Leather and hifi gears - apart from my headphones, I rarely see leather being used as part of a hifi equipment design. This is the main eye catcher for anyone who have seen Absolare luxurious suite of hifi components. My first experience listening to them was in KLIAV show a few years back. Little that I know that after I purchased my Kronos Sparta turntable, an Absolare amplifier and phono stage willl land into my set up. But of course, only for a review. For this, I have to YL Audio to thank for giving me this opportunity to really listen to these masterpiece.
In this review, I will share my experience on the Integrated Amplifier. No fancy name, no model name. Straight off, this unit is called Absolare Integrated Amplifier. I had it for a good 3 months or so.
THE BUILT AND SPECIFICATION
The overall design is derived from their Linestage Preamplifier and Power Amplifier design and housed in a single chassis. The PSU and signal sections however are internally separated by a thick aluminium wall to avoid any magnetic influence of AC noise onto the signal path. Beautifully finished with hard leather option colour of your choice.
All signal collectors are made of gold/silver plated tellurium copper and its binding posts are made of silver plated copper with PE outer barrels. For the tubes sockets, it is of pure teflon with gold plated copper contacts.
Four inputs are available on the rear section (2 Balanced XLR and 2 RCA). The power switch is also located at the rear panel. The front section has a simple fascia with just 2 knobs; one for volume and one for input selection. The volume pot is of a 48 step motorized attenuator.
On the top lies the tubes. Every unit comes with selected NOS tubes of 2 x 12AU7/ECC82 or other compatible tubes.
Now, here is the unique part. It is a hybrid architecture amp where the preamp is based on SET tube and the power amp is of a dual mono solid state, churning out 200 WPC at 4 ohms or 150 WPC at 8 ohms. Another unique design of it is the internal cabling are all using Echole cables.
The unit weighs 33 kg and the dimension is not of a typical hifi equipment. Measuring 38.2 x 67.4 x 20 cm, the unit is protruding out of my TAOC rack. Absolare provides a hard case for delivery with a special cloth to carry this unit to place it onto your rack. You need 2 people to install this.
It also comes with 3 footers that you need to 'land' the unit onto them in a triangular configuration.
OPERATING THE UNIT
It takes about 40 seconds before the 'clean' sound will come out from my system but its true sound will need about 15 to 30 mins on the tubes to be at its optimum temperature.
THE SET UP
THE SESSION
Descreate on WAV 16/44
- Kronos Sparta with ZYX Omega cart
- Musical Fidelity M1 ViNL phono
- SONY HAP Z1 ES
- PMC Twenty5.24 speakers
- Vermouth Audio Black Pearl speaker cable
Talking About Revolution on LP
As the title suggest, that is what the Absolare did to the session. Tracy's vocal was just amazing being churned out by this amp. Energetic sound not only from her vocal but the overall music. The vocal still took center stage and sounded elevated and layering of various musical instrument was very evident. The drums sounded detail with dispersion of the snare can be heard clearly as well. Loving the huge sound stage and to me, this was the highlight of this amp.
At the point I was reviewing this amp, Singapore local heroes Desecrate just released their new album Toxic Relations. So I took the opportunity to test the limits of this Absolare amp. Can it deliver the metal rawness? Short answer - Yes. Long answer? While it can push through such genre through my system, it lacks that punchiness I need for this kind of music. Especially on the double pedals. The guitar riffs still sounded energetic even though the sound stage was huge and dispersed.
Take Five on LP
Of course, my favourite track to test a hifi equipment. The wind instrument sounded very melodious indeed. Yes, given that my set up has been with a solid state amplification for quote sometime, this has injected a whole new experience. The sound stage of my set up went up few notches. The slam from the percussion still had a similar slam like before but with added warm and bigger sound, thanks to the tube pre amp section of the Absolare I suppose. It was amazing to hear this track at a different level of excitement. It provided me a different perspective of what else my set up can have.
Pet Sematary on LP
With a classic punk tune like this Pet Sematary by The Ramones, the amp delivered quite an impressive rawness to the track. It is not as punchy as I would like it to be when it comes to this genre, but the Absolare is not shy to churn out that huge sound, giving this punk tune a livelier ambient. The drums was quite hard hitting but with the combination of the tube-y sound, it does loose out some punch to it. Still a very decent effort to deliver that 'punk' essence to this song.
Perfidia
With this 16/44 WAV file of Perfidia by Linda Ronstadt, the amp delivered a very warm sound to this digital presentation. Linda's vocal came out crystal clear with in depth emotion delivery. I find it is more engaging than usual. The wind instrument also sounded more refined and even at high pitched section, the amp injected a warmer sound to it, giving it a more somber ambient to the tragic behind this track. Even the Latin percussion sounded huge with a very extensive highs that made the track sounded wholesome, complimenting the wind instruments. I must say that the Absolare Integrated Amplifier can really make my digital collection sounds more engaging than usual.
THE CONCLUSION
Having this amplifier in my set up even though for a few months made me realise how fortunate I am to have the trust that hifi dealers are giving me the opportunity not only to review but to experience equipment that I may not be able to afford it. The Absolare Integrated amplifier (or all their product) is indeed one of the luxury symbol in hifi world. The looks alone with the various leather colour option is already a winner. Coupled with its simplicity, one just cannot stop thinking, will the sound match its luxury look?
Overall, the amp did give me a total different experience with my set up. The hybrid design provided a huge sound stage with a hint of warm to the overall musical presentation. Digital presentation benefited it most in my set up. Is it a picky amplifier? I dont think it has any issues to match any decent speakers but it may not be for all genres of music. Vocals - check. Guitar works - check. Ballad - check. Jazz - check. Metal is the one that I find it lacks that punchiness.
I must say that the Absolare demands a higher standard piece of equipment to be matched with. My speakers might not be a well matched pair to the Absolare but it did do well in most of the tracks I played during the review.
The Absolare Integrated Amplifier can be demo-ed and purchased from YL Audio.
Retailed at USD 26,500, the Youtube videos I shared in this review cannot provide full justice to the capability of this amp. It is best for you to request a demo from YL Audio to really showcase what it can do.
THE CONCLUSION
Having this amplifier in my set up even though for a few months made me realise how fortunate I am to have the trust that hifi dealers are giving me the opportunity not only to review but to experience equipment that I may not be able to afford it. The Absolare Integrated amplifier (or all their product) is indeed one of the luxury symbol in hifi world. The looks alone with the various leather colour option is already a winner. Coupled with its simplicity, one just cannot stop thinking, will the sound match its luxury look?
Overall, the amp did give me a total different experience with my set up. The hybrid design provided a huge sound stage with a hint of warm to the overall musical presentation. Digital presentation benefited it most in my set up. Is it a picky amplifier? I dont think it has any issues to match any decent speakers but it may not be for all genres of music. Vocals - check. Guitar works - check. Ballad - check. Jazz - check. Metal is the one that I find it lacks that punchiness.
I must say that the Absolare demands a higher standard piece of equipment to be matched with. My speakers might not be a well matched pair to the Absolare but it did do well in most of the tracks I played during the review.
The Absolare Integrated Amplifier can be demo-ed and purchased from YL Audio.
Retailed at USD 26,500, the Youtube videos I shared in this review cannot provide full justice to the capability of this amp. It is best for you to request a demo from YL Audio to really showcase what it can do.
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