This one is the most obviously traditional amps we've come across. Traditional, that is, as long as your idea of 'tradition' goes back about 25 years, to the days when serious integrated amps had no controls bar input selector and volume

There are valve amps and there are solid-state amps and there are hybrids, which combine both technologies. Pathos specialises in the last type and while the company’s proprietary ‘INPOL’ configuration is reserved for upmarket models, this more modest unit still combines small-signal valves with power MOSFET, not to mention bipolar transistors in between.

Melody trades from Australia, but manufactures its products in China. A fact that can't do any harm when it comes to turning out equipment with such a luxurious finish at this kind of price. The paintwork on the chassis, transformer covers and valve cage is absolutely superb and we find this a class-looking unit, unless, of course, you've an aversion to black, which is admittedly, slightly unremitting.

Updated Back in the 1980s and 1990s an electronics engineer called Richard Hay designed a number of amplifiers under the Nytech and Ion Systems brandnames that gained an almost cult following

Creek's range of OBH units is intended to serve simple functions conveniently. This small, but smart and robust phono stage certainly fits that bill and offers compatibility with both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges, amplifying the signal from each with discrete transistors and op-amps.

The original Naim NAIT 5i, has earned a formidable reputation as a class-leading, 50-watt integrated amplifier offering outstanding musical performance. It’s also credited with the ability to deliver levels of communication beyond that of most entry-level amplifiers. It wasn’t without its faults, of course.

Unison Research is a name very much associated with valves - that, and sumptuous Italian styling. The company's upmarket models are visually striking, and few would deny them the epithet 'gorgeous', too

Blu-ray and HD DVD are certainly shaking up the way we watch movies, but not everyone has the cash (or the energy) to buy all their favourite films again on one of these new HD formats

The basic look and indeed internal design of Exposure's 3010 Series components is familiar bordering on 'elder statesman', but the addition of an 'S' to the model number denotes a few recent changes

With its higher price, Denon's AVR-2807 is a sophisticated model, with a powerful seven-channel amplifier capable of delivering an impressive 110W to each channel.

The revived Audiolab name has also seen a revival of some familiar-looking model names, but the most famous of those, the 8000A, is replaced by the 8000S. The new model is basically a fully traditional integrated amplifier in almost every respect

McIntosh is best known for its distinctive, retro-styled components, which now embrace multichannel as well as stereo equipment (it has begun to include loudspeakers, too). The other thing it is well known for is its advocacy of valve-based amplifiers.

The replacement for the C320BEE has walked off the catwalk

Linn has never been a company to follow the herd. The slightly austere-looking preamp you see before you is a rare example of acomponent that aims to satisfy both serious audiophiles and cinephiles

The Sugden A21a is something of a living legend, a Class A integrated amplifier that has been in production for over 20 years, but whose earlier incarnations date back as far as the sixties

Supercharger. It's a word that has an undoubtedly romantic ring, reminiscent of the Hon. Henry Birkin and his Bentley Boys, sweeping their way to four successive Le Mans victories in the 1920s

Hi-fi companies are a funny lot. As the Unico Secondo's maker demonstrates, they can produce a nice new amp... and forget to put it on their website, surely most people's first port of call for information these days

It seems like only yesterday that we first encountered the 840A, but in fact it was 18 issues ago, and that's evidently been time enough for the designers at Cambridge Audio to develop a few tweaks and circuit improvements for it, resulting in the new 'V2'.

It has been a while since Pioneer last made serious two-channel audio components, and it's perhaps a reflection of how crowded things have got in the AV market that it has decided to have another stab at it now

This may be a brand new model from Arcam, but it is clearly a chip off the old block on the outside at least. Its fascia bears a distinct resemblance to existing models, with details like the layout of knobs and switches

One measure of truly excellent hi-fi components is that they will sound exciting and stimulating regardless of the music you play through them. They won't restrict you to listening to those vacant, over-polished demo 'favourites' we've come to loathe

The first amp I ever owned was a Yamaha, vintage 1978. It had 10W per channel in stereo and four controls – and one of them was on/off. Fast-forward 30 years to the eagerly-anticipated DSP-Z11.

Mystère is an entirely new brand that stems from the same team that makes Prima Luna electronics. Thus far, there are two integrated valve amps: the ia11 (tested here) and the beefier ia21.