Audio Aero Prima MKII. Finally I have a nice integrated amp!

Loftprojection · « **on:** 7 May 2005, 12:46 pm »

I finally bought an integrated amp. I thought I’d post my shopping experience since I asked quite a few questions on this forum while I was trying to decide what to do! This is a long post, I’m sorry and I hope I won’t bore you too much with it.

A few months ago I just had an Arcam HT receiver with a Cambridge DVD player. I wanted nicer sound for redbook CD.

So I first bought a Denon 2900 DVD but this was even worse than the Cambridge for 2 channel music. Well, back to shopping and I bought an Arcam CD23T player, wow, that was a good decision, now music was really good but still not quite what I wanted.

Back to shopping again, for an integrated amp this time. In order to make a good decision, for most of what you will read below, I did an a/b test between the amp in question versus my receiver. In some cases I brought the amp home, in other cases I brought my gear to the shop.

Here it is, please don’t expect too much from my comments, I’m just a regular joe that likes to listen to music. I’m no professional audiophile that uses all the perfect words to describe his emotion and opinion!

- Creek 50Air : Smooth and warm sound but not a big enough improvement over my Arcam receiver so it’s not worth it to change.

- Myriad Z140: Similar impression to the Creek, I actually prefer the Creek.

- Moon I-3: Very clinical, it seems to be doing everything perfectly but does not bring much emotion in me while listening, not my kind of sound I guess.

- Shanling STP-80: Wow, quite a soundstage and the voices sound like the singer is right there in front of you. However, this was using the Shanling CD-T100 player, when I switched to another CD player (a Moon), it was still nice but definitely not as impressive. An interesting option but I would prefer a regular closed metal box that you slide on your rack shelf instead of this shiny metallic box with the tubes sticking out! Personal taste.

- Jolida 1501RC: Nice, smooth and warm sound, not bad soundstage, very good price but missing some detail in the music, basically again a bit more interesting than my receiver but just not enough of an improvement. Plus, when I brought it home, there was interference and I was earring some noise coming out of my speakers.

- MusicalFidelity X-150: This one seams to do everything well but nothing stellar. Generated no emotion on me.

- AudioRefinement Complete: Kind of similar clinical sound to the Moon, it’s very nice to listen to but there is just no wow factor! I think for the price it sell it’s not a bad deal tough.

- Unison Unico: Hummmm, very nice, a lot of detail but warm and smooth at the same time, that one I like.

- Unison Unico I: Very similar to the regular Unico, even more detail in the music but a tiny bit aggressive on the highs in certain songs.

- Leben CS300: Hummmmmm, similar impression as the Unico but more of everything. This one is a killer at its price however there is no remote for the volume and that is a must for me. Too bad.

- Audio Aero Prima MKII: Hooo, very very detailed and transparent, I have not heard such an amount of detail in any of the above with a good recording. The soundstage is very good, the sound is warm, voices are natural and the highs are not harsh or aggressive. This is what I really like, natural voices with plenty of detail but not aggressing your ears with the highs. The power may seem low (50w) on paper but I can't see ever using more than half of the volume level this thing can go to.

So I ended up buying the Audio Aero. I’ve been listening to it for a week now and there is no more listening fatigue that I sometimes had with my Arcam receiver. A review I read on the Audio Aero CD player really sums up my feelings with the integrated but with nicer words than what I can write:

“There is much extra detail revealed, compared to other CD players. But, interestingly, this detail does not sound analytical or overwhelming. It is not artificial, glossy, surface detail pasted on top of the music. Instead, it is almost subliminal, woven into the fabric of the music itself.”

As you can see, I’m quite happy with my decision and on top of it, I got a deal on a barely used one. At its full retail price I might have overlooked the Audio Aero because it would have been a bit higher than my budget. Since I got it for less than a new Unico, although it’s not new, I think I was quite lucky.

