The Best Audiophile Gear (2024): Headphones, Speakers, Amps, DACs Leave a comment
I am a fairly lazy listener, which is why I like fashionable streaming amps. These amps have controls for Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and different streaming companies constructed immediately into easy-to-use interfaces. Streaming amps have gotten actually nice over the previous couple of years. It was once that something with an web connection sounded horrible, however that is not the case with the newest fashions. My high-end favorites proper now are the Cambridge Audio Evo 150 ($2,999) and the Naim Uniti Atom ($3,799), which each function beautiful coloration shows and among the greatest constancy (and most superb knobs) I’ve ever skilled. Each work with each main streaming service possible, and you may hook up with them over Bluetooth too.
A great step-down possibility is Yamaha’s R-N1000A ($1,800) stereo community receiver. It is loaded with high-end elements like a SABRE ES9090Q DAC for high-resolution digital audio and sufficient A/B amplification for practically any pair of audio system in your arsenal. Simply as vital, it supplies rock-steady efficiency and a great deal of connection choices, from tons of streaming companies and web radio stations to a turntable enter and HDMI ARC for connecting to your TV. Its retro design, which skips a coloration display screen for a slim digital show set under tactile knobs, stokes nostalgia whereas delivering glorious sound high quality.
If you do not have that sort of cash, I extremely suggest testing the Canadian model NAD. Its amps, just like the NAD C 316 V2 ($399) aren’t the flashiest, however they sound wonderful for the cash. Just like the Yamaha above, the C 316 even comes with a phono channel on board so you’ll be able to hook up a file participant—a pleasant contact, seeing how NAD’s mannequin does not have built-in streaming. If you wish to stream, you’ll find the correct dongle to attach your telephone to it.
Vinyl is again! And turntables are extra enjoyable—and better-sounding—than ever. For those who’re on the lookout for a starter deck with audiophile-grade sound high quality, I might try choices just like the Professional-Ject T1 ($499) or Debut Carbon Evo ($599). On the upper finish, we just like the Rega Planar 2 ($775), which has a bit extra open and dynamic sound, and U-Flip’s Orbit Idea ($999), which sounds implausible because of extras like a custom-made magnesium tonearm, the half that units the needle to the groove.
When you’ve got a classic stereo, it seemingly has a phono preamp built-in, that means you’ll be able to plug a turntable immediately and get straight to listening. However when you’ve got a contemporary stereo, you could want to purchase a devoted phono preamp to play your data by way of your headphones or audio system. Test each your turntable and your stereo, as a result of setups differ, and a few turntables include phono amps inside them you could activate by flipping a swap. Nonetheless, whereas some built-in choices just like the one contained in the Orbit Idea above carry out nicely, others could not sound nearly as good as you want.
