Atoll IN300 Integrated Amp $4500 (150×2)
(3.75h, 17.32w, 12d, 36 lbs)
Made in France!
Price Includes On Board DAC & Remote, 3 Year Warranty
Atoll’s IN300 is quite simply, my favorite integrated amp, all things considered- on the planet! Keep in mind that the price tag includes the DAC, including USB & Bluetooth, which is an option on Atoll’s lesser integrateds.
IN300, is so good, at such a fair price, that it is actually difficult to justify spending MORE. That’s because… you have to spend double the money or more to get an integrated that is ANY better. So do you really care to spend twice as much money to get a few percent DIFFERENCE?
Since most of us don’t have unlimited money, I am absolutely recommending buying an IN300 and allocating the rest of your wallet to other places where your dollars will pay off commensurately.
Most of us would be smarter to get IN300 and better speakers, rather than buying electronics for $10k and then having to scale back on your speaker choice. And then of course, there would be more money to allot for a fine conditioner, cables or improved source. I’m always about the point of diminishing returns!
I luv IN200 for its price. At $2800 I don’t think there’s a better choice in our biz for that reasonable price tag. Yet make no mistake, if you can step up to IN300, you not only get a bigger wallop at the bottom end, you get resolution that is more elegantly curated- assuming you have top echelon speakers to mate with it. Those top echelon speakers don’t have to cost a fortune. I’m talking about speakers like Magnepans or Brystons starting at about $3-4k per pair.
IN300 is dramatically less money than most of the BIG names in our biz. Yet in performance, it doesn’t take a back seat. Any product performs based on what’s in it. As we study IN300 vs the haughty names in our biz, or any of its smaller brothers, we’re simply amazed by how much Atoll has put into this brute.
IN300 is even bigger and brawnier than IN200. The 300 has transformers and filter caps that are about 25% larger. The 300 has more MATCHED MOSFET output transistors. Due to 300’s immense power, it has a gradual start up circuit. The 300 uses French Absolue Creations high end cable on the mother board parts. Hence not only does the 300 have more and larger components, it has superior elements as well. Atoll spends its money INSIDE. They use basic feet and a lightweight remote. They’re selling sound, not jewelry.
IN300 earns its value by delivering a bigger, more dynamic punch than something less. The control and comfortable driving power of the 300 is a pleasure. You can’t miss that the IN300 is actually coasting while it’s playing your music.
IN300 carries a noticeably bigger sledge hammer than the Hegel H190v which is about the same price- and its most direct competitor. I’ve encouraged Hegel for years and liked it. Yet the improvement with IN300 is simply… too good to overlook. I wouldn’t have thought It possible at virtually the same money- that IN300 is so much more HEAVIER and warmer sounding.
The Bryston line of speakers offers MANY models that have class leading bass response. If you link Brystons with the big boy Atoll integrateds you’re going to be happily surprised that there was even more hiding down there than you knew. It will be a welcome discovery- to find even more grit and depth to music you thought you knew.
IN300 can only be THIS GOOD because of Atoll’s formulaic design. They use a basic platform on which to build its family of integrated amps. Many models share the same chassis, face plate, buttons, jacks and binding post array. Using this efficient architecture allows them to spend more, and wisely, on the internal components than trying to reinvent the wheel from the ground up with each and every model.
I’m happy to recommend IN300 without reservation. IN300 will unveil bass impact and control that was hiding in your speakers. You just had to let it out! You can derive these benefits from any speaker that has even an ounce of courage.
DAC Board Is Built In
The $4500 price tag INCLUDES the DA200 DAC board! On its little brothers the DAC boards are an a la carte option.
These DAC boards are OUTSTANDING! If you’re running any source with a digital out, most specifically a Bluesound Node, you’ll love the improved RESOLUTION an Atoll DAC will provide. You’d have to buy a Mytek Liberty 2 to be in the same league.
Phono Board
P50 $130: The same story goes for phono. For less than two bills you get a fine MM phono option- because the power supply has set the table. If you buy a stand alone phono preamp, it will run roughly a grand to get a phono stage that supports MM/MC to this level of dead quite background. It’s a bargain with Atoll because of the infrastructure built into every integrated and preamp.