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The Pass Laboratories XP-27 Phono Preamplifier is a high-quality audio equipment that amplifies sound signals. It is a fully balanced, dual-input phono preamplifier with adjustable settings on the front panel. The XP-27 features a separate power supply chassis to reduce noise and improve signal quality. It offers excellent technical and musical performance, with accurate RIAA equalization, low noise, low distortion, and the ability to handle low impedances well. The article includes visual representations of the XP-27's performance at different frequencies and input levels, which may be helpful for patrons researching audio equipment. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses the Dan D'Agostino Relentless preamplifier and its impact on the author's listening experience. The author initially encountered issues with the power regenerator and power supply, but testing determined that the preamp was not defective. The article describes the features and specifications of the preamp, including its power supply, input stage, volume control, and output stage. It also offers an optional digital streaming module. Insights from Dan D'Agostino and Bill McKiegan about the design and performance of the preamp are included. The article provides measurements and analysis that indicate the preamplifier has excellent performance, with low levels of noise and distortion, flat frequency response, superb channel matching, low crosstalk, and a high signal-to-noise ratio. Overall, the article suggests that the Dan D'Agostino Relentless preamplifier offers impressive performance for audio enthusiasts. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the author's experiences with different turntable drive systems and their impact on sound quality. They discuss the concept of "subtractive distortion" and speculate on factors that may contribute to the disappearance of certain elements of a note. The importance of rhythm and momentum in music is emphasized, and concern is expressed about audiophiles relying too heavily on their left brains when choosing audio components. The article concludes by mentioning a new product, the Hagerman Audio Labs Piccolo Zero transimpedance head amp, and the author's goal of introducing readers to new ideas and products. The author describes their positive listening experience with the Piccolo Zero, noting its dynamic force and ability to quiet the space around instruments. They conclude that the Piccolo Zero offers great value and is a good starting point for exploring current drive's unique sonic potential. [Extracted from the article]

… In the C12000 control module, each channel's power supply has its own R-core power transformer, and in the C12000 preamp module, each channel has its own circuit boards. Other McIntosh preamplifiers have tone controls, whether accessed via internal menus or maybe staring you in the face as on the C53 preamp and its eight-knob front-panel equalizer. The C12000, which is now McIntosh's flagship stereo preamp, returns to the C1000's hybrid approach, but now both sets of electronics, tubed and solid state, occupy a single chassis - two chassis altogether including the controller. You may not get a DAC with this C12000 meatball, but you do get a high-power, class-A headphone amplifier, output from that 1/4" jack on the preamplifier module front panel. [Extracted from the article]

In contrast, Audio-GD's Vacuum HE1 XLR line-level preamp allowed diverse audio sources to sound maximally diverse - and that, folks, is transparency. Compared to PrimaLuna's EVO 400 For me, the real measure of Audio-GD's Vacuum HE1 XLR was how it compared to PrimaLuna's EVO 400 line-level tube preamplifier ($5295), which I reviewed in June 2019.3 I regard the EVO 400 as one of the finest tube preamps of the current era, and I was curious to see which of these two preamps I would enjoy most. The Audio-GD's Vacuum HE1 preamp did a spectacular job - better than my other preamps - of forming the sounds and expressing the harmonics of Gubaidulina's Piano Sonata VI. EQUIPMENT REPORTS PREAMPLIFIER In red letters on the first page of Chinese audio manufacturer Audio-GD's website are these words: Wisdom in mind, enthusiasm at heart. INSET: ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT. [Extracted from the article]

Using J.Sikora's own KV12 VTA tonearm ($8995) as well as SAT and Kuzma tonearms, MF couldn't find fault with any aspect of the Reference's sonic performance or its machining and physical presentation. (Vol.43 No.6 WWW) SCHICK 12" TONEARM: $1995 SCHICK 10.5" TONEARM: $1995 Made in Germany and now distributed in the United States by Mofi Distribution, the Thomas Schick 12" tonearm is intended to combine the greater-than-average length and mass of certain vintage models with the high-quality bearings of modern arms. PHONO PREAMPS/MOVING COIL STEP-UP DEVICES A+ BOULDER AMPLIFIERS 2108: $56,000 When he reviewed Boulder's flagship 2008 phono preamplifier in 2002, MF concluded that "it's hard to believe that, for some time to come, any [phono preamp] will equal or surpass the monumental performance of Boulder's 2008." (Vol.42 No.12, WWW) CLEARAUDIO CONCEPT AIR ACTIVE WOOD: $4200 WITH SATISFY BLACK TONEARM & CONCEPT MM CARTRIDGE; $5100 WITH SATISFY CARBON FIBER TONEARM & CONCEPT MC CARTRIDGE Nonsuspended, belt-drive turntable from Germany that is available in two versions with different tonearms and cartridges. Its companion tonearm is billed by Haniwa as their HTAM01 model, but MF recognized it as the ViV Laboratory Rigid Float tonearm, which he wrote about in the August 2014 Stereophile. [Extracted from the article]

