I believe that one of the key elements to the success of any amplifier is microdynamic finesse. In that regard, the Stereo 88 is very good. Though certainly fast enough, I would stop short of calling it the most incisive amplifier I've ever heard - no supernatural speed, really. Where the Stereo 88 does seem to set itself apart is on the other side of that transient: The decay, the way it lets go of a note. The Stereo 88 has a way of allowing the natural erosion that maintains the music's harmonic balance in a superior way until it completely fades. Somewhat difficult for me to describe is the way music descends to nothing in its harmonic entirety, perhaps owing to the Stereo 88's very low noise floor and transparency. Does superior transparency allow such a natural decay; or does such a natural decay denote superior transparency? I'm not sure. Whichever it is, the Audiopax Stereo 88 got it. In addition to the way this lends an additional degree of authenticity to the music, it also lends an air (pardon the pun) of real space on well recorded orchestral and acoustic music. You not only hear music fade to nothing, but you hear it with the hall's sonic signature superimposed. Hence the Stereo 88 does a superior job of conveying a very realistic acoustic environment.

One endearing trait of this Audiopax was the way it presented a lot of detail - plenty of soundstaging and imaging information, as well as much about what exactly was happening on the stage. I could hear into all the guitars, for example, being privy to much more information than members of the original audience would have been. Sometimes, with certain amplifiers or speakers, this kind of information can actually cause me to detach from the music. It becomes too supernatural, too distracting, too unrealistic. Not so with the Audiopax. I can't really put my finger on why, but instead of dissecting the performance into a thousand pieces, somehow it was able to make it gel into a single cohesive whole.


My friend Jules has a theory. People sometimes buy underpowered amplifiers when they really need more power. Subsequently, they limit their enjoyment to music that sounds good at the attainable levels. He may be right. To make sure that the Stereo 88s had what it took to make all my music sound its best, I reached for James Horner's Casper soundtrack one night [MCAD 11240]. This lively piece of orchestration ("No Sign Of Ghosts" in particular) is populated by everything from delicate triangles (which sounded splendid in their suspended ethereal delicacy) to some of the most brutish double basses you'll find.

The Audiopax Stereo 88 reminds me of one of my all-time favorite tube amplifiers. Like the Stereo 88, my old flame owed the lion's share of its success to a fantastically clean and emotionally communicative yet intellectually honest midrange. Its treble was so well behaved and balanced as to almost defy description. Bass was tight and controlled enough that the listener would easily forgive the absent last iota of brute power. The amp? The Audiopax Model 3 integrated. What precluded a universal recommendation was an output of only 7.5 watts. On the other hand, what made the no-longer-available Model 3 even more memorable was its price - $1,980 USD. True, that's a far cry from the Stereo 88's $5970 USD. But what the Stereo 88 delivers is the same degree of performance (or higher - don't we all view past loves with rose- colored glasses?), double the power output, a degree of adjustability designed to optimize performance with just about any appropriate speaker and a fit, finish and build quality that is both heads and shoulders better to instill real pride of ownership.

In my case it, was easy to dial in the Timbre Lock adjustment at the beginning of the review period. I did so without really consciously analyzing what was going on with the sound. I played with the adjustments moving the LED indicators back and forth until the music just sounded right. This mainly consisted of finding the point at which the music had the greatest degree of natural focus. In my case, I ended up with the LED at the illuminated eleven o'clock position.

It wasn't until the review was just about completed that I went back to see just what exactly the adjustment was doing. Perhaps the most illuminating of songs used was Jennifer Warne's "Bird On A Wire". With its strong and clean opening bass drums, the abundance of soundstage information and the clear and clean vocals, I found it fairly easy to map out the Timbre Lock's adjustments.


In a nutshell, here's what happens: Adjust the timbre lock controls to the counter-clockwise position and the seven o'clock indicator lights. The sound is dry, with the abundance of bass power diminished as the bass drum sounds muted and you no longer sense the drum mallet bouncing off the taut drum skin. Bass resonance is very close to nil. Almost all the air and spaciousness is gone, most soundstaging information greatly reduced. There is also a very noticeable grain overlying the music that won't take a trained ear to hear.


Advance the adjustments to their stops in the clockwise position and the sound is very different. At the 5:30 position, the first thing you notice is the amplifier producing more gain, making the music louder. (So much for the objectivist's credo that louder is always better!) The bass takes on a new heft - a bit too much and not as tight as at its optimum. Midrange is again not as clean and focused as in the optimum position, which we passed right through to get to this point on the dial. There is now a touch of grain but not nearly as much as in the opposite extreme. Lastly, there is a billowing sense of space and the opening bass drum now resonates like crazy. While soundstaging is more exciting, imaging specificity has deteriorated.

It's important to understand that these observations of the Stereo 88 -- and my ideal setting of 11 o'clock -- are specific to using my Silverline Sonata II loudspeakers, in my room and with my gear. Perhaps more than ever, your mileage would likely vary. Just let your ears be the guide.

Obviously, I liked the Stereo 88. I recommend it highly for a lengthy and enjoyable audition to anybody in the market. The only question? Whether or not it has enough power for you. Fifteen watts is not a lot, but in the right hands, in the right rooms and in the presence of proper system matching, it sure is magic.