All hi-fi and high-end brands at a glance

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Contents

Naim

Critics often call the British Naim founded by Julian Vereker ‘Spectral’ for the hi-fi fanatics with less money. And it is. Naim is incredibly neutral and ‘honest’. Just like Linn, Naim offers a very complete range that ranges from sources and amplifiers to loudspeakers. So it is possible to build a complete Naim set.
Naim is rhythmic, clean and airy.
As the Naim range is huge, you can click here to take a look at the Naim site.

NAD

NAD is a british brand that has played a prominent role in the hi-fi world for a long time. The brand has a wide range of amplifiers, CD players, AV reproducers, tuners, DVD players, turntables even speakers. NAD has two clear, well-organised lines: a consumer line and a high-end line (Master Series). Prices are reasonable in both series. And so NAD performs: average, pleasant and never exaggerated, extravagantly good. Very British…
Click here for the website of NAD

NuForce

NuForce is a very young, American hi-fi brand with a wide range. The brand manufactures usb/d/a converters as well as iPod converters, CD players, preamplifiers, reference dacs and mono final amplifiers. They even have a complete range of cables. In short: there is an interesting device for everyone.
Striking is the sleek design. NuForce seems to make all housings from thick aluminum, which looks particularly good.
Click here for the website of NuForce

Onkyo

A Japan brand of about 50 years old, which is mainly concerned with home cinema products. The brand is mainly concerned with technical tours de force and the integration of many options. And of course, there’s something to be said for that. Hifitechnically, however, the brand offers only a few products that are interesting.
The stereo line does not fall within the range of interesting products. Within the 1VL series, the top segment in stereo, Onkio offers the digital amplifier, the A-1VL of ?1700. Not a good choice, because it looks very thin and restless. The CD player, the C-1vl from ?1200 is nice, but not special.
Home cinema products offer more competition. The top receiver, the TX-NR5000E is an impressive appearance. The 7 times 200 watts and 33 kilograms idem.
Click here for the website of Onkyo

Pass Labs

Nelson Pass has really put a beautiful high-end brand on earth. The beautifully styled Pass Labs offers the high-end fan both music and a beautiful product to see. The line of Pass Labs consists of speakers, pre- and power amplifiers. The pre-amplifier line starts at the X2.2 ( The X2.2 is the X2.5 without remote control) and ends at the X0.2. The power amplifier series starts at the X150.5 and ends at the 100% Class-A XA200 monoblocks. If you need a heater, that’s your choice. The loudspeaker line contains four high speech speakers.
Pass-Labs is particularly neutral, dynamic and airy.
The website of Pass-Labs

Pink Faun

Pink Faun is a Dutch brand of amplifiers, speakers, as d/a converters and (custom) media PCs. Pink Faun works with both tubes and transistors at the amplifiers. Speakers come in all shapes and sizes, including horn models and subwoofers. Pink Faun can also modify as desired.
The sound of Pink Faun is open, fast and rich in detail.
The website of Pink Faun

Pioneer

Whoever might think Pioneer is American or British is wrong. Pioneer is a Japanese Hifi brand founded in 1938. The brand made serious hi-fi and even some high-end products. Now it focuses more on the AV market. In the past, Pioneer belonged to the absolute top of laserdisc players and LCD and plasma TVs. (For example, Pioneer’s Kuro line has been very successful, but was very expensive). Incidentally, Pioneer is still very good at manufacturing optical players and digital equipment in general. The jitter values are downright impressive for the price range. Perhaps a fun fact: not many people will know that Pioneer also manufactured speakers.
Pioneer’s website

Polk Audio

Polkis an American speaker manufacturer from Baltimore. Founded in 1972, it still makes loudspeakers for both traditional hi-fi systems and marine applications. In 2006 Polk was acquired by Directed Electronics. Directed makes car alarms and audio equipment.
Polk has a pretty rich history, but is not very well known in the Netherlands. They try to establish their name a bit more by also looking outside traditional products. Think of headphones and headsets (for gaming).
The website of Polk Audio

Primare

Robust is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Primare. This Swedish brand looks sturdy and heavy. And it is. This is also reflected in the timbre. (And then you can take a look at Bow!). The man behind Primare is the same musician who hides behind Bow: Bo Christensen. Apparently this guy likes a nice solid layer and a lot of authority, because you’ll certainly find that at Primare.
Primare has a very complete, affordable line of sixteen products: three integrated amplifiers, two CD players, a DVD player, an omnivore, three power amplifiers, two home cinema preamplifiers, a balanced preamplifier, two tuners and a phono preamplifier. Primare also operates to a large extent in the home cinema market. You will be surprised how well these products perform, even in stereo!
Primare sounds authoritarian, full and rhythmic.
The website of Primare

Project

Pro-ject is a turntable manufacturer who believes convincingly in vinyl. And rightly so, because vinyl still wins from the CD. Pro-ject is not aimed at the high-end market, but at the affordable variant. And that is reflected in the products. The line starts with the extremely competitively priced Debut and ends with the beautiful RPM-9, a turntable that hangs against the high-end. Pro-ject turntables are available in all types, prices, colors and sizes.
Click here for the complete overview

PS-Audio

Deutsche grundigkeit… Guys, this brand is good with filters! By the way, they make more products than just the passive and active current filters, but I think those are the products that stand out. Just like the matching mains cables, by the way.
Ps-Audio makes a very complete range of audiophile products. For more information, please visit the site of these Germans.
Click here for the site of PS-Audio