NAD D 3045 Integrated Amplifier-DAC

Details: Written by Hans Wetzel; Created: 15 October 2019

Note: Measurements can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice New Acoustic Dimension (NAD) was founded in London, England, in 1972. Since 1999, the electronics manufacturer has been owned by the Lenbrook Group, the Canadian parent company to sister brands Bluesound and PSB Speakers. NAD’s reputation for making no-nonsense, high-value gear began in 1978 with the 3020, a legendary integrated amplifier that combined genuine hi-fi sound quality with supreme affordability ($135 USD in 1978). In 2012, to celebrate NAD’s 40th anniversary, the 3020 was reimagined as the D 3020, a diminutive, class-D integrated amplifier-DAC. In August 2018, Sathyan Sundaram raved about that model’s successor, the D 3020 V2 ($399), which was then named one of our Products of the Year. The D 3020 V2’s combination of a power rating of 30Wpc into 8 ohms, a moving-magnet phono input, and a variety of analog and digital inputs and outputs, make it a flexible, albeit not universally comprehensive, one-box integrated-DAC. It’s not perfect -- 30Wpc is enough for smaller rooms, but not for larger spaces and/or inefficient speakers. The D 3020 V2 also lacks some useful connections, and has some uncommon connectors; e.g., stereo miniplugs for its subwoofer and preamp outputs.

Enrico Rava and Joe Lovano: "Roma"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 October 2019

ECM 2654
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Although saxophonist Joe Lovano has appeared on a number of ECM recordings since the early 1980s, Trio Tapestry, from earlier this year, was his first release as leader for the label. On his own recordings, Lovano is probably best known as a post-bop player with a solid, unerring sense of swing. Trio Tapestry was a move in a slightly different direction -- Lovano’s 11 compositions were atmospheric and contemplative without descending into background music. He was aided greatly by his accompanists, pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi.

Ported vs. Sealed Subwoofers -- SVS PB-3000 vs. SB-3000

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 01 October 2019

When, in June 2019, I reviewed SVS’s SB-3000 active subwoofer for Soundstage! Access, I liked it enough to buy the review sample -- and we gave it a Reviewers’ Choice award. I noted that in my room, the sealed-box SB-3000 ($999 USD in Black Ash, $1099 in Piano Gloss Black) effectively equaled the quantity and quality of sound produced by my reference sub, SVS’s own sealed-box SB-4000 ($1499 in Black Ash, $1599 in Piano Gloss Black). The following July, the SB-3000 earned a slot on the Recommended Reference Components list of SoundStage! Hi-Fi.

Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier-DAC

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 01 October 2019

Reviewers' Choice Audiolab was founded in the early 1980s, in the UK, and first achieved critical acclaim for the 8000A integrated amplifier. In 1997, under new owners, the brand was renamed TAG McLaren Audio, and in 2004 was sold to International Audio Group, when its original name was restored. In 2010, Audiolab released its 8200 series of models, to build on the legacy of the 8000A. Most recently, Audiolab launched the five models of the 8300 series, which includes the 8300A integrated amplifier.

Parasound NewClassic 200 Pre Preamplifier-DAC

Details: Written by Sathyan Sundaram; Created: 01 October 2019

In July of this year I auditioned Parasound’s Halo A 23+ power amplifier and found it an exceptional performer for the price at $1495 USD. Parasound also sent me their NewClassic 200 Pre preamplifier-DAC ($895), a slim, solidly constructed model that occupies only a single rack space. I wondered if it could match the Halo A 23+ in quality of sound for dollars spent.

The Flaming Lips: "King’s Mouth: Music and Songs"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 October 2019

Warner Bros. 093624900658
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

The Flaming Lips’ 15th studio album, King’s Mouth: Music and Songs, is part of a larger work that includes a book and an art installation, the songs being part of a unifying narrative. The overarching concepts of Flaming Lips albums are usually more evoked than spelled out, and while the whimsical fairytale on which King’s Mouth is based helps embody the album’s themes, it’s the layers of sound in the music and Wayne Coyne’s emotionally charged singing that convey the album’s felt meaning.

Paradigm Defiance V12 Subwoofer

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 15 September 2019

Reviewers' Choice I recently reviewed Paradigm’s Premier 100B minimonitor loudspeaker, and came away very impressed by it for its price of $798/pair USD -- though I thought the little speaker’s 5.5” midrange-woofer could have used some help with the lower octaves. What should happen next, before I’d even packed up the Premier 100Bs to send them back, but Doug Schneider asking me to review Paradigm’s Defiance V12 subwoofer ($649) -- a happy coincidence.

Elephant9: “Psychedelic Backfire I”

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 September 2019

Rune Grammofon RCD2207
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Even after listening to and collecting records for a few decades, I’m still on the lookout for new music worth hearing and telling others about. To that end, I read music publications and new-release announcements, looking for recommendations. The Norwegian trio Elephant9 isn’t really new -- they’ve been together since 2006 -- but when I read descriptions of their music that compared it to Soft Machine, a genre-crossing British prog-rock band of the late 1960s that’s among my favorites, I wanted to hear them.

Anthem's Peter and Mark Schuck on Subwoofer Integration and Room Correction

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 01 September 2019

Anthem is as well known to enthusiasts of two-channel stereo as it is to fans of surround sound. Anthem was formerly a subbrand of Sonic Frontiers; Paradigm, a speaker manufacturer founded in Canada in 1982 and headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, just outside Toronto, acquired Sonic Frontiers and Anthem in the late 1990s. Many of Anthem’s electronics are now made in the same Mississauga factory in which Paradigm builds their speakers, but they’re designed in the Paradigm Advanced Research Centre (PARC), in Ottawa, Ontario, not far from where I live.

SensaSound TPO-7300 Multichannel Amplifier

Details: Written by Roger Kanno; Created: 01 September 2019

Reviewers' Choice SensaSound USA, which has been around for seven years or so, specializes in making THX-certified speakers and amplifiers. On their website, SensaSound says that their products, designed and engineered at their headquarters in Warren, New Jersey, and manufactured in China, are designed to provide best-in-class performance at affordable prices. Their two amplifier models are the five-channel TPO-5300 and the subject of this review, the seven-channel TPO-7300, each specified to deliver 200Wpc. I was surprised to learn that these amps are respectively priced at $3900 and $4900 USD -- not inexpensive, and well above the prices of entry-level multichannel amplifiers. In fact, those prices put the SensaSounds in the company of some excellent amplifiers from some long-established manufacturers, and makes their claim of best-in-class performance a bold statement.