TONEAudio MAGAZINE The Concierge of High End Audio

While modestly priced, this Lyra kept up with some of the big boys by providing “nice bloom, great bass and amazing inner detail.” Small changes in setup yielded huge differences in performance, but when everything is dialed in the Argo-i was neutral in timbre and tracked exceptionally well. The Lyra is “a great place to enter the world of true high-end analog playback.”

We were happy to see Luxman back in high-end audio, but this new 30wpc Class-A integrated amplifier surprised us by doing “everything right.” The L-590 is extremely revealing of source components, which is partially due to the “FANATICAL attention to detail” in the overall design. The balanced outputs, headphone amp, MM/MC phono stage and even the tone controls make this amp a great value.

These $48,500 speakers are “exquisite in form and function,” which isn’t surprising when you consider that they were designed by a noted artist and master craftsman. Exceptionally revealing, these unique and striking towers are a natural match for some of the finest tube amplification available and will provide an unwavering window into nearly every type of music.

Basically a slightly revised version of the now-classic Black Cube phono stage with a beefy outboard power supply, the Lehmann wound up being “first among equals” in our extensive survey of affordable phono preamps. Possessing an overall sound quality closer to our favorite $3K phono stages, the SE sounded “smooth, seamless and tight,” becoming one of our preferred references at this price point.

Offering both “stunning beauty and stunning sound,” these entry level floorstanders in KEF’s Reference Series offer an admirable level of fit and finish. The 203/2s impressed us with the way they responded to dense musical passages, and we found that the bass went much deeper than the published specs indicated. Resolution, dynamics, imaging and tonal accuracy were all top-notch.

The LA-150 is quite neutral “while retaining the lifelike sound of tubes,” offering a sound that was authoritative and dynamic. This preamplifier was transparent enough to allow us to hear deep into the soundstage, and it won’t gloss over music that has been poorly recorded. It does add excitement and panache, however, and makes music “a truly pleasurable experience.”

This tiny Swiss phono stage comes with an optional and equally tiny outboard phono stage that should be considered mandatory to get truly impressive sound and value. We felt that the JLTi was the most neutral phono stage we have heard at this price point and were constantly amazed that such a big, authoritative sound could come from such a small package.

A tubed integrated amplifier with a built-in iPod dock might seem like an unusual combination, but we found this modestly priced component to “sound fantastic as well,” providing a bridge between valves and a younger generation of music lovers. Two line level inputs are also included, making the Fatman “a very stylish package with pleasing sound.”

Famously described as being around the size of a shoebox, these classic BBC mini-monitors were meant as a replacement for the LS3/5a yet provide a sound that is even more “large and natural.” Legendary in terms of their engineering and build quality, the Harbeths “reproduce with an incredible sense of reality.” Don’t be fooled by the small size!

This unusual-looking tubed phono stage uses four 12AX7s and four 12AU7s (complete with dampers)¨Ü and provides an open and very detailed sound that is very quiet as well. Easy to set up and use, the Trumpet was especially impressive with vocals due to its tonal accuracy. You’ll spend so much time with it that you may put your “CD player on eBay and forget about digital altogether.”

If you’ve been wondering about the virtues of mono recordings, this Grado will eliminate much of the noise and thinness that stereo cartridges can inject into the mix. Very musical and slightly warm, the Sonata Mono will make your favorites sound more organic and realistic. We found that the Grado was “one of the most fun $500 purchases you will ever make!”

A rare moving-iron design, this $2500 Grado may look like the other wooden-bodied cartridges in this legendary American company’s product line. Offering a sound that is less lush and rounded than the lesser models, the Statement still provides a warm listening experience offers enough low-level detail to make you “forgo the moving coil experience altogether.”

There have been a few useful guides for hi-fi hobbyists over the years, but few focus almost exclusively on resisting the impulse to buy new components by extracting the best performance from what you already have. Jim Smith, former US distributor of Avantgarde Acoustics, is considered one of the best set-up guys in audio, and he offers 202 tips on accomplishing this goal. Purchasing this book, we decided, may be the most effective $45 tweak in audio.

