No, we don’t. Not really.
And we don’t need a $10 T-shirt.
Please help me draw a line in the sand.
Let’s work on our audio buddies not to buy cheap Chinese products that undermine our sound quality and N American & Euro economies.
Audio gear enhances our lives with wonderful music. Let’s make our entry level amplifier something nice, built in France, that we won’t have to replace for a couple of decades, instead of a couple of years.
We have Atoll integrated amps from France, with a 3 year warranty. They sound great! They’re built exquisitely. They have some features that allow us to grow with them. They’re not disposable.
Yes, they’re more money than mass produced Chinese mediocrity. But they sound better and are worth the extra money. Remember, you’re buying for 20 years, not 2.
Over the years I’ve seen shoppers buy a $300 Chinese amp. Then “upgrade” to one for $600. Maybe they even do it again for $900. Within a decade they’ve spent $1800. None are built as well or sound as good as what we can buy from Atoll. If they had just purchased an Atoll at the outset, they wouldn’t be chasing their tails.
We should be smarter.
With Atoll from France, you can get:
IN50 Signature Integrated Amp, $1200 (50×2)
*Brushed Aluminum Front Panel, 1/8”
*170VA Toroidal Transformer
*17,874uF Filter Capacitance
*ALPS Motorized Volume Control
*Hand Matched MOSFET Output Transistors
*High Quality Gold Plated Binding Posts
*Two Sets Of Preamp Outputs
*Tape Loop
*1/4” Headphone Jack
*Trigger output
*Through Hole Parts Construction
*Atoll System Remote
*Optional MM Phono Preamp
*Optional DAC, with or without Bluetooth
*50×2, 20-20k, 8 ohms, THD of under, 05%.
Brushed Aluminum Face
Helps make Atoll sturdy. We don’t want connections to the front panel bending or wobbling around over the years to compromise connections or performance. Stamped metal face plates, or PLASTIC, vibrate and wiggle over time and compromise reliability and performance.
Large Toroidal Transformer
The large transformer is toroidal. It harnesses the magnetic field within the ring of the transformer itself. You get cleaner sound than with an Ecore transformer that pollutes the circuitry of the entire unit by spewing RFI uncontrollably.
Large Filter Caps
A big bank of filter caps helps give the amp a more sturdy sound with superior bass impact in particular. Cheap amps have tiny supplies and sound wimpy. Let’s give our speakers higher water pressure instead of a trickle.
ALPS Volume Control
ALPS makes premium volume controls that are known for precise channel tracking. The sonic balance and FEEL of the control are first rate. The Chinese use sloppy controls which can produce channel imbalance and get noisy in short order.
Matched MOSFET Output Transistors
The Chinese don’t MATCH output transistors. They use all that they purchase without regard to distortion signatures. Atoll takes the time to hand match transistors so your amp will sound smooth. With miss matched transistors, amps sound harsh or grainy. Imagine listening to tuning forks that aren’t playing at the same frequency. You’ll hear buzzing because of their different characteristics- which ultimately sounds distorted.
Gold Plated Binding Posts
Atoll has high quality speaker connections. They’re solid and won’t corrode. We trust you’ll use high quality speaker cable (like Kimber!) which comes with reciprocal high quality banana plugs. Poor quality posts compromise your conduction and invite erosion soon down the road.
Two Sets Of Preamp Outputs
You might use one set of preamp outputs to run a powered subwoofer. This gives you another open set in case you decide you want to buy a larger power amp as your system goes north. You won’t have to toss or trade the IN50 Signature because it’s ready to move up with you. The Trigger output will turn on/off most power amps (like Atoll) that you might upgrade to.
The cheap guys might give you a single sub out, which isn’t as robust as running a pair. Further, their single sub out has a fixed crossover point. We don’t want that. We want full frequency out so the crossover in your sub is making the choice. And again, Atoll provides the upgrade path for you to add a ginormous amp some day if you think you need it.
Quarter Inch Headphone Jack
You’re ready to rock with high quality phones. You haven’t been dumbed down to where you’ll need a mini plug adapter.
Phono Board Option
Atoll makes the PH50 MM phono board for $130. It’s very nice quality so if you’re into vinyl you have precise RIAA to shake hands with. If you’re not into vinyl, why get stuck paying for a cruddy chip the size of your little finger nail that’s noisy?
DAC Board Options
DA100, $300: DAC board with AKM DAC, 2 coax, 2 opt
DA200, $500, As above but also has USB and Bluetooth
DACs are hand tuned to run without negative feedback
DACs built in the Chinese gear run with chip laden negative feedback to govern the large processing of its DAC chips.
Through Hole Parts Construction
Atoll uses through hole parts construction. Discrete parts are hand fit into the circuit boards in France. They are snipped and soldered to avoid open contacts that invite erosion. The Asian designs use surface mount components which don’t sound as good, are less reliable and are much more difficult to repair, which makes them disposable.
Power
IN50 Sig will produce more power than its conservatively rated 50×2, into 8 ohms, from 20-20k, at less than .05% THD.
The Far East blatantly cheats on power claims. Even if they say 50×2, the unit MIGHT achieve 50 watts, 1 channel driven, at 1kHz, at 6 ohms. It’s not apples to apples, which they are well aware of.
Atoll provides strong “water pressure” to wake up your speakers and deliver powerful bass. The Chinese gear has much less water pressure = control.
Please Have A Look
The Atoll’s construction is meticulous. It’s hand built in France. Note the large transformer, good sized caps, output transistors segregated from the board where they can breath. The board itself is exquisite and there’s no mess of running wires with loads of solder joints.
Check out the Denon alternative. It has a smaller Ecore transformer blasting RFI all over the chassis to make your musical background gray instead of black. It has small filter caps. Miss matched transistors are affixed to the metal fins with wires running right over them. There are wires and ribbons running all over the place to connect various sections of the unit. By using the six plus PCBs, the Asians can mass produce thousands of boards very quickly, and just tie them together with their skinny wire. Atoll is literally a work of art- constructed by hand.
Atoll’s attention to detail provides a warm solid sound, with dead quiet, black background from which your music can pop!