TONEAudio MAGAZINE The Concierge of High End Audio

We’ve enjoyed the PrimaLuna amps over the years, and the ProLogue 7 addresses our only concern-more power!¨Ü With 70 wpc, these PrimaLunas offer twice the power and more refinement over the stereo version (the ProLogue 5), and when asked if if those improvements were worth it, we proudly exclaimed “No question about it!”

Whether you prefer KT88s or EL34s, this power/pre combination “offered a lot of sound for the money.” Well-executed and flawlessly assembled in China, the ProLogues produce “great sound and are very musical,” and they even perform well in otherwise spendy systems. Look no further for great tube sound that is reasonably priced.

For the price of a premium power cord, you can buy this Pioneer and play CDs, SACDs, DVD-As and DVD movies. While it won’t make you want to put your expensive digital player on Audiogon, it will sound (and look) great in a second system. The DV-588A-S also has 5.1 capabilities and can “handle anything you throw at it.”

These tiny Finnish monitors live up to their name, and we would “recommend them with confidence to anyone.” Designed to work wonders in small rooms, the Charismas became a downright astonishing speaker system when mated to the dedicated Chara subwoofer towers. These little speakers are also imaging champs and throw a very deep soundstage that was “SMASHING.”

Designed by a Finnish musician and engineer, these tall and slim floorstanding speakers were “always musical and involving,” regardless of the source. We liked the speed and transparency as well, and the fact that the soundstage was so wide and deep that “it’s almost like listening to 5.1.” With bass extension down to 30 Hz, the Serenades are a well-balanced speaker that we recommend highly.

These Danish floorstanders are “small and unassuming” until you try to pick them up (they weigh 110 pounds each!). Unlike most princesses, the Peak Consults are very easy to live with and produce a “high level of resolution” without being big or overbearing. The build quality is exquisite and is marked by gorgeous wood veneers and a fine leather baffle that will make owner proud.

For only $819 you get an integrated amplifier with a tubed preamp section, a DAC that can work with USB, optical and RCA inputs, a headphone jack, remote control and in interface for a Sonos music server. All this versatility makes the Decco really shine in a computer-based or digital-based system, and with a decent pair of bookshelf speakers and an iPod you can have good sound for a very reasonable price.

These tiny yet stylish monitors were a pain to fit onto their dedicated stands, but once everything was dialed in we noticed that the S1s imaged “like nobody’s business.” Designed for use with a subwoofer, the Paradigms still managed to sound wonderfully balanced on their own when matched with warmer (i.e. tubed) amplification. These are also a natural choice for an impressive and satisfying desktop system.

Not quite “integrated,” this amplifier combines a 300B-based power section with a passive volume control and a selector switch for four inputs, all at a very affordable price. We achieved an amazing level of performance when we substituted a premium power cord and NOS output tubes, finding that the Pacific Creek was a bargain compared to some 300B amps that cost close to five figures.

These amps weigh 36 pounds, provide 200 watts per channel of power and retail for only $650. While that may seem like an amazing bargain regardless of sound quality, the 2200s provided “a pretty fair amount of finesse” and didn’t rely solely on brute power to make their point. These amps mated well with tubed preamps and provided a solid foundation for a home-theater system as well.

Seeing this classic beauty on our doorstep was like saying hello to a dear old friend, albeit one that has returned after a few years of hitting the gym. The Oracle sounds fast, powerful and detailed, with enough weight to “round out the picture nicely.” We concluded that the Delphi V was “a winner back then, and a winner today,” and even offers a tempting upgrade path as well.

With their amazing cabinetry and level of sound quality, we wouldn’t be surprised if these mini-monitors cost several times their $219 per pair price. As it stands, we can’t think of any other speakers that offers this kind of performance for so little green. While you can only expect so much within reason, we found that the little Onixes “covered the basics pretty well.”

This tubed integrated may seem like just another entry in the $1000 amplifier sweepstakes, but the high parts quality and robust construction set it apart. Weighing a stout 56 pounds, the 38wpc SP3 is a warm-sounding amplifier that does almost nothing wrong. We even placed in into some high-dollar systems and fooled our friends into thinking they were listening to a much more expensive amp.