These Canadian floorstanding speakers are “very neutral and relaxing without being rolled off,” and are downright gorgeous as well. A two-way ported design, these speakers don’t offer the ultimate in bass performance but excel in the midrange, providing an open expansive sound that boasts a high degree of coherence, with woofer-tweeter integration “as good as it gets.”

This Danish integrated amp offers intuitive operation and is “definitely a work of talented industrial design.” This solid-state amp offer 130wpc, a single pair of MOSFETs¨Ü and plenty of weight and punch, especially at medium to high listening levels. We found the Si100 to work well even with the most current-hungry speakers and wound up offering our highest recommendation.

A quick upgrade for tonearms with standard RCA jacks or DIN plugs, this cable has been treated with Furutech’s Alpha Cryogenic and Demagnetizing processes and is a bargain at just $429. We found it to be one of the most cost-effective upgrades you can make to an high-quality analog rig. The AG-12 offered a greater sense of decay and air, allowing listeners to hear even deeper into recordings.

The ultimate accessories for hardcore vinyl lovers, these two turntable-sized machines completely demagnetize and flatten your LPs, offering superior playback performance. While debates about demagnetizing have grown quite heated in the analog world, we found that the sonic differences were not subtle and that everyone who actually tried these machines were immediately won over.

After living with these stylish and functional racks for a few months, we “couldn’t imagine life without one.” Available in a number of shelf configurations, the Pagodas offered excellent resonance control and brought entire systems into focus like never before. We likened them to putting the perfect frame around a beautiful piece of art.

While fairly expensive at $17K, the Epifania thrilled us with its “pleasing tonality, unique looks and substantial build quality.” This valve preamp also excelled at ambience retrieval, making it an excellent tool for hearing deep into recordings. Since it’s produced in small quantities, you’ll probably be the only one on your block with one of these, but it may “be the centerpiece of your stereo for life!”

These premium power cords are exceedingly neutral in tone and are aimed at getting more music from your system, as opposed to acting as “fine-tuners.” Cryogenically-treated, the ESPs will not affect the overall tonality of fine audio gear and are perfect for audiophiles already pleased with the sound of their reference systems but want just a little more of everything.

This small two-box phono stage is virtually plug-and-play and will have you spinning your favorite records in no time. Using the highest-quality parts, the solid-state Circa sounds good that your digital front end “may start collecting dust.” It serves up “great dynamics, musical tonality and ease of use,” and the build quality is superb.

These understated yet beautiful stand-mounted loudspeakers feature a ribbon tweeter, 6-inch woofer and a beautiful cabinet made from laminated bamboo (in its SE version). Designed in Seattle and built in China, the F200s were very room-friendly, versatile, and offered a neutral presentation that is clear and extended on top. If you love British monitors but want just a little more sparkle in the treble, these may be the ticket.

While a $5000 cartridge should offer unparalleled sound quality, this Dynavector moving-coil offers exquisite tonality and timbre and was our first choice to mount on the $60,000 Continuum Criterion turntable. It requires precise set-up, but once everything is dialed in you should hear an astounding level of resolution mated with a natural tonal character. It’s a great tracker, too!

This tiny, almost pocket-sized phono stage offered a huge sound for just $750 and may be the perfect match for the very popular Rega P3-24/Dynavector 10X5 combination. In fact, the sound quality is so good that Dynavector could have placed this circuit in a bigger box and charged two or three times as much. Kudos to Dynavector for keeping it real…real small.

This “great affordable benchmark” is an updated of a true classic, the original Karat, and is one of the most neutral cartridges available at any price.¨Ü (It even measures that way!) It won’t satisfy those looking for a warm, dreamy sound, but it does offer “a ton of detail with a very high degree of tonal accuracy.” If you’re looking for a cartridge in the sub-$1000 range, the Dynavector 17D3 should be on your short list.

