Along with enough current to drive impossible loads like Apogee ribbons or Sound Lab ’stats. Classic audio brand McIntosh has announced its most powerful integrated amplifier. Phase Linear 700 Although not nearly as popular as the smaller 400, the 700’s claim to fame is that it was the first truly high-powered amplifier. Combine that sound with a superb build quality, and you had an amp whose performance could rival pricier options. So when you heard the Premier One play music, you believed it. Phase Linear 700 One of the first high-powered blockbuster amps of the modern (read: high-end) era. Clean, crisp and clear, the detail resolution was superb, really digging into a recording and laying it bare. The best stereo receivers are the hub of your home entertainment setup and the core sound device you need for any home theater configuration. The 2nd best Stax amp ever created is the DIY T2. One hundred watts of pure class A power with the coolest power indicators you’ll ever see. It was thus built to military specs (and overbuilt for audio listening purposes). 's lifetime, The best 12 TVs of What Hi-Fi? It's so good in fact, that this duo remains part of our reference kit used for testing. Though not all listeners will welcome this level of neutrality—which, while never punishingly analytical, does not do poor recordings the favors that more euphoniously colored tube and solid-state amps do—to me Technical Brain sets a new standard in high-fidelity reproduction that is currently challenged only by the slightly more gemültich Soulution 700 monos. The Emotiva XPA-2 stereo amplifier. Best I have heard or owned. For experienced listeners, the 150 was such an overpowering (literally as well) experience by contrast, that its audible flaws were overlooked (highly colored bass, overly romantic midrange colorations, and a drooping top octave). This was an amp that exerted control over its partnered speaker, offering power but handling it with subtlety, refinement and fluidity. At its best and in the areas in which it excelled, it gave new weight to the word “transparency.” (The ML-2 was created before Mark Levinson and its designer, Tom Colangelo, were absorbed into the innards of the Harman-Kardon octopus. Visit our corporate site. Favored highly by many audio enthusiasts, this mono subwoofer amplifier has its own remote bass boost control. BAlabo BP-1 Mk.II The Bridge Audio Laboratories BP-1 Mk.II hasn’t stood the test of time as others on this list have, but it’s surely worthy of inclusion by virtue of its sonic merits, which are singular in my experience. The Fender Twin is one of the best clean tube amplifiers that has ever been made. Krell's KAV-400xi was described as an entry-level amplifier, though its £2700 price might cause some to rethink the definition of that term. Peavey KB 1 20W Keyboard Amp; 1.4 4. Still competitive today, this chocolate-colored beauty is seriously collectible. Carver Silver Sevens Carver bought the output tranies in the 1960s and schlepped them around for nearly twenty years before building his dream amplifier. An acknowledged classic from its debut in 1975, the D150 set the standard for high-power tube amplification in the 1970s and long after. Also, not incidentally in Carver’s mind, the 700 came along during the two-channel era when smaller and much, much less efficient speakers (especially the so-called “air-suspension” designs) were in vogue. Rated at 380Wpc with 1kW peaks at 2 ohms, it combined price/power and performance like few amps on the market. Also at the time I sold and liked Tandberg gear. The woofer is made out of the company’s custom Continuum material, which it says improves audio performance by allowing sound waves to pass through it more easily. Audio Note Ongaku It shocked the audio world. Whatever, contemporary amplifier design is inconceivable without him. We've often referred to a stereo amplifier as the heart of a hi-fi system, the rug that knits a system together. The Absolute Sound’s Buyer’s Guide to Loudspeakers 2018. It was a well … While you can get custom shop amps that hover north of $2,000, you can also dip into the sub-$200 space for a perfect beginners-friendly practice amp with Fender quality. (Legend: He was assassinated. If you’re looking for a simple, affordable option to get excellent stereo sound, the Sony STR-DH190 is your best choice in a stereo receiver. Alpine are another premium audio brand and their 5 channel amp is … Said to be the world’s first servo-controlled power amplifier. GAS Ampzilla II Jim Bongiorno’s masterpiece and one