer looking and everything is a little shinier, but look closer and you’ll see almost identical but better quality switches around back (taps for the transformer) on the new model, and notably that the casework lacks the crude folds of the original and is smoother and better finished on the newer model.  Transformer casings are almost identical and there’s a story behind that too.

Old and New Transformers

The man behind the original transformer casings does in fact still make them (in a Bristol workshop) for the new amplifier, so there’s some of the original DNA from the same pair of craftsman’s hands involved in the new amp.  It’s great that Will and Steve have managed to keep some of the links with the original amp manufacture.  Their attention to detail and passion for these amplifiers is what makes them what they are, true but improved copies of the original. More »

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Consonance Cyber 10 Signature Integrated Amplifier

27. April 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers

It’s been a while since I listened to a good low-watter valve amp, the last one being the amazing Horning Sati; 12 watts of Pure Class A SET amplification.  It was bliss and the output figures totally belied what it was capable of.  Since then, I’ve listened to or owned a few interesting valve amplifiers and having recently being given the opportunity to listen to the Consonance Cyber 10 Signature, I jumped at the chance.
Consonance are a relatively small specialist Chinese company, but don’t let that put you off, as their standards are high and their kit has won widespread acclaim world-wide.  Their quality control seems peerless in China, as do their technical standards and attention to detail.  Having auditioned their Droplet and Mini-Droplet CD spinners, and falling head over heels with the build and the sound, I ended up buying the CDP3.1 and have never looked back. It was with a little nervousness that I took the opportunity to review the Cyber 10 Signature as I knew that both the bank manager and wife would be none too pleased if I repeated my last performance with Consonance kit… More »

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Ming Da MC-7SE Pre-amp, MC-805 Power-amps & MC-phono2006 Phonostage

26. April 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , ,

New UK dealership BD-Audio, based in the lovely UK Midlands town of Malvern and headed up by Jack Durant, has taken on the Chinese designed & manufactured Ming Da brand of valve-based electronics.

Looking at the pricing of the equipment, many folk might quite understandably do a double-take – perceived value is extremely competitive, especially at the lower end of the price range.  When the kit is seen ‘in the flesh’ the feeling of great value for money is further enhanced – these are lovely items to behold. Production quality seems very high and the aesthetic design is distinctive and attractive.  Warranty is 2 years on the equipment and an unusually generous 1 year on the valves.

Jack paid a visit to my humble abode a few days ago and brought with him a selection of Ming Da kit for me to audition and review.

I listened to all of the equipment with the stock Chinese valves, and although I have no reason to think they are poor, you will certainly be able to obtain different sonic flavours with a bit of ‘valve rolling’.

Remarkably ugly valve cages are provided to meet CE regulations; these are easily removed for when they are not required to keep inquiring small hands or paws at bay!

Ming Da MC-7SE pre-amp

With a current UK retail price of £1520 this remote controlled (volume level and mute) stereo valve pre-amp is a lovely thing for an audiophile to behold.

4 pairs of stereo RCA inputs and 2 pairs of RCA outputs but no fixed level output (“tape”) is available.  The circuit includes five valves (tubes), four of these valves are the 6SN7 type, the other, a rectifier, is a 5U4G. More »

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Radford STA15 Series 3 Re-Issue Amplifier

10. April 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , ,

As the Radford Revival STA15 is a reissue of an early 1960s design, we thought that the best way to give readers a full and clear picture of what this amplifier is capable of was to conduct two separate reviews.

In his first review of the Radford Revival reissue, Paul reviews the amplifier as he would any other modern amplifier, with the caveat that some, but not all of the music chosen was contemporary with the design of the amplifier.

The second forthcoming review will compare and contrast an original STA15 against the Radford Revival STA15 Series 3 Re-Issue. – Stuart

Background

Radford Electronics was originally set up in Bristol by Arthur Radford in 1959 and it was the later Series 3 amplifiers such as the STA15 and STA25 that established Radford’s designs.  These were unique amplifiers for the day, and in some ways remain so even today due to Radford’s interest in the amplifier’s ‘rise time’ and square wave response, carefully designed and engineered to ensure possibly the highest fidelity for home audio reproduction to date when first released back in the early 1960s.  Without going into too much detail (the technical specifications are available to view on Radford Revival’s website) it’s the square wave response and very low distortion (and here I mean very low for a valve amplifier; almost into SS territory in fact) which really set these amplifiers apart from the rest of the 1960s contemporary crowd.