Last year, I decided not to put an absolute maximum price on products eligible for the budget category; after all, a $500 amplifier or pair of speakers is obviously budget, but a $1000 phono cartridge might not be. Budget Product GENELEC G THREE LOUDSPEAKER ($1590/PAIR; REVIEWED BY HERB REICHERT IN VOL.45 NO.8) FINALISTS BLUESOUND POWERNODE INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER ($899; REVIEWED BY KEN MICALLEF IN VOL.45 NO.8) LSA VT-70 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER ($1399; REVIEWED BY ROGIER VAN BAKEL IN VOL.45 NO.10) MUSIC HALL STEALTH TURNTABLE ($1649; REVIEWED BY HERB REICHERT IN VOL.45 NO.10) PRO-JECT DEBUT PRO TURNTABLE ($999 W/TONEARM & CARTRIDGE; REVIEWED BY KEN MICALLEF IN VOL.45 NO.1) TOPPING PRE90 PREAMP $599 INCLUDING EXT90 EXTENSION MODULE1 REVIEWED BY KAL RUBINSON IN VOL.45 NO.2) "Budget" at Stereophile doesn't mean box-store or bubble-gum-dispenser prices - although at $599 the Topping Pre90 preamp, a Budget-category finalist, comes close. What's more, the company had two finalist products in the category, the winning amplifier and the Commander preamplifier mentioned above. Overall Product WILSON AUDIO SPECIALTIES ALEXX V LOUDSPEAKER ($135,000-$151,000/PAIR DEPENDING ON FINISH; REVIEWED BY JIM AUSTIN IN VOL.44 NO.12) FINALISTS DCS ROSSINI APEX D/A PROCESSOR ($32,800; REVIEWED BY JASON VICTOR SERINUS IN VOL.45 NO.10) GENELEC G THREE LOUDSPEAKER ($1590/PAIR; REVIEWED BY HERB REICHERT IN VOL.45 NO.8) KEF BLADE TWO META LOUDSPEAKER ($28,000/PAIR; REVIEWED BY KAL RUBINSON IN VOL.45 NO.9) MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI D/A PROCESSOR ($13,400; REVIEWED BY HERB REICHERT IN VOL.45 NO.1 AND KEN MICALLEF IN VOL.45 NO.6) "I felt like I was floating in a sea of ambient sound", I wrote about the experience of listening to Selected Ambient Works (85-92) by Aphex Twin via the big Wilson Alexx V. "Explicit clarity. [Extracted from the article]

Among Highlander Partners' roster of owned companies is Oregon-based Biamp Systems, a professional AV (pro-AV) technology supplier to "enterprise, corporate, and educational end users", according to Highlander's website. A few years ago, Atsushi Miura's son, Yutaka (aka Jack) Miura, took the reins at A&M Limited/Air Tight. Miura's name may not have been as familiar as some, but audiophiles know his companies and products, from Luxman to Air Tight, solid state and tubed. US: BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK Jason Victor Serinus Venerable audio company McIntosh appears to be looking forward and backward simultaneously with the release of two new products, the reference-level MCD12000 SACD/CD player/DAC ($12,000) and the MR89 AM/FM tuner ($5500). [Extracted from the article]

One privilege of being a Stereophile columnist is the opportunity to cover products from smaller, less well-known manufacturers, including those that don't have wide enough distribution to qualify for a full review. In a different email, Robinson wrote that he chose passive RIAA equalization over active equalization because active requires more parts in the signal path and everything is amplified, including noise produced by resistors and capacitors. RIAA equalization is passive, using the aforementioned Audio Note 2W silver-tantalum resistors and matched precision parts for "highly accurate full range equalization to 50kHz." Come to think of it, neither do today's automobiles.) Housed in a similar, modest chassis, the outboard 18V DC power supply uses wet silver-tantalum capacitors and 2W Audio Note silver-tantalum resistors. [Extracted from the article]

AUDIO NEWS & VIEWS GERMANY: WUPPERTAL AND MUNICH Julie Mullins It's no secret that the pandemic has forced an unprecedented number of audio show cancellations and postponements, in 2020 and into this year. Among the first Discovery-series releases is the DPH-1 DAC/preampli-fier/headphone amplifier, which is sold direct for $999 ($799 intro pricing as of the time of this writing). The Edge M monoblock is based on the Edge W stereo amplifier's core designs, which feature short signal paths and twin toroidal transformers - the use of which Cambridge introduced to the hi-fiworld in their classic P40 amplifier. EU: ST-ÉTIENNE, FRANCE Julie Mullins French loudspeaker and headphone manufacturer Focal is introducing a limited-edition version of the Aria 936: the Aria K2 936, a three-way floorstander of bass-reflex design with two front ports and a downward-facing vent. [Extracted from the article]