Understated in appearance, these small Dynaudio monitors caused us to shout “Wow!” when we first plugged them in. The build quality is amazingly high-they’re Danish, after all-and we loved the “healthy amount of nuance” they offered. While it’s easy to make a good speaker for $2500, the Contour S1.4 is proof that it’s possible to make a great one at this price point as well.

The perfect power cord for audiophiles who aren’t quite ready to “jump off the cliff” for the expensive stuff, the DH Labs sounds very good and is built to robust standards right here in the US. You won’t get fancy packaging or cryogenics or state-of-the-art connectors, but you will lower noise and increased dynamics over stock power cords.

This premium power cord offered noticeably better performance than stock power cords, and at $220 for a 2-meter version they won’t break the bank. We found that upgrading to the Red Wave provided about the same amount of sonic improvement as moving from cheap Chinese tubes to “spendy NOS equivalents” on our favorite valve amps.¨Ü After everything else is dialed in, the Red Waves can be “damn good!”

Not only do these small stand-mounted active monitors have built-in 250wpc amps for the 8″ subwoofers, but the midrange driver and tweeter are 92 dB sensitive so you can “add an SET amp and still rock out.” We enjoyed the fact that the 700s had a lot of punch thanks to the subs, and that they are small and unobtrusive and will work well with any source.

Simple yet beautiful, these compact floorstanders wound up being our favorites in the very competitive $3000 to $4000 range. Unusually refined, the Super 8s won’t hit you over the head with their greatness but will slowly reveal their strengths (smooth, extended bass and extraordinary imaging and soundstaging) over time. We know at least four equipment reviewers who wound up writing a check for them.

While only 30wpc, the Aries is single-ended and “each one of those watts counts.” This Class A, zero-feedback design uses an 845 tube from RCA/Cunningham to produce a sound that is “pure, lifelike and quite rich and meaty.” We feel that the Aries 845-G is the perfect compromise for someone who likes the sound of SETs but needs a little more power.

These large monitors are unique in that they can be used with or without stands. The wood veneers, made from renewable resources, are exceptionally attractive as well. The DA-2s provided a laid-back presentation that felt organic and will appeal to listeners who want to be “music lovers” instead of audiophiles, which makes sense when you consider that they were designed and built by a musician.

This Canadian amp had “stunning good looks and high build quality” while offering plenty of low-level detail amid an amazingly low noise floor. While the sound will never be mistaken for “tube-like,” the CA-2100 did many things a valve amplifier cannot, like bringing out “the tiny details in the recording that will keep your interest piqued.”

These Class-D monoblocks are small and chunky in size, but they have tons of “dynamic capability and very powerful, controlled bass.” They’re also versatile and played well with almost any speaker we could throw at them. Ultimately we felt that the D-100s had “big performance, quality and value in a compact package.”

Not many entry-level audio products cost $60,000, but this ‘table/arm combo from Australia still basks in the shadow of its $125,000 older brother, the Caliburn. We found it to offer the best analog sound we’ve heard, but it made us feel guilty about our mortgages and our childrens’ college funds. It’s a breathtaking product for the discerning few.

If you still need to be convinced about the sonic superiority of vinyl in an age of excellent digital sound, the TEA-1 phono preamplifier will remind you why you bought that expensive turntable in the first place. This tubed unit is CJ’s statement product¨Ü in terms of analog playback, and it sounded “precise, glorious, severely transparent and full of natural energy.”

It’s no secret that these amplifiers have remained the reference at the TONE mothership almost since the beginning, considering that they work well with every loudspeaker that has come through the door. The 350 offers almost unlimited power as well as an unprecedented level of realism, even at modest SPLs. In our book, the Premier 350 is “as good as it gets.”

An enhanced triode design, this 250wpc amplifier provides the “punch, power and control” of solid-state with a warmth typical of tubes, straddling the sonic attributes of both technologies. The volume can be turned way up on this baby without inducing fatigue, and you may find this to be the one amp with which you “could live happily ever after.”

