Lab: Paul Miller

Hi-Res Downloads (December 2018)

Reviews: Hi-Fi News Team, | Dec 01, 2018 | 0 comments

This month we review and test: Scottish CO/Christian Baldini, John Scofield, Deutsches SO Berlin/Robin Ticciati, Les Chats Noirs, and Boz Scaggs.

Network Audio Players/Servers Outboard DACs

Weiss DAC501 USB/network DAC

Review: David Price, | Dec 01, 2018 | 0 comments

Packing a high quality DAC and streamer into a half-size box, this new digital converter also features powerful user-configurable DSP. It's a potent combination…

With this new DAC, for the first time in my design career, I have the chance to make an impression that has people saying “wow”', Daniel Weiss told HFN. 'Designed by our team here, it is different – but not radically so – to our earlier products.' He's being a little modest because the new Weiss DAC501 is more than a little diverting in any number of different ways…

Pre/Power Amplifiers

T+A M 40 HV power amplifier

Review: Andrew Everard, | Dec 01, 2018 | 0 comments

The sound of music is raising the rafters in Eastern Westphalia as Germany's T+A celebrates its 40th anniversary with a set of very special monoblock hybrid amplifiers

Not so much monoblocks as monoliths, these new flagship power amps from Germany's T+A certainly have what you'd call 'in room presence'. At least they do when you have got them in position, a task hampered by the fact each is a 50kg+ dead weight, although admittedly the two substantial handles sprouting from the top panel – and the assistance of a friend – will help.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Parasound Halo JC5 power amplifier

Review: James Parker, | Dec 01, 2018 | 0 comments

No shortage of machismo – it has to be an American power amp, right? Parasound's Halo JC5 conforms to some of these stereotypes, but there's more to it than just slam

There's nothing terribly unusual about a big, hefty US-made power amp: after all, it's almost an archetype of what we think the US high-end is all about. Long cable runs from preamp to power amp(s), short tails to the speakers – it's just the way they do things over there, and at first glance the Parasound Halo JC5 seems to conform to all those preconceptions.

Headphones Outboard DACs

Klipsch Heritage Headphone Amplifier headphone amp/DAC

Review: Andrew Everard, | Dec 01, 2018 | 0 comments

The companion to Klipsch's retro HP-3 headphones has similarly 'classic' styling – yet within the casework is a strikingly capable DAC/amp with an appeal beyond the brand

For some reason, one can't help but be reminded of those great American festive TV specials, usually called 'Home for the Holidays' or something similar, hosted by the likes of Andy Williams or Perry Como, and performed in a huge log-cabin set far up in the mountains of a Burbank backlot. You see, Klipsch has gone decidedly retro with its Heritage range, as noted in our review of its HP-3 headphones [HFN Nov '18], with a brochure liberally scattered with downhome images almost clamouring for a fine bourbon and an even finer cigar.

Pre/Power Amplifiers Vintage

Myst TMA3 amplifier

Review: David Price, | Nov 01, 2018 | 0 comments

Back in the '80s, several British 'cottage industry' companies made integrated amps for purist customers, but this is surely the most 'mysterious'. How will it sound today?

In hi-fi as in life, the 1980s was a transformative time. From speaker stands and audiophile speaker cable, to mini monitors and expensive, minimalist integrated amps – the 'go for it' decade of Filofaxes, red braces and VW Golf GTis showed us what was to come.

Hi-Res Downloads

Hi-Res Downloads (November 2018)

Reviews: Hi-Fi News Team, | Nov 01, 2018 | 0 comments

This month we review and test: Czech PO/Jiri Belohlavek, Trygve Seim, Alexis Ffrench, Huw Wiggin And John Lenehan, and Arianna Neikrug.

Integrated Amplifiers

Cambridge Audio Edge A integrated amplifier

Review: Andrew Everard, | Nov 01, 2018 | 0 comments

Named after Cambridge Audio’s founding father, this new integrated amplifier includes a DSD-compatible DAC and Bluetooth aptX HD. But does it really have an Edge...?

There’s one very noticeable thing about the new Edge range from Cambridge Audio – well, apart from the fact that these hefty new high-end components are quite a long way from the company’s usual entry/midrange territory, that is. Look at any of the new products and you’ll notice the branding – it simply says ‘Cambridge’, as if to set this range apart, and fit in with the minimalist-but-purposeful vibe of the whole lineup.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Nagra HD PREAMP preamplifier

Review: Ken Kessler, | Nov 01, 2018 | 0 comments

Nagra’s monumental HD amplifier series reaches completion as its monoblock power amps are joined by this sensational, two-chassis, fully-balanced HD PREAMP

Nagra has, with the exception of the now-best-forgotten Pyramid amplifiers [HFN Feb ’05], a near-faultless track record. When you consider that the company leapt from professional tape decks to audiophile-grade valve electronics 20 years ago, the transition has been remarkable. With the second of its HD models, the HD PREAMP (joined by the HD DAC), one witnesses the completion of ‘Phase One’ of Nagra 2.0.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Exposure 5010 Pre/Monos pre/power amplifier

Review: Andrew Everard, | Nov 01, 2018 | 0 comments

Sharing the same chassis design as its 3010 series, but boasting double the clout, Exposure’s latest pre/power also offers modular MM/MC phono and DAC options

Available with silver (‘titanium’) or black front panels, both with black main casework, Exposure’s 5010 models replace the rather more overtly styled – and huge – MCX series, with their large outrigger feet, as the company’s flagship models. They sit atop a range running from the entry-level 1010 series through the 2010S2s and 3010S2s [HFN Dec ’14], with the half-width XM lineup as an alternative [HFN Apr ’18]. This top-end range is kept much simpler than its junior counterparts, for where those lineups extend to disc players and integrated amps, here we have just two models: the £2000 5010 preamp, and the £4550-per-pair 5010 mono power amps.

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