Leander Kahney, ex-Wired.com editor and Cult of Mac boss, just dropped $800 on an amplifier for his computer. He reckons he got a bargain.

Back in the days before the MP3, I was something of an audio geek. My spike-footed, floor-standing speakers sat atop pennies to protect the parquet and were fed by an amplifier with just two knobs: volume and source. Into those went CDs, and that was it. It sounded amazing.

So I’m getting nostalgic (and jealous) twinges when reading about Leander’s new T-2 amp, from Neuhaus Laboratories. The T-2 is a tube amplifier with a digital input (optical or USB). Leander has hooked one end up to a Mac, of course (this model will work with any computer but was designed with the Mac in mind) and the other to a pair of 1980s Polk speakers and a JVC subwoofer. Here’s how it sounds:

I’m definitely no audiophile. I love music, but I’m happy listening to a cheap radio or a pair of ipods headphoness. Or so I thought.

Crank it up and woah! What a sound! It’s gorgeous. Fat and meaty. Beautifully detailed, with a solid kick from the sub. There’s no comparison to the old computer speakers. They’re nasty and horrible now, like a cheap tranny radio.

We’re not sure why he’s comparing anything to a transvestite’s radio, but the rest is as clear as the sound he’s getting out of his new setup. With a good stereo, you can really hear things that are buried by an inferior setup.

The specs are, well, the specs are here. What you need to know is that the 2 x 20W amp weighs a chunky 20lbs and comes in stainless steel. It even includes the cables and a pair of white gloves.

Of course, Leander is now entering the world of lossless audio — MP3s just won’t cut it any more. And there’s another problem, summed up by this line from the final section of his review: “Now everything else sounds like sh*t.”

Neuhaus Labs’ T-2 Tube Amp Transports You To Audio Heaven [Cult of Mac]

Product page [Neuhaus]