Yes, the Amphion stereo amp. While the mono-blocks would have been nice in terms of hiding them away, I already have some very nice speaker cables I’d prefer to use. I got the 100w amp, but wondering if I should try the 500w one. Have an email in to Anssi to get his input.
It’ll be sort of interesting to have the Amphion amp. Benefits in my thinking are, it’s designed by the speaker designer for synergy with their speakers, and in general I trust Amphion quality. I’m used to a significantly more expensive integrated so wondering/hoping this will perform as well or better. Certainly nice to save a bit of $$ on that piece of gear.
You won’t have any problems. If I was using Amphions larger speakers I’d be looking at the 500W but with the Argons the 100W are a perfect match. Incidentally, the Class D amp that Amphion use is developed by Anaview. And their engineers developed/tested their Class D amp using Amphion One18’s! The amp you are getting has literally been tweaked to maximise the SQ from an Amphion speaker - synergy between amp and speaker doesn’t get any better than that.
I’m sure you are well aware of the benefits but I’d also recommend getting some HAF filters created once you’ve got everything settled in. Icing on the cake…
Those look interesting, I am sure there will be more of the all-in-one systems due to the success of KEF LS50 Wireless. Hopefully some of them with a better DAC (the DAC in the KEF is the reason I didn’t go for them, I want to play around with DSD).
From a price/performance standpoint, the all-in-one systems makes perfect sense, no extra money needed to be spent on connections, amp/dac chassis and controls etc. And of course amp and DAC can be custom made to suit the driver (or the opposite way around).
GoldenEar has a good rep. I hope these new speakers will, unlike the KEFs, take a signal through the RCA jacks without further processing, thereby letting one use a DAC of their choosing.
But then you would lose all of the goodness that comes from the active digital crossovers, digital phase control and such which make them sound so good. The LS50W’s are more than just traditional active speakers …
No need for an external DAC. I did do some research into the DAC used by the Powernode 2. I can’t recall which one it was but I do recall thinking that you get a lot for your money with the Bluesound kit (as in, its a very respectable DAC). Of course, its how the DAC is implemented that really counts and all I can say is that the PN2 with the Amphions was very, very good. In fact it was that good that when I got the Amphion mono amps and the Brooklyn I actually had a few days of wondering whether I’d wasted money on the upgrade… it really is that good. What is your listening room like?
Was very tempted based on your positive feedback to go with the Powernode (or 2 in mono) but in the end it seemed best to go with the Amphion amp and a separate DAC. Based on what you’ve said, the difference might not be that great and there would be a nice savings to go with the powernode(s).
The Amphion amp just came in, and I’m impressed with the build quality. Looks great, small form factor, and feels heftier than it looks. Will have the Directstream tomorrow, and the speakers not long after hopefully.
I understand that sentiment because I’m also a “separates” tinkerer sort of person. That said, it’s a slippery slope. Why just the DAC, why not also the amp? etc etc. To me it’s either “all in one” like the LS50w, or all passive. I’ll tell you, the LS50w gets it very right though, so even if there are compromises with the DAC or amp, the total package is excellent.
Hopefully the 759 v3 with BluOS upgrade will match it, will have to audition.
