Riviera Audio Laboratories Levante
I remember, around the time I started at Stereophile, telling Art Dudley that I wanted to review “a lot of power amplifiers” because amplifiers are the “blood-pumping heart machines” that “reanimate the artistry” of musicians: Horowitz, Björk, Bill Monroe. Whereupon he looked over his glasses and spied me with bare eyes like a stern parent and said, “Just be sure to not review any amplifiers that weigh more than 65 pounds.”
I warned Art that this could be a problem because I only like class-A amplifiers, “and they all weigh more than that.” Art rolled his eyes, turned his head toward the next room, and scolded his barking dog, Chatter.
As usual, everything I mock I become: Since confessing my allegiance to class-A, I have reviewed class-D and class-AB integrated amplifiers almost exclusively. Until now, the 51lb Pass Labs’ INT-25 is the only pure class-A integrated to roll through my door.
My first review for Stereophile was of the Rogue Audio Sphinx, a traditionally handsome, $1595 hybrid integrated amplifier that weighs only 25lb and is rated to deliver 100Wpc into 8 ohms; the Sphinx uses a tube input, which drives a class-D output stage. Previous to the Sphinx, my only experience with hybrid amplifiers of any kind was a 30lb, 150Wpc New York Audio Labs Moscode 300 power amplifier, which was loaned to me by audio wizard extraordinaire, the late Harvey Rosenberg. It featured a tube input and a MOSFET output and looked like a hot-rodded Hafler. It drove my 1984 Rogers LS3/5a and my Quad ESL electrostatic speakers in a manner that seemed atmospherically richer, fuller, and more enticing than the Marantz 8B it replaced.
The Levante amp disappeared because it sucked my mind extra-deep into the richness of the music.
Ever since my Moscode and Sphinx experiences, I’ve always been on the lookout for hybrid amplifiers. I’ve noticed a few in the under-$1k zone, but in the higher audiophile ranks, this type of amplifier is not common. Besides the Rogue,’s Recommended Components is the $93k/pair Ypsilon Hyperion Monoblock.
