AUNE Mini Amp (for speakers)
Sept 11, 2011 20:45:43 GMT
Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 11, 2011 20:45:43 GMT
I've had the Aune Mini amp for a few weeks now and am very impressed with it.
It features a Texas Instruments TPA3121 class D amplifier and can output 15 watts per channel (25 watts peak). That doesn't sound like a lot does it? "15 watts"... well, more on that in a minute!
I haven't been under the bonnet yet but am told it features high grade components including ALPS potentiometer, 1% precision chip resistors, Nichicon MUSE KZ capacitors, SANYO Oscon capacitors and high quality Panasonic signal switches. I will take some photos of the inside this week sometime.
The Mini amp is part of the new AUNE X-Series and is a perfect partner for the matching Mini DAC / head amp.... I have been using it as a mini TV / music system as this is the type of application it would probably be used for.
The "mini" system comprises of AUNE Mini Amp / Aune Mini DAC / Aune Mini Ape and my two sources are a NAD T-585 (DVD / SACD) player and a SKY+ receiver. The optical out of the SKY+ box is fed into the AUNE Mini DAC's optical in (and then into the MINI amp via interconnects) The Audio out of the NAD T-585 is fed direct into the AUNE Mini Amp inputs. Speaker cable is QED flat stuff.
The speakers I am currently using with this Mini setup are the Mistral DT-307 which really couldn't be better for the job, small, sleek, sexy and pack one helluva punch!
I'll get straight to the point regarding the AUNE Mini Amp's ability to "drive" the 6 ohm Mistral speakers.... it GRABS hold of them and has TOTAL control (even at quite insane volume levels!) I say "insane" because it is insane just how much volume this little rig can pump out and it's "effortless" too.
I tried the Mistrals with both My Yamaha AS-500 amp and two of my NAD amps (C315BEE and C326BEE) and let me tell you this, the Little AUNE Mini Amp does a damned good job for a 15 watter!!
The voicing is particularly good and a test with Cecila Bartoli confirmed this.... the amp kept a grip on the cones all the way through Cecila's rendition of La Cenerentola - Non piu mesta I was expecting things to get a bit rough but, nope, it handled it beautifully.
The timing is excellent and there is never a sense of it losing control with the Little Mistrals.... the bass is speedy and taught and, again, you can "see" the control the amp has on the drivers by simply looking at them in operation... they're not flapping about like a pair of knickers on a washing line.... the Little AUNE Mini Amp is like a pit bull terrier in that respect, it grabs the Mistral's 4 inch cones and won't let go however hard you kick it.
I have never been a great lover of these Class D type amps (SMPS external PSU) but I cannot fault the AUNE Mini Amp in the environment it's intended to be used in.... of course, you wouldn't hook it up to a pair of Tannoy Westminsters as it would obviously reveal it's limitations but hook it up to a small pair of "efficient" speakers and I think you'll be quite amazed at what this wee cracker can pump out
Was watching "only fools and horses" in bed the other night (this mini system is setup in one of the bedrooms) and for the first time EVER managed to make out the closing lyrics "CLEARLY"
"We've got some half price cracked ice and miles and miles of carpet tiles,
T.V.s, deep freeze and David Bowie L.P.s,
Ball games, gold chains, whatsnames, pictures frames and leather goods,
And Trevor Francis track suits from a mush in Shepherds Bush,
Bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush ...
No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Black or white, rich or poor,
We'll cut prices at a stroke......
God bless Hooky Street,
Viva Hooky Street,
Long live Hooky Street,
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street,
Magnifique, Hooky Street,
Hooky Street (to fade)"
This has certainly woken up my TV watching experience, it really does help if you can make out what is being said Also fantastic for music in the bedroom type of thing..... making love to a woman with the 1812 overture pumping out in the background (cannons firing, the full monty).... ta ra ra ra ra ra ra rum pum pum (have a banana!) Yeh, it's all good!
Again, probably looks like the naffest of the naff to these "home cinema" type people who have vibrating chairs, 200 inch "woofers" built into the walls etc. etc. etc. but that's not the idea of the AUNE Mini amp
It is a quality piece of gear and a "seriously" good piece of gear for a small (scaled down) system (it's not everybody who can afford vibrating chairs, vibrating walls and a vibrating wife and it's not everybody who has the house room for all this stuff).
For an intimate (LS3/5A as opposed to Tannoy Westminster) type listen I would not hesitate to recommend the AUNE Mini Amp..... if you are looking for a very small (physically) amp that has a fair bit of grunt to power small efficient speakers then look no further.
AUNE have a VERY bad habit of making products I can't criticise and it's making me look like a bum boy.... let me assure you that I LOVE picking up on negative aspects of a design but these guys won't allow me a bit of a rant because there's nothing to rant about!
The ONLY thing I would like to see is the addition of FEET! (here we go, I've found a chink in their armoury!).... such well engineered products, so stylish, fantastic sounding etc. but they arrive without "FEET" attached.... Hell, a few rubber feet is not too much to expect, why spoil the ship for a ha'pworth of tar?
Nothing worse than bare metal sliding about on the deck, I have "housed" the X-series on foam blocks but it's not everybody who will have a spare block of foam or sheets of rubber feet kicking about so, come on AUNE, get your act together and ship these things with some "RUBBER" (ooh, kinky)..... You wouldn't run a brand new car without tyres (rimming the road) you wanna burn RUBBER baby!