We waited a long time for this one to hit the market, and we weren’t disappointed. The latest in the legendary NAIT line offers a substantial power supply (of course-it’s a Naim!) as well as a very high-quality DAC for use with iPods and music servers. This forward-thinking integrated sounded “very powerful and well-controlled,” and we ultimately thought it was “pretty close to perfection.”

This amplifier-speaker combo sounds great, looks fantastic and works very well together, defining the concept of synergy that often accompanies discussions about Naim Audio. The NAIT 5i and n-SATs delivered the prerequisite tone and pace while sounding very detailed and neutral. We also noticed the same outstanding build quality that can be found in Naim’s top-of-the-line gear.

A $32,000 CD player may seem a little crazy at first, but the Naim completely surpassed our expectations about digital playback. We found that we’ve never enjoyed music this much, and that the CD555 possesses the same strengths as the very best analog rigs combined with the perfect pitch accuracy, greater dynamic range and lower noise floor of the very best in digital.

The legendary Nagra reputation for sonic neutrality is carried into this new hybrid phono preamp, making it one of our all-time favorite stages. Small, compact and machined to the highest standards, the VPS is a perfect match for the most lofty of analog rigs. We describe it as “nuanced balanced with power,” and many TONE staff members have named this Swiss-built component a favorite.

While the $1500 VFS (Vibration Free System) may qualify as one of the most expensive component shelves in the industry, it is an absolutely essential accessory that will help you squeeze even more musicality from your Nagra amp, preamp, phono stage and CD player. It’s also a perfect visual match with Nagra components and will make other isolation shelves look clunky and out of place in comparison.

Known affectionately as “the Pyramid,” this Swiss amplifier is the epitome of precision and style and offers a sound that is as neutral as its country of origin. The PSA offered a substantial amount of poise, even with the loudest of musical passages, and did “an outstanding job or preserving the music between the notes.” We found that the performance more than justified the price.

Proof that great things can come in small packages, the PL-L delivers a big sound that defies expectations. The Nagra has three tubes (two 12AX7s and one 12AT7) and kept us “glued to the chair” with its speed, precision and excellent tonality. The compact PL-L offers a big percentage of the performance of much bigger and much more costly state-of-the-art preamplifiers, boasting legendary Nagra reliability and build quality as well.

Sleek, beautiful and indeed mysterious, this tubed integrated allows a choice between EL34 and KT88 output tubes at the flick of a switch. While we preferred the bigger, more immediate sound of the EL34s, this amp is a tube-roller’s dream. If you love the sound of SETs but need just a little more power and flexibility, the ia21 will surprise you with its ability to make voices and instruments hanging in front of you with eerie realism.

Basically three Nova Phenomenon phono stages in one chassis, the SuperNova is the perfect preamp for analog lovers with multiple turntables and cartridges. Flexible and easy to use, the MS is also battery powered and has a volume control so that you can use it without a preamp. We enjoyed the excellent imaging and soundstaging as well as the “top-notch” industrial design.

Lacking only the battery-powered feature of its respected older brother, the Nova, this $600 phono preamp features the same circuitry and may be the perfect match for Technics SL1200s, Rega P3-24s and other sub-$1000 turntables. We found it to be at the “top of the heap in its class” and that it will help newcomers to vinyl discover just how much musical information is hiding in those grooves.

If you’re looking for an improvement over the popular budget turntables available today, the MMF-9 is an easy way to get and up and running. Fitted with an arm and cartridge, the Music Hall can pulled from its box and set up in minutes. Its three-piece plinth, carbon fiber tonearm and user-friendly adjustments resulted in a very friendly and pleasing sound, and a little tweaking can take performance even further.

This amplifier looks like a miniature version of the classic Mark Levinson ML-2, but it offers a big sound that qualifies it as “one of the great solid-state amplifier values of all time.” The SM70 can be used as both a stereo version or a monoblock (which we preferred), and in balanced or single-ended configurations. It’s also neutral enough to stay out of the way of the music.