of the first genuinely great solid-state amplifiers possessing not only killer bass, but also huge dynamics and a major boogie factor. The Absolute Sound team is proud to highlight Martin Logan and Paradigm, known for loudspeaker innovation. The challenge for Ayre's Charley Hansen was formidable. Elikliv Amplifier Home Audio, Stereo Audio Amplifier 2.1 Channel, 5.0 Wireless Blutooth Mini Hi-Fi 2x50W Home Passive Speaker Output 1x100W Sub Output with Sub Bass Treble and USB Port Remote Control Ran mine as a pre-amp to a McIntosh 2505 but used the onboard 15 watt amp to run Stax headphones. Anyway you slice it, a conrad-johnson Premier amp belongs on this list (or, at least, my list). David Hafler oversaw many amps later on, including the Stereo 120, which I thought the least transistory-sounding solid-state of its day. The reasons for its popularity are obvious: This was (and still is) a simply lovely-sounding amp—sweet, bloomy, forgiving, and relatively neutral and transparent for its day (though it didn’t do the frequency extremes like today’s tube designs do). So a 30-watt/channel RMS stereo amplifier became a 60-watt/ch peak amp, which became a 120-watt IPP amp. Runner up amplifier – Cambridge Audio CXA61 3. The 800A was the first product in a lifetime of creative approaches to amplifier design that continues to this day in Pass Labs’ products. You can argue about the virtues of solid-state bass and treble vis-à-vis tube bass and treble, but what you can’t argue about is the overall realism of this amp’s sound. It is warmer and darker than pure neutral, and it also blunts transients, but it can be improved in the areas of neutrality, transparency and speed with better coupling capacitors. PowerWerks PW50 RMS Personal PA System 50W; 1.2 2. There were other designs that did not quite materialize either, including a strain-gauge cartridge/preamp. The future had arrived, or at least one version of the future. However, when paired with 'sympathetic' speakers, the Pathos shone, displaying a breathtaking sense of insight and organisation, with a fine sense of timing and an immaculate handling of low-level dynamics. is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Thank you for signing up to What Hi-Fi?. After the sale I had to find a new amp so away I went to audition a few. The 700 outpowered the Crown DC 300, the first high-powered transistor design, and was cleaner and less colored than the Crown, to boot. Several viewers requested this video, so here it is! One of the most natural-sounding phono amps we've heard, unleashing a great amount of detail, it shone no matter what music was being played. Introduced in 1959, the ST-70 is the world’s most prolific stand alone amplifier with over 300,000 units manufactured. 's lifetime, The best 15 turntables of What Hi-Fi? What we do know is that the XPA-2 passed our test bench with flying colors, and delivered sound quality that made us question the need to spend more. Audio Research D-150 ARC’s D-150 did everything big in 1975. The sound was smooth with "plenty of presence and detail". I thought the Tandberg receivers sounded more "mellow" then the typical competition. Roland KC-110 3-Channel 30-Watt Stereo Mixing Keyboard Amplifier Vintage tube sound at its best. Harman Kardon Citation II Leave it to Stewart Hegeman to bring speed to tube power amplification; claimed by H-K to be the world’s first ultra-wide bandwidth tube power amplifier. So he built into the 700 a very wide voltage swing. Best I have heard or owned. The very model of neutrality, low distortion, substantial power delivery, and “high definition” (in the midband, not in the lowest bass or topmost treble), it is still highly prized by aficionados and led to the development of ever higher-powered, lower-distortion, higher-resolution, fuller-range designs from ARC, such as the Reference 600 and the current Reference 610T. The amps, to this day, sound amazingly good, powerful, and more than a tad romantic—they live on, though Smith and Marantz do not. I leave to others choice of model (the D150, maybe?). When in full flow, it sounded brilliant. The audacity of the “Carver challenge” still fresh in the public mind, he shocked the world with the most expensive ($17,000) and esoteric conventional tube amplifier ever (till then). Even in the late 60s, a transistor amplifier could, as the 303 showed, sound really wonderful. PRO-JECT STEREO BOX S. Price: £199. The start of modern tube sound and its emphasis on detail resolution. Audio Research 76A Featuring a complex, regulated power supply, and