Pre/Power Amplifiers

So prolific is Nagra of late that the catalogue now has five families. I realise that sounds like I’ve just described the New York mafia. They consist of Compact, Classic, HD and Reference in ascending order of price, with the brand-new PREAMP II-S reviewed here introducing the new Series II.

We’re all familiar with the idea of ‘trickledown’, where the R&D of a flagship product then informs the development of a brand’s more affordable models. But what we have here, in CH Precision’s L10 preamplifier and M10 power amp, is a case of ‘trickle-up’. The Swiss marque has taken the designs of its 1 Series amplifiers [HFN Sep ’25], with which it carved its high-end reputation, and comprehensively upgraded them to birth a new top-flight package.

Everyone loves celebrating a big birthday, and the hi-fi industry is no exception. That said, very few manufacturers make it to the big 100 and so, when they do, the results are usually quite special. At the time of writing [late-2025] we are days away from Bang & Olufsen’s centenary, and Luxman released a complete system earlier this year to celebrate a century in business.

Bluesound is less of a HFN regular than sister brand NAD, but many hi-fi buffs looking to add streaming to an (older) amp or active speakers will have encountered the brand’s Node streamer. According to the company the Node is its best-selling product, outshining its wireless speakers and soundbars. Earlier this year, the Node received a fourth major update, expanding the lineup with a cheaper Node Nano and an upmarket £899 Node Icon (N530). For the brand, founded to rival Sonos, it’s the first foray into what you could call a ‘real’ hi-fi territory.

If there’s one subject which arouses the ire of what designer and [HFN] contributor Ben Duncan calls the HLOs, (Hard-Line Objectivists) it’s hi-fi cables. And if there’s another, it’s the single-ended triode amplifier.

Since launching in 2009, CH Precision, based in Préverenges in Switzerland, has carved itself a niche in hi-fi’s high-end. Moreover, although a product inventory spanning just two ranges, the 10 Series and 1 Series, might suggest some form of boutique minimalism, its design approach shows plenty of modern, technically innovative thinking. How so? The L1 preamplifier and M1.1 power amp on test here both offer user-tuning of their performance via a custom smartphone app…

In this era of all-in-one amplifiers and ‘crossover’ products, where even a tube amp might come to market with a built-in USB DAC, there’s something refreshing about Californian brand Pass Labs. Now approaching 35 years in business and named after founder and chief designer Nelson Pass (also the man behind Threshold in the 1970s), the company has long been known for its focus on frill-free, performance-first designs.