I do not obtain to journey as sufficient as I'd similar to to in the normal sense, but every square of audio apparatus we examination takes me on a journey of sorts. Whether it's embarking on a mystic outing abroad to the component's start or in to the rarefied air of rigging whose cost exceeds my bankroll, the paths are always engaging and frequently enlightening. And infrequently they are prosaic out surprising. At the finish of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Fellowship Of The Ring," hobbit favourite Frodo Baggins finds life in his aged homeland, The Shire, no longer possible. His query to save Middle Earth from the dim lord, Sauron, has unprotected him to things over his aptitude and damaged his innocence. Too many things have happened, and he no longer can dwell in the perfect nonetheless nave world of his kin. Finally, Frodo play a vessel with his uncle Bilbo and friends to skip is to legendary Undying Lands. For Frodo, there was no going back to The Shire.
It's a embellishment that struck home with me as we outlayed the final couple months listening to Aaron Audio's No.1.a integrated amplifier. During the final two years I've had chance to try-out a few glorious integrateds - amplifiers whose sound we could simply live with and be unapproachable to display, too. we still feel that way, but the Aaron put me in a mark where "going back" to anything I'd listened before would be difficult. Everyone has their own personal sound nirvana, and the No.1.a was it for me. At $5,500, it's the many costly integrated amp I've reviewed, nonetheless we came divided with no hesitations in recommending it, wanting it and wishing usually that my audio funds were more strong - to keep it !
Background
Aaron Audio might not be a domicile name in the U.S., similar to Marantz, Yamaha, Denon and the like, but it's no new child on the block, either. The roots of the firm took grip some 25 years ago when Marita and Thomas Hoehne founded the high finish consumer wiring sales firm (High End Unterhaltungselektronik Vertriebs GmbH). As Aaron's website relates, its assignment was "the prolongation of hi-fi gadgets to encounter the top demands of major music-lovers similar to the Hoehne family themselves - and thus the perfect clone of music. It was at that early stage, that it was motionless to call these devices, that encounter such high demands, SOVEREIGN. Yet it would be years before the initial SOVEREIGN amplifier came out beneath the stream technical anxiety - AARON products." Within that line, the Aaron No. 1 integrated amplifier was introduced in 1989 and enjoyed a 13-year run before being late in 2002. Today, the Elze, Germany-based regard offers the No.1.a, the inheritor to the original No. 1. Fortunately, you do not have to journey to Deutschland to try-out the No.1.a, as Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports has brought the company's lineup to the States in his Parker, Colorado, showroom. Ackerman was my hook-up.
The Aaron arrived at my doorway in a package written to ward off the many severe of handling, consisting of a box inside of a box inside of a box and more stuffing between. I'm not certain Chuck Norris could have damaged the contents, unless it indeed hurt him. Most audiophiles are insistent about gripping the extraneous of their rigging seeking salon new, so Aaron includes a span of white string gloves to wear whilst stealing the amp from its wrapping and during setup. After all, who wants a part spotted with fingerprints and other smudges? The amp is offering in two finishes: china or night black. My examination section was the latter.
Design Setup
The No.1.a has the stamp of German engineering and high quality of erect opposite the board. A brushed aluminum framework houses a power supply corroborated by a 500VA toroidal transformer and six, 10.000uf capacitors. The amp is able of outputting: 2 x 95 Watt at 8 Ohm, 2 x 160 Watt at 4 Ohm, 2 x 350 Watt at 2 Ohm and 2 x 410 Watt at 1 Ohm. An inside look reveals an cultured layout: heat-dissipating fins on the correct side of the amp, with the power supply set on the opposite side. The casing is dually top vented and moreover boasts a square steel "cap" placed in the center. The owner's manual, although nicely completed with full-color illustrations, was useless to me as there is no English denunciation text, but there's small to upset - after all, it's an integrated amplifier not a home drama receiver. The front row is an exercise in moderation, with two cone-shaped manage dials flanking a middle LCD. One dial selects input, the other monitors power and volume. A good touch is the "Standby" feature, that allows one to keep the amplifier continually "warmed up" whilst conserving power. An enclosed remote provides full manage over operations.
The back row sports a half-dozen gold-plated inputs: Aux, TV, Tuner, DAT, MD and CD; outputs for fasten and preamp, should you wish to bi-amp; and a processor. Gold-plated orator contracting posts, accepting banana plugs, spades or unclothed orator wire, are capped with coherent plastic. Like many high-end separates, the No.1.a features a detachable power cable. Ackerman didn't worry to add the batch line and advises using an aftermarket power connective tissue to make sure optimal performance. In this case, we related my RS Audio Kevlar Starchord (6 foot) to the Aaron and staid in to listen.
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