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The Aria and large-scale classical music are perfect bed fellows. Using Bruckner’s 3rd Symphony for a test ride, the French integrated proved equal to the exploded bandwidth of luscious strings, martial kettle drums, elegiac solos and hard-as-nails brass tutti. The brilliant handling of individuated ring-out behavior of specific instruments and sounds made for opulent satisfaction also on smaller ensembles and chamber music. If you enjoy a concert hall atmosphere within your own four walls, the Aria happily complies with your wishes.
How about various speaker loads where valve amps get pickier? I was positively struck by not having a speaker on hand that proved mismatched. My work horse and foundation for this review was Neat’s Momentum 4i whose isobarically loaded woofers appreciate current. Save for certain small LF output limitation which I deemed primarily power-related, this combo played like a charm.
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PSB’s Synchrony One is voiced somewhat darker and more potent down low which did benefit overall incarnation factor even though fine resolution on the very top was slightly diminished unless I toed in the speakers straight at my ears. A true orgy of mutual admiration came by way of widebanders. This breed was represented by a DIY transmission line with F120A. Whilst here one duly forgets about low bass altogether, dimensionality wasn’t of this world. Here the overused term holography had to be rescued from its carefully locked-up drawer. Awesome!
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It’s plainly worthwhile to experiment with the 4/8-ohm taps regardless of official speaker designation. As designer Norbert Clarisse confirmed by fax, you can’t screw up the amp even with 2-ohm speakers hanging off the 8-ohm terminals. What transformer-coupled valve amps generally don’t appreciate is being run without a load. But even here Audiomat’s push/pull transformers are quite impervious if you don’t starve them for too many hours. In general I had a preference for the 8Ω connection regardless of load. It sounded more dynamic, faster and richer in detail.
Finally some context within and without the Audiomat product range. Given a choice, I’d take the Aria over the Arpège. Whilst 50% costlier, there’s an audible increase of color saturation in the mids and highs – and remote control is a lovely bonus. Compared to transistor muscle in this price range, the Aria wears its tubulosity on the sleeve. Airiness and elastic ‘freedom’ are accompanied by a certain casualness in matters of staging precision. A better sand amp applies better sorting but can also seem more static than the inherently fluid and flexible Aria.
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This showed both versus the Abacus Ampollo and my house combo of Funk/Myriad. After many days of Aria auditions I recabled the latter to encounter more macrodynamic control, stereophonic separation and a certain hot foot on the gas pedal – but also a narrower color palette and (here comes the stereotype) less warmth. For a very unscientific explanation, I sit bolt upright with my reference gear, perhaps even slightly forward to brace myself for the aural winds. With the Aria I’m leaning into the sofa and detect yearnings for a stiff drink.
Audiomat’s Aria is exceptionally musical, rich of detail and particularly color. The modest power rating conceals sufficient reserves for more than adequate room volumes. It’s also quite the looker. Action items would be Rock, Jazz, acoustic, semi acoustic and particularly classical music. Steely thunder and lighting by way of massive loud bass and disco beats are obviously better served elsewhere.
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Psych profile:
- An altogether clean and neutral progression across the audible range with a slight depression in the lowest registers.
- Mids and highs are well above average in detail, plasticity and color saturation.
- A great foible for highly varied soundstaging which supports individual productions by approaching hyper realism from small rooms to cavernous concert halls.
- Depth layering is very realistic and contains plenty of air and space around each virtual sound source. Competing amps in this price class will apply sharper image localization however.
- Microdynamics are excellent, macrodynamics above average for valve amps but well below party animals.
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Facts:
- Concept: Integrated tube amp
- Dimensions and weight: 445x180x380mm (WxHxD), 26kg
- Trim: Black
- I/O ports: 5 x RCA in, 1 x RCA fixed out, 4/8Ω speaker terminals, biwire pairs
- Power consumption: ca. 150 watts at idle, no standby
- Warranty: 2 years
- Website
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redaktion @ fairaudio.de
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