Digital
We’ve carefully selected these brands based on soundstage depth and width, accuracy in timbre, cosmetics, value, and overall intensity in performance.
Rega
Favorite Review: “We love the Rega’s expressive dynamics – the way it builds the crescendos in the Stravinsky piece while managing to resolve nuances in the quieter sections is impressive. It’s brilliantly organised too, keeping all the instrumental strands in place even when the music gets complicated.” – WhatHiFi on the Rega DAC-R
AVM
Favorite Review: “I’m happy to say you can get virtually all of the features and much of sound quality of AVM’s flagship in the company’s $4995 CS 2.2. I’ve been using the CS 2.2 as my “daily driver” for the past few months and its combination of features, flexibility, and sound quality in one easy-to-operate component is hard to beat.” – The Absolute Sound on the AVM CS 2.2
Ayre
Favorite Review: “My initial sonic impressions included descriptive terms as big, bold, and detailed with an excellent transient response. The QX-8 delivers the characteristic “Ayre Acoustics Sound”: extremely neutral, dynamic with very well controlled bass and an overall lack of hardness. If you are looking for warmth or midbass fullness, you might be disappointed by the QX-8. What the QX-8 delivers is absolute tonal accuracy in its overall presentation.” Darkko.Audio on the Ayre QX-8 Digital Hub
Bluesound
Favorite Review: “No matter if you chose to listen to music via the Node 2i whilst hard-wired into your existing audio system, streaming wirelessly to a Bluesound speaker somewhere in your home, or to some wireless headphones, the authority the Node 2i brings to bear on your recordings is, to a lesser or greater extent, the same. It’s thrillingly accomplished in every aspect of music reproduction.” – Trusted Reviews on the Bluesound Node 2i
Bryston
Favorite Review: “Bryston may be known mostly for their amps, but now having heard more of their components it is starting to look like everything they issue is simply excellent value, great-sounding, and built to last. The BDP-3 is no exception. Used as a streaming endpoint, the BDP-3 is a dependable, easy to operate and really great sounding device. A big selling point is its Roon Ready-ness, combined with its front panel display and buttons that actually control Roon’s queue. When using its built-in Media Player and playing local files, the BDP-3 further steps up the game and truly shines. In this mode, it actually performs on par with some of the very best digital sources that I have heard.” – HiFi Advice on the Bryston BDP-3 digital music player
Luxman
Favorite Review: “…the Luxman DA-06 is a damn fine-sounding D/A converter with virtually all music: insightful, explicit, substantial, colorful, and as consistently analog-like a digital product as I have heard. That it is also attractive, easy to use, and made by a corporation that will turn 90 next year tips the balance toward an enthusiastic recommendation.” – Stereophile on the Luxman DA-06 Digital Processor
Chord
Favorite Review: “…with the M Scaler assisting the Hugo TT 2, the timing and timbres of the percussion ensemble instruments improved dramatically, with more incisive transient sounds, rounder tonalities all around, and the all-important qualities of ‘swing’ and dynamic ‘jump’ in evidence. Individual choral lines also became clearer and more intelligible, while the potentially problematic vocal swells sounded better controlled and more expressive, with elements of congestion mostly (though not entirely) cleared up. In addition, the sounds of the concert venue were captured more realistically.” – HFi + on the Chord Electronics Ltd. “Hugo M Scaler” Digital Upscaling Device
NAD
Favorite Review: “The NAD D 3045 HYBRID DIGITAL AMPLIFIER is the best integrated amp I’ve heard for under $1000. Honestly, you’d have to spend a lot more than $1000 to beat it. I can’t imagine anything that would improve the D 3045’s sound quality in a significant way. For $699, it delivers audio equal to more expensive products. It has every feature one could want in an integrated amplifier and it can drive just about any speakers currently sold today. Its character is definitive NAD – neutral and accurate with seemingly endless power reserves.” – Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity on the NAD D 3045 HYBRID DIGITAL AMPLIFIER