Musical esoterica

JAPANESE high-end audio firm Esoteric has been busy in recent years, releasing a slew of new, more affordable products derived from its top-end Grandioso separates. The latest is the F-07 integrated amplifier, which costs S$6,500.

Described as "richly capturing the full warmth and texture of music" and "offering exceptional ease of use and broad appeal that more than compensates for its compact proportions", the F-07 operates in class AB and is rated at 100 Watts into 8 Ohms, or 170 Watts into 4 Ohms.

Its pre-amplifier section is fully balanced and the overall configuration is a dual monaural design that maintains complete left and right channel independence throughout all stages. Vinyl lovers will be happy that an MM/MC dual mono phonostage is included, while a card expansion slot is provided for installation of an optional digital-to-analogue converter board at extra cost.