The 9.0 is one of those rare products that makes us just shut up and enjoy the music. This tubed unit is very quiet, and “plays well” with MC cartridges that have very low output. The ModWright avoids sounding tubey and warm, but still offers plenty of air that many solid-state phono preamps just miss. We felt the 9.0 SE offers “one of the best values in analog today.”

It may seem strange to see a couple of 5687 tubes sticking out of the top of this Sony digital player, but Dan Wright’s mods make¨Ü the 9100ES¨Ü a “world-class digital playback machine.” Using the tube circuit from the ModWright SWL 9.0SE preamp and a new copper umbilical for the new outboard tube supply, this player has midrange magic and is “groovy and well worth the money.”

The 9.0SE is so much fun to listen to that we “put it up against the mega-expensive stuff and still came away impressed.” The tubed ModWright sounds warm and big yet still offers tons of detail and can easily reveal different levels of detail in most recordings. “Great sound, great build quality,” we surmised, noting that this preamp was a huge step up from the affordable stuff.

With its sexy carbon fiber body, the 3.5C oozes beauty and performance. Made for MoFi by the folks at Miyabi, this moving-coil had that “reach out and touch it” feel and offered a perfectly clear window into every recording. This cartridge maintained the balance between extension and texture “without sounding overdamped.”

At $2795, the BM-8 may give you sticker shock, but we felt it was very impressive for wringing “the last bit of performance from your analog rig.” This passive device is easy to set up and use and delivered impressive results with six different turntables. In addition, there is some solid scientific research behind its design, appealing to those who do not take isolation lightly.

This French top-loading CD player actually convinced us to stop spending so much time listening to state-of-the-art analog and get back to the shiny silver discs. Beautifully built in an understated Gallic sort of way, this $10,800 machine completely defeats harsh digital artifacts and produces a sound that is “neutral, accurate and dynamic at all times.”

Our vote for the “last CD player you need to buy-within reason,” the G08 offered a delicate yet engaging sound with “great weight and fullness to the bass.”¨Ü The G08 is one of the most compelling choices at its price point, and we feel that you’d have to spend a lot more money to better its combination of immediacy, balance and rhythm.

This three-piece system is all you need to experience some of the most satisfying sound available today. The epitome of simplicity, all you need to do is plug a standard Ethernet cable between the two active speakers, run one more to the CD player, and plug everything in. While these pieces are not quite affordable when considered separately, it’s hard to come up with a $50K system that outperforms the sum of these parts.

Calling the F80 a $3000 table radio seems unfair, considering that it can form the foundation of an extremely sophisticated audio and video system. This amazing product features an 80wpc amp, an active 2.1 DSP loudspeaker system, an AM/FM tuner with DAB digital radio and a CD and DVD player. And yes, the official Ferrari colors on the rounded exterior surfaces are absolutely gorgeous.

Meridian has been making high performance digital players for 20 years now, and the 808 is the culmination of that expertise. We agreed that the 808 was “beautiful, well-built and sounds wonderful,” and that it is an extremely musical player that “gets it right on all levels. ” We recommend that you don’t listen to one unless you can immediately write a check for it.

Using MartinLogan’s fourth-generation curved electrostatic panels, these hybrid speakers offer that “transparent, walk-through feel” that can only ESLs can offer. Sure they offer detail, resolution, imaging and weight, but they can allow you to drift while listening to your favorite music as well. We found that they offered “nuance without being harsh.”

Even at a modest $1095, the Grotto is one of the finest subwoofers we’ve ever heard, at least until we strapped a pair of the big ML Descents to the new CLXs. Very flexible, the Grotto allowed us to play with low pass settings, output levels and phase until we could integrate it with almost any pair of speakers. We concluded that “it may be all the subwoofer you ever need.”

The Summits are the first pair of panel speakers we’ve heard that really rock, prompting us to finally crank up Metallica to ear-splitting levels. These MartinLogans also expanded the sweet spot considerably over previous electrostatic designs, and offered an almost seamless blending between the woofers and panels. We picked the Summits as Product of the Year for 2008.

