Fzzzz .....Bang. And a flash. The editor looked up and said, "another valve gone?" I sighed. Such occurrences are not uncommon in my system at the moment. Fond as I am of valve amplification, the stress of running a pair of large power amplifiers with lots of output tubes is beginning to show, although to be fair I should add that I am using them to evaluate valves for a forthcoming article on KT88's and 6550's. Needless to say I was struggling with one of the less promising brands submitted for review, and getting pretty fed up as a consequence. Of course the editor was in the room while I was cursing and being petulant, saying that I was definitely going solidstate and that was that. So I shouldn't really have been surprised at the arrival of the Bow technologies pre and power amplifier, the Warlock and rather unflatteringly named Walrus.

There is something of a culture shock when going from a valve based system to the ultra competence of a solid-state one. What I missed with the Bow Technologies system was the intimacy that I'm used to. Apparent in particular with more delicate material such as small scale strings or female voice, there is a lack of texture and vibrational minutiae in the harmonic structure that can rob this music of some of its drama and feel, rendering it a little less satisfying and meaningful.

In many ways, the timing couldn't have been better. The Bow technologies conducted itself with exactly the demeanour you would expect of a high-end solid-state amp, and mercifully, behaved itself impeccably. The last thing I needed at this particular moment in time was a fussy, troublesome amplifier, and if ever there was an opportunity for solid-state to get on and do its stuff, this was it. So, out came the resident Primary pre and power amps, and in went the Bow Technologies.

As a result the Bow amps ended up being fed from my normal Meridian 508.24 CD player or the Linn with Ekos and the rather splendid Helikon cartridge, and in the first instance driving the Primary monitors. I gave it a couple of days to bed down, and ventured in for a listen. Initial results were promising, with most of the hallmarks of a good solid-state amplifier in place, and not too many of the potential vices. The Walrus obviously had no problem with awkward loads, as (extremely) high levels were possible without any sign of strain or hardening up, and the bottom end performance was tight and extended with buckets of authority. Mid range and top end were fine with nothing missing as such, but somehow the sound as a whole failed to really communication with music that relied on anything other than sheer volume for impact. Most of the more gentle string music that I've been listening to recently simply didn't click, lacking tension and any sense of interplay. I can handle that! I just listened to loud unsophisticated music for a while... Well, what did you expect?!

The aesthetics of the Bow components are something of a statement. Put it this way, it came as no surprise to learn that Bo Christiansen trained as an architect, and that this is the man who was also responsible for the Primare 928 and 200 series.

There is definitely a sculptured look to the Bow products, most obviously with the pre amplifier where the controls are shrouded by a metal facade that forms a flying front panel. It is purely aesthetic, and looks as if it should be detachable, but it's not. The power amplifier is relatively understated, the only feature on the front panel is a block of LED's that spell out the manufacturers name in sequence when powered up. Or so I thought. I was somewhat baffled by the lack of a standby switch, assuming, as I always do when the power switch is located on the back panel, that it was designed to be left switched on. It wasn't until considerably later that I discovered that the centre of the `o' in Bow was actually a switch. It's so beautifully executed that you'd never know that it's a separate part. What a fool ....but hey, I didn't have an instruction book.

Remote control is provided in the form of the Wand, an elegantly machined cylinder capable of controlling both the pre-amp and CD player. Having said that, you only actually get volume control over the pre-amp, as remote input selection would necessitate the inclusion of relays in the signal path and thus compromise performance. A really lovely piece of design, in practice the Wand was not quite as ergonomic as I would of hoped, mainly due to the smooth aluminium finish being rather slippery, and lending it a penchant for hiding amongst the cushions of the settee. However, this wasn't the problem it might have been if the thing had actually worked. After checking the batteries, I conducted a few experiments, the conclusions of which were that unless you were facing the pre amp it would not work further than a few feet away, and the acceptance angle was only about 30 degrees. Results with the CD player were a little better, but it seems a shame to go to so much trouble and expense for it to be so ineffective. By comparison, I have a B&O system that I use in my bedroom - its remote will operate from the garden, and they are hardly a company that have compromised style for sound quality. And I won't even mention 'the alternative uses for the wand that various inquisitive visitors came up with.

The finish on all the Bow equipment is absolutely first class. All exposed aluminium has a high quality satin polish, and the build quality and fit is to a superb standard. Always something of a talking point for visitors, the overall effect is quite striking, and I'd guess that for many people it exactly fulfils their idea of what high-end audio should look like.

