Pre/Power Amplifiers

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Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jul 20, 2024
hfnoutstandingIf ever the phrase ‘all-singing, all-dancing...’ could be applied to an audio streamer then Eversolo’s flagship model is the promise given form. The DMP-A8 should take a bow...

Search online and you’ll discover a groundswell of cheap DACs and streamers playing to every (hardware) whim, making it easy to overlook Eversolo’s efforts. But the company, which is the dedicated audio department of Shenzhen-based Zidoo, known for its EISA Award-winning Neo S media player, follows a different, more quality-focused strategy, as the affordable Z8 DAC and DMP-A6 have so far proved.

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Aug 01, 2023
hfnoutstandingLong-awaited, while the monoblock version of Exposure's 3510 amplifier series looks just like its Stereo and Integrated models, in practice it is a new and highly refined amp

When Exposure launched its 3510 series in 2021, as a replacement for the venerable 3010 range, attention was first given, perhaps unsurprisingly, to the integrated amplifier [HFN Nov '21]. One year later it was joined by a stereo power amp and partnering preamp [HFN Nov '22], and a year after that we witness the arrival of the 3510 Mono, tested here. Such an approach is not unusual for a boutique brand – a fair description of the Sussex-based company – but it's perhaps also indicative of the hidden differences between Exposure's amplifier designs.

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Dec 12, 2022
hfnoutstandingReplacing the outgoing 3010 series with trickledown experience from the costlier 5010 range, Exposure's 3510 stable just got busier with the launch of a new pre/power

Who remembers the Stella Artois ad that proclaimed its lager was 'reassuringly expensive'? A slightly odd slogan, if you ask me, but it came to mind when setting up Exposure's 3510 pre/power pairing, only substituting the word 'expensive' for 'simple'. Here are two hi-fi products where simplicity has been elevated almost to an art form, reflected in the casework, choice of connections and user experience. And at £1590 a piece, these recently launched models aren't outrageously expensive.

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Nov 01, 2018
hfnoutstanding.pngSharing the same chassis design as its 3010 series, but boasting double the clout, Exposure’s latest pre/power also offers modular MM/MC phono and DAC options

Available with silver (‘titanium’) or black front panels, both with black main casework, Exposure’s 5010 models replace the rather more overtly styled – and huge – MCX series, with their large outrigger feet, as the company’s flagship models. They sit atop a range running from the entry-level 1010 series through the 2010S2s and 3010S2s [HFN Dec ’14], with the half-width XM lineup as an alternative [HFN Apr ’18]. This top-end range is kept much simpler than its junior counterparts, for where those lineups extend to disc players and integrated amps, here we have just two models: the £2000 5010 preamp, and the £4550-per-pair 5010 mono power amps.

Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Sep 14, 2023
hfnoutstandingThis Polish tech brand has already made waves with its OOR headphone amp and DAC-equipped ERCO. Now comes its most sophisticated digital offering yet – the Wandla

Does the world really need another DAC? Considering the ample offerings from traditional and emerging Asian hi-fi brands, you might be tempted to say, 'not really'. However, Poland's Ferrum Audio combines experience with a flair for innovation – its parent company HEM has been an OEM contractor for other manufacturers, possibly inciting its engineers to go one better for their own brand.

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jun 23, 2022
hfnoutstandingThis Polish hotshot brand broke onto the audiophile scene with its programmable DC PSU, followed by the OOR headphone amp. Now, with DAC onboard, comes the ERCO

The name of this new product from Polish company HEM, selling under its Ferrum brand, is spelt ERCO, but pronounced 'ertso'. Apparently it's Esperanto for 'ore', and so follows on from the mineral-based brand-identity – Ferrum, OOR – you get the idea. What's also not immediately apparent, given that all the Ferrum products basically look the same, is that the £2395 ERCO is perhaps the most comprehensively equipped model the company has made to date.

Review: Ken Kessler, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jan 31, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2025
hfncommendedBargains are something we like, so an all-valve pre/power combination for under £7000 is worthy of all our attention – say ‘hello’ to Fezz Audio’s Sagita Prestige and Titania

Baffled by its name, I assumed Polish manufacturer ‘Fezz’ took it from its distinctive toroidal transformer covers, which reflect the shape of the famous Moroccan hat if not the city itself. Here was a valve amplifier with the full complement of toroidal transformers – not all that common with tubes – but there’s even more novelty to the Sagita Prestige preamplifier (£3499) and Titania power amplifier (£3495). Eastern European price advantages are just the start.