We take a novel approach to reviewing the new Martin-Logan flagship CLXes by including two Descents, and found that this four-piece system plays in the same ballpark as those six-figure monoliths for a mere fraction of the price. Although proper set-up is labor-intensive, these electrostatic panels constitute a “serious loudspeaker system indeed,” bringing listeners “so much closer to the music.” The final verdict: “Intoxicating.”

A decidedly high-quality alternative to cheap switching boxes that can be found at Radio Shack, the Skipjack allows audiophiles to switch from four inputs to one, or three inputs to two. We found the latter configuration the way to go, making the Manley the perfect solution for great-sounding vintage amplifiers that can only accommodate a couple of sources.

“Equalizer”may be a dirty word in the audiophile dictionary, but this extremely flexible EQ has found its way into many professional recording studios. Featuring two independent mono, four-band passive equalizers in one chassis, the Manley can be quite habit-forming and can turn most audio purists into knob-spinning, frequency-enhancing mastering engineers. We found it to be an “extraordinary device with endless uses.”

Featuring 10 EL34 output tubes per channel, the Manley 250 can operate in either single-ended or balanced mode with just a flick of a switch. All those valves take a while to warm up, but soon you’ll be listening to a sound that’s “sweet and full of inner detail.” The 250 is one tube amp that never runs out of gas, and amazed us since it offered a high amount of detail along with the limitless headroom.

At $7500 a pair, these small but beautiful German speakers may seem like a tough sell. We found that they are “worth every penny,” however, offering a sound that is unusually big while providing impressive speed and control throughout the lower frequencies. While they didn’t go too far below 35 Hz, they earned one of our highest recommendations when paired with the REL subwoofer.

If you’re tired a wimpy little integrated amps, the MA7000 is the answer. This massive 250wpc amp weighs nearly 100 pounds, has an amazing array of features and will power almost any speaker on the market with ease. Best of all, it has the trademark big blue meters that will send most of the McIntosh faithful into orbit. The MA7000 is “built like a tank, sounds great and is easy to live with.”

This new preamp from the venerable American audio company has an amazing list of features including eight inputs, a number of data and control ports, separate MM and MC phono stages and the ability to change cartridge loading via remote control.¨Ü The six 12AX7s, bathed in a soft green light, are visibly through a glass plate in the top panel, making this McIntosh extraordinarily beautiful and flexible.

The perfect preamplifier for the audiophile who just wants to “hang out and not worry about gear, room setup and the like,” the C220 offers a multitude of features (including tone controls!) in one chassis. The sound was smooth and relaxing yet powerful, not unlike taking a restored vintage Corvette “for a nice leisurely drive in the country with the top down.”

Magnum Dynalab has made some of the best FM tuners in audio history, and now this highly-respected company turns its attention to satellite radio with stunning results. The MD-609T doesn’t quite provide CD-quality sound for $4000, but it comes awfully close, hammering a few final nails into the coffin of so-called terrestrial radio. If you want the best sound from XM, this is the way to go.

The McCormack is the rare 500wpc amplifier that you can “pick up without busting a gut,” and we felt it would satisfy all but the most demanding and obsessive of audiophiles. The distributed node technology is the reason for the svelte appearance of this amp, and the result is amazing control throughout the lower registers that makes it a bargain at its price point.

The $3200 Lyra Skala isn’t the most expensive cartridge out there, but it competes with the mightiest of contenders. This moving coil cartridge offers “astonishing transparency and palpability” while retaining just a “hint of warmth” that can be so appealing to audiophiles who are serious about their analog set-ups. We found it to be a more immediate and revealing alternative to some of the lusher and more romantic premium cartridges.

It isn’t every day we get our hands on a $10,000 cartridge for review, but this Lyra surpassed all of our expectations. Available in very limited quantities, the Olympos sounds decidedly different from other premium Lyras such as the Skala and the Titan. A champion of depth and tonality, the Olympos made speakers “just melt away from the room, leaving only the music,” therefore ruining us for life.