“First rate”: United Home Audio’s Ultima 5-OPS-DC tape deck bags a Golden Ear Award from The Absolute Sound

Posted on by Dave Denyer
Last year it was the Metaxas Tourbillon TR-X tape deck and now it’s the turn of United Home Audio’s (UHA) Ultima 5-OPS-DC to be awarded a Golden Ear by US audio magazine The Absolute Sound.

Then again, UHA are no strangers to awards. Greg Beron’s SuperDeck 2 picked up The Absolute Sound’s Editor’s Choice Award 2023, as did both the SuperDeck 1 and the Ultima 4 in 2022.

The Ultima 5-OPS-DC is a “first rate” deck, writes reviewer Jonathan Valin, “with parts and circuitry derived from Greg’s $100k SuperDeck.”

As a result, the Ultima 5-OPS-DC “is more neutral in balance with better reach and dynamic impact in the bottom octaves, a wider, deeper soundstage, tighter imaging, higher resolution, and fuller, more accurate, natural and continuous reproduction of the dynamic/harmonic envelope than previous Ultimas.”

UHA Ultima 5 tape deck (shown with preamplifier)

“If you’re in the market for a great, full-sized, playback only 15ips tape deck (and don’t want to bet the farm on a no-holds-barred UHA SuperDeck, the Ultima 5-OPS-DC would, unquestionably, be the unit I recommend,” says Valin.

Find out more at https://unitedhomeaudio.com

Discover the full list of Golden Ear Award winners 2023 in the September issue of The Absolute Sound.