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With such broadband praise did I really find nothing to criticize? How about individual assessments of preamp and monos when the family clan got separated? On the first question I hit a wall. Naturally tastes diverge as does the ancillary context into which review loaners are inserted. Unlike the competing Gamut combo, the Germans weren’t charmers or poets which might compensate for inherent system brightness or hardness. While no strangers to the oft-invoked musicality, they were no quick conquests of the sort one shoddily throws together for instant plug & play satisfaction.

 
They deserved and mandated a carefully considered and assembled chain including appropriate (though not necessarily costly) cabling and component supports. For amp stands I’d for example experimented with plain shale tiles plus various footers only to incur obvious dynamic losses. Apparent minutiae like moving Audio Exclusive’s d.C.d footers under my Fonel Simplicité spinner became instantly obvious by their destressing of the treble band. A coincidental move from expandable screw-terminated WBT bananas to soldered hollow bananas on my HMS Fortissimo speaker cables during the review period registered plainly as sonic advance. Moving the two mono amps from discrete Lovan amp stands into open shelves of my central Lovan rack introduced uncertainty and a loss of coherence. I also suspect that my long since traded Thiel CS2.4 whose treble was flat but not always as free of hardness as the 3.7 would not have made a perfect match.


That said the Audionets with the equally resolved and strictly neutral Thiel CS3.7 made for uncomplicated emotional musical satisfaction even with music whose mastering was borderline. My Sehring S703SE speakers with their somewhat softer treble—which thus pose less associated challenges on the remainder of the system—and arguably more substantial midrange did equally well.


To the second question on discrete qualities for the preamp and power amps, the above descriptions applied equally even though—and I’ve since acquired them as work horses—the monos to me seemed first amongst equals. Even when connected directly to my Fonel CD player (this usually becomes more immediate and energetic but depending on amp often also grows harder and more stressed) never crossed the line. Substituting different preamps on the AMPs (with the Octave HP300 the treble grew a tad less calm and individual events were more diffuse and less locked; with Funk’s MTX-Monitor V3B the low bass stepped back and the high end was less crisp but perhaps even more elucidated than with the PRE1 G3/EPS) always played to the same strengths. The monos also remained unperturbed into more challenging loads.

 
One can obviously operate the PRE1 G3 without the external power supply but the latter introduces a kind of relaxation and calm which might seem less profound at first but grow irreplaceable over the long haul. With it there were overall fewer artefacts in the sonic action and individual events peeled out better with more unambiguous definition. For example the beginning of the snare trills on Cancer Conspiracy’ "II" from 2007’s Ω had "clearly better definition" as my notes confirm. Particularly with amps of Audionet’s caliber the EPS addition becomes a very sensible upgrade.

Today’s conclusion is short indeed. Without question the Audionet combo becomes one of my highest audition recommendations ever. This is particularly apt if you’re not a warm/soft-type listener but prefer a strictly neutral, energetic, grippy but long-term suitable presentation; and are prepared to address your system building with care. While I prefer to give well-grazed metaphors a wide berth, the ideal of the short wire with gain relative to the EPS, PRE1 G3 and AMPs combo seemed more than apropos. Aside from these sonic virtues there’s high practicality from comprehensive connection facilities and thoughtful user features. The only real nit to pick was the above average transformer hum on one of the review loaner amps.

The Audionet combination of PRE1 G3/EPS and AMPs was characterized by…
• excellent micro and macro dynamics
• a highly resolved effortlessly transparent presentation based on even tonality straight through to the top which was pure and stress free; and a highly contoured intelligible fat-free punchy bass
• perfect tonal neutrality
• ultra-accurate soundstaging, focus and coherence with unusual tacitness of individual events and instruments
• requiring careful selection of ancillaries
• flawless workmanship and standard-setting functionality


Facts
Category: Pre/power combo with external power supply
Mass: ca. 6kg for preamp, 9kg for power supply, 22kg per amp
Dimensions WxHxD: 430 x 70 x 310mm preamp and PSU, 215 x 190 x 500cm amp
Trim: Black or silver
Output power: 200/350-watt mono into 8/4 ohms
Preamp connectivity: 6 x RCA including tape monitor + 1 x XLR input, 2 x XLR + 1 x RCA output, tape out, sub out, 6.3mm headphone out
Idle consumption: 27 watts for preamp, 100 watts for monos
Other: Optional system remote for €169
Warranty: 24 months from date of purchase, 36 months with mailed-in registration
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