Aavik U-150, U-180 or U-280

U-280 is the most advanced and newest of the bunch.

It should sound quite nice paired with the Sabrina!

@mwlf -- I have owned the Aavik U-280 for almost a year now and absolutely love it. While I never had the chance to listen to U-150, I did audition I-180 and I-280 with the D-180 DAC. For me, U-280 was the winner over all the other combinations. It just sounds more musical and organic than the 180. 

Prior to this, I was a tube amplification fanboy and never found an SS amp that I preferred over tubes. Aavik U-280 is the only one that has surpassed tubes in my system. The built-in DAC of U-280 can easily compete with DACs up to $8000. I did a direct comparison with Denafrips Terminator 2 (Aavik was substantially better) and T+A DAC200 (T+A had a slight edge but not night and day). I was so impressed by Aavik that I also bought the S-280 streamer and Ansuz power switch. They make some killer stuff for sure!

If you can afford it, I would say go with U-280. I don't think it will have any problem driving your speakers. Good luck!

Note: I realized that I have not updated my virtual system in a while. Need to do it this weekend.

@arafiq What did you think of the Aavik when paired with your Harbeths? Did you like the performance at low volumes? I don't want to derail this thread, but any thoughts/observations you'd care to share would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

@oceanandmountains I mostly pair the Aavik with my Joseph Audio Perspective2 speakers and it drives them quite well. I also have Harbeth SHL5+ in the second system but to be honest I only tried them with the Aavik once and that too for a few hours only.

Overall, it provided more control - better bass, extended treble, and finesse. The only downside I noticed was that the Harbeths sounded a touch on the drier side compared to the Joseph Audios. Apart from that one minor quibble, I think the Aavik compliments the power hungry Harbeths very nicely. It really grabs the woofers by the balls and makes them do what it wants.

Aavik U-150 Integrated Amp Review 2023. | (stevehuffphoto.com)        I was lucky enough to find a Demo U-150 like Steve did. The Phono MC pre that's built in is the best I've heard....period........The DAC that's built in is equiv. or better than my Audio Mirror Toubadour IV  SE......The 300 watt Pascal Class D amp sounds like a beautiful SET on steroids...If you can find one under 10 K....Snatch it up quickly. It will drive basically any speaker on the market to perfection....The Danes seem to really have a handle on what Music sounds like. Good Luck!