Hope this is useful to some of you who are shopping.

mca · « **Reply #1 on:** 7 May 2005, 03:33 pm »

Nice review! Hope you enjoy your new purchase. What are you using for speakers?

mca · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 May 2005, 03:34 pm »

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mca · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 May 2005, 03:34 pm »

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mca · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 May 2005, 03:34 pm »

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mca · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 May 2005, 03:34 pm »

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Music Maven · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 May 2005, 04:16 pm »

Sounds like you REALLY shopped!

You must've had fun!

I've never heard of "Leben" but I've heard of every other make on the list.

Where is the Leben made?

Britain's HI FI CHOICE magazine May issue had a "shoot-out" of six moderately-priced integrateds, including a couple of the brands you listed.

I hope your decision is pleasurable and the unit proves reliable over the long term.

I know that I just can't really make up my mind how happy I am with a new component until I've had it around a while. It's just impossible to get a full opinion immediately... which I think is a shortcoming of reviews.

Jerry

Loftprojection · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 May 2005, 10:05 pm »

mca, I currently have NHT 1.3 for main, NHT 1.1 for center and rear plus a NHT sub with its mono amp. It's not the greatest but I like them, the soft dome tweater of those old NHT is really sweet. I'm planning to change them before the end of the year but I got to rebuild my budget a bit before (just bought the AudioAero, a cd player and a DVD player!). I'm also contemplating the idea of DIY speakers, Proac have always been a speaker I like and there is plenty plans on the web for those.

musicmaven, Leben is really a nice little one. Here is the model I looked at.

http://www.leben-hifi.com/cs300.htm

However, even if this little Leben nice, I'm very satisfied with my Audio Aero Prima. The Leben did not have a remote and was only 12watts so not as versatile as my Prima.

Thanks for your comments guys.

Agisthos · « **Reply #8 on:** 8 May 2005, 01:45 am »

Apparently the Simaudio i3 and i5 integrateds need 100s of hours of break in before getting past the clinical sterile phase.

Did the version you listen to was new or a friends unit?

BeeBop · « **Reply #9 on:** 8 May 2005, 10:34 am »

Can you comment on how much you paid and what other equipment you are using with the Audio Aero - CD Player, Speakers, cables? Thx.

Music Maven · « **Reply #10 on:** 8 May 2005, 04:50 pm »

Thanks for the link, Loftprojection!

There are so many good integrateds out there now, it's almost scary!

Maybe five years ago, I wouldn't consider compromising from separates, but the quality of integrateds by most reports has really bloomed in recent years and there's something to be said for having an amp section and a preamp section that are "bound" to be compatible!

Jerry

Loftprojection · « **Reply #11 on:** 9 May 2005, 12:17 am »

Agisthos, I listened to two different i3 in two different stores and both were well broken in, they were the demo units. Don't get my comments wrong, they are very very nice, just not to my taste. I'm convinced if you like that sound, for the price the i3 is a good deal. However for me it's not to my taste. I never listened to the i5.

Beebop, I have an Arcam CD23T player, NHT 1.3 speakers with an NHT mod1 sub. When I was doing my comparison testing, the integrated were tested against my Arcam AV50 home theater receiver. My next project is changing my speakers now, I think I'm satisfied with the CD player and the integrated for a while! haha By the way, I bought the Audio Aero Prima MKII used, even tough I was told it had been powered on only 5-6 times, paid $1100, I think I got a great deal.

Cheers.

sica · « **Reply #12 on:** 9 May 2005, 09:35 am »

Thanks for telling us about your experience, good read. Where can I buy Leben amps in the US?

Loftprojection · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 May 2005, 01:04 pm »

Sica, to be honest, I have no idea, I'm from Canada and I've seen it only in one store.

