Preamps_and_Amps_2011.pdf

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STEREO • MUSIC
Guide to preamplifierS
& power amplifierS
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Contents
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From the Editor
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Feature Articles
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Pre/Power Amp Combinations
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Preamplifiers
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Power Amplifiers
Contents
Features
• From the Editor
• The Ten Most
Significant
Amplifiers of All Time
• The Ten Most
Significant European
Amplifiers of All Time
• Editor's Choice:
Power Amps
• Editor's Choice:
Preamps
SPonSorEd by
Pre/Power Amp
Cominations
Preamplifiers
Power
Amplifiers
• Aesthetix Rhea Signature
phono stage, Calypso
Signature line-stage preamp
and Atlas Signature hybrid
monoblocks
• Ayon Audio Vulcan II
Power Amplifier, Polaris III
Preamplifier, and CD5s CD
Player/DAC
• Burmester Top Line System
• Cary Audio SLP 05 Linestage
Preamplifier and CAD 211 FE
Monoblock Amplifiers
• David Berning ZOTL- One
Preamplifier and ZH-230
Power Amplifier
• Electrocompaniet EMC 1UP,
EC4.8 and Nemo system
• Lamm LL1 Signature Preamplifier
and ML3 Signature Amplifier
• Musical Fidelity M6CD, M6PRE
and M6PRX CD, Preamplifier and
Power Amplifier
• Mystère CA21 Line Preamplifier
and PA21 Power Amplifier
• Octave Jubilee Mono Monoblock
Power Amplifier and Preamplifier
• Quad 99 Series Preamplifier and
909 Stereo Power Amplifier
• Vincent Audio SA-31MK Hybrid
Linestage Preamplifier and
SP-331MK Hybrid Power Amplifier
• conrad-johnson ET3 preamp
• Holm Acoustics DSPre1 Digital
Preamp and Room/Speaker
Correction Device
• Marantz SC-7S2 Reference
Control Amplifier
• Siltech C1 preamplifier
• Almarro A340A Monoblock
Power Amplifier
• Audio by Van Alstine
Ultravalve Power Amplifier and
Salk Sound SongTower QWT
Loudspeaker
• Classé Audio CA-M600
Monoblock Power Amplifier
• DarTZeel NHB-458
monoblocks
• Edge G6 power amplifier
• Krell S-150m Monoblock Power
Amplifier
• Mark Levinson Nº53
Monoblock Power Amplifier
• NuForce Reference 18
Monoblock Power Amplifier
Click on one of thee links above to jump to that section, feature or review.
3
Guide to Preamplifiers & Power Amplifiers
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From the Editor
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Power Amplifiers
sTereo • MusiC
PrEAmPliFiErs & PowEr AmPliFiErs
publisher.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Martens
editors-in-chief
. . . . . . . . . . Robert Harley
Alan Sircom
executive editor
. . . . . . . . . Jonathan Valin
acquisitions manager
and associate editor
. . . . . Neil Gader
founder; chairman,
editorial advisory board
. . Harry Pearson
music editor
. . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Lehman
creative director
. . . . . . . . Shelley Lai
production coordinator
. . Aaron Chamberlain
senior writers
. . . . . . . . . . . Anthony H. Cordesman
Wayne Garcia
Robert E. Greene
Chris Martens
Tom Martin
Dick Olsher
Andrew Quint
Paul Seydor
Steven Stone
Alan Taffel
reviewers &
contributing writers
. . . . . Peter Breuninger
Jacob Heilbrunn
Roy Gregory
Kirk Midtskog
Chris Thomas
Nextscreen, LLC, inc.
chairman and ceo
. . . . . . . Tom Martin
vp/group publisher
. . . . . . Jim Hannon
advertising reps
. . . . . . . . Cheryl Smith
(512) 891-7775
Marvin Lewis
(718) 225-8803
Pete Trewin
+44(0)1425 655699
To sign up for Buyer’s Guides
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Address letters to the Editor:
The Absolute Sound,
8868 Research Blvd., Austin, TX 78758 or
rharley@nextscreen.com or alan@hifiplus.com
©2011 NextScreen, LLC
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Power Amplifiers
FROM THE
Editor
W
elcome to the 2011 Preamplifier and Power Amplifier Buyer’s Guide, brought to you by The
Absolute Sound and Hi-Fi+ magazines. A year ago, we published a similar guide on the subject and
it’s fascinating to see just how much change has happened in those intervening months. We are
Electrostatic loudspeakers? Why not try an output-
transformerless tube power amp for a magical mix? Whether
it’s driving ‘difficult’ loudspeaker loads or ensuring the best
possible power supply to each amplifier in the signal path,
separate preamplifier and power amplifier systems provide
the widest variety of choice and performance potential, and
the least compromise.
The pre/power market now perfectly reflects the diversity
in today’s audio market. State of the art electronics rub
shoulders with designs from the 80 years ago. Whether your
system needs a low-power single-ended triode design or a
fire-breathing kilowatt power house, there’s a power amp out
there for you. Similarly, if it’s a full-function, multi-platform
system nerve-center or a hyper-minimalist passive preamp
you need, there are designs to suit.
It’s also possible to mix and match components for an
excellent sound that would be impossible to obtain through
normal means. There are many who think the path to musical
Nirvana lies in using a tube preamp and a solid-state power
amplifier. There are others who think the polar opposite is the
best way to make great sound, and there are still more who
suggest all-tube or all-solid-state is the only way to go. Such
twists and turns in the amplifier chain are only possible when
using separate preamplifiers and power amplifiers.
In this Buyer’s Guide, we’ve concentrated on reviews of
standalone preamplifiers, standalone power amplifiers and
one-make combinations of pre and power amp. You shouldn’t
necessarily think those one-make combinations only work
in the context; there are many excellent products in those
pre/power duos that should be considered in their own right,
not just as part of a double act. However, we chose these
as combinations simply because both parts of the pairing
had great merit and the natural partnership of preamp and
power amp should be considered as a great first point of
investigation.
Whether you are reading this in search of your next power
amp, or an integrated amp owner wondering what all the fuss
is about, check out the following. They are the best of the
best amplifiers you can hear today. Read on!
in a time of great change in audio and that even
echoes through the pre/power amplifier sector.
In this relatively short time, the high-end integrated amp
– especially the high-end digital integrated amp – has found
even greater traction and provides yet more of a challenge to
the dominance of pre/power combinations. Whereas at the
lower end of the audio world, the separate pre/power system
has become relatively uncommon and has seeing its market
share continually cut into by one-box rivals. This last has,
in fairness, been a trend that started in the 1960s and has
continued at pace ever since.
But far from writing off the preamp and power amp as a
lost cause, the duo offer continued room for flexibility and
performance for today’s audiophiles. They offer the designer
the ability to tailor a design for a very specific set of needs
and allow the end-user to configure an amplifier to perfectly
suit their demands. Take turntables for example. Although
the built-in phono stage is fast becoming a addition (rather
than the core) to the traditional preamp, it still appears on
many of the best new preamps.
It’s the flexibility that really attracts high-end buyers.
No turntable? Opt for a preamp without a phono stage?
C li ck here to tu rn th e p ag e.
5
Guide to Preamplifiers & Power Amplifiers
www.theabsolutesound.com
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