It could be said of any hobby that a large portion of the discourse surrounding it will be reserved for arguing over which approaches are the best. Car enthusiasts will debate over front wheel versus rear wheel designs, and guitar...
The allure of Jadis tube amplifiers goes much deeper than the acreage of gleaming gold and chrome on their often multi-chassis amps and preamps littered with tubes and hulking transformers. Probably deeper, at least. It’s hard to deny the impression...
Many brands in the HiFi industry aim to offer hassle-free tube amplifiers at a reasonable cost, often by manufacturing in China and using standard OEM chassis and parts. This tends to make products from these different companies' products look like...
I chanced upon the Decware website more than half my lifetime ago, back when the internet ran on phone lines and featured slow speeds and weird annoying sounds as it fired up. I was hooked immediately by the alluring photos...
Rogue Audio is known by many as a great place to start if you’re getting into tubes. Their amplifiers feature attractive chassis design, they use commonly found tubes and are always easy to bias. They offer that “tubey” sound, but...
One of the cool things about being in a position to evaluate and listen to a wide range of hi-fi equipment from across audio’s past is coming across unique and exquisite-sounding products from small companies. Often, this is where some...
PrimaLuna ProLogue Four Stereo Tube Power Amplifier Let’s talk about the difference between tubes at a bargain versus the no-holds-barred approach.The magic of tubes is real, and while it’s easy to say that, the fact remains that you can hear...
Conrad Johnson ET7 Tube Hybrid Preamplifier How does a manufacturing company stay in the HiFi business for more than 10 or 20 years? In the true high end of audio, every brand I’ve seen that lasts longer than 10 has...
Audible Illusions Modulus 3A Stereo Tube Preamplifier Low-level listening is an acquired taste, but I think it’s an essential exercise for the aspiring audiophile.If you’ve ever taken time to understand the Fletcher-Munson loudness curves, you know that our hearing frequency...
