Amplifiers Archives | Page 3 of 7

Amplifier Review

Our Score

The Ruby By Stoner Acoustics

January 17, 2016

Cracking name, Larry Miller would be proud, "Yeah but I don't know anyone called Ruby" - yeah you do now and it is the size of a postage stamp with a knob on the end of it. Few amps come in this size, perhaps t...

The Sustain84 By Cypher Labs

Marcus

January 11, 2016

$1000+, Amplifiers, Tubes

I can never quite tell if Cypher Labs practices soft launches or things just creep up on me with their product line but towards the end of 2015 David and his team got all tubey and launched the portable tube am...

The Heron 5 by Airist Audio

Michael

December 16, 2015

$1000+, Amplifiers, Solid State

A new player has entered the battle field and I’ve almost no information to share about Airist Audio apart from the fact they are a small team of smart people from the likes of MIT, Harvard to name but a few co...

The Continental Dual Mono By ALO Audio

Marcus

November 15, 2015

$1000+, Amplifiers, DAC's, Tubes

The Studio 6 by ALO Audio is their most expensive product for sale to date. A behemoth of a tube amp that we got and will review with aplomb in the coming weeks. However, the Continental Dual Mono DAC/AMP (CDM)...

8.7Our Score

The Magni 2U & Modi 2U By Schiit

Smit Patel

October 14, 2015

$101-200, Amplifiers, DAC's, Gear Reviews, Solid State, Sources

The crudely named audio company has been in the game for quite some time now having released a myriad of audio solutions for virtually every price point. Built exclusively in the US, Schiit abides by a simply p...

8.7Our Score

The D14 Bushmaster by iBasso

Marcus

October 7, 2015

$201-300, DAC's, Portable Amps

I am going to sound like a stuck record since I said almost the exact same opening as I did for the FiiO Q1 but the reality is the iBasso have also been the other raging success in the audiophile world with reg...

8.3Our Score

The Cloud Nine by PlusSound

Smit Patel

October 1, 2015

$301-400, Amplifiers, Gear Reviews, Portable Amps

PlusSound is a discrete company which specialises in custom cables for earphones, headphones and interconnects. Based in Los Angeles, the aim of PlusSound is clear; to provide uniquely exceptional products that...

The Q1 DAC/Amp by FiiO

Marcus

September 27, 2015

DAC's, Portable Amps, Up To $100

You could be forgiven if you thought FiiO has been all about the DAP's over the last few years when in actual fact the portable amp is what gave FiiO it's name and for many years was their bread and butter to t...

6.4Our Score

The Phonitor Mini by SPL

Michael

July 26, 2015

$501-1000, Amplifiers, DAC's, Gear Reviews, Solid State, Sources

SPL’s products have always been exclusive to me, I never knew anyone who owned a Phonitor…but I sure as hell wanted one despite that. It came to a bit of a shock to me that the company fashioned a mini version...

7.6Our Score

The E17k Alpen 2 DAC by FiiO

Marcus

May 27, 2015

$101-200, DAC's, Portable Amps, Sources

It is not all about the DAP's with FiiO you know. Lest we forget FiiO cut their teeth in the audiophile with cracking little budget amps and DACs such as the original E7 and the revised E17 AMP/DAC. These start...

8Our Score

The AlgoRhythm Picollo Amp By Cypher Labs

Marcus

May 17, 2015

$301-400, Gear Reviews, Portable Amps

The Picollo Amp was released actually sometime in 2014 but in a chance discussion with David Maudlin of Cypher Labs about the C6IEM and having reviewed the Picollo DAC/AMP already he mentioned that I should rea...

8.3Our Score

The Conductor Virtuoso by Burson

Donunus

April 15, 2015

$1000+, Amplifiers, DAC's, Gear Reviews, Solid State, Sources

What do we have for review today? It is Burson's burly Conductor Virtuoso. Is this the all around headphone amp that we have all been waiting for? Will it drive anything with ease while staying refined and quie...

8.4Our Score

The RX Portable Amp from ALO Audio – It’s Back!

Marcus

April 7, 2015

$301-400, Amplifiers, Portable Amps

In late 2014 I emailed ALO asking them what is the game plane for 2014/2015 and they had a few ideas in the pot but otherwise I felt they had a fairly quiet year in terms of big ticket releases. The fact they d...

8Our Score

The HA-2 DAC by Oppo

Marcus

April 5, 2015

$201-300, DAC's, Gear Reviews, Portable Amps, Sources

For the last year Oppo have blown away the market perception that planar headphones are really cumbersome heavy rocks on our head that sound great but need a nuclear plant to drive them. The PM-1, PM-2 and the ...

The Mini-M8 by CEntrance

Michael

March 30, 2015

$501-1000, DAC's, Portable Amps, Sources

I recall a time back in 2009 while working as a sound engineer for a local music label studio, I was privy to a new device called the Centrance MicPort. It was something that made life a lot less stressful and...

The Micro Portable Amp By Portaphile

Michael

March 25, 2015

$401-500, Portable Amps

Ceasar over at Portaphile has been up to no good! A while back, I'd heard his original 627 portable amp, astounded by the price to performance I'd naturally wanted to own it and review it. Since then, Porta...

The HPA-01M Portable Amp by Bakoon

Marcus

March 8, 2015

$1000+, Amplifiers, Portable Amps

There is nothing worse than getting a dose of the "man flu" when you are in mid testing, especially when the unit for review is the all-new portable HPA-01M current drive amp from Bakoon. You really just have t...

The Flow by Aurender

Marcus

January 31, 2015

$1000+, DAC's, Portable Amps

Recently there has been a bit of a drive to make the portable amplification and decoding device relevant again in the face of the all-conquering DAP revolution headed by the likes of Astell & Kern, FiiO and...

The Sound Blaster E5 by Creative

Marcus

January 21, 2015

$101-200, DAC's, Portable Amps

In mid-2014 we first got wind of a new series of budget-busting 'do it all' audio DAC/amps from Sound Blaster and luckily we were able to review the Sound Blaster E1 and E3. Whilst not being totally blown away ...

The FiiO E12a – The IEM Amp

Marcus

November 16, 2014

$101-200, Portable Amps

FiiO have been very busy in 2014 revising and modernizing their lineup of amps and DAC's on top of rolling out their new X1 and X5 DAPs. They have always struck me as keen to listen to feedback from their custo...