ARONOV LS960I Valve / Tube Integrated Amplifier

The Company

Aronov Audio Laboratory is part of one of the largest electronics-repair companies in Southern California. Yakov Aronov, the designer of all Aronov equipment, is an electrical engineer who manufactured his first amplifier in 1953. Through the years, he continued to design home and professional amplifiers with attention to sound quality and reliability. The Aronov  amps are beautifully finished. Side panels are in a piano-black finish while the faceplate is black glass with a gold-plated logo backlit by a cool X-Files-like green light. The amps are built like a tank, with a heavy 11-gauge steel case, and they weigh in at a hefty 58 pounds each. It’s comforting to know that you’re not paying extra for a 1/4"-thick, machined aluminum faceplate that adds nothing to the sound. The power of the amp comes from a self-biasing pair of Svetlana 6550C tubes and 2 single 12AX7's . The power supply and output transformer are massive—much larger than I’ve seen used for many of the big-buck, big-name amplifiers. There are only single-ended inputs (balanced inputs are not available at this time) and one set of high-quality speaker binding posts. Rated output is 60Wpc, but the sound is such that the power rating seems conservative.

The Aronovs displayed bass control and dynamics that I’d never heard before with a tube amp. After a few hours of changing amps, speakers, and wires, I understood why  the Aronovs are in the main demo room.

Anyone in the market for tube amplifiers is advised to take the time to hear the Aronov products. The LS-960I 60Wpc integrated amp, LS-9600 60Wpc stereo power amp and the LS-9100 monoblocks all share the same quality construction and sonic attributes. The only difference is what one might expect from the different power outputs. Are they recommended? You bet!