Anyhoo..... I love the Mini Amp, it is FIT for duty in the environment it is intended to be used in
Under the bonnet pics to follow.
It features a Texas Instruments TPA3121 class D amplifier and can output 15 watts per channel (25 watts peak). That doesn't sound like a lot does it? "15 watts"... well, more on that in a minute!
I haven't been under the bonnet yet but am told it features high grade components including ALPS potentiometer, 1% precision chip resistors, Nichicon MUSE KZ capacitors, SANYO Oscon capacitors and high quality Panasonic signal switches. I will take some photos of the inside this week sometime.
The Mini amp is part of the new AUNE X-Series and is a perfect partner for the matching Mini DAC / head amp.... I have been using it as a mini TV / music system as this is the type of application it would probably be used for.
The "mini" system comprises of AUNE Mini Amp / Aune Mini DAC / Aune Mini Ape and my two sources are a NAD T-585 (DVD / SACD) player and a SKY+ receiver. The optical out of the SKY+ box is fed into the AUNE Mini DAC's optical in (and then into the MINI amp via interconnects) The Audio out of the NAD T-585 is fed direct into the AUNE Mini Amp inputs. Speaker cable is QED flat stuff.
The speakers I am currently using with this Mini setup are the Mistral DT-307 which really couldn't be better for the job, small, sleek, sexy and pack one helluva punch!
I'll get straight to the point regarding the AUNE Mini Amp's ability to "drive" the 6 ohm Mistral speakers.... it GRABS hold of them and has TOTAL control (even at quite insane volume levels!) I say "insane" because it is insane just how much volume this little rig can pump out and it's "effortless" too.
I tried the Mistrals with both My Yamaha AS-500 amp and two of my NAD amps (C315BEE and C326BEE) and let me tell you this, the Little AUNE Mini Amp does a damned good job for a 15 watter!!
The voicing is particularly good and a test with Cecila Bartoli confirmed this.... the amp kept a grip on the cones all the way through Cecila's rendition of La Cenerentola - Non piu mesta I was expecting things to get a bit rough but, nope, it handled it beautifully.
The timing is excellent and there is never a sense of it losing control with the Little Mistrals.... the bass is speedy and taught and, again, you can "see" the control the amp has on the drivers by simply looking at them in operation... they're not flapping about like a pair of knickers on a washing line.... the Little AUNE Mini Amp is like a pit bull terrier in that respect, it grabs the Mistral's 4 inch cones and won't let go however hard you kick it.
I have never been a great lover of these Class D type amps (SMPS external PSU) but I cannot fault the AUNE Mini Amp in the environment it's intended to be used in.... of course, you wouldn't hook it up to a pair of Tannoy Westminsters as it would obviously reveal it's limitations but hook it up to a small pair of "efficient" speakers and I think you'll be quite amazed at what this wee cracker can pump out
Was watching "only fools and horses" in bed the other night (this mini system is setup in one of the bedrooms) and for the first time EVER managed to make out the closing lyrics "CLEARLY"
"We've got some half price cracked ice and miles and miles of carpet tiles,
T.V.s, deep freeze and David Bowie L.P.s,
Ball games, gold chains, whatsnames, pictures frames and leather goods,
And Trevor Francis track suits from a mush in Shepherds Bush,
Bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush ...
No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Black or white, rich or poor,
We'll cut prices at a stroke......
God bless Hooky Street,
Viva Hooky Street,
Long live Hooky Street,
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street,
Magnifique, Hooky Street,
Hooky Street (to fade)"
This has certainly woken up my TV watching experience, it really does help if you can make out what is being said Also fantastic for music in the bedroom type of thing..... making love to a woman with the 1812 overture pumping out in the background (cannons firing, the full monty).... ta ra ra ra ra ra ra rum pum pum (have a banana!) Yeh, it's all good!
Again, probably looks like the naffest of the naff to these "home cinema" type people who have vibrating chairs, 200 inch "woofers" built into the walls etc. etc. etc. but that's not the idea of the AUNE Mini amp
It is a quality piece of gear and a "seriously" good piece of gear for a small (scaled down) system (it's not everybody who can afford vibrating chairs, vibrating walls and a vibrating wife and it's not everybody who has the house room for all this stuff).
For an intimate (LS3/5A as opposed to Tannoy Westminster) type listen I would not hesitate to recommend the AUNE Mini Amp..... if you are looking for a very small (physically) amp that has a fair bit of grunt to power small efficient speakers then look no further.
AUNE have a VERY bad habit of making products I can't criticise and it's making me look like a bum boy.... let me assure you that I LOVE picking up on negative aspects of a design but these guys won't allow me a bit of a rant because there's nothing to rant about!
The ONLY thing I would like to see is the addition of FEET! (here we go, I've found a chink in their armoury!).... such well engineered products, so stylish, fantastic sounding etc. but they arrive without "FEET" attached.... Hell, a few rubber feet is not too much to expect, why spoil the ship for a ha'pworth of tar?
Nothing worse than bare metal sliding about on the deck, I have "housed" the X-series on foam blocks but it's not everybody who will have a spare block of foam or sheets of rubber feet kicking about so, come on AUNE, get your act together and ship these things with some "RUBBER" (ooh, kinky)..... You wouldn't run a brand new car without tyres (rimming the road) you wanna burn RUBBER baby!
Anyhoo..... I love the Mini Amp, it is FIT for duty in the environment it is intended to be used in
Under the bonnet pics to follow.