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The best hi-fi amplifiers we’ve tested.
Not every category on this site has a dozen contenders worth comparing — sometimes the best hi-fi amplifiers worth including simply don’t share a price bracket or a use case. Here are nine standouts we’ve tested and scored highly, from shoebox-sized streaming amps to an 8-channel Class D power amp and a reference-level AV processor, plus two headphone amplifiers for closer listening.
How we picked
Every product in this guide is one we’ve tested and scored ourselves — in our own listening rooms, over four to six weeks, before a single word gets written. Each score is a weighted average of four criteria, shown below. We use no affiliate links.
9.7/10
Lyngdorf MXA-8400 Power amp · Class D (Purifi)
Eight genuinely identical 400W Purifi Eigentakt channels that refuse to shortchange the surrounds, delivering 3.2kW combined without a single cooling fan.
Integrated amplifiers
9.3/10
Atoll Electronique IN400 Evolution Integrated · dual-mono
A dual-mono integrated with an 8-MOSFET-per-channel output stage and 2µs rise time that convincingly dethroned the reviewer’s long-standing Kinki EX-M1+ reference amp.
9.3/10
Vitus Audio SIA-025 Integrated · Class A/AB
A switchable 25W-Class-A/150W-Class-AB integrated whose 25 “little” watts never lost control even cranked past live levels on Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
Streaming amplifiers
9.6/10
Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 Streaming amplifier
A shoebox-sized integrated amplifier with RoomPerfect correction built in, whose control over modest Dali Ikon 5s reminded the reviewer of a system costing nearly 20 times its €2,000 price.
8.6/10
Arcam SA45 Streaming amplifier
A Class G integrated amplifier with room correction (Dirac Live Bass Control) built in, which tamed 60–70Hz resonances and let dual subwoofers integrate without the usual boominess.
AV processors
9.5/10
StormAudio Core 16+ AV processor
A holographic, reference-level AV processor with seamless Dirac ART calibration — built for installers and enthusiasts after total calibration control, not a plug-and-play box.
9.0/10
Lyngdorf MP-50 AV processor
Carries Lyngdorf’s two-channel RoomPerfect pedigree into a full 12-channel multichannel platform, with pristine audio quality best suited to balanced (XLR) amplification setups.
Headphone amplifiers
9.0/10
Gold Note HP-10 Deluxe Headphone amplifier
A Class-A dual-mono Italian headphone amplifier whose optional PSU-10 EVO power supply tightens bass response and pulls individual voices out of a pitch-black background.
7.5/10
Erzetich Perfidus Headphone amplifier
A handcrafted Class-A desktop headphone amp built to reward careful pairing — once matched right, it delivers rich tone, low distortion and detailed, balanced sound across an unusually wide 8–600Ω impedance range.
