This is the first edition of The Sound Advocate’ “BEST PRODUCT AWARDS”. We will be picking out 2 products each year that have been profoundly reviewed and evaluated by the editor(s) of our site in the past year.
The products picked will have shown to offer outstanding subjective sound quality as well as encompassing formidable technology and build, fine ergonomics, the ability to partner exceedingly well with a variety of equipment it was used with as well as being able to convey “special” endowments of musical and sound reproduction qualities.
The products awarded are of any category of audio equipment we have had the pleasure of assessing and the awards are never judged according to their respective price points. EVER! As any audio devotee reading this knows, there are exceptional audiophile components at all price levels that can give an enthusiast the utmost in enjoyment–and this is of great importance here. So, without any further ado, here are the two products and manufacturers that we’ve awarded “Best of 2019!”
PEACHTREE AUDIO NOVA 300 integrated amplifier (2019 version).
The Peachtree nova series has been praised by hi-fi critics and audiophiles as one of the best integrated amplifiers available, at any price, having accumulated many awards and industry honors along the way. The 2019 version of this amplifier has been used on and off in my system for almost a year now.
Not only does it offer a new-generation ICEpower Class D module, but it puts out an authoritative average of 300 watts per channel of glorious sound. Having previously experienced lots of listening time with a variety of excellent class A, and A/B integrated and separate power amps, the sonic characteristics of the Nova 300 are quite awe-inspiring to behold, with any loudspeaker it has been used with.
Its audible perception of clean, luxurious and neutral sound characteristics is quite unique as to its class and price. There may be a handful of other integrated amplifiers that can equal the build quality and beautiful sound reproduction of the Nova 300, but the Nova 300’s price point adds to the overall love of admirable workhorse.
To quote parts of my initial review, “the Nova truly did hold a ‘firm grip’ the loudspeakers drive units. While the bass became firmer, it did not in any way sound ‘bloated’ or over extended in relation to the speaker’s comprehensive balance. This unexaggerated ‘hold’ on the bass response was perceptively and evenly integrated within the loudspeakers overall tonal response.”
“The Nova 300 gave the upper mid-treble range on all the loudspeakers used an unequivocally smoother, airier and subtly beautiful high frequency response. Being just as notable was a sublime soundstage width—with particular orchestral recordings emerging across, beyond and behind the imagined stage (front wall) of the speakers and room. Adding to that, I had not heard an integrated amplifier display so much exact sweetness to string sounds; reticent when called for yet superbly delicate and strongly refined when the program sources offered as much.”
I have also been overwhelmed as to how the Nova’s outstanding DAC has been able to integrate within systems containing substantially higher priced, (though not always necessarily better sounding) high end pre and power amp separates.
As I ended the review last July, I still adamantly believe that this integrated amplifier can and should be used as a comparison to judge the quality of reproduction that can be obtained with other integrated high definition audiophile amplifiers– or separates for that matter! The Peachtree Nova 300 is a superlative product and has earned one of The Sound Advocates rewards for Best Product of 2019!
Peachtree Nova 300 integrated amplifier (2019) – $ 2,299.00 Peachtree Audio https://www.peachtreeaudio.com/ Contact: Mr. Andrew Clark: andrewc@peachtreeaudio.com
INAKUSTIK AC-3500P Power Station AND LS-4004 AIR SPEAKER CABLE
As mentioned above, price takes no precedence when judging the quality of the best ‘high performance’ and preeminent audiophile products offered to the consumer. In the case of the relatively new introduction of Germany’s Inakustiks audiophile products to the U.S, their top of the line LS-4004 Air loudspeaker cable and AC-3500P power station is a blue-chip case in point!
As noted in my just posted review a few days ago, the AC-3500P is a staggeringly excellent product, not only as the most highly efficient centralized parallel filtering components available, but as a piece of hi-fi gear that brings forth music in a way that bares the utmost resemblance of adding a dramatic new source component or amplifier to an existing audio system. To paraphrase some quotes from my in-depth analysis of these two products:
“The Reference AC-3500P power station has used a different approach: its parallel filter is executed most perfectly and exquisitely, thereby noticeably increasing the definition of a high-end audio systems complete overall quality of sound reproduction. These include, dynamics, stage depth and width, ambience, and quite shocking to me, a level of increased “audible beauty” to a system that is hard to define completely in mere words”
Some quotes: “The AC-3500P however, goes one step further: It brings forth in the most neutral, self-effacing manner, much more of a well-engineered recording’s low level, precise details, and definitive transparency; both of these attributes being the true ‘hallmarks’ of the AC-3500P power station.”
“ As you use the AC-3500P longer, this intrinsic and deeply audible characteristic remains in your psyche while quite importantly—it keeps every bit of the stereo image localization that the source material may present right there in its original form.“
I ended the review by stating, “The AC-3500P is much more than a power conditioner by any means! It is a totally complete, astoundingly quiet parallel filtering conditioning system, that somehow brings forth a caliber of subtle, natural and deeply hidden musical characteristics in a given recording that in most cases, had been previously unnoticed. As already mentioned, it is a breathtaking component within itself that once embedded into your system is hard to live without!“
As for The LS-4004 Air Speaker Cables by Inakustik, these cables was able to enrich my system to a degree that as costly as they are (for me!) exhibited a sound quality that was quite inimitable, to say the least! Here are some quotes from the review:
“The cables exhibited close to perfect ambient decay, front stage openness and explicit realism in regard to the sound as it floated back behind and sides of the loudspeakers as well as to the corners of the front of the listening room. The stereo imaging was always locked solid and profoundly placed within the sound stage. In effect, if your loudspeakers are up to the task, the LS-4004 was basically taking the speakers out of the picture, completely, if you will”.
“Never sounding rough, acidic or brash, they could prod deeply within a performance of mass violins, while at the same time enabling one to sometimes differentiate the actual individual string tones as they played in unison. This was apparent more often than not and it is something that I personally find deeply emotional when listening to most of my classically recorded program material.”
“They convey a quality of sound that is able to reproduce the innate qualities of all voices and acoustical instruments with definitive transparency, a neutral, uncolored tonal balance and a degree of audible purity that warrants partnership with some of the most eclectic and esoteric audio systems currently available.”
And so, as our second “Best Product” Awards winner of 2019, Inakustiks’s AC-3500P power station and LS-4004 Air Speaker Cables have taken the definitive the prize.!
Inakustik AC-3500P Power Station ~ $3000.00 USD Inakustik LS-4004 Air speaker cables ~$6,000 USD – 3-meter pair /terminated
North American distributor; Worldwide Wholesales website; www.worldwidewholesales.com
e-mail address; info@worldwidewholesales.com
phone number; 519-619-9924
WHERE the MUSIC BEAT meets the AUDIOPHILE ELITE !
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