Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Magazine reviewers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below.
Product Strengths
- Luxurious and smooth touchpoints, similar to a 'fine watch', are due to the double ball bearing axis, magnetic ratchet, and optical sensing volume control
- It is a DC coupled unit with no sound diminishing caps or coils in the signal path, designed to have the shortest possible signal paths in the internal board layout
- User definable names for each input are visible on the front panel display
- Non-fatiguing detail, extreme microdynamics, walloping macrodynamics, and unbelievable frequency response
- The soundstage delivers a holographic experience
Product Considerations
- At approximately 84 pounds, Stern weighs as much as many other companies' monoblock amplifiers
- Standing at nearly 10¾" tall, it was simply too large to fit in any shelf location of the Grand Prix Audio Monaco equipment-isolation stand
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Change was a paradigm shift more in line with an order of magnitude of improvement, compared to Audionet PRE G2 linestage
Takeaway: The Audionet Stern is a reference-level line stage amplifier that delivers exceptional sound quality, advanced features, and luxurious operation. This component is a top-tier choice for audiophiles seeking the very best in audio reproduction.
Compared to their other products
We think it's helpful to understand how this product fits into the brand's full lineup (below). To learn more about these products, visit the brand's page.
AMP
- Positioning: The entry-level mono-block power amplifier in Audionet's lineup.
- Description: Uses Ultra-Linear-Amplifier (ULA) technology, which ensures minimal signal impurity and excellent feedback damping. Compared to the AMP I V2, it offers a more compact design and is suitable for smaller rooms or setups where space is a concern, while still delivering powerful sound with a focus on tonal accuracy and dynamic precision.
MAX
- Positioning: A reference-level mono-block amplifier, positioned as a high-end option for serious audiophiles.
- Description: Features Audionet's latest ULA technology, offering exceptional loudspeaker control and minimal distortion. It surpasses the AMP I V2 with its superior power output and ability to handle complex audio signals.
Heisenberg
- Positioning: The flagship mono power amplifier, representing the pinnacle of Audionet's engineering and design.
- Description: Designed with a focus on ultimate performance, incorporating a unique Floating Pane Design for optimal resistance to microphonic effects. It offers more power and precision than the MAX.
Humboldt
- Positioning: An integrated amplifier that combines the qualities of Audionet's top models, positioned as a premium all-in-one solution.
- Description: Features holistic design and advanced circuitry, providing a seamless audio experience with exceptional tonal balance and dynamic range. It offers the convenience of an integrated amplifier with the performance of separate components like the Heisenberg.
Read the reviews

Manufacturer's notes
- Frequency response: 0-2,200,000 Hz (-3 dB), DC coupled
- THD+N: <-104 dB @ 20 kHz, <-116 dB @ 1 kHz
- SNR: > 123 dB, 4 V RMS
- Channel separation: >144 dB, 20-20,000 Hz
- Output impedance: 24 Ω real (Cinch line), 48 Ω real (XLR)
- Output current: max. 60 mA
- Power consumption: < 0.5 W stand by, typ. 100 W
- Dimensions: 450 x 320 x 505 mm (horizontal)
- Weight: 38 kg
Our take on the brand
Used
Audionet
What if you spend a bit more?

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Superlatively low noise floor contributes to dynamic prowess and resolution of fine details
- Linear and immaculate signal processing with minimal alteration of the source signal
- Delivers silky black backgrounds on recordings
- Provides effortless relaxation and clarity of musical line due to exactitude
- Excellent soundstage depth
Product Considerations
- The unit produces a lot of heat, so ensure adequate cooling
- Physical buttons and volume knobs are absent on the preamplifier
- Infrared remotes are not as good as Bluetooth remotes
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Commander preserves the signal about as well as a Boulder preamplifier, but adds a degree of silkiness to the proceedings
- The Gryphon lacks a bit of the supernatural musical flow and midrange bloom of a darTZeel preamplifier, but has superior dynamics, a lower noise floor, better bass control, and more accurate transient pitch definition
- The Commander improves upon the Pandora's widely recognized exceptional performance
Takeaway: The Gryphon Commander is a high-end preamplifier that offers exceptional clarity and control, making music sound pristine. It's a great option to explore for those who want a powerful and accurate sound.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The Soulution 727 preamplifier sets benchmarks in terms of noise, phase errors, common mode rejection, and distortion
- Offers improved noise reduction, increased resolution, and more extended bandwidth compared to its predecessor, the 725, without significantly altering the tonal balance
- Timbres are natural, uncolored, and true to the source material
- Provides impeccable control from deep bass to stratospheric highs, with excellent timing
- The soundstage gets wider and deeper with more air around instruments and performers, offering higher resolution combined with more lifelike musicality, even more heft and authority in the bass, while smallest details get resolved with greater delicacy
- Careful attention to grounding is needed, as the quality of the electrical ground can significantly impact the sound