Despite its small chassis, the solid-state CA200 offers 185wpc and uses some of the same circuitry as the Premier 350 power amplifier and Premier 18LS preamplifier. This model isn’t “your Dad’s CJ anymore,” offering a sound that is accurate, powerful and dynamic. If you’re not excessively obsessed about audio, the CA-2100¨Ü “will be all you’ll ever need.”

At $25K, the ART 3 preamplifier may cost more than most audiophile’s entire systems, but this limited edition C-J¨Ü had us muttering the dreaded B-word (“best”) over and over. We also speak with Lew Johnson about this state-of-the-art design and how it came to fruition, revealing how the ART series 3 is worth every single penny of its asking price.

We’ve had the privilege of listening to many great preamplifiers over the years, but we absolutely love this C-J due to its combination of “musical involvement and neutrality coupled with accuracy.” The ultimate reviewing tool, the ACT 2 series 2 delivered the maximum amount of resolution without harshness, and we felt that it represented the pinnacle of audio performance.

Designed to be placed under turntables, this wall-mounted shelf combines carbon fiber and acrylic and works wonders for vinyl lovers who have listening rooms with suspended floors. Increased volume levels were enjoyed as well, which makes this a worthwhile analog accessory once audiophiles have everything else dialed in.

This $1000 cartridge blurs the performance line between moving coil and moving magnet designs and may be the most balanced MM cartridge we’ve heard. Warm and romantic like an entry-level Koetsu, the Maestro will elevate the performance of Regas and SL-1200s to new levels, and may also find a place as a “daily driver” in some very expensive analog rigs as well.

These German floorstanding towers were finished in silver lacquer that highlighted the aluminum woofers, but the sound was surprisingly laid-back and not in the least metallic. Bass was “nice and taut,” and the 807 DCs offered a “great full range sound that was very easy to listen to.” While they won’t rock at ear-splitting levels, they are a “strong contender in the $3500 category.”

Digital-to-analog converters are making a big comeback due to some of the newer technologies, and this tiny two-box unit took our iPods to “another level of transparency and dynamics.” This unit becomes even more affordable by using a wall-wart transformer instead of the outboard power supply, but for $775 total you can have a sound that might have been “the death of analog” if the VDA-2 had been introduced 20 years ago.

This relatively affordable amp-preamp combo from the legendary ultra-high-end audio company is dead quiet both electrically and mechanically, and was “exhilarating to listen to on a number of levels.” Possessing the same level of fit and finish as their flagship line of products, this pair was more than happy to be split up and used with other brands but offered an unusually high level of synergy together.

This kit phono stage is “DIY gear at its finest” due to the thorough instructions and the excellent results. Once built, this $325 phono stage easily competed with much more expensive commercial designs, and with an upgraded power cord and NOS tubes it went a few more clicks up the scale. “Fire up the soldering iron and enjoy this one!” we exclaimed.

“Small but mighty” is how we described this versatile DAC, and felt it was excellent at elevating the performance of affordable digital transports. We also appreciated the fact that Benchmark includes a headphone jack in the DAC-1, and that the whole package was extremely neutral in sound. The Benchmark was the very first recipient of ourOutstanding Value Award.

This solid-state preamplifier was a “real KAPOW experience” due to its stunning dynamics and powerful presentation. Bass control, texture and definition were sublime, causing us to place the BAT at the top of the $6000 to $7000 preamp heap. Even the $500 phono section option was well worth it-at least until you save enough money for one of BAT’s $10K models.

The middle model in BAT’s P10 phono stage line features dual mono power transformers, making this component heavier and more substantial than most integrated amplifiers. Despite a full complement of tubes, this phono preamp sounds “dynamic and tonally accurate” with just a touch of romance. “The difference is in the subtlety,” we found, noting that the BAT epitomized finesse.