Kora TB200 integrated amplifier – encore une fois!

The qualities of the Kora TB200

The amplifier disappears completely, as if it is not at work. The words ‘discrete’ or ‘naturally’ spring to mind.

Soundstage

The Kora TB200 creates a large and deep soundstage in which everything is well proportioned in relation to each other. The effect is a spacious but also natural-sounding reproduction. The amplifier is silent; music emerges from nowhere. The TB200 has a lot of reserve, which is shown by the fact that the speakers also disappear, the sound detaches itself completely.

Nuance and natural

When the recording has it, this Kora unearths a lot of small details and nuances in voices and in instruments.

The Kora TB200 puts nuances and emphasis in the soundscape different from the Yamaha B2 or the Naim XS2, where the midrange sounds much grittier by comparison and the emphasis is more on the rhythmic character of the music. The Kora TB200 does not emphasise anything at all and sounds almost liquid, as if the melodies in the music flow out of the speakers like a stream.

Comparatively, the Kora TB200 is much more open in sound and nimbler, while at the same time the bass has a lot of power. It is almost as if the TB200 combines two opposing characteristics, like a heavyweight boxer who is as light-footed as a flyweight boxer, but without it being unnatural. Rather the opposite, when listening to the music through the TB200, the realisation is rather ‘never knew it can sound like this!’. It just feels right.

The flowing character and emphasis on melody also makes the amp a bit more forgiving of lesser recordings and not so good masters. Not because everything is smoothed out, but because the focus as a listener is different. On the positive side, the Kora TB200 highlights great recordings even more. I have rarely heard an amplifier that you can listen to for so long and feel so relaxed all the time, without losing focus on the music.

Scale

Large symphonic works are not a problem. Virtually, you feel yourself sitting in the back rows of the concert hall: the overview of the entire orchestra is there, the instruments blend nicely, the perception of the hall is palpable.

The calmness in the soundstage is what stands out the most. This type of amplifier is ideal for lovers of large orchestral works, it takes little effort to listen and can be sustained for hours, while just enough detail and nuance can be heard to follow the intention of the conductor and musicians.

The Brahms recordings by the ‘Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique’ with John Eliot Gardiner are a joy to listen to. The Kora lifts out the long melodic lines of the story Brahms wrote down in notes.

There is one drawback to the Kora TB200 though: the volume knob keeps rotating to a higher level, as the amplifier can handle everything effortlessly, but your housemates might not always.

Grip

The Kora TB200 is so evident in authority that it is no longer an issue. This is best explained with a comparison. In the review of the Naim Nova PE and in Leiden with the Yamaha B2 amplifier, it is striking that said amplifiers have an iron grip on the speakers. They impose their will on them. The Kora TB200 has so much control that it sounds careless. Natural authority.

Sohn’s track ‘M.I.A.’ from the album ‘Trust’ is a litmus test for the degree of control in an audio chain. At no point does compression emerge or do the many layers become mashed together or do you get the impression of reaching the limit of the amp or speakers. The reserves of this amplifier seem inexhaustible, something confirmed in the listening session in Leiden.

The side note I would like to add is that I have never heard the Audio Physic Spark speakers, which have been in service for 25 years, sound like this. Not even with the TB140. They have managed to hide their potential well all these years.

Groove

Deee-Lite’s album ‘World Clique’ features pumping disco and house beats that sound very different on a Naim or the Kora. It is sweaty disco on the Naim’s club dance floor versus dance moves at a stylish party with the Kora. In both cases, you cannot sit still: groove is in the heart.

For those who cannot get enough, detailed listening notes have been added to the review, but the review continues at the targeted audience.