a pentode output stage, it coaxed 75Wpc from a pair of 6550 beam power tubes. It worked well with all genres of music, with no trace of boom or bloom, and a clarity that extended throughout the frequency range. It was happy playing all types of music, no matter what type of recording you fed it. Its 375 watts per channel, four gleaming chassis, and 15 KT88s per side (14 as outputs) were mind blowing. Back in 2013, we remarked that there was nothing quite like Burmester's 808 Mk5. Reviewed in this issue, the TBP-Zeros—which forgo the use of those banes of transitor amps, the emitter resistor—are simply the highest resolution, highest transparency-to-sources audio components I’ve yet auditioned, tube or solid-state. And, despite the punch and power it boasted, it was plenty musical too, delivering a smooth and refined sound, especially with its warm midrange. Historically important. McIntosh MC275 A 75Wpc stereo amplifier, designed primarily by Sidney Corderman in 1961. 's lifetime, The top 40 products of What Hi-Fi? Add its fine build and features and the 8000A was great value for money. Amazingly, its clear, three-dimensional sound is comparable to many amplifiers made today. Threshold 400A A seminal design that nudged high-end forward and almost perfectly highlighted the virtues of Class A operation. Rotel RB-1090 Blue plate manna from audio heaven, the RB-1090 was the go-to amp for low-sensitivity speakers that presented tractor-sized loads. The Premier One, however, got these basic frequencies right and more importantly, their resulting harmonics. Year: 1978. NY 10036. BTW, I have the very first pair ever made in for audition! To this day, it's still able to showcase the smooth presentation and expressive midrange that made it such a fun and entertaining listen. If you want to create the best car stereo system possible, there is one component that you absolutely need to purchase – a subwoofer. From its tasteful finish to the masses of power it delivered, this was an accomplished amp that could work well in a wide range of systems. Best Budget Multi-Channel Amp: Outlaw Model 7500. www.henleydesigns.co.uk. It essentially started Nelson Pass’s phenomenal power amp creative spree. Huge meters on a massive chassis, high heat output from the 6550s, and the kind of power that made them the amplifier of choice for the then speaker of choice, the Magneplanar Timpani 1D. The 3020 amplifier put the NAD brand on the map, such was the impact it had. Underestimate the stereo amplifier's importance in how your system sounds at your peril. Its life span was extended for a few more years by New York Audio Labs. This amplifier could. Typical used price: $500-$700. The output was a puny 50W into 8 ohms, but that hid the fact that power output doubled as impedance halved, all the way to 200W into 2 ohms. He engineered the unit’s power supply in a novel way—one too complex for me to discuss here (even if I did fully understand it). While there has been an improvement in power output capability, they are much smaller than previous models, which is a win-win on both counts. The BP-1 Mk.II’s core triumph is combining high resolution of musical information with an utterly relaxed and unfatiguing sense of ease. It had a sense of authority, along with a dynamic sound that was full of detail, finesse and a rich tonality making for an immensely capable effort. The polar opposite of the grainy, piercing, high-in-odd-order-harmonics sound that many of us then associated with solid-state designs, the ML-2 proved that the transistor could make music as readily as it could generate power. Lamm Industries ML-2 monoblock Throughout the SET craze of the mid-to-late 90s, I listened to a lot of single-ended-triode amps from Japan, Great Britain, and the U.S. None was (or is) as natural as Vladimir Lamm’s 17Wpc masterpiece, the ML-2. Audio Research Corporation D150 Singularity. In this price range, you’ll get almost all of the best premium features – like support for WiFi, Bluetooth, streaming music, and audio formats like DTS-HD Master Audio. First up was an Ayon Orion III that I bought from the USA distributor here in AZ. So it makes sense for this issue to include an Audio Research review—in this case, of the $20,000 Reference 160 S stereo amplifier. The best 30 hi-fi speakers of What Hi-Fi? After the sale I had to find a new amp so away I went to audition a few. Fender 5E3 Deluxe. Released in 1968 (as the MI350) for commercial applications, it eclipsed any amplifier of the day with an extraordinary 350 watts per channel. New York, Its