Stars = 
Reviewer: Jeroen van Gent from Netherlands
Details: Serious performance
This little amplifier is really, really good. It reminds me of my good old Rogers LS-3/5A in the shape of an amplifier. It pulls you into the music from minute 1. It delivers a believable soundstage with plenty of air, is very neutral, very musical and detailed. Enough power to juice up speakers of decent efficiency. To obtain all this there is only one minor sacrifice I noticed and that is the lowest octave (guestimate is from 100Hz down -3dB/oct). Power is not even 10W but with my 92,5W/dB speakers it can display a believable orchestra (Detroit SO). Metallica, Rammstein and Chemical Brothers can play loud enough to make you wonder why the neighbours hate you (or visit you for a listen as in my case :P). This amplifier is supposedly more suited to play jazz, classical and popmusic in a small setting, but it can get away with anything you trow at it.
I bought this because my Audio Note Oto SE was in repair (for 4 mths!) and i just needed a replacement. You could consider buying a Chinese amp over the internet somewhat of a risk. Normally you would have to listen to an amplifier in combination with your setup, but i have quite a bit of experience and read up on all reviews of Yarlands I could find. Reason told me this would be a nice temporary replacement. But still I didn\'t expect this €139 amp to come this close to my Audio Note Oto SE. No, it\'s not the same, but 90% so. It has air, depth, width, attack, lifelike voices, its allmost just like the musicians are playing in your livingroom. This risk is worth it (well, its not such a big risk, Ornec handles the order perfectly and so does DHL). Just dont forget to calculate in the transport cost and customs fee (in my case +120% of value). Still a bargain though. And still less than the repair cost of my other amp (who said anything about needing guarantee period?)
I am still breaking in the amplifier, powerfilter and cable, and I don`t have decent speakercable (I lent my Siltech) but the sound is allready that good that I had to give it it`s most needed first review. It`s simply too good to be forgotten.
The rest of my setup: SP: Reference 3A Master Control, CD: Myryad CD100, TT: Pro-Ject perspective w speedbox, Cardas wiring, Kiseki Blue vdHul tip, MF X-LP MM, stepup trafo Audio Inn. IC cd: MIT T2, IC trafo Siltech London, X-LP generic, sp cable Linn LK20.
(points out of ten, absolute)
Tonality 9
Sub-bass (10 Hz - 60 Hz) 4
Mid-bass (80 Hz - 200 Hz) 8
Midrange (200 Hz - 3,000 Hz) 9
High-frequencies (3,000 Hz on up) 9
Attack 9
Decay 10
Inner Resolution 9
Soundscape width front 7
Soundscape width rear 8
Soundscape depth behind speakers 8
Soundscape extension into the room 9
Imaging 9
Fit and Finish 9 (inside: well soldered, clean layout)
Self Noise 9 (no hiss whatsoever, slight hum with ear to speaker)
Value for Money 10 (understatement! even incl tr+tax)
Ive used the amp for about 15 hours now, the powerfilter about a week. If it will improve further I will make an addition later.
Amps I\'ve owned B4: Yamaha, Rotel 30W, Mission Cyrus 2, Audio Innovations 500, Audio Note Oto SE.
Remember you can even improve this amp by tuberolling with EH, JJ or NOS tubes with litle money. The 6N3/5730/6H3p/2C51/396A are harder but not impossible to find. You can allso get a bit more bass by placing your speakers a bit closer to the wall (mine are quite far off because the Ref3A is a bit bass heavy, good combination though).
The day I installed it I got a call my Audio Note was ready. An hour later I allready didn\'t miss it anymore... |
