 We have just tested the loudspeakers Donna Chica from the Czech company Acoustique Quality and now we have the amplifier… Actually I wanted to test AQ electronics since about two years ago, but my caprices and the company plans would not fit together. It turns out, that the tested monoblocs Mono 1 are a part of the portfolio that accompanies the speakers. Similar to the biggest players - Dynaudio, Siltech, Triangle, Avantgarde Acoustic and others, electronics was designed in the company, that is used to evaluate the main products. Now because the switch from a prototype to production has been made, what is the most difficult step in the process, the amplifiers can be normally bought. There is no mention of those on the web page, but – as you can see on the attached photos – they are there. And this is really good. It turns out, that those little amplifiers sound splendidly – well enough, that buying four of them and bi-amping, we can send the mentioned Donna Chica speakers to absolute top and level its tonal balance, that is set too high. And it is worth it, because… but I have written about that in the main review. SOUND )
It is really worth to get acquainted to the power amplifiers, because regardless of their tonal balance is the mirror image of the speakers, their sound is incredibly smooth, free of any colorings, clean and incredibly involving. In some way it resembles the sound of the Bladelius Thor Mk II, with an even smoother midrange and better controlled bass reverb and the sound of the Luxman L-505f. It is the same school – silky, atmospheric way of sounding. The disc of the duo Jonas Knuttson + Johan Norberg „Cow Cow: Norrland II” (ACT 9425-2, CD) – anybody that does not posses this disc, should as him or herself, if he or she really likes beautiful, perfectly recorded music – the disc being smooth by itself, received another dimension of depth. The sound is absolutely not fatiguing, inviting to listening, in many way resembling a good EL34 output tube sound (eg. the splendid amplifier Art Audio Lab m25.3, highly recommended!), but without the boosted lower midrange of the latter. And if I would listen to those in a blinded listening session I would probably say that a tube amp is playing. This impression is enhanced by the significant withdrawal of the treble. Now I know, why the AQ loudspeakers present this frequency range with emphasis and fantasy – after plugging the Mono 1 into the system we got a very leveled, very well balanced system. Just like with the speakers the treble is very clean, but there is just less of it than from the Lebena CS-300 or even the Bladelius Thor Mk II (test in this issue of HFOL). Like the treble was enhanced with the speakers so the midrange is here. And it is not about cutting the sound, like it sometimes happens in tube amplifiers, but about soft drawing back of it, in a linear way. There is no phase distortion, and the harmonics are not cut. This is a good promise, because when paired with a brighter source, here I think about the Denon DCD-CX3 there will be no typical brightening, but to a fantastic filling of the sound – information about the treble will reach the M1, having full coherence with the rest of the frequency band. It is worth to fight for it, ans the reception of the monoblocs is extremely well even after a long time of listening. Influence on that, except for the coherence, has also the fleshiness of the midrange and upper bass. The latter is not hard, but keeps pace well. It does not reach as far down as the Leben, Bladelius or Luxman, but it does also not lengthen the phrases, it tries not to rumble without sense, it does not stand in for this with boosting of the upper bass. Despite the warm midrange the instruments from that frequency range do not jump in front of the speakers, what is mostly an effect of boosting the upper bass and lower midrange. The warm, full guitar of Anthony Wilson in the recording “She’s So Heavy”, placed on the Groove Note „True Audiophile” (GRV1036-3, SACD/CD) sampler, was where it should be, slightly less buildup from the top range than I used to, what made it not so open. However with its low vibrato, depth, and similar – for example the palpable attack, it sounded splendidly. I wrote that already, but I'll repeat: this all comes to a sound that is not neutral, but that you listen to with joy. With high class masterings, from the years of mastery of that art, meaning the 50' of the last century, for example from the wonderful , remastered by First Impression Music, disc „Ros On Broadway” (Decca (SKL 4004)/FIM, LIM XR24 017, XRCD24 – review last month in the “Music” department), we had a very good drawing and saturation. )
Maybe the one other thing , except for the lack of low bass, that was missing in those recordings, was the stage. Maybe a consequence of the reduction of the treble, or the limited resolution (because about the inter channel crosstalk is eliminated here – those are monoblocs), but anyway, although well layered, suggested by spots of timbre, the stage was not especially precise or clear. Although the Primare I21 (test this month) was not much better in that aspect, but even though... If something is shown very far away, like in ”Herlando’s Hideway”, it will be shown like that but... closer. There is no way around it and open speakers are obligatory: AQ, B&W Bowers&Wilkins, Audiovector, for example the splendid monitors Mi1 Signature and similar. And maybe also the slightly quieter dynamics on the bass can point the readers to other regions. It is hard to explicitly recommend them, as the deviation from linearity is obvious. But its character is steady and easy to compensate – you have to listen to them for sure. Additionally the input is regulated and thus the monoblocs can be treated as integrated amplifiers. The problem is, that the dial is on the back plate. If it could be made remote controlled it would be perfect. BUDOWA )
Mono 1 of the company Acoustique Quality is a power amplifier in the form of monobloc, with regulated input sensitivity. In practice, it is high enough to be able to work without a preamplifier. The form of the device is defined by the acrylic front plate with a green lit company logo and a radiator as the top plate. The first resembles the tested Audionemesis devices like the PM-1, and in further rows the Cello. Who knows, maybe the forefather of those devices were the products from the company Crimson. And the heat sink on top? This is a citation of the legendary amplifiers A1 from Musical Fidelity. Anyway – it works. Similar to Cyrus devices, the electronics is mounted upside down on the heat sink. It is split on two PCBs – one for the input circuits, placed vertically, and the amplifying and power supply section. In the input we have an IC and a not very good looking double potentiometer. From here the signal goes to the amplifier section by means of a shielded cable. The amplifier section is fully discrete. The output transistors, two pairs of complementary, rare, very nice MOSFETs BUZ900 and BUZ905, are screwed to the heat sink with small C-shaped bars. The elements on the PCBs look nice, and attention is drawn to the good filtering – separately for both halves of the signal. Concerns about noise are risen by the a little to closely positioned toroidal transformer, that touches all cables. If it would be placed near the front panel and the PCB near the back one... The whole is supported by residual rubber feet, that should be exchanged to something better immediately.
|
||||
| © Copyright HIGH Fidelity 2007, Created by B |