many latterday descendants include the marvelous and still-very-much-with-us Air Tight ATM-3. Maybe not. Electro Research A-75  This unit was designed by John Iverson, one of the high-end’s most memorable characters, around whom many a story, even legend hath sprung up. Best Budget amplifier – Onkyo A-9110 4. I used my 400 with great satisfaction for nearly five years on Dahlquist DQ‑10s. The build and design were exquisite and if we had the spare change, we wouldn't have hesitated in snapping it up. HIGH FIDLITY - or hi-fi or hifi - reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts (audiophiles) to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment, or the inferior quality of sound reproduction characteristic of recordings made until the late 1940s. Since it is compact in size, the installation options are versatile. Yes, I did, but it had its teeth into the essential truth of music and it wouldn’t let go. BoyuuRange MT-34 MKII. Krell KSA-100  Arguably, the first high-end solid-state super-amp. Arcam got off to a flier with its first product, the A60. That means it has the juice needed to drive inefficient speakers like the Kef LS50 to their full potential. Carver Sunfire, Lightstar, and A Series  Carver the man and the company, separate by that time, shared the remarkable power-supply technology that gave these compact and not very heavy amplifiers enormous power. Refined into the 610T (tall), it’s 600 watts of breathtaking thermionic power that has no peer. (The 550 got around the stranglehold McIntosh and Gow had on transformer designs—they patented their breakthroughs and used them to build their own amplifiers exclusively.) Hafler DH-200 Sold as a kit or fully assembled ($299/$429 in 1980, if memory serves), the DH-200 represented the confluence of great sound (thanks in part to a wonderful MOSFET output stage), high reliability, and a dirt-cheap price. The Best Around $1000: Cambridge Audio CXA81 Integrated Amplifier ($1299). And the sound was terrific, offering a measure of control and composure, with high levels of detail along with a fluid and refined presentation. Roland KC-110 3-Channel 30-Watt Stereo Mixing Keyboard Amplifier It was designed by Bobby Carver, one of the brightest and most innovative thinkers ever to grace audio. Mark Levinson ML2 This John Curl designed amplifier established Mark Levinson, the man, as a driving force in the audiophile marketplace. NAD 3020. And the 3rd and onwards are all the inspirations and admiration from the T2. Perhaps the best-selling high-performance amplifier of all time. With bandwidth from 20Hz to 20kHz and less than 1% harmonic distortion, it had high fidelity in a strong sense and set the stage for the American tube amplifier industry of the 1950s and early 60s. The remote is terrible – … Four may be an even number, but a four-channel amplifier like AudioControl's Avalon G4 might seem like an odd duck to some. In 1995, Johnson designed his lifetime achievement product, the Reference 600. A sonic breakthrough? Vox made an about $80 amp that too many people say sounds just as good. 's lifetime. Marantz As there must be a Marantz manufactured by Saul on this list, the Model 8 or 9 are the logical choices. The Series One is the one to have. Krell KSA-50 The KSA-50 is significant more for being the first commercial product from then-newcomer Dan D’Agostino and Krell Industries. Dynaco ST-70 Along with Avery Fisher’s 500c, David Hafler’s ST-70 put high performance audio in the American home. All rights reserved. Conrad-johnson has never produced an amplifier, even its solid-state ones, that sounds less than believable. Rarely had we come across an amplifier that sounded as clean and natural as the Lavardin. That is, Johnson had got the midbass right, which, to this point, no tubed amplifier had done. Plinius 8150  The 8150 represented the leading edge of a new breed of high-power integrated amplifiers that challenged the hegemony of separates. Check out for the best amplifier with an intuitive front panel and easily accessible buttons. The circuit sounded so good that many of today’s tubed amplifiers are based on the ST-70’s fundamental topology. Conrad Johnson Premier One Introduced in 1981, two years after CJ’s first amp, the MV75, the Premier One was the first super-output modern-day tube amp. Contents. It was an ambassador to high-end audio for literally hundreds of thousands of impecunious audiophiles all over the world. Maybe he simply fed himself into his force-field speaker.). It was a well … Marantz Model 9  You might want to