The sound
Contents
If you put the Ambre and Baby Ambre next to each other, you will notice that the difference is not that big at all (in our sets). This contrasts with the price difference of 700 euros. let’s interpret that.
Internship and punch
What strikes us when we do an A / B test, is that the ‘Big’ Ambre has a slightly warmer, more powerful signature. The punch in the layer is somewhat rounder and has more texture. The staging is also a bit larger and more precise. By the way, that doesn’t make the Baby a player who presents vaguely. The stage is still very precise and ‘real’. It’s just a little closer to the speakers. (Still good loose, by the way).
Both things come – we estimate – through the better clocks in the case of the Ambre of Tentlabs. The Ambre also has better internal galvanic decoupling (optical) and of course the I2S output. All this provides more peace and quiet through a lower noise floor… and that indirectly affects microdetail and a tighter layer. Measurable? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Audible…? Read on.
The bizarre thing is that with some tracks we hear a clear difference, think of Fingerprints by I Am Kloot – and sometimes no difference at all (in a blind test), like with a random song by Moloko. This will be due to the recording and the prominent sounds in the music. The extra qualities of the Ambre are clearly in staging and the more beautiful lowlands. In the middle and high the differences – in our set-up – are very small and sometimes even inaudible.
Metrum did his homework… The right concessions have been made so that the Baby Ambre as a total package is just right.
Honestly: in the office, the differences become easier to hear because the system plays larger. Think of it as a kind of magnifying glass. However, even there we sometimes have to switch almost neurotically to notice it. That says it all.
