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Very few amps are capable of controlling the lower register as successfully as the White Knight does in any dynamic mode (its damping factor is close to 1000). I came to this conclusion whilst listening to grandiose organ recordings saturated with complex bass notes and dynamic extremities. These were Midnight at Notre-Dame, Requiem by John Rutter [Reference Recordings, one of Robert Harley’s favourites] and the thunder-like kettle-drum solo from Tüür's 4th Symphony ‘Magma’ [Virgin, 385785-2]. I recall saying to Alexei Syomin that a tube amp is hardly capable of delivering such energy and level of bass control. He agreed that it’s really hard to get the same result from a tube amp. You’d need to achieve about 150W in class A but it’s even harder to get a damping factor similar to what the White Knight provides.
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The amp has enough ‘smart energy’ to reflect the macrodynamic relief of every complexity and frequency range. It also has plenty of delicate subtlety for the ultra-detailed description of exquisite gracefulness of musical filigree. The proof of it all was in the playback of the abovementioned Requiem and Dynaudio’s CD Accentuations: Guitar Impressions. The spacious signature of the White Knight can be defined as natural, stable and pithy. The amp builds musical mis-en-scenes such that one can not only feel but see them. For example the amp reflected the spacious polyphony of Rutter’s Requiem and Anthems in a multi-layered, detailed, transparent and visible fashion. I’ve already mentioned the connection between the virtual/spacious features and frequency. For instance while listening to piano recordings, on some systems the instrument’s images are shaky, splitting into registers and even drawing various shapes in accordance to the passages being played back. Here the White Knight’s scenery was very stable as the absence of such phenomena, the absence of what I call ‘spacious noises’.
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I was pleasantly surprised that an amp not built according to the company’s primary tube ideology nevertheless maintained the unique Alexey Syomin sound [considering how his circuit embraces transformer coupling throughout which tends to be exclusive to tube circuits, it’s perhaps more fair to say that his semiconductor version simply ‘replaces’ tubes with transistors but otherwise applies the very same thinking – Ed]. Its main unique features include exceptionally expressive delivery and even accentuation of the melodic horizontals (the amp’s singing is incredibly beautiful, on the same level with the best tube amps and equally enchanting in the representation of vocal music). This never rigid but polished transparent sound has expressive and flexible colours and a 3D signature with impeccably worked-out sharply graphic attention to detail. The
SA Lab White Knight is a component of the highest construction and sound levels and on par with the best tube examples of SA Lab. The only compromise by high-end standards is the all-in-one integration of preamp and power amp.
The advantages of the White Knight over Alexey Syomin’s tube creations are primarily the substantially bigger dynamic headroom and splendid bass control. So it’s difficult to say whether it’s in any way inferior to its valve stable mates. An important issue among audiophiles is competition between audio components. In most such tournaments the Knight in white would be on top. Always with a shield. These words should be the SA Lab White Knight’s motto.
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aa @ hi-fi.ru
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Specifications
No global negative feedback
Output power (max.): 4/8 ohm, 180/90W x 2
Frequency response (±0, 3dB), 10-250'00H70
THD ( kHz, 1 W): < 0.001%
S/NR (unweighted): -140dB
Damping factor: 950
Inputs: RCA х 4
Line output: RCA х1
Power consumption: 150W
Dimensions: 580 x 440 x 500mm
Weight: 64kg
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