Welcome to the Best Amplifiers section of the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2022. The Guide is more than “We heartily endorse this [fill in the blank].” This collection represents our enthusiasm. Every product […]
Tag Archives: Audio Hungary
Last year I reviewed the Audio Hungary (website) Qualiton APX-200 power amp (review linked here), which was 100 watts per channel of pure vacuum tube goodness. It was, and still is, a tremendous sounding power […]
Human communication is a fickle thing. Even languages like English have plenty of room for interpretations and inferences that are often misunderstood. Take, for example, the Audio Hungary Qualiton (website) A20i tube integrated amplifier that […]
Is the absence of any coloration its own signature coloration? During my time with the TIDAL Audio Prisma preamplifier, I found myself asking that very question. People like me who listen to music for a living (including lots of audiophiles I know) have developed a familiarity with the various sonic signatures that any piece of audio electronics contributes to the music passing through it. Whether I’m using certain pieces of gear to master music in my studio or swapping out stuff in my home system for a review, I’m highly aware of whatever sonic stamp, however slight, is being placed on the music. In the case of the TIDAL Audio Prisma, that sonic stamp is very audible. But it’s in a class that is reserved for the best of the best, audio electronics that are so low in any added texture or distortions that the sound seems magically transformed by what’s NOT there. Where’s The Flava? Since digital recording became essentially omnipotent as the pro recording medium of choice, it’s become standard practice by many engineers to use whatever tools available to impart a sonically pleasing amount of harmonics to the recording process in search of more apparent texture and […]
What the heck is in THAT thing? That was my first reaction to the huge road case I signed for from my delivery guy. My second reaction was “Dayum, I don’t remember there being an amplifier headed my way. This sucker is heavy!” Ohhhh, I thought, it’s the LampizatOr Vinyl Phono MC1. I flashed back to my days of helping load the van with all our band gear, and I channeled my inner roadie as I hauled the case back to the staging area, my garage studio, for unpacking. Once in the living room, I had to clear a spot on a rack shelf to house the impressively large (20” x 17” x 4”) and heavy (a little over 37 lbs) box that is the LampizatOr Vinyl Phono MC1. When I turned it on, there was the money shot staring me in the face, a round, orange Nixie tube display on the front panel that glowed with numbers displaying which loading option is chosen for the phono cartridge. The setting is changed by a large black knob to the right of the Nixie tube display. I wanted to grab a phatt stack of Benjamins like Skrap in that episode of Easy and […]
There is something about a curry. Sorry, but for some reason when I started making serious notes about the sound of the ZYX Ultimate 100 moving coil phono cartridge, I thought of food. I love Indian food. I find it incredibly satisfying. It must have something to do with the sheer number of spices that have to be skillfully blended to result in a concoction with the effect of a single, complex explosion of flavor to the taste buds. Other culinary experiences are of a simpler nature. A piece of fresh fatty tuna sashimi that melts in your mouth. The bowl of perfectly prepared black beans and rice. Lightly steamed, fresh organic broccoli served with a squeeze of lemon. Homemade flour tortillas, hot off the pan. In a vinyl oriented system, I like to think of the phono cartridge as not only being the first part of a complex chain to retrieve information out of the groove, but also the spice that defines a certain kind of cuisine one might choose to metaphorically use when cooking up one’s system. Hisayoshi Nakatsuka: Parts Unknown To those of y’all unfamiliar with the ZYX brand (pronounced ZICKS and made in Japan), it’s a company devoted […]