I have a link to the US distributor and a review below. I found this little box better looking and convenient then the regular tube amps but I just can't stand the concept of no remote. I would really have liked to do a one on one comparison between the Leben versus my Audio Aero. I did listen to both on different days and in different rooms so it's difficult to compare. I also tried the Leben with a few pair of speakers, one was a pair of $10k speakers, wow, I almost fainted but maybe I would have fainted also if I plugged my AudioAero on those! hahaha I directly compared the Leben versus the Unico with the same speakers (a pair of Quad at about $1k) and the Leben was nicer but not by a large margin.

http://homepage.mac.com/jhalpern/Tone-Imports/PhotoAlbum32.html
http://www.soundscapehifi.com/leben.htm#integrateds

Quote from: sica

Thanks for telling us about your experience, good read. Where can I buy Leben amps in the US?

duff138 · « **Reply #14 on:** 9 May 2005, 04:22 pm »

I own the original Audio Aero Prima integrated amp. I have had it for a few years now. I really like it. Have not got around to trying any different tubes in it though.
I wish mine had a line out though, I'd really like to be able to use it with my headphone amp. It does have a pre-amp/amp out though, so you can use a different pre or amp if you want, don't know why you would though!

Loftprojection · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 May 2005, 05:20 pm »

duff138, which speakers do you have with your AudioAero. I'm thinking about upgrading my speakers so slowly gathering info on what sounds good with AudioAero electronic. I have NHT 1.3 right now. Really tempted by some DIY or some of the internet direct (Swan and Rocket). The commercial speakers that impressed me the most up to now are Opera Superpavarotti and Proac D15 but both are too much money for me!

My MKII has a 6021W tube so it is soldered to the circuit, not much swapping tube fun to be had! haha Anyway, I'm not sure I want to swap anything because it really sounds very nice with the original JAN/Phillips tube. I haven't seen much info on the web concerning these 6021W anyway, I'm not sure there is much swapping that could be done even if it was not soldered.

PS. I don't have pre-amp out on mine but I have a balanced input and a tape out.

Cheers.

duff138 · « **Reply #16 on:** 11 May 2005, 07:35 pm »

I have Axiom Audio m22 speakers. I've been real happy with them.

panderso · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 May 2005, 10:41 pm »

Quote

Unison Unico: Hummmm, very nice, a lot of detail but warm and smooth at the same time, that one I like.

- Unison Unico I: Very similar to the regular Unico, even more detail in the music but a tiny bit aggressive on the highs in certain songs.

Loftprojection; What factors swayed you in favour of the Audio Aero over the Unisons? The tube hybrid virtues sound similar by description, and the Unison SE has had strong reviews. Were you shopping in the greater Toronto area? I get down that way sometimes.

As others have pointed out, there is something of an embarrassment of riches in high quality integrateds these days; yours is a helpful survey.

Loftprojection · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 May 2005, 02:09 am »

panderso, unfortunately I could not do a direct "confrontation" between the Unison and my Audio Aero. I heard them both in two different environments. So, my comments have to be taken with a grain of salt. I really liked the Unico and I'm still not sure if I had both of them in my livingroom which would win. However, from memory, I would say the Audio Aero is more transparent, more detailed in a positive way. Both are not aggressive with the highs which I was looking for. Both have a good soundstage and involving voices but the Audio Aero seemed to have a bit more of everything! haha The other thing that favored the AudioAero is that I got a great deal on an almost new box. So I was paying several hundreds less than the Unico and it sounded a bit better. As I said, at retail, the Audio Aero was over my budget.

If you go to Toronto, drop an email to the Audio Aero distributor, he seems like a very nice guy from a conversation I had with him on the phone and I wouldn't be surprised if he let you drop buy to listen to it. (www.globeaudiomkt.com)

Have fun shopping. I think you wouldn't make a mistake with either of these by the way.

Quote from: panderso

Loftprojection; What factors swayed you in favour of the Audio Aero over the Unisons? The tube hybrid virtues sound similar by description, and the Unison SE has had strong reviews. Were you shopping in the greater Toronto area? I get down that way sometimes.

As others have pointed out, there is something of an embarrassment of riches in high quality integrateds these days; yours is a helpful survey.

1UP · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 May 2005, 01:09 pm »

Pimping them again but the Triangle ES range go very well with the Audio Aero sound (I heard the Prima CDP feeding an Audio Analogue Integrato) - quite gorgeous!