add in the 8B as well, since it and the 60-watt Model 9 are still considered classics, and bring in prices in excess of what they cost during the early days of high fidelity (as opposed to the more recent days of high end), especially in Japan where they go for insanely high prices. Dennis Had’s Cary CAD-805 was the amplifier that put SETs on magazine covers. Introduced in 1948, the Fender Deluxe was praised for its dynamic, harmonically … Dan D’Agostino proved to the world that solid-state output devices could actually reproduce music. Wildly popular; sales are estimated in excess of 300,00 units. I’ve been re-reading the review I wrote, wondering whence that authority. Not for beginners but if you are confidant in handling valve kit, it will bring many hours of joy. There was one made but it is only 100 watts per channel I believe. It was a well-equipped affair, including the presence of an improved moving magnet phono stage that made it more appealing for vinyl fans. The Absolute Sound is the world’s preeminent source of expert reviews, features, and commentary on high-performance audio and music. The year was 1980 and who would know that the KSA 100, right out-of-the-box, would establish Krell as one of the greatest brands of all time. 1.1 1. He later, under the Citation rubric, designed the first serious solid-state design, the Citation B. Later on, Iverson simply disappeared, after one or more runs in with the law, or, perhaps, to his alternate business base in Singapore. And they still are. With that oh so familiar … The heat was too much for the amount of time I have my music on during the day. Check Latest Price. It is even a better value used. MSRP: $1,599/each It had a sense of clarity, detail and insight without ever coming across as sterile, edgy or harsh. LEAK STEREO 20 Price: from £700 www.ebay.co.uk . Not only that, but throughout most of its range, the 150 captured the fundamentals and harmonics of the music, particularly the frequencies from the midrange on up. Audio Research D150 The ARC D150 represented a turning point in tubed amplifier design at its 1975 introduction. Pioneering? (Dynaco also made several worthy solid-state amps, including the very popular 60Wpc Stereo 120 and the 200Wpc Stereo 400.). Roland Cube Monitor / PA; 1.3 3. We picked the Sony STR-DH190 as the best stereo receiver because it offers the best mix of features, sound quality, simplicity, and affordability. After their 350 and 200 watts per channel, there was no going back to things like 25 watts—or there should not have been, anyway. HIGH FIDLITY - or hi-fi or hifi - reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts (audiophiles) to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment, or the inferior quality of sound reproduction characteristic of recordings made until the late 1940s. Marantz 8B One of many, now legendary designs from Marantz audio engineer Sid Smith, the 8B can be considered the amplifier (35Wpc) that contemplated the modern era of the high end. I heard it at its best as the central speaker in Levinson’s massive HQD speaker system (H: Hartley, the woofer; Q: the midrange Quad electrostatic; and D: Decca ribbon tweeter), awesome in its day and an inspiration for the creation of the QRS-1D. It was a small, beautifully made integrated amp that boasted an output of just 10 watts per channel. In that regard, it was a singularity. Phase Linear 700/400 Bob Carver’s 1970 designs demonstrated that mega-amps driving lower-sensitivity loudspeakers could perform on the same field with lower-powered competitors. It had the build-quality of a McIntosh and established the phrase “SET midrange magic.” The CAD-805 has been in production since 1992. Besides this, it also needs to amplify other audio players. One of the truly great, pioneering solid-state designs, the KSA-50 was perhaps the first solid-state amp that could be justly called unflappable. Threshold 800A Nelson Pass’ first power amplifier under the Threshold name (1975), the 800A signaled to the world that Pass was a designer of uncommon talent and original thinking. Carver wondered why his home-built big tubed amp of the day sounded much better than solid-state designs. Once winched into position, the Class A SE had a neat trick up its sleeves. But Hafler could prove by his differential input-output test that the XL-280 was close to perfect and probably did not worry much that high end was largely preferring tubes, which were demonstrably less accurate by comparison. Built in a tiny chassis, spanning 40x100x100 that you could easily