I just had the Mystere ia21 integrated amp dropped off at the shop by one of my favorite audio reps, Papa (Tom Mcgehee) Smurf! This line is awesome! Fit and finish is top notch and the sound? Well, the sound is magnificent! 50 warm tube watts drives my hardest to drive speakers effortlessly. We switched out the KT88 tubes for the EL34 and both choices had their pluses. Boils down to personal choice really. The amp is auto biasing so it’s very easy to “tube roll”. New / Different tubes transforms any amp into a different monster. So, let the good times roll! More offerings from Mystere will be “rolling” in over the next few months.

As Papa Smurf and I were drooling over the ia21’s glowing beauty, I told him, I was bummed there weren’t any decent DACs that were under $1K. WELL GUESS WHAT! There are and I’m gonna get them in! Musical Fidelity have the V Series which includes a DAC ($299), MM / MC Phono pre amp ($149) and Headphone Amp ($199). The DAC has inputs for USB, COAX and Optical. Here’s a review. Instead of putting the guts in a fancy chassis and shipped in a velvet lined box, the V Series is presented “bare bones”. Who cares? I just want it to 1. sound great and 2. not break.