Andy Whittle and Paul Miller  |  Jan 06, 2009
Flying mole – now there’s an interesting name that would appear to fly against the face of convention. In this case, it’s the convention of Class A/B transistor amps and thermionic devices that glow in the dark. I am not even certain that they have moles in Japan. I’ve been to Tokyo a number of times and haven’t seen moles on the menu, so can only assume that they do not.
Hi-Fi News Staff  |  Dec 22, 2014
Furutech’s Alpha Design Lab range includes cables, headphones and earphones, a portable headphone amplifier and stylish system equivalents of the ADL X1 here. This appears to be a portable miniature music centre, offering USB and iDevice functionality, plus a built-in rechargeable battery giving around five hours of operation. Six top-mounted LEDs display sampling frequency, and there’s a front fascia volume control – which sadly proved just a little too easy to accidentally move when out and about. Those on the Number 41 bus will doubtless prefer the ergonomic simplicity of, say, an Arcam rPAC or Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS, which are truly portable devices.
Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jun 30, 2025  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingNo off-the-shelf chips for Holland’s Grimm Audio as the networking and custom code of the MU1 music server are joined by a Roon-equipped DAC/preamp in the same chassis

Network players have the potential to be a great leveller for ‘family listening’ outside of the exclusive audiophile world. It’s even possible that younger music fans will discover the joys of sitting and listening via a proper hi-fi system. Of course, that means everyone getting to grips with streaming music from internal storage or Tidal and Qobuz, putting together the odd personal playlist, and even routing the TV sound through the system.

Ken Kessler  |  Jan 06, 2023  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2002
hfnvintageHere's an amplifier that doesn't just look different, it's different through and through. Ken Kessler hears a potent powerhouse from Down Under

There are two piles of magazines, some 150cm tall, sitting in my lounge. They consist mainly of hi-fi titles that I can't read until they're 'out of date'. Why? Because I don't want to be influenced by the reviews, and I don't always know whether or not I'll be reviewing a component I've just seen slammed or praised. Thus it was that I tried to avoid whispers about the Halcro amplifiers from Australia. Even so, I kept hearing about these 'amazing amps' from all and sundry.

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jun 08, 2023
hfnoutstandingThe original Halcro amp starred in a recent HFN Vault feature but, some 20 years on, the marque is back in the same iconic shape and with the same high tech claims...

Working out the brand behind the Eclipse Stereo power amplifier isn't hard: not only is the design a modern take on the iconic Australian Halcro amps of the past [see 'From the Vault', HFN Dec '22], but the product itself, with the power supply and amplifier suspended between two solid uprights, forms the letter 'H' – not a trick we've seen other manufacturers attempting!

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Feb 03, 2026  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2026
hfnoutstandingAussie brand Halcro is in no rush – three years after the rebirth of its iconic turn-of-the-century Eclipse power amp, it has released a partnering preamp. Line-only, of course!

There’s boutique hi-fi and then there’s boutique hi-fi. Halcro, the famed Australian marque, at present has just three models in its catalogue – and one of those is the mono sibling of its Eclipse Stereo power amplifier [HFN May ’23]. Its only other offering is this new Equinox preamp with pricing to match the Eclipse, both selling for the same £44,000 in Halcro’s standard powder-coat finish, or a cool £50,000 for one of the ‘Signature’ premium paint versions.

Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Nov 24, 2023
hfnoutstandingBuilt into an enhanced H590 chassis but featuring 'sound tuning' from the P30A/H30A pre/power, Hegel's fully-networked flagship integrated gets off to a flying start

After an extended period of Covid and component shortage-related calm, Oslo-based Hegel has seemingly shifted into overdrive, launching multiple new products in just half a year. First up in 2023 was a major update to its flagship pre/power system in the form of the P30A and H30A [HFN Jun '23], followed by the Viking CD player [HFN Sep '23]. The third act is the launch of the H600, which takes over from Hegel's popular, top-tier H590 integrated streaming amp, and sells for £10,500 in a very dark grey, almost matt black finish.

Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jul 03, 2023
hfnoutstandingDubbed 'The Conductor' and 'The Orchestra', respectively, Hegel's replacements for the decade-old P30/H30 pre/power amplifiers are flagships worthy of their names

By all accounts Hegel has been very busy over the last few years, which is a notion that might raise some eyebrows because – understandably – the Norwegian company went a little quiet during and after 2020. In fact, the V10 phono preamplifier [HFN Mar '21] has been about the only piece of hardware to escape the drawing board of Hegel's owner and master engineer Bent Holter since Covid. However, as industry insiders and the company's user base well knew, Hegel was battling the angry gods of software development to make its major integrated amplifiers Roon Ready.

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