Recommended Reference Component: Marantz Model 40n Streaming Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 July 2024 15 July 2024
In August 2022, Dennis Burger reviewed the Marantz Model 40n for SoundStage! Access. It was an enthusiastic review that earned the 40n a Reviewers’ Choice award. This amplifier has since continued to prove its excellence and versatility and has continued to garner critical praise.
Recommended Reference Component: DALI Epikore 11 Loudspeaker
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 June 2024 15 June 2024
During a visit to loudspeaker manufacturer DALI (Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries) in 2022, Jason Thorpe had the opportunity to listen to the brand’s flagship model, the Kore. Deeply impressed with its sound, Jason was tempted to request a pair for review, but scrubbed the idea as a nonstarter at the thought of trying to get this 350-pound behemoth—two of them—into his basement-floor listening room.
Recommended Reference Component: GoldenEar T66 Loudspeaker
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 May 2024 15 May 2024
“Sometimes the speaker marketplace seems a tad crowded, with too many models that seem like mere variations on a theme,” Philip Beaudette writes in the conclusion to his review of the GoldenEar T66 loudspeaker (published on May 1 on this site). “GoldenEar is legitimately doing something that most of its competitors aren’t, and built-in powered subs are what the brand has become synonymous with.” GoldenEar, which was founded in 2010 by Sandy Gross and Don Givogue, was sold in 2020 to The Quest Group, parent company of AudioQuest, primarily a cable brand. The T66 is the first loudspeaker released after this acquisition, and it carries on GoldenEar’s tradition of incorporating a self-powered bass section into each tower.
Recommended Reference Component: Hegel Music Systems H30A Stereo/Mono Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 April 2024 15 April 2024
Hegel Music Systems is best known for its highly regarded integrated amplifiers. The company’s flagship model in this category, the H600, was the subject of a review on this site by Philip Beaudette in September, 2023, which earned it a Reviewers’ Choice award and Recommended Reference Component honors. Five months before the H600 review—in fact, exactly one year ago today—Jason Thorpe reviewed Hegel’s H30A stereo/mono power amplifier, also on this site, declaring in conclusion, “I can’t really find anything about this amplifier that’s even remotely unsatisfactory. This doesn’t happen very often.”
Recommended Reference Component: Rotel Diamond Series DT-6000 CD Player–DAC
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 March 2024 15 March 2024
Rotel’s Diamond Series components—the RA‑6000 integrated amplifier–DAC ($4499, all prices in USD), reviewed by Roger Kanno last February, and the DT‑6000 CD player–DAC ($2299), reviewed by Roger last April—are touted as “celebrating 60 years of performance synonymous with the brand’s Japanese heritage.” In the case of the DT‑6000, this catchline seems particularly apt.
Recommended Reference Component: Rotel Michi X5 Series 2 Integrated Amplifier–DAC
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 February 2024 15 February 2024
In 1993, Rotel released a series of flagship products under the sub-brand Michi: the RHB-10 power amplifier, RHC-10 passive preamplifier, and RHQ-10 equalizer. Although the Michi components were well received, Rotel did not pursue further developments for the Michi line and let it go dormant. Unexpectedly, in 2019, the company revived Michi with a new series of integrated amplifiers, power amplifiers, and preamplifiers. In 2023, three decades after the original Michi launch, Rotel upgraded the Michi line to Series 2 status.
Recommended Reference Component: Simaudio Moon 791 Streaming Preamplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 January 2024 15 January 2024
In his review of the Simaudio Moon 791 streaming preamplifier, published on this site on December 1, 2023, Doug Schneider describes the 791 as a feature-rich successor to the company’s 740P preamplifier, released more than ten years ago. “The 740P was strictly a line-stage preamplifier [that] provided input switching for balanced and single-ended analog sources, gain for all incoming signals, and volume control,” Doug writes in his review. The 791 still provides these functions, but it also incorporates a phono stage that’s compatible with moving-magnet (MM) and moving-coil (MC) cartridges, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that supports nearly all of today’s music file formats, and Roon Ready streaming, wired or wireless (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth), via Simaudio’s MiND 2 platform. These additional capabilities partly account for the 791’s much higher price: $16,000, compared to $9500 for the 740P (both USD).
Recommended Reference Component: T+A Elektroakustik Solitaire S 530 Loudspeaker
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 November 2023 15 November 2023
In May, SoundStage! Ultra featured Hans Wetzel’s review of the T+A Solitaire Elektroakustic S 530 loudspeaker. Priced at $44,900 a pair (all prices in USD), the S 530 is the mid-level offering in the German brand’s Solitaire line, above the S 430 ($29,900/pair) and below the S 540 ($54,900/pair).
Recommended Reference Component: Musical Fidelity M6x Digital-to-Analog Converter
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 October 2023 15 October 2023
Phil Gold’s review of the Musical Fidelity M6x digital-to-analog converter appeared on this site on July 15. In his review, Phil explained that the M6x, which is priced at $2500 (all prices in USD), “replaces the M6sR, which itself replaced the M6s, one of the first DACs to use ESS Technology’s Sabre ESS 32-bit HyperStream II architecture.” The brand was founded by classical clarinetist Antony Michaelson in 1982, but Phil pointed out that Michaelson “sold Musical Fidelity to Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH, parent company of Pro-Ject Audio Systems, and returned to his first love, making music” in 2018.
Recommended Reference Component: Hegel Music Systems H600 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 September 2023 15 September 2023
Norway’s Hegel Music Systems has produced separate preamplifiers and power amplifiers since the early 1990s, but in recent years it has become best known for its DAC-equipped integrated amplifiers. In August 2023, Hegel introduced the H600, priced at $12,500 (in USD), which replaced the H590 as the company’s flagship integrated amp.
