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Based 80km north of Rome in the port town of Civitavecchia, Audia Flight was formed in 1996 by electronics industry veterans Massimiliano Marzi and Andrea Nardini. Currently available are three integrated amps, two CD players, a preamp, a phono preamp, two stereo power amps and a three-channel power amp. All Audia Flight components are designed and built in Italy and not outsourced offshore. The piece reviewed today is from Audia Flight’s new entry level FL Three line. Coming soon is a matching CD player and a pre/power combo. The FL Three integrated is a dual-mono design rated to deliver 75 watts per channel into an 8Ω load.

Both channels are fed from a single 400VA toroidal transformer while a smaller 10VA toroid feeds the relays and control logic. There are eight stabilized power supplies with a total capacitance of 13,200uF, and another 72,000uF for the output stage. The volume control is an ALPS blue and the muting function has its own memory. All switching logic is independent of the analogue section through the use of opto-couplers. As with all of Audia’s amplifiers, the FL Three
uses current feedback instead of the more common voltage feedback.

According to Audia Flight, "…differential designs for amplification (voltage feedback) with quite extended frequency response have the drawback of a transient instability or, anyway, when excited with a step impulse, their output attains a steady state only after several extra oscillations which clearly affect the original signal with colorations. This new scheme exploits current feedback rather than the usual voltage feedback and the amplification is of the transimpedance kind (and, therefore, extremely linear) with the feedback closed before the output stage. The outcome consists of very fast, stable circuits with the utmost ability to control even the wildest reactive loads."

The 15mm thick front panel, remote control, volume knob and feet are CNC machined from solid aluminum. The two button input selector controls four unbalanced and one balanced input. There is a tape monitor loop, pre out and headphone output. A bypass feature selectable by remote control allows owners to turn their FL Three into a power amplifier through a specified input or as the front-channel amplifier in a multi-channel system while still using the same speakers for two-channel listening from stereo sources. Audia Flight offers an optional RIAA moving-coil/moving magnet phono board. Input impedance is adjustable via card-mounted dip switches while specific impedances can be set with plug-in resistors. I am not aware of any other plug-in phono boards with this degree of flexibility. The manual offers a rather busy but easily understood chart to guide you in setting proper loading for your cartridge. My loaner came preset for my Ortofon Rondo Blue moving coil. Gain for moving magnet cartridges is 44dB while moving coil is 64dB.

On the rear panel, there are also two digital communication jacks to link other Audia Flight components for synchronous power on/off switching as well as to distribute firmware upgrades. The large VFD vacuum fluorescent display on the front panel provides current operational status. The panel’s brightness is adjustable including turning it off altogether via the remote. The Audia Flight logo at the far left will light up upon turn on or flash intermittently when in standby. The input names displayed are custom programmable by remote with a maximum of seven characters. You can imagine the childish fun I had with this feature.


The remote was one of the nicest I have used and I preferred its feel over the one that came with my Audiomat amp. It was also the first I have seen that uses lithium batteries instead of the more common, bulky, short-lived AA alkaline types.


Specifications are as follows:
 Output power: 75/125wpc into 8/4 ohms
Amplifier stage gain: 26dB
At maximum volume:
Frequency response (1Wrsm, -3db) 1Hz - 450KHz
Slew Rate: (on 8 ohm) >80V/µS
THD: <0.05%
S/N ratio: >95dB
Unbalanced input impedance: 51Kohm, 150pF
Balanced input impedance: 30Kohm
Stand-by consumption: less than 1W
Maximum consumption: 400W
RIAA accuracy on the phono card: +/- 0.25dB
Dimensions and weight: 420 x 90 x 420mm (W x H x D), 12kg
Shipping dimensions and weight: 490 x 250 x 530mm (W x H x D), 15kg