This, our February issue, is the first Stereophile issue to arrive during the year 2020, which marks the anniversary of the founding of Audio Research - in my view one of the key events in the history of high-end audio. The 160 M and 160 S amps are the first Audio Research amplifiers to allow switching between triode and Ultralinear operation. Michael Fremer reviewed the Audio Research Reference 6 line preamplifier in the December 2016 issue of Stereophile.5 The ARC preamp, he wrote, "was an exceptionally skilled and unerringly convincing teller of sound stories that revealed, with every record I played, musically significant information not found in the usual checklist of sonic attributes." When the amplifier drove an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz tones at 10W into 8 ohms from the 8 ohm tap in Triode mode (fig.15), the second-order difference product at 1kHz lay just below -60dB (0.1%) and the higherorder intermodulation products were lower in level. [Extracted from the article]

My in-person introduction to Devialet's products was under auspicious circum stance, I was in Paris for what would be a monthlong vacation; my wife was there to give some lectures, but I was free to roam the city, take pictures, practice my bad French, and enjoy the excellent food - the experience of a lifetime except that, a few days in, I was missing music. In the Devialet amps, the current source is instead a class-D amplifier: The digital amp provides the oomph and the analog amp "corrects and completes" the signal, Devialet says. For this reason, the Expert 140 Pro converts its analog inputs to digital as close as possible to the inputs and keeps the signal digital as long as it can, to within a few centimeters of the loudspeaker connections. [Extracted from the article]

The article evaluates the XP-22 solid-state preamplifier by Pass Laboratories.

The article evaluates the J E Sugden Masterclass LA-4 line preamplifier from J E Sugden & Co. Ltd.

The article evaluates several musical instruments including the KX-5 Twenty preamplifier from Ayre Acoustics and the Heresy III Floorstanding Speaker from Klipschorn.

The article reviews BHK Signature preamplifier manufactured by American company PS Audio.

After many months of ¿istening to the Pass Labs XP-32 preamplifier, it took me about an hour to acclimate to the different (but not vastly different) sonic viewpoint of the Audio Research Reference 6SE. It was with these thoughts in mind that I switched out the solid state Pass Labs XP-32 preamplifier for the tubed Audio Research Reference 6SE.1 I wanted to experience the differences in the short term and then take note of how those differences panned out over time. I have very much enjoyed the Pass Labs XP-32 preamplifier, and I expect to continue to, but I could live quite happily with the Audio Research Reference 6SE. [Extracted from the article]

The music - a grab bag from Bottesini, Koussevitzky, Schumann, and Franck - is mostly familiar and yet diverting, and this may well be the most natural-sounding chamber music album I've ever heard. What genre is Carolyn Shaw's new album, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, with So Percussion? On the outside, the Zesto Leto Ultra II line preamplifier ($10,900),1 which Ken Micallef reviewed earlier this year,2 looks a bit different than most other audio components. [Extracted from the article]

I recently replaced my two-box Pass Laboratories XP-22 with the three-box XP-323 from the same company. I thought the XP-22 preamplifier let through all the music, or all that mattered, but I guess it didn't, because the XP-32 lets through just a little bit more. [Extracted from the article]

It joins the more conventionally McIntosh-styled MCD350 and MCD600 in McIntosh's SACD-player lineup. McIntosh has unveiled a new SACD player. Via the USB input, the MCD85 supports playback of DSD up to DSD256 and PCM up to DXD 384kHz; the other inputs are PCM only, up to 192kHz. [Extracted from the article]

It can, however, send MQA-CD data over its single electrical RCA S/PDIF output to the Attessa Streaming Amplifier, which can then decode it. The Attessa range comprises four pieces: a streaming amplifier, an integrated amplifier, a turntable, and a CD transport. British hi-fi company Roksan has announced a new series of sleek-looking hi-fi components. [Extracted from the article]

To celebrate 10 years in the business, Volti Audio presented a new special edition of its Rival loudspeaker, the Rival SE ($19,990/pair) in bubinga wood veneer; a rosewood option is also available. The most intriguing technology that either of us saw at the show was incorporated in MC Audiotech's Forty-10 loudspeakers ($35,000/pair). Vienna Acoustics premiered its Beethoven Baby Grand Reference loudspeaker ($9498/pair) in a room sponsored by A la Carte Productions. [Extracted from the article]

The Rotel RC-1590 and RC-1572 preamps have now been upgraded to "MKII" status. The RC-1572MKII, Rotel's more affordable preamplifier, is priced at $1399.99. The RC-1590MKII, Rotel's reference preamplifier, offers a new power supply with electrically and physically isolated dual toroidal power transformers, manufactured in-house. [Extracted from the article]

Cambridge Audio has launched the Evo all-in-one system consisting of two source/amplification components, a matching CD transport, and a pair of speakers. There's a preamp output, a subwoofer output - both on RCA - and the usual RS-232C control interface. S/PDIF inputs support PCM only - up to 24/192 via RCA and 24/96 via TosLink - while the USB input supports PCM up to 32-bit 384kHz (asynchronous) and DSD up to DSD 256. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers the information on the Digital-to-analog converters preamplifiers, power amplifiers—work by modulating the direct current output of their power supplies with an alternate current music signals. The article also mentions about the comparison of the sound system with the whisky and dirty water.