The Best HiFi Amplifiers

[Music] the last set of videos in this series have been really popular so i thought i'd do another on amplifiers okay you know how it goes this list is an order of sound quality it doesn't mean the higher up one is more suitable as i'm not taking account of features and use type it's of all my experiences of amps and relates to ones i've tried so no what about this or what about that performance does tend to go with price and this isn't an uber pricey list i don't do niche multi 10 000 or pound hi-fi i'm not picking just due to tone and for my taste too but due to overall sound wellness factor so from fifteen to one sorry that's a uk game show i mean ten to one here we go musical fidelity's m5si ideal is all about power and guts for the money you won't find many amps with similar power output levels at this cache so this amp takes the british door stop loaf to thin a danish bread so far as pure output drive goes it gives off a tonally thick sound in a comforting and costing way and whilst it may not be the most nuanced and dynamic of amplifiers because it can't achieve the dynamic and analog qualities of some in this list it gets you a decent amount at the money [Music] okay i didn't technically review this at home but i listened to it with my same kit at various events so i'm including it it's one of those class a b sounding class d amps that came about after cyrus's white paper on a new class d design it gets a huge amount out of a small box and if you want a quality amp from a well-known brand where compared to some of their other stuff sound value isn't great this stereo 200 is the opposite [Music] okay i'm forgetting the streaming and functionality otherwise this amp would be much higher up the list but when you factor in deer rack room correction tech that this amp uses it will or probably should go higher depending on how you set it up but it takes its place as one of the best because it's every man hi-fi that is of its time and gets people on that audio file journey it's a pretty accomplished amplifier with its class d hypex power modules and with the right speakers but it works mainly for its combination of dirac and class d amplification [Music] what this amp said to me well it didn't because it's an m and it can't talk is you don't need to spend the mega prices of name brands and whilst it's actually cheaper than the stereo 200 it beats the cyrus because it is just better sound value for money okay it might be just hypex modules bolted into a box choosing a paster's choice op-amp but class d with the right speakers can work terrifically particularly where the speakers have a rolled off top treble and that's the thing people never ever mention when they criticized last day speaker pairing amps like this dual mono nord are always ones i recommend for value for those who have invested in branded speakers and want a better return on an amp without going full freight prices [Music] this brooklyn pips the nord because i'm extending footprint and case design into the mix even though i said i wouldn't but more so and on point sound is a little bit more analog a b sounding hypex modules can make the treble a little diffuse into the mid-range but this my tech doesn't use such modules and why because it's more neutral it takes its place rightly here it's mini max hi-fi i called it because you get huge class d power out of a small box using its pascal modules which my tech have tweaked with different mosfets what fets a type of transistor running with my kef ls50 meters is a dream in heaven pairing [Music] think of all the things that make hegel's sound engine 2 tech great add in streaming capability and a dac this amp will suit lots of mid-range audio file applications for those who want some of the best analog sound quality in an amplifier you can get at the moment if you want to understand what hegel's sound engine 2 technology is all about batten down the hatches and see this video of hegel's designer bent holter thinking caps and textbooks out please boffins as it is technical pair with brands like bmw kef pmc or spender this is a lovely amplifier i'm sure if the h190 is reviewed it will very likely feature beyond the 120 for obvious reasons [Music] it's unusual for me to place a tube preamp so high up the list because i'm not so much into the sound that tubes bring for certain types of music like electronica and to be honest if we look at the preponderance of solid state against tubes i don't think the market on balance prefers tubes to solid state anyway but this amp is up here for a combination of build and sound and i know i said i based this on sound alone but you can't help but be swayed by the avm's porch one dirt technique bomb proofing build quality the way you can look into the window on the top of the amp the quality of the machining and the build quality overall but it's a very nice tonally rounded and rich amplifier still keeping to a neutral ideal which is why i've included it sure it looks like something out of a defense facility or sitting under boris johnson's desk to key the nuclear codes having said that maybe not for bojo some of cyrus's top range amps and preamps are now purportedly eclipsed by their xr line but these amps are very accomplished cyrus isn't bright like sitting on a beach in sonic terms so many people go on about this but more like sitting on a beach with a warm beach towel over a yard a good balance sorry i know i said i don't normally do pretentiousness i won't go on about these amps more because you obviously get a certain amount of quality at this type of price they are expensive for what they do and diminishing value for money does come into play the amp at number one actually made me sell these cyrus amps and less money too [Music] this was actually a written review and i don't think i've ever heard timbrel information that's basically just so accurate in an amplifier pair with the right amps and sound is terrific and this is one of the most wowing preamps i've ever tried if you want a premium analog amplifier that is pretty much as good as it gets without the snidey jack nicholson-esque audiophile commentary well it bloody well must be at this type of price this is extremely good hi-fi its tonality is probably plus one with base and plain looking this box might be but it's like a piece of medical equipment in a hospital it might look functional but it could save your audiophile life an apt analogy as well because this firm has its origins in the medical equipment field all right all right no surprises to people who know this channel with its dual mono balanced infrastructure it has more analog qualities than many other amps so i'm talking about the way the sound isn't just a flatter rendition but dynamically undulating on its journey but this hv90 doesn't have the fatness padding and tone or tonal coloration that many amps have and i think this is probably a measure of its low distortion and the sound engine hybrid class a b tech doing its stuff which apparently hegel spent an awful lot of money developing it can pretty much drive all speakers most of us will use and it's forceful powerful gutsy and it's also a neutral amp and it outclasses some amps from the competition of brands like neymar cyrus it's basically like arnie on steroids at the peak of his i'll be back frivolity what'd you do with sally i let him go you definitely won't want to let this one go it's dak is terrific too and think that quality as good as something like a 1200 pound-ish cord cutest add-in roon open brackets in the pipeline close brackets and a streaming amp 2 rock-solid build neutral design to fit into lots of rooms and a lovely quality remote metal remote this is why this amp is easily number one but crucially it does all this at a great price that kills some pricier amps absolutely terrific product easily the best stamp i've ever reviewed hugely recommended enough said hey go [Music] you

Channel: 13th Note HiFi Reviews

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Rating: 4.697506 out of 5

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Id: hMvJJTFF5XE

Length: 12min 47sec (767 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 01 2021