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Instead of briefly sampling the first movement, I went into full hog mode and a symphony whose 75-minute length is split across two SACDs. This probably made no dent in my reputation with the family as being only a partially socialized freak.



To really drive the nail in that coffin, I followed up with Shostakovitch’s Ninth the next day. Particularly the forth movement, a largo with martial fanfares and a surprise counterpoint of charming solo bassoon, became delight supreme when time simply evaporated to leave me with the music.

To properly digest the experience, these HifiAkademie boxes reminded me conceptually a bit of Schwabian speaker house Nubert. Never mind the fact that on the map, a direct line puts them all of 122km apart and both sell direct, I’d characterize them also as equally engineering centric. Their on-line presentations deliberately veer into the scientifically sane, pragmatic and honest.


Today’s testers also sounded that way. The money here buys solid well-conceived product that’s worth every penny and at no time suggests acoustical trickery. Listeners with smaller wallets thus enjoy an entry into the world of audiophile sonics while the modular approach support various applications and – well, approaches.


Conclusion: Due to neutrality and cleanliness, this combo’s presentation makes for long-term happiness, supports most musical tastes and produces sufficient power into even ‘hungry’ speakers. The greatest potential in my book is the handling of classical music. Here things gets surprisingly believable and involving. In the low end and given bass-heavy challenging software, certain limits in speed and extension become apparent.

The HiFiAkademie PreAmp/PowerAmp combination is characterized by:

  • Generally studio-caliber neutrality without magic or cheap tricks.
  • A clear clean open treble that’s neither emphasized nor recessed.
  • A midrange that’s well differentiated and has voices, stringed and wind instruments sound natural.
  • A stereophonic stage that is realistically tall and broad and a depth dimension that is fine for this class.
  • Very high soundstage sorting and image localization.
  • Excellent microdynamics and cleanly nuanced mids and highs that become particular assets for classical music. Harder grittier fare would benefit from more raw oomph.

Facts:
PreAmp:

  • Weight & dimensions: 210 x 103 x 365mm WxHxD, 3.2kg
  • Trim: Silver face, black chassis
  • I/o ports: Six line-level inputs including tape loop, one RCA output
  • Other: Optional MM/MC, DPS and extension modules, enclosure options, remote with standard RC5 code
  • Power consumption at idle: 5 watts

PowerAmp:

  • Weight & dimensions: 210 x 103 x 380mm WxHxD, 7kg
  • Trim: Silver face, black chassis
  • I/o ports: RCA in, single speaker terminals
  • Other: Optional DSP board, 4-channel expansion, enclosure options
  • Power consumption at idle: 12 watts

redaktion @ fairaudio.de
HiFiAkademie website