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This proved true. I found loudspeakers with a lower impedance than my Dobermanns. At medium levels in my 25m² room, the amplifiers handled the Chario Academy Sonnet very well indeed. Their manufacturer quotes an efficiency of 90dB (4Ω) but I think it is actually closer to 88dB. Still, these speakers sounded fabulous with those Polish amplifiers. Talking about a recording studio tool, I wasn’t referencing any harsh processing like a sledge hammer but rather a fine surgical tool. The quality of the treble and midrange here is of true reference caliber and can only be compared to a few other amplifiers like the Ancient Audio 300B monos and the Tenor Audio 175S hybrid amp which I have used for some time now.


I would also mention Spectral as being in the same league. This type of sound isn’t as saturated, palpable and true as the Ancient Audio and Tenor Audio designs but not far off. Simultaneously the mono3.5 suggests neither transistors nor tubes. It performs as though it were empty inside. Going back to the concept of a tool, this machine shows fantastic stage depth as a kind of panorama not only to the sides but as a three-dimensional construct. Delicacy combines with precision. This is not an everyday sound. This involves the listener and draws on our full attention despite the fact that nothing is colored. Resolving power and ability to differentiate are plainly spectacular.

During the Audiomatus AS250 review I referenced certain duplicate discs. Those were two different masters of the solo Martin Gore Counterfeit e.p. and two versions of the Autumn In Seattle album by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. In the fist case the discs were pressed in two different plants although both originate from the US and both were issued on Mute license by Sire. One of them was pressed by WEA Manufacturing Inc. in Olyphant Pennsylvania however, the other bears no markings. Autumn In Seattle is the title track from Tsuyoshi Yamamoto’s 2001 release written especially for Winston Ma, the owner of First Impression Music. I have two versions - XRCD2 and XRCD24.

So what about differentiation? It shows as much difference between instruments, background and recorded versions as is possible, the more the merrier. The basis for that is resolution and detail. To have it all make sense, there must be proper tonal balance because differentiation has to occur simultaneously across the audible spectrum. In that regard and above 60Hz, the reviewed amplifiers were absolutely perfect. Below that—this is a limitation—the sound was not as resolving and most of all lacked energy. I will return to that. The Audiomatus showed the differences between pressings nicely but only with the Tenor and most of all with the nowe amps did I hear more and could identify what it was. It became perfectly obvious that the cymbals on the XRCD2 were thinner and less natural. There was a cloud of sound without clear constituents to turn them into noises instead. With the XRCD24 the cymbals finally played. They were hit, touched, brushed and caressed. It no longer was monotonous metal. And yet the XRCD2 is undoubtedly splendid. It was similar for the midrange because Yamamoto’s piano was deeper on the XRCD24, darker but also more real. I could tell the same on Gore’s disc of high-class electronic music. The WEA pressing was clearer, smoother, more coherent and the voice was more natural.

One of the characteristics of these amps is that regardless of what music is played, they do their thing. There are no recommendations or counter recommendations as to the recordings as long as they aren’t of the heavy sort. That type of music requires other characteristics. Otherwise anything from Tool to David Sylvain, Judy Garland and the Art Blakely Quartet was equally engaging, deep and inviting. These machines do not condemn all our lesser recordings.


Without covering up their flaws, they instead highlight their assets similar to how the Ancient Audio monos do it. This was nicely shown on Basia’s It’s That Girl Again, a typical multi-session multi-tracked affair that’s a bit artificial, slightly hard, without much depth on the voice and with sharper sounds appearing here and there.


I bought this disc in the HiQualityCD version as being superior to the standard one but it cannot really change matters that were decided upon in the recording studio. With Wojtek Untershuetz’ monoblocks the disc suddenly became splendid however. I hadn’t listened to it for some time because the mentioned flaws annoyed me a little. Now it turned into a superb production with brilliant musicians. Even the multiple sessions and overdubs could not kill its spirit of being compelling music. I had similar musings whilst listening to discs from Smolik and Savage.