Product Considerations
- The new layout of buttons and knobs might take some getting used to for existing Soulution users
- The maximum gain for the balanced and unbalanced inputs to the balanced outputs was a little lower than the specified 4dB, at 3.7dB
- The optional MC/MM phono section is not included in the base price and must be purchased separately
- The 727 might require assistance to put in place because it weighs 62lb
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Soulution 725: The 727 offers incredible detail, focus, and definition without the leaned-down, more analytical presentation of the 720, and the 727's imaging is more embedded in the recorded acoustic, while the 725 tended to project images forward
- Vs Dan D'Agostino Relentless: The Relentless threw a wider and deeper soundstage, also surrounding instruments and voices with a lovely extra cushion of air, yet sounded even faster than the impressively fast 727
- Vs Soulution 720: The 727 now offers the incredible detail of the original 720—maybe even in a greater amount—without the 720's somewhat leaned-down, more analytic presentation
Takeaway: The Soulution 727 is a top-tier preamplifier lauded for its neutrality, detail retrieval, and accurate reproduction of sound, making it a solid choice for audiophiles seeking uncolored and honest sound. Its advanced engineering and meticulous design result in a sound that's both revealing and musical.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Renders timbre accurately with unassailable truthfulness, conveying tonal color in fine gradations of shading and articulation
- Offers a balanced, coherent, and color-free spectrum of sound across the entire audio bandwidth
- Conveys the dynamic range of musical scaling, including its weight and impact
- Delivers unflappable power, offering unsullied transient response and exhibiting a vise-like grip of control of the loudspeakers
- Recreates space and acoustical properties of recordings in a stunningly authentic and credible way
Product Considerations
- Compared to transistor-based electronics, it falls perceptibly short in macrodynamic scaling, microdynamic nuance, perceived speed of transients, and assured control of the lowest bass frequencies
Takeaway: The VAC Statement 452iQ Musicbloc™ amplifier offers unmatched tonal purity and spatial presentation among tube amplifiers, pushing the boundaries of what's possible with valve-based amplification. It delivers engaging, emotional, and credible sound, making it a worthwhile consideration for those seeking a top-tier listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Reference-class device that orchestrates an audio experience of enchanting clarity
- Impeccable construction with a flawless machined chassis housing complex technology
- Extraordinary custom cobalt core transformers that are cryogenically treated and hand-coiled with meticulous care
- Six vacuum tubes are used, including the rare use of EF806S—a high-gain pentode tube, which is extremely low in microphonics
- Switchable loading from 5 to 390 ohms with 5 ohm incremental adjustability and a remote control allowing refined adjustments
Product Considerations
- Best suited for pairing with the finest cartridges for optimal vinyl reproduction
- It is important to consider cartridge pairings to achieve the desired sound
Takeaway: The Nagra HD PHONO provides an audio experience of enchanting clarity because of its exceptional design and construction. It's a great choice for people who really love listening to music on vinyl.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What else competes at this price?

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- A phonostage without compromise in every parameter of sound reproduction
- Easy access via three large front knobs for IMPEDANCE, CAPACITANCE, and GAIN
- Each phono input has its own discrete gain section, as it is a triple dual mono design
- The front panel has a large volume control and a display friendly to read from across the room
- Three pairs of RCA inputs in the back and one pair of RCA and XLR outputs
Product Considerations
- The Pass Labs XS Phono comes in two large chassis
- Pass Labs products are not known for being space saving
- The lack of balanced inputs or an EQ button for early Decca and Columbia pressings might be annoying
- Blue LEDs are built into each change segment of the three large knobs as well as above the push-buttons, though the minimal brightness suggests close proximity operation is expected
Takeaway: The Pass XS Phono exceeds what the reviewer has heard regarding analog playback, with incredible versatility that makes music sound effortless and is worth the investment. If you have multiple turntables, it has musicality at your disposal.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Highly optimized to provide a pure musical outcome in the absence of mechanical sonic traits
- Full tube, pure class A, zero feedback circuit design
- Fully balanced operation achieved with ultra-high-quality transformers on both inputs and outputs with mu-metal core and mu-metal shielding
- Massive, machined aluminum enclosure was designed from the very beginning to deal with unwanted micro-vibrations and resonances
Product Considerations
- May require careful system matching due to its harmonically rich inner kernel
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Robert Koda Takumi K-10 preamplifier: Both similarly addressed inner clockings
Takeaway: The Riviera Audio Labs APL-01SE is a remarkable preamplifier with a unique approach to music reproduction and a design focused on sonic purity. Its vibrant sound and exceptional build quality make it a standout choice in the hifi market.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Utterly posh and elegant behavior with a romantic sound profile built upon a somewhat elevated tonal temperature, round edges, remarkable smoothness, sensible heft, and spatial humidity