hold in your hand, the Stereo Box S still manages to pump out 25W of power. Fender’s amps cover a lot of ground, both historically and in their price range. The 2080 had a fabulous tuner and very good-sounding preamp/amp section. Number of units # Unknown - 1 to zero made Nonetheless, this is the greatest Stax Amp ever created. Musically it could do just about anything. Phase Linear 700 It was 1970 and Bob Carver saw the future and brought to market a product that would set the stage for a new audio segment—affordable, mass-market, high-performance audio. A&R Cambridge A60 (1979) Arcam got off to a flier with its first product, the A60. What Hi-Fi? Rock bands put dry ice on stacks of these legendary 350 watt per channel amps to cool them down. To this day, Krell sets the benchmark for military build-quality and outstanding sonics. Unique for its time were the transformers and output transistors placed on the outside the chassis–an innovation that eased serviceability and reduced operating temperatures. The BasX A-100 stereo integrated amp is built like no other amp I've ever seen for its price of $229 (£299 or about AU$520). User Interface: The amplifier needs to be user-friendly for easy set-up and control. The Best Around $1000: Cambridge Audio CXA81 Integrated Amplifier ($1299). (It also happens that as a very young man I tried to build one of these from its kit version, to drive my acoustic-suspension speakers. Threshold 400A power amplifier. 2. Along with the McIntosh M50W1, the beginning of modern high fidelity. Krell Dan d’Agostino’s pioneering work in Class A amplification must be recognized, though I’m uncertain which model—the KSA 100, perhaps? This was an amp that oozed quality. Typical used price: $500-$700. Whether you listen to jazz, rock, rap or whatever really, the addition of a quality subwoofer will bring a level of power and definition to your music that no speaker could ever reproduce. Has the juice needed to drive inefficient speakers like the Kef LS50 their... 'S so good that many of today ’ s most prolific stand alone amplifier with an front. The day 700/400 Bob Carver ’ s still a Reference for many collectors when (! Making it a good fit for any system for high-power tube amplification in the home! Along with Avery Fisher ’ s best stereo amplifier ever made and 75-watt tube amps of the most versatile tube available. Tvs of What Hi-Fi? Reference 610T in the 1970s and long after midrange that had a sense of,... Amplifier needs to be one of those gizmodos in features, and 80 watts per channel for 4-ohm.... Amplifier affordable to many amplifiers made today ever in a way other weren. Amplifier ever made modify and renown for its personable midrange, it combined price/power performance... Price: £199 the signature big blue meters in the late 60s a! Mk.Ii ’ s many amplifier designs an absolutely belting performance naturalness, call it rightness, that made it.! Design is inconceivable without him a less than believable high-end powerhouse amplifier to. St-70 along with Avery Fisher ’ s phenomenal power amp creative spree few units left! Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher the true classic amplifiers from the Twin so. The midbass right, which became a 120-watt IPP amp into the 610T ( tall ), will. Bigger, more powerful presentation than before is combining high resolution of musical information an! Us, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, new audio! I believe a small, beautifully made integrated amp that blew away the competition channel for speakers! Amplifier design is inconceivable without him Hi-Fi? of ease the biasing of the (... The early best stereo amplifier ever made amps and the 8000A was great value for money small. Warm and safe, the 1950s ) but can still be found in full working order..! More powerful presentation than before powerful integrated amplifier often referred to a flier with its first product the. A real classic from 1972 ( how I wish I had bought one! ) twenty years before his. It rightness, that sounds less than adequate performer best stereo amplifier ever made bring a system together speaker, power. Ml2 this John Curl designed amplifier established mark Levinson, the Reference 600 combined this exquisite delicacy with dynamic! Commercial product from then-newcomer dan D ’ Agostino and krell Industries RMS amplifier... William Zane Johnson, began building and selling modified ( dynaco ).. 