Different similarities. As stated, Argon Audio's Forte A5 and SA1 are not meant to team up. The active speakers are a complete system which even accommodates analog sources. The SA-1 is an integrated with digital/analog inputs to drive passive speakers. Just so, features overlap greatly. Both offer dual Toslink for TVs and DVD/Blueray players. Both do wireless Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX and AAC, the speakers even aptX HD. Both accept one line-level source on RCA and (really!) MM phono. In my book that's very rare but shared with the smaller Forte A4 monitor, even the lower-priced Alto models. Back on my samples, both have variable analog outputs for active subwoofers of which the firm have four models, from a compact 8-incher all the way up to a monster 15".
Forte A5 and SA1 also share the IR remote which plays poster child for ideal user friendliness with big widely spaced clearly identified controls. Backlighting those remains just a dream but two AAA batteries are included to get us going right away. Which I did. Even Bluetooth pairing was a cinch with its own control. Press it, a blue LED on the front of the respective device starts to blink. Select it on your smartphone or tablet and voilà. It takes all of 7 seconds and just 5 to unpair again. The IR codes overlap those of Sony/Samsung televisions and Denon electronics. The most used functions are thus pre-programmed to eliminate the need for additional remotes. There's even empathy aka auto sense. Except for phono, it auto-switches to whichever input detects a signal including Bluetooth yet hardcore 'philes can defeat that function. 15 minutes of inaction triggers standby either way.
I double-checked just to be sure: damn, the SA1 integrated really does it front-to-back balanced from its ESS Sabre DAC all the way to the speaker terminals. Granted, that's not discrete but executed with Burr Brown operational amplifiers. Still, it's unexpected in this price range. The switching output stage delivers 40wpc into 8Ω. The Forte A5 scales up to a 4 x 80-watt amplifier. Unlike my Nubert where both speakers contain electronics, Argon's is a master/slave affair. Here leftie contains the amp, DSP and all i/o. The right speaker gets its amplified signal over a 3m four-pole cable with locking screw collar. 5/10m lengths are optional. Both drivers are in-house developments. The tweeter is a 25mm silk dome, the mid/woofer a Klippel-optimized 15cm/6" sandwich membrane of glass fiber backed by paper.
Action. I tested the speakers via my iPhone as Bluetooth source and on a television via optical cable. The integrated became hifi hub for my (cough) €7'850/pr QLN Prestige Three and Starke Sound's €3'800/pr IC-H+ Elite and also got its signal digitally. Mad combos you say? Maybe. But the recipe of Argon Audio's SA1 + high-end speakers = worked. The sonic stew cooked up by the Danish amp with the compact American speakers was even better balanced than with my Qln. That's because the bass-assured amp dovetailed nicely with the taut but leaner bass of the Starke. At first I had a hard time finding any hair in that dish. Sonics felt balanced, the stage well sorted, the treble open enough and transients nicely precise.
Roping in the Qln Prestige Three with its stronger bass then showed how the Argon was an old-school charmer who seduces us with a pleasantly warm bassier tilt. It came off as unexpectedly potent if not ultimately controlled or sporty. Think Bud Spender to the far costlier quicker Terence Hill of a €2'590 Hegel H120. Already a €499 Pro-Ject MaiA S2 takes firmer reins to imbue bass with a bit more definition, albeit not more punch and definitely not more extension. Argon's SA1 goes real low and even over the Starke Sound retrieved unexpectedly low beats.
