Integrated Amplifiers

So it turns out that network amplifiers built around BluOS streaming technology are like buses. No sooner had we waved goodbye to the £1299 NAD C 700 [HFN Feb '22], then up popped the Attessa Streaming Amplifier from Roksan, a little more expensive at £1495 but cut from the same just-add-speakers cloth. This joins a competitive market alongside not only NAD's device but Bluesound's £850 BluOS-based Powernode, plus other streaming integrateds including Cambridge Audio's Evo 75 and Audiolab's Omnia. Handy for Roksan, then, that it has a lot going for it.

Synchronicity is a strange thing: for whatever reason of scheduling, I found myself embarking on this review a year to the day since the passing of audio legend Ken Ishiwata. The anniversary was marked by his daughter with a YouTube video of some joyously retro Latin music performed by an all-Japanese vocal group. 'Instead of making this a very sad day,' she wrote, 'we would like to share one of his favourite songs with you. He used to play this all the time, it brings back lovely memories and a smile upon our faces'.

This amplifier is substantial, beautifully designed and finished, powerful (rated at 350W/4ohm) and hefty, at getting on for 30kg – and yet it's the base model of two integrated amplifiers recently added to Rotel's revived Michi range. Following on the heels of the EISA Award-winning P5/S5 pre/power amplifiers [HFN May '20] and the M8 monoblocks [HFN Oct '20], the X3 and bigger X5 all-in-one amplifiers are the next stage in the expansion of this lineup. The £6300 X5 claims 600W/4ohm and while the £4300 X3 model may be 'lower powered' it's still able to deliver quite a wallop when required, offering a very impressive bang for your buck.

Expect the unexpected: it will be the first lesson in the book if I ever get round to writing Hi-Fi Reviewing For Dummies. You see, just because something seems like something else, it doesn't follow that it is... Too many times I've stumbled across a speaker sitting in the middle of a range, and apparently using the same recipe of drive-units, that turns out to be a complete outlier – for good or bad – in the way it plays music. The same happens with amplifiers, too. So, just because one model seems little more than a bigger version of another, don't expect it to have the same kind of balance of qualities, only 'more so'.

These days, the letter 'i' included in a product name will have some people assuming there are networking features onboard – blame BBC iPlayer or Apple iTunes, I suppose. It's therefore worth stressing that Simaudio's £1900 MOON 250i is an all-analogue integrated amplifier (that's what the 'i' stands for here, of course), lacking digital connectivity and DAC, or any networking talents whatsoever. If this counts as an old-school approach, then there's at least one good reason for it – the 250i has now been in the Canadian company's stable for a decade.

Headquartered in Kanagawa, Japan, Soulnote has created a trio of product ranges in just ten years. Its mid-range Series 2 comprises a phono stage, DAC and the A-2 integrated

Soulnote’s A-2, available for £6300 in silver or black, is an integrated amplifier with an air of the ‘old skool’ about it. No network or digital connectivity, just analogue all the way, and only line-level too, as the Japanese manufacturer prefers to keep its phono stages separate. There’s no form of system control (ie, 12V triggers), and the user experience is very much plug-in-and-play, aided by an elegant remote and even simpler front-panel display.