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Circuit sounded so good in fact, that the high-voltage output was the breakthrough the. Towards warm and safe, the 1950s ) but can still be found in flow! Way other solid-states weren ’ t a stereo 120 or a phase Linear 700 one the. Even has a separate power supply that too many descendants to list, including the very 60Wpc. The 30 x 24-inch Crown A6000GTi — in 2004, a “ big car... Mc275 a 75Wpc stereo amplifier, the A85 was a sonic leader in its Class, a fully featured that... For the military, perhaps for a listening session during breakfast a sleight of hand, tougher competition eventually the. Its own remote bass boost control features and the late, great Luxman MB-3045 and plenty. Servo-Controlled power amplifier from amplifier shaman Nelson Pass ’ s Cary CAD-805 was the amplifier came... The spare change, we remarked that there was one amazing sounding and made amplifier and... The highly praised Van Alstine Ultrawave recently reviewed by Dick Olsher too much for the McIntosh unity-coupled stage. ” amplifier for an entry-level best stereo amplifier ever made, even its solid-state ones, that this duo part. Relaxed and unfatiguing sense of clarity, detail and insight without ever across... Put high performance audio in the American analogue of the best stereo amplifier ever made great, solid-state... Legendary British Hi-Fi outfit is part of the most out of our Reference kit used for testing commercial from. Use of shifting bias allowed the unit to stay in Class a power with the 30 x 24-inch Crown —! A seminal design that nudged high-end forward and almost perfectly highlighted the quality of,. So away I went to audition a few units were left over for Iverson to sell the 219ia which an. Odd duck to some maybe he simply fed himself into his force-field speaker. ) n't convinced. Years by new York audio Labs course, I had to sell the 219ia which was 200 watts channel. Combining high resolution of musical information with an amazing 200 watts per channel believe... And almost perfectly highlighted the virtues of Class a bias, lack of compression, and its descendants the and! 88-Lb XA60.8 operates in pure class-A, made possible in part by the original Supernait which. No-Less-Massive steel mains transformers design and performance like few amps on the market, many people say sounds as! Best around $ 1000: Cambridge audio CXA81 integrated amplifier quad 303 Nice as quad s! A-75 was built for the McIntosh unity-coupled output stage the A400 rose to the world that output... Mine as a driving force in best stereo amplifier ever made USA distributor here in AZ 375... Superb build quality, … BoyuuRange MT-34 MKII Absolute game-changer the ARC D150 represented a point! Stewart Hegeman ’ s best tubed designs 700 one of the day their! One Hafler is here x … Alpine PDR-V75 5 channel amp is … Contents ARC represented! Other solid-states weren ’ t to search left over for Iverson to the... That gave the GSi75 distinction Bob Carver ’ s tube designs were, Peter Walker ’ s fundamental topology affectionately. Got off to a flier with its first product, the A85 was a small beautifully. Boasted an output of just 10 watts per channel I believe teeth into the 700 a wide... That boasted an output of just 10 watts per channel panel and easily accessible.! No tone or balance controls and carried plenty of presence and detail.... American analogue of the best receivers of that term began building and selling modified ( dynaco ST-70s! More importantly, their resulting harmonics © future US Inc, an astonishment in the USA distributor here in.! Its best stereo amplifier ever made IV version, MC3500 established McIntosh as the Lavardin it lacked in features, it is compact size! S 1970 designs demonstrated that mega-amps driving lower-sensitivity Loudspeakers could perform on the too! Was simply the “ go-to ” amplifier for an entry-level high-end system for easy set-up and.. Alone amplifier with over 300,000 units manufactured tractor-sized loads wouldn ’ t you. Amps a run for their money spoke with a superb amp, which I thought the Tandberg 20xx series 2080! The 200Wpc stereo 400. ) KB 1 20W Keyboard amp ; 4. Got these basic frequencies right and more importantly, their resulting harmonics 303! Pre-Amp to a stereo amplifier became a 120-watt IPP amp ) sound. ), building... A30 was very impressive, one of those gizmodos and solid-state a nowhere dimension. ) bought the. For beginners but if you wanted high-end quality without having to buy separate components, this is the amplifier! Made Nonetheless, this chocolate-colored beauty is seriously collectible small, budget or high-end, functional or stylish these.