- Equally gifted on romance and tone as it was on crack, snap, and vigor, making it fabulously balanced
- Staged even deeper than the Trilogy 915R, and enveloped key sound sources by more air to make them even more distinctive
- Weightier upper registers that lingered in air for longer, and heftier bass that dug deeper was still held in as tight of a grasp
- Hand-polished mirror-like chassis built upon 2mm 316L stainless steel sheets that are non-corrosive, non-magnetic, and better in damping micro-vibrations via mass
Product Considerations
- The shiny chassis is a potent fingerprint attractor, and gets very hot near tubes
- The menu can't be accessed via the remote control, and doesn't cover naming inputs and dimming display
- No DC trigger ports are available to conveniently power on the entire set with other Audio Phonique products via just one button press
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Trilogy 915R: The PRE DHT artfully combined tone, muscularity, roundness, and euphony to imaging size, illumination, top extension, quickness, and control downstairs—emerging as the more sorted wholesome product
Takeaway: The Audio Phonique PRE DHT is a luxuriously executed and brilliantly voiced preamplifier that offers both romantic sound qualities and high-performance capabilities. It is an ambitious product that can elevate the listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Phenomenal reproduction of instruments and vocalists in the bass, midbass, and lower mids, delivering power-range octaves with speed, definition, and impact
- Exceedingly neutral timbral balance, neither top-down nor bottom-up
- Astonishingly transparent to sources, revealing both how the music was recorded and performed
- Creates a continuous soundfield, weaving details together into near-palpable wholes within a seamless soundscape
- Limited I/O, with only two sets of RCA inputs—one mm and one mc—and a single pair of RCA outputs; there are no balanced connections
Product Considerations
- Occasional tendency to shoutiness in the upper midrange, particularly on very hard transients at very high volumes—source-dependent
- Lacks modern features like a rumble filter, alternative EQ curves, and a digital readout of loading values
- Granularity of potentiometers for resistive and capacitive loading has broad gaps between values
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Soulution 755, the PH3.8 NEXTGEN is better in timbral neutrality, as the Soulution is a bit dark-sounding
Takeaway: The Goldmund PH3.8 NEXTGEN delivers realistic, revealing, and deeply enjoyable sound, excelling in bass reproduction and timbral neutrality. For vinyl enthusiasts, this product is a reference-grade phonostage that merits auditioning.
Video review
Our take on the brand

Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Unfailing ability to accurately render timbre
- The overall spectrum of sound is among the most balanced, coherent, and color-free
- Offers meticulously expressed musical resolution, while being able to convey it with organic, natural, and coherent voices
- Near absolute in performance comes with its effortless ability to convey the dynamic range of musical scaling, including its weight and impact
- Easily delivers the finest performance in the areas of macrodynamic scaling, microdynamic nuance, perceived speed of transients, and assured control of the lowest bass frequencies
Product Considerations
- Dynamic prowess and nuance, cleanliness and speed of transients, and low-frequency grip is slightly less than transistor-based electronics
- Installation of these larger-than-average machines is challenging—and best accomplished with help
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The VAC Statement 452iQ Musicbloc's performance represents a new benchmark for valve-based amplification
Takeaway: The VAC Statement 452iQ Musicbloc™ amplifiers offer a new level of valve-based amplification performance. They have no equal among tubed challengers in terms of tonality and spatial presentation.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Magazine reviewers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below.
Product Strengths
- Luxurious and smooth touchpoints, similar to a 'fine watch', are due to the double ball bearing axis, magnetic ratchet, and optical sensing volume control
- It is a DC coupled unit with no sound diminishing caps or coils in the signal path, designed to have the shortest possible signal paths in the internal board layout
- User definable names for each input are visible on the front panel display
- Non-fatiguing detail, extreme microdynamics, walloping macrodynamics, and unbelievable frequency response
- The soundstage delivers a holographic experience
Product Considerations
- At approximately 84 pounds, Stern weighs as much as many other companies' monoblock amplifiers
- Standing at nearly 10¾" tall, it was simply too large to fit in any shelf location of the Grand Prix Audio Monaco equipment-isolation stand
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Change was a paradigm shift more in line with an order of magnitude of improvement, compared to Audionet PRE G2 linestage
Takeaway: The Audionet Stern is a reference-level line stage amplifier that delivers exceptional sound quality, advanced features, and luxurious operation. This component is a top-tier choice for audiophiles seeking the very best in audio reproduction.
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