Pre/Power Amplifiers

It was at Milan's TOP Audio show in 2009 that Dan D'Agostino parted ways with Krell, the company he had founded nearly 30 years earlier. Within two years, he had designed a new solid-state amplifier with which to assault the high-end, and launched a new company, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems. The two units reviewed here show careful evolution, retaining a recognisable look while adding to a legacy of fewer than 25 models over 15 years.

Gryphon's Antileon Revelation is the latest iteration of a power amplifier series that began in 1995 with the original Antileon, and has since progressed through Signature, EVO and Anniversary editions. Priced just shy of £40,000, and weighing 90kg, it has all the hallmarks of a flagship model, although in the Danish manufacturer's catalogue it sits one below the aptly titled Apex, a flagship that's more than twice the price and twice the weight.

Some hi-fi manufacturers like to launch a new series as a fait accompli, all models primed and ready to roll out to retailers at the same time. The 8 series from Ayre Acoustics, on the other hand, has arrived in stages after being first teased in 2018. The EX-8 integrated amplifier and QX-8 ‘digital hub’ (streamer/DAC) sneaked through the gate before the Covid pandemic pulled up the drawbridge, while the KX-8 preamplifier and VX-8 power amp on test here, plus the PX-8 phono preamp, are more recent additions.

While the upgrades that Unison Research made to its Triode 25 integrated amp were sufficient to warrant a ‘Black Edition’ suffix [HFN Jul ’25], the Italian brand’s decision to label its new pre/power amplifiers as merely ‘v2’ is to underestimate the uptick in performance. The Pre v2 (£5500) and DM v2 (£7750) are not only the flagship separates of its Unico range but are markedly different from what has come before, both outside and in.

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.

The announcement in the summer of 2024 of new products from Audio Research Corp. (ARC) was not only the company’s largest-ever simultaneous release, but also, it said, ‘a fresh start [signalling] a promising future’, and ‘a renewed commitment to inclusivity and accessibility in the world of high-fidelity sound’. With the pre/power pair here priced north of £21,000, one might take that latter claim with a pinch of salt, although with the brand’s Reference Series pitched comfortably higher [HFN Apr ’25], these things are relative.

Three questions sprang to mind when discussing the PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid ‘poweramplifier’ with editor PM. The company has been merrily supplying all-valve products for 22 years, so the introduction of hybrid models seemed a non-sequitur, especially given that this particular amp’s £6498 price tag doesn’t preclude an all-tube design on the grounds of costs.