Astra reviews

[Damon]

I don't get too far into the weeds on this sort of thing, but I don't see that the sonic character of an amp could be better or worse for classical music, unless it is the sound character that one wants in general. I think there are plenty of Devialet owners who listen to classical music. But there are many electronics choices and certainly many will find other options that they prefer. But that he chose the Astra as the best overall, with those other options, still says a lot to me.

If there is a 'classical' or 'electronic modern' ability, then to me, that is just some portion of the frequency spectrum being emphasized or restricted in some way, unless there is some distortion at work.

Maybe nobody really cares, but my understanding is that it is a class A preamp section and a c.ass D power amp section. I don't recall his exact words, but that seems correct to me.

Regardless, as a fan of the amplifiers, even though I don't own one anymore, I'm very pleased to see a respected reviewer recognize the product for its sound quality, components and overall engineering and integration without getting silly and dismissing it for it's size or form or weight.