The SPL Audio equipment in detail
Contents
A beast of a power amplifier: Performer S1200
This little stereo powerhouse weighs 30 kilos and delivers 300 watts per channel into 8 ohms. Due to the height of the chassis, it won’t fit into a standard hi-fi rack, something to bear in mind.
There is not much to look at, apart from the interchangeable panels in three colours to customise the appearance to your liking. A somewhat odd option.
Things get more interesting at the back. A choice between a set of RCA or XLR sockets is offered, and a switch lets you select one or the other. A rotary knob allows you to adjust the input signal, so that the match with the speakers and pre-amplifier can be optimally tuned. This is a nice feature that you do not often come across.
The power amplifier can be switched on using a 12-volt trigger signal; only an on/off switch is available on the rear panel.
It features a fan-based cooling system and a built-in temperature protection circuit, but during my listening sessions I found myself wondering what on earth you have to do to trigger it. The power amplifier carries on working undisturbed and does not even get lukewarm.
It is the sort of power amplifier that does its best to be unobtrusive. The amplifier performs flawlessly under all circumstances. Yet this power amplifier also clearly bears the SPL Audio sound signature, more on which later. Given the level of performance, the price tag of € 6,499 is, relatively speaking, good value.
A versatile preamplifier: Director Mk2
It has everything you could need, apart from a BNC digital input. Two XLR inputs, four RCA inputs, a tape monitor with an input and output gain switch, AES, USB, Toslink and coaxial digital inputs, and one XLR and one RCA output. The outputs can be configured in various ways using DIP switches on the rear panel, allowing active speakers and subwoofers to be connected with or without using the volume control. In this case, ‘versatile’ is a compliment, as the quality of the whole unit is outstanding.
An AKM AK4493 DAC is built in, but the analogue section of the DAC has been designed in-house by SPL Audio. The DAC’s implementation is of a high standard. There is little difference between playing a CD on the Audiolab or Revox via this DAC and playing vinyl using the Phonos Duo. Personally, I would not feel the need to purchase a separate DAC.
On the front panel, a display catches your eye, with a rotary knob for source selection below it. There are no fewer than six analogue sources and four digital ones (USB, AES, coaxial and optical). In the centre is the volume control and, to the right, VU meters with adjustable sensitivity. And, making a comeback, a Tape Monitor switch. For those who still have a cassette deck, this allows you to quickly listen back to a recording without having to switch sources. It also functions as an additional line-level output.
The digital and analogue connections, combined with the flexibility on offer, make the Director Mk2 a versatile and attractive piece of kit.
A quiet, dynamic turntable preamplifier: Phonos Duo
The Phonos Duo features both an XLR and an RCA input. The desired input can be selected via a switch. An XLR input is rare on phono preamplifiers. For the outputs, too, there is a choice between RCA and XLR, but both transmit the signal simultaneously.
Both MM and MC cartridges can be used, and a rotary switch allows you to select the sensitivity that best suits the cartridge. There is one rotary switch for MM and one for MC.
The gain can be set to three different levels; your ears will tell you which setting best matches the cartridge. Another switch allows you to filter out any ‘rumble’ – the background noise from the turntable’s drive mechanism. There is also a mono switch.
The greatest quality of this phono preamplifier, however, is the sound. Like the other components, the Phonos Duo does the same: it produces a precise, detailed, transparent and relaxed sound. And in the case of a turntable preamplifier, it is particularly important that this is done ‘whisper-quietly’, with very little mechanical noise being amplified. I have never heard the Rega P6 with the Ania MC cartridge sound quite so good.
Glen Hansard’s ‘This Wild Willing’ on vinyl is beautifully mixed, and the recording feels airy because the instruments are positioned so naturally. Depth can be reproduced in two ways: as layers one behind the other, just as you used to do with a diorama as a child, thereby creating a sense of depth. But truly high-quality equipment makes that depth sound like a continuum. Think of a portrait where the focus is on the eyes and, as you move further into the depth, the image becomes increasingly blurred, without any clearly defined transitions. The SPL Audio Phonos Duo achieves the latter – provided, of course, that the recording and mix allow for it – so that analogue instruments interact with one another in a way that feels entirely natural and doesn’t really stand out, because that’s exactly how you would hear it in reality. It sounds right, and thus does not demand attention.