Introduction Ask someone who was into audio in the early days of high end for the names of their favorite high-end audio brands and McIntosh is bound to be mentioned in their first breath. McIntosh has been an icon in the high-end audio world for over 50 years. McIntosh components have long been recognizable by their elegant black glass faceplates, silver trimmed knobs and blue back-lighting. McIntosh’s newest and least expensive preamplifier, the C220, combines the Old World luxury McIntosh is so well known for with modern performance features, all without breaking the bank. The C220 is a full-featured, tube-based stereo preamplifier that retails for a reasonable $3,300. Some may categorize the C220 as a purist design, as it makes no accommodations for multi-channel or home theater integration as most $3,000 preamps do. However, to consider the C220 a simple stereo preamplifier would be to severely underestimate it. As you will see below, the C220 is ...

Introduction A growing trend in high-value audio video retail sales is to actually remove the physical retail store from the buying process. In recent years, speaker companies like Aperion and Orb Audio have made headway against the brick and mortar entrenched brands, leaving their customers with a glowing feeling when they open the boxes to realize just how much speaker they got for the money. On the electronics side, Outlaw Audio has become an AVRev.com staff favorite, with their powerful yet affordable amps, truly competitive subwoofers, feature-packed receivers and, in the case of this review, a $999 flagship AV preamp that comes loaded with many of the latest bells and whistles found on state of the art AV preamps, at one-tenth the price. Among factors tempting consumers to buy are an in-home 30-day guarantee, a five-year warranty, 800-number tech support and ...

Introduction Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I pull out all the stops by fully decorating the house, buying enough candy to put a normally healthy adult into diabetic shock and generally reveling in the fun of dispensing goodies to those in need. It is possible Bob Carver felt the same emotions when he designed the Sunfire Theater Grand Processor 5. Available in a black or silver finish, the TGP-5 is designed to be the hub of a high-end, high-performance home theater, providing all the flexibility and connections you could need. Offering HDMI switching, video transcoding, an integrated AM/FM tuner, the ability to handle seemingly any surround sound format and direct stereo bypass for two-channel listening, as well as extensive options for controlling an independent second zone, few processors in the world of home theater offer what this one does, especially for its modest retail price of $3,499. The TGP-5 provides both single-ended and balanced outputs ...

Introduction Anthem, known for value-priced audiophile-grade electronics, quickly established itself in the high roller market with their D1 AV preamp. With surprisingly good sound, at a price lower than you might expect from the big boys, Anthem quickly became the value leader in the home theater industry. With many market changes, specifically a fast-changing HDMI switching space, Anthem is back with a new flagship AV preamp called the Statement D2. Its goal is clear: to dominate and conquer the world of high-end AV preamps. The Anthem D2 is priced in with some heavyweights with a retail tag of $6,699. Description Visually, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the Anthem Statement D2 and the now discontinued D1 unless you are looking for the fine details up close. They both are five-and-seven-eighths inches tall by 17-and-a-quarter inches wide by 15-and-one-quarter inches deep. The same elegantly simple brushed aluminum faceplate houses the same buttons and layouts for both. ...

Introduction The Halcro SSP-100 is one of the most technologically advanced, full-featured audio video preamp-processors in the world. At $9,900, it is a relative bargain compared to other lofty competitors such as the Meridian 800 or Theta Casablanca, but it costs significantly more than the vast majority of processors currently on the market. The SSP-100 does everything you would expect of a full-featured audio/video processor and adds a video scaler, making it one of a few units in the world with this range of capabilities. I am not surprised that Halcro is one of the first manufacturers to offer this combination of features. Halcro, an Australian company, has long been known for their excellent amplifiers and cutting-edge digital amplification circuits. The SSP-100 shares industrial design cues that run throughout the Halcro line, namely the use of ovals. If you view the unit from above, there is a prominent oval cap that extends approximately a half ...