The difference between the 15 and the 25 models is mainly in the power supply and output valve bias arrangements. The STA 15, high tension power supply rectification is provided by a GZ34 rectifier, providing around 380V high tension. Output valves on the STA15 use automatic biasing courtesy of cathode resistors whilst the STA25 output stage is fixed bias with a negative grid voltage applied to the output valve, adjusted for the output valve. More »

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The Mighty Audio Stoat 01 “Amplifier” April 1st Special

31. March 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Amplifiers

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Do Good Things come in Small Packages? – Amptastic “Mini-T””

11. March 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: ,

These diminutive hi-fi amplifiers are just £60 UK delivered if you buy direct from the manufacturers.

Just another chip amp?  No way – this uses the magical TA2020 chipset.  You like transparency but don’t want to pay £1k+? … this amp may well be the answer.

Yes, you can get more power out of, for example, the TA2022 or TA2050 chipsets.  And yes, they do sound very fine.  But … they don’t quite manage the transparent musical magic that I hear with the two TA2020 amps that I’ve tried.

The manufacturer says they’ve done some bespoke mods to the circuit of his Mini-T, and his amp does sound noticeably superior to the cheaper TA2020 I have also tried – it’s purer and smoother and altogether more enjoyable. More »

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CR Developments Romulus Valve Integrated Amplifier

10. March 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , , , ,

I heard this at a bake off (an audiophile get-together and listening session) a year or two prior to this purchase.

For me, at that bake-off, the Romulus totally blew away all comers and I’d been nagging its owner since then to sell it to me.  Well, due to the completion of his own DIY valve amps the owner finally succumbed and so off I trotted on the 280 mile return trip to collect the amp from his place in Plymouth.

Here she is – pretty, no?  It’s the ‘export model’, with gold trimmings.

30wpc integrated, using 3x 12AX7, 2x 12AU7 and 4x 6L6GC valves for the power.  It retailed at around £2,000.

CR Developments are a now sadly defunct small British hifi company based in Southend that specialised in valve-based equipment and focused predominantly on Far East markets, and maybe came to grief as a result of that region’s economic woes.  They made some really gorgeous kit, including monoblock power amps and a range of pre-amps and phono-stages.
Their website is still available on-line at www.crdevelopments.com but it hasn’t been updated since 2002.  Worth a look, though, some lovely gear there! More »

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Chord CPM 2600 Integrated Amplifier

29. February 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , , ,

Chord is a well-established British company who make a wide range of equipment covering a very broad price band.  You can spend just a few £hundred on a DAC or large multiples of tens of thousands on a fridge-sized amplifier!  Chord have a penchant for very distinctive-looking equipment chassis, lots of silver aluminium and a high tech – OK, some would say blingy! – appearance.  Chord are not shy of providing transparent windows into the chassis with internal lighting provided by LED – that wasn’t on offer with the CPM2600, though.

Since their foundation Chord have used switch mode power supplies (SMPS) which are much lighter, smaller and more efficient than the more traditional type, although they don’t have universal compatibility with partnering equipment.  And some audiophiles have no time for them at all because of perceived sonic characteristics. More »

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Parasound Halo A21 Stereo Power Amp

29. February 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , , , , ,

American muscle amp, blingy appearance, heatsinks along the sides.

Yawn – not another one?

Certified for THX – why are you wasting my time with this AV stuff?

Move along, nothing to see here for a 2-channel audiophile.

But wait – it’s wonderful! More »

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Cary Audio Design 572SE Monoblocs

25. February 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: , , , , , , ,

These are seriously Bad Boys and are not for the faint-hearted.

And aren’t they gorgeous!! ….

The simply Gorgeous Cary 572SE Monobloc Amplifiers

Power valves are 572-3 triodes.  They glow very brightly and are hugely impressive in a darkened room.  The full valve complement is 6SN7, 6DN7, 572-3 and a 5U4-GB rectifier tube behind the 572-3.

 

This is really a tale of taming these Bad Boys with valve-rolling, I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with these amps.

The Svetlana 572-3 power valves are a fixture, no-one else made these valves, so it’s the small valves that must perform the sound-tuning duties.  Internet rumour had it that the power valves were no longer obtainable – not true, I found a reliable and good value source in the USA quite easily and I got a spare pair of valves immediately.  Why don’t people use a decent search engine? More »

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