Rafe Arnott

The steady drumbeat of progress out of Binghamton, New York continues as McIntosh Labs trickles down the technical improvements from their top-of-the-line mono and stereo power amplifiers to their midrange offerings with the new $7,000 USD MC312 Power Amplifier, shipping now.

Sub·lim·i·nal – /səbˈlimənl/ Adjective (of a stimulus or mental process) below the threshold of sensation or consciousness; perceived by or affecting someone's mind without their being aware of it. This is the definition of subliminal courtesy of Google’s online dictionary and is an apt descriptor for how the Aqua Acoustic Quality La Voce S3 Discrete DAC ($4,750 USD MSRP) ingratiated its way into my mind as I spent extended listening sessions with it over the past couple months.

The LampizatOr Pacific DAC makes you forget completely about the fact that it is reproducing the recorded event and unconsciously allows one to be utterly engaged in the music playing.

Listening to streamers/servers I’ve heard over the last couple of years has been interesting, because at hi-fi shows it’s pretty much impossible to tell what one is bringing on its own to the mix, but in the context of one’s own system it can be a startling lesson in the importance of how those bits are being delivered to your DAC.