Benchmark DAC3 HGC DAC/pre and AHB2 stereo power amp I suppose it’s having grown-up with it, as it were, in my early BBC days but I just love the look, feel and operation of professional audio equipment. When the chance presented itself to try some Benchmark electronics from the US, I just could not resist. […]
Naim NSS 333 streamer, NAC 332 preamplifier, NAP 350 power amplifiers Apparently the NAC 332 is the first Naim preamplifier to have an onboard power supply. In a day and age when finding any preamplifier without its own power supply is unlikely this is hardly shocking but it’s clearly a change of approach for Salisbury’s […]
Bricasti Design M19 SACD/CD transport, M1 Series II DAC, M20 preamplifier and M25 power amplifier Bricasti products reveal their heritage in the casework design, a style that comes from company founders Brian Zolner and Casey Dowdell whose backgrounds were with Lexicon and who work closely with former Madrigal Labs engineers. The latter manufactured Mark Levinson […]
The Ear picks the best hi-fi of 2023 2023 has been a tough year for the hi-fi industry but that has done nothing to stem the flow of first class products coming to market. In fact there are even more extraordinary audio components to choose from than there were last year, with advances made in […]
Moon 791 preamplifier/streamer/DAC and 761 power amp As the owner of a Moon integrated amplifier and streaming DAC, I have been looking forward to trying this combination since news of its launch surfaced earlier this year. Even for those new to this most prominent Canadian audio brand, we at The Ear feel that the launch […]
Music First Audio Reference V2.1 preamplifier I’m getting worried about Music First main man Jonathan Billington. Each time I get one of his products it is, like him, modest, understated and goes far beyond what one might expect from such an understated yet finely crafted set of components. The worry is that I keep thinking […]
Naim NSC 222, NPX 300 & NAP 250 The Naim New Classic range marks the beginning of an era for the Salisbury based electronics brand, a company that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is the first change to Naim’s core product line since the introduction of Naim Classic in 2002. The Mu-So and […]
Lumin P1 streamer preamplifier A glance at the Lumin range of network players is initially confusing, why is the Lumin P1 bigger than the more expensive X1 range topper? A quick comparison of the two back panels reveals the reason, the P1 is a streamer, a DAC and an analogue and digital preamplifier whereas the […]
It’s not clear when looking at a single product from M2Tech’s Rockstars range why they have a particular name, but gather the model names together and you have the Crosby power amplifier, Nash phono preamplifier and Young DAC as well as a Joplin ADC/phono stage and a Mitchell active crossover among others. Stills doesn’t seem […]
Built by brothers Carl and Neil Broomfield in Yorkshire the CAAS Audio electronics are pretty ambitious bits of kit by British standards. There aren’t many small companies making components with casework that’s milled from a single aluminium billet in these isles and even fewer who have developed their own amplification and volume control circuits. CAAS […]
Linn is one of the few hi-fi manufacturers that makes its own metalwork in house, this is because the company’s founder worked at his father’s engineering business before creating the legendary LP12 turntable and discovered a way to make a mark on the audio world. This is possibly why the latest incarnation of Linn’s ultimate […]
Benchmark’s HPA4 is the first item of audio kit I have encountered that peels apart the ying and the yang of audio to expose the fault line between those of us for whom measurements are all that matters… and those of us that approach audio from a more emotional, less scientific direction. But in another […]