Integrated Amplifiers

When Marantz's Ken Ishiwata suggested that we try the new PM-94 through the Apogee Scintillas [HFN Sep '85], I managed to stifle thoughts of 'Oh, no, here we go again'. Ken's confidence in a product is vastly removed from the kind of bravado I expect of British amplifier manufacturers, with pipe-dream tales about driving Krell into the sea. What Ken promised is an amplifier that would deliver the best of both possible worlds: sound quality (and bypassable facilities) for audiophile credibility, alongside ergonomics, styling, and perceived value to make it appealing to more than lunatic-fringe-type consumers.

Flagship product ranges are nothing new – in the 1970s and '80s, Optonica was to Sharp what Aurex was to Toshiba and Lexus is still to Toyota. In the 1990s, Rotel thought this a worthwhile wheeze and introduced its Michi range of models to great acclaim. In 2019 the name was reborn, with the range now expanded by a more attainable series, dubbed 'Prestige'.

The latest in a long-running line of premium-priced all-in-one models, the £19,000 Ovation CS 8.3 S from AVM offers so many features that it almost defies categorisation. Its German manufacturer describes it as a ‘streaming CD receiver’, but even that doesn’t quite seem to cover a unit also carrying an MM/MC phono stage and headphone amplifier, while offering playback from CD and USB drives, and over Bluetooth.

Two disparate thoughts crossed my mind after a mere two minutes with Aavik’s I-188 integrated amplifier. The first was a whiff of familiarity when I saw that Flemming E. Rasmussen, the semi-retired founder of Gryphon Audio, was involved in Aavik. The other was seeing reports from the AXPONA show in Chicago suggesting there was a discernible boom in high-end integrated amps, especially among older audiophiles who are downsizing, rather than post-Gen-Xers who shun clutte.

Seasoned audiophiles will remember MOON once being the name of Simaudio’s ‘reference-grade’ hi-fi hardware. But these days, the website for this Canadian marque is headlined ‘MOON by Simaudio’, and MOON, rather than Simaudio, is the branding that graces the front of its products. Moreover, Simaudio has also started curating new releases into ‘Collections’. The first of these, the North Collection, arrived in 2023 as a home for flagship models. Now we get the second-tier Compass Collection, led by the MOON 371 streaming amplifier on test here.

Flying in the face of received hi-fi wisdom that presumes absolute sonic purity is best achieved with separate pre/power amplifiers, integrated amplifiers are having something of a renaissance. Aside from the entry-level and mid-market, where one-box amplification has always been the go-to choice, there’s now a good selection of high-end models from the likes of Rotel’s Michi X3 S2 [HFN Jan ’24], starting from just under £6000, to the massive Dan D’Agostino Momentum MxV [also HFN Jan ’24], yours for just short of £100k when fully loaded with DAC and phono modules.

Though perhaps not so well-known in some hi-fi circles, Australian brand Burson Audio has built itself quite a following among head-fi’ers – those devotees of headphone listening – thanks to an impressive range of amplifiers dedicated to that cause. Its models range from the £849 Playmate 3 up to the Conductor Voyager we have here, at £3900 in standard guise.