So where was I? Oh yes. Listening to unsophisticated music. Nothing wrong with that, but my results with orchestral music were rather less successful. Talking Heads' Remain In Light sounded tremendous, and the Bow was obviously doing a good job of sorting out this rhythmically complex music. In fact it seemed to thrive on it, helped by the first rate signal from the Helicon. But at the moment I felt that I was choosing music for the system, rather than what I wanted to listen to; a late night session of Bantock's Hebridean symphony was just not as involving as I wanted it to be. This melodic and hauntingly romantic music seemed to fall out of the speakers without enough projection to actually develop any atmosphere.

The Bow's strengths lie in other areas. It's ability to maintain composure when the going gets tough is enviable, and I would often find that complex music that had traditionally disintegrated into a mush was being preserved with considerable integrity. I suspect that the Walrus power amplifier is the stronger part of the combination, and certainly using it with the Primary pre-amp revealed an even and well tempered performer, the sound quality of which remained consistent regardless of loudspeaker load or volume. I thoroughly enjoyed the control and solid stability that the Bow gave to more substantial music, thriving on unravelling complex layers and patterns. It cruised through demanding music, and it did so with an exciting sense of precision. It had a real feeling of effortless power, available on demand. The beauty of the Bow is that nothing phases it. Play anything at any volume and you know exactly what you are going to get.

For me, ultimately the Bows miss the mark by failing to wrap me in the music. But you may not want that. If you play predominantly modern music, and you want it delivered stylishly, on time, every time, search no further. They offer one hell of a performance, with exemplary construction and ravishing looks. I want more, but I'm going to have to suffer for it. I'm heading back to my valve amps, soldering iron and fire extinguisher in hand...

So far, I had literately just substituted the Primary system for the Bow Technologies amplifier and had not really paid any attention to system set up. The first option as always was to try some different cables. The balanced option proved disappointing (although this may have been down to the relatively low grade cables used), and discussions with RG raised the subject of the Clearlight Audio interconnects. To that point I had been using Nordost SPM right through the system, and I'll admit to being dubious, but the substitution proved worthwhile. Although some of the incisive midrange detail and absolute clarity was lost, the overall sound was much more solid, dynamic and engaging to listen to. Removing the SPM speaker cables and using various other types resulted in a loss of coherence, so I stuck with them - I guess this is the exception that proves the rule.

The next line of attack was the supports. The addition of a trio of Pulsar Points (unfortunately the expensive titanium ones) under the pre amp helped to improve the fluidity an projection of the sound and putting Clearlight RDC 2 cones under the power amp introduced some much needed humanity and colour to proceedings.

I always seem to be going on about running equipment in or letting it settle down, but it does seem to 1 especially important with large solid state amplifiers where the process can take days if not weeks. From cold they tend to bombard the listener with a welter of information, whilst at the same time lacking any form or structure to hang it or (Ironically, your average valve power amplifier quite often springs to life in a matter of minutes, getting the fundamentals right from the word go gaining bandwidth and detail as time goes by) But now, with the above tweaks in place and some more running time under their belt, the Bows were beginning to sound a lot more together. It still did not have that homogenous quality that a really good thermionic amplifier seems to possess, but the music was flowing in a far more enjoyable manner. Listening to the Eva Cassidy disc, Live at Blues Alley it was now far easier to close your eyes and soak up some of the emotion in her voice. Previously it had been an entirely academic experience.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Walrus power amplifier
Power output: 150 watts rms into 8 ohms 300 4 ohms
Power bandwidth: 2 - 300KHz
Input sensitivity: 2v for full output
Input impedance: 50K ohms
Overall -ve feedback: 20dB
Dimensions:(WxDxH) 434x390x160mm
Weight: 33Kg
Price: UK £2995

Warlock pre amplifier
Input sensitivity: 0.35v
Input impedance: 50K ohm
Output impedance: Less than 10 ohms
Dimensions:(WxDxH) 434x410x110mm
Weight: 12Kg
Price: UK £3495
Distributor: Path Premier
Tel. (44)(0) 1844-219000
Fax. (44)(0) 1844-219099
E-mail. premier "at" path.co.uk

Manufacturer: Bow Technolgies

Net. www.bowtechnologies.com

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