SPL Audio review – “Music sounds better with you”

Listening to the SPL Audio set

The ‘signature sound’ of SPL Audio components is consistent: a transparent, relaxed sound that strives for neutrality, with the soundstage positioned slightly further back. To sum it up in one word: refined.

It all sounds very precise, with a wealth of detail that you can hear straight away. As a listener, you experience the sound as more contemplative than immersive, which is a desirable characteristic for studio equipment when assessing a mix or master.

Soundstage

The soundstage has a very spacious sound and seems boundless. I will try to explain that last word with a comparison: at the end of twilight, the sky on the horizon – where the sun has set – is still blue. As you move further away from that spot, the colour transitions very subtly to the black of night. That night-black seems to stretch out infinitely, without limits. That is what the soundstage of SPL Audio sounds like. You only really notice it when you switch back to another amplifier.

The sound is strongly centred and the imaging is impeccable. The phase accuracy is high, which you notice when you move around the listening room. The stereo image holds its shape; it is as if you’re walking around it. Even from another room, it is clear what is playing. As if the musicians are playing right there in the room.

Precision

The SPL Audio system produces a very precise sound. Every note is carefully weighed up before it is presented. The bass in Carole King’s “Smackwater Jack” clearly reveals the separation between the notes whilst simultaneously capturing the puffing of the bass amplifier. That puffing is the air being blown into the microphone. The balance across the entire frequency range is excellent; its studio origins are evident.

The ease and naturalness with which the music is reproduced is not immediately noticeable. That’s the strange thing about how our hearing works: if there is nothing amiss, we don’t immediately recognise it as a positive. We, especially as reviewers, only become fidgety when something isn’t quite right. And we miss the SPL when we listen to another system.

The equipment has been tested in various combinations, and every time a component used from SPL Audio delivers accuracy and precision; it is very consistent.

Dynamics

Dynamics is where SPL Audio presents something of a paradox. In micro-dynamics – such as a strike on a cymbal or the plucking of guitar strings – everything is excellent. Once again, it is so good that it goes unnoticed.

In terms of the overall dynamic experience, you do not feel that the SPL Audio equipment excels in this area, mainly because it all sounds so relaxed and spacious. But when you start comparing, it becomes clear just how effortlessly SPL Audio handles dynamic impulses and how high the volume can be without it becoming noisy. Even whilst Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are playing at dangerously loud volumes, you can still have a conversation with your fellow reviewer.

Experiencing the SPL Audio system

Every listening session followed the same pattern: it takes a while to get into it.

Glen Hansard’s “Bird of Sorrow” sounds very close and almost intimate in the reproduction. You are almost compelled to listen to the lyrics; they are delivered with such intensity. Whilst the SPL Audio system conveys the poignancy of his performance very well, the track builds and builds towards the end. And suddenly it grabs me right by the throat and I find myself deeply moved, listening with bated breath.

Peter Gabriel’s album “i/o” sounds very balanced on the SPL Audio system, whereas on most systems it quickly becomes ‘too much of a good thing’ due to its dynamically challenging and loud mastering. I usually prefer the ‘dark side mix’, but on the SPL Audio system, the detail of the ‘bright side mix’ really stands out in a positive way.

In “Love Can Heal”, the sounds in some systems almost seem to fly past you in 3D. With the SPL, they appear to move in a boundless space, but more into the depth away from you than all around you.

It feels most like listening through a high-fidelity headphone setup, only without the headphones.

Compared with the Kora TB200, Weiss Helios and Revox CD221

The descriptions above of the system is based on this comparison. Three points are highlighted by the comparison.

Firstly, the sound quality of SPL Audio is of a high standard. The Weiss Helios, connected directly to the Performer S1200 via XLR cables, demonstrates just how good this power amplifier is. It is excellent value for money.

The second point is that SPL Audio has a distinct sound of its own. The resulting sound is the opposite of the Weiss and Kora combination, but both are equally good. It is therefore primarily a matter of taste and what you are looking for in terms of listening experience. But it also makes it clear that mixing and matching SPL Audio components with other brands requires careful consideration.

We connected two CD players: the Audiolab CDT6000 and the Revox CD221, both connected via coaxial to the Weiss Helios DAC. The differences between the two transports were immediately revealed by the SPL set, as was the difference between the Revox’s analogue and digital outputs. With the precision mentioned earlier, the soundstage and the musical detail change with every alteration in the audio chain.