Hi-fi is usually an expensive hobby. A fact that we are painfully aware of at LB Tech, where the majority of the editorial staff themselves are hi-fi nerds. But occasionally, products emerge that break with the costly norm. Tangent Ampster BT II comes from Danish Tangent Audio, and as the name suggests, it is an …
McIntosh, like so many others, started with valve amplifiers, but like most at the time, they eventually made more transistor amplifiers than valve amplifiers. That was not so strange. The new technology that transistors were in the late 60s and early 70s, was easier to implement, did not get as hot and one could build …
The new McIntosh preamplifier is not really brand new. We’ve seen it before, but back then it was called C70, and came dressed in black to fit McIntosh’s 70th anniversary ball in 2019. This version is called the C22 Mark V, and under the hood it is similar to the C70, but here the black …
When NAD launched the premium-class preamplifier C658, we became curious about a test (and the test can be found here). But a power amplifier in the same weight class was missing to complete the set. It has finally arrived, in the form of the C298. The NAD C298 is a power amplifier in a design …
Most amplifiers that we encounter are of the integrated type, ie where everything is gathered in one unit. But there are still some who swear by having a pure preamplifier. Either because they have special requirements for the power amplifier, or because it has to be combined with active speakers. The NAD C658 is a …
You almost have to be inside the hi-fi industry to know who Copland is. By that I do not mean the award-winning American composer Aaron Copland, but Danish hi-fi manufacturer Copland. Who is completely unknown to most people, except connoisseurs, who know that Copland makes some of the most well-sounding there is – with vacuum …
I am not sure if it was Tony Bennett or Diana Krall who made me understand that. Maybe it was just the chorus on Allright, Okay, You Win, that triggered something in the subconscious, but I felt that the new Yamaha A-S2200 was about to get under my skin. It may have been the retro …
Dutch Mola Mola is one of the high-end market’s hidden gems. Just a look at the products tells us that we are dealing with extremely expensive cases. The wavy shaped cabinets in solid aluminum alone require expensive machine tools to mill out, and here the quality extends down to the smallest button. Both inside and …
You do not have to be a record collector or audiophile to see the need for a phono amplifier. Suffice that you have a turntable that may sound flat and boring, or simply that you have nowhere in the system to connect a turntable. Then you need a phono stage. Also called RIAA amplifier. Some …
They said they should not do it, but then they did it anyway. Maybe it was because we were not the only ones insisting that Hegel make a phono step. That they just gave in for the pressure. Or that Bent Holter realized that all the fuss might have meant that there was a need …
No matter what kind of speakers you have, they deserve a proper amplifier, and that demand naturally increases as the speakers come up in price and quality. When you round 3000 bucks and maybe a little higher, the best amplifiers are so good that you will not miss anything. They can operate most of the speakers, …
They are not many, but they exist. The small all-in-one solutions that elegantly combine a small footprint with seriously good sound. And let me add, does not cost a fortune. Many of us will immediately think of Naim Atom, when a compact plant is to be expanded with flow. But there are similar solutions from NAD, Technics, T …
This year marks 110 years since Denon started, something the company celebrates with special models of four popular high-end products with new technology and the best components they have acquired. Among the selected products is the surround amplifier AVC-A110. A real flagship, based on the home theater monster AVC-X8500H, with as many as 13 amplifier …
Half a minute into Keith Jarrett’s Cologne concert, I realized why I have always been weak for Marantz integrated amplifiers. The brand new Marantz Model 30 has much of the same sound signature, an easy-flowing, well-resolved and effortless sound, which is so easy to like that it quickly becomes addictive. It also looks like a …
Simple, inexpensive and well-playing amplifiers are not easy to find. Ever since NAD turned the market upside down with the 3020 in the 80’s, there has always been a selection of bargains in the very lowest price range. But lately, the selection has shrunk as prices have risen, and the good old 3020 is long …