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ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated amplifier

ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated amplifier

ENGSTRÖM’s minimalist, high-performance and high-end valve amplifiers have some surprisingly human names; the ERIC and LARS power amplifiers, the MONICA preamp, and these are now joined by the ARNE integrated amp. With the exception of the Lars (the company’s first product, named after the chief engineer and co-founder of the company), the range is named after Swedish musicians that have particular resonance for Lars and Timo Engström. The new ARNE is named after Arne ‘Dompan’ Domnérus (1824-2008), a jazz musician best known in audiophile circles for playing alto sax in the 1977 Proprius Records classic Jazz At The Pawnshop.

This choice of name is deliberate, as ENGSTRÖM feel the ARNE is designed with a ‘jazz band mentality’; it’s a collaborative project between Lars and Timo, JC Morrison (highly respected amp designer/trapeze artist most recently connected with the Silbertone amp project), and Kevin Scott of Living Voice in the UK. ARNE is a 30W per channel, 300B-based integrated design that is the purest expression of ENGSTRÖM’s minimalist approach. That mean ‘no tone controls’ and the absence of a balance control, but does include a remote, four line inputs (two balanced, two single-ended… and strangely six clicks on the input selector).

, ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated amplifier

Minimalism extends across the ARNE amplifier, but in particular the industrial design. The white or black angled front and top plates contrast with the light or dark grey side panels. All covers on ENGSTRÖM products look like a part of the design brief and not an ugly afterthought. The elegant lines do mean the volume control is very shallow, and the sloping front panel makes gripping that knob harder than usual… no sniggering at the back!

The ARNE runs hot, but perhaps not in the way you would expect from a valve amplifier. Once the ARNE has been on for half-an-hour or so, the heat generated by the amp is substantial and much of that heat is coming from the chassis, not the output tubes. The amount of heat is akin to that from the noted half-amp, half-griddle integrated classic, the Musical Fidelity A1. I used the ARNE without the glasswork to maximise ventilation.

We received an early sample, supplied with a quartet of JJ 300B output valves. These were not a good idea, and created a sound that was grainy, grey and dynamically lacklustre. Fortunately, ENGSTRÖM listened to the users of those early samples – who all did a lot of tube-rolling – and many came to the conclusion that Emission Labs, Living Voice and KR Audio valves work exceptionally well with the ARNE. Henceforth the amplifier will be supplied with the end-user’s choice of 300B-Zr, KR, or Emission Labs valves. The good news being that the price remains the same. I could have rewritten the copy to remove all mention of the JJs but on reflection I decided to leave it as is, for no other reason than it serves to really underline just how critical tube choice is to both the sound of this amplifier and matching it to your speakers. It also shows that the company responds to user feedback.

 

Before we finally move on from the subject of valves, a quick word on the subject of the drivers and phase splitters (those small, nine-pin valves at the front of the chassis). The unit is supplied with a quartet of Siemens 7721/D3a devices and, devoid of ready equivalents, I stuck with them, although one thing I did do was experiment with tube dampers on them – employing examples from EAT, Sicomin and (my personal favourites) Duende Criatura. Once again, these had a seriously beneficial effect on the clarity, focus, dynamics and noise-floor of the amp, a simple upgrade that’s well worth investigating. With the tube dampers installed, the benefits were obvious and that’s how the amp remained for the rest of the listening.

I paired the amplifier with a range of speakers, and not just the ones you might normally select when partnering with a 30W amplifier. This line-up included everything from the Focal Kanta One and Raidho DT1.2 to the Living Voice OBX-RW3 and Sasha DAW. The ARNE integrated quickly revealed its capabilities and, in particular, how closely related it is to the Lars mono-blocs. What sets those amps apart is their effortless clarity and musical articulation. The integrated may not match its bigger (and far more expensive brethren) but by any other standards this is a lucid, lively and tactile performer. Diction on spoken voice is brilliantly natural, while difficult vocals are rendered intelligible and meaningful (not always the same thing). In fact, the integrated, sitting somewhat closer to other 300B amps in terms of its sound, is more obviously emotive and demonstrative than the altogether more neutral monos. For many a listener that will be no bad thing, although the push-pull output topology still keeps things notably crisper, more planted and more rhythmically authoritative than the vast majority of single-ended implementations. It makes for explicit phrasing and expressive pauses.

, ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated amplifier

Play the familiar Du Pré/Elgar Cello Concerto [UHQCD WPCS-28424] and the ENGSTRÖM brings an almost physical presence and passion to the performance, heightening Du Pré’s demonstrative, evocative playing to impressive effect. To extract such focussed energy and creative tension from this disc demonstrates both the virtues of the amplifier and the quality of the UHQCD transfer, but good as the disc is, it’s still the amp that has to deliver. In some ways what’s even more impressive is that it does so with the Focal Kanta 1s, a modest partner price-wise, although the nature of the combination is significant. Like a lot of low-powered amps, the ENGSTRÖM works best with an easy load and although (as we’ll see) it is surprisingly competent with more demanding three-way designs, it’s the less complex load presented by two-way speakers that make them it’s natural partners. Bearing that in mind, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the rich musical presence of the ENGSTRÖM integrated should dovetail almost perfectly with the transparency and dynamic precision of the Raidho TD-1.2. Whether the cascading slash guitar of Robert Smith on ‘Push’ [The Head On The Door, Fiction/Polydor 984 001-6] or the meandering intro to ‘The Needle And The Damage Done’ [Neil Young Live at Massey Hall 1971, Reprise 9362-43327-2] there’s an incisive, uncluttered quality to the ENGSTRÖM/Raidho combination that’s long on immediacy and direct of engagement. It plays straight to the ENGSTRÖM’s preferred (house?) genre of small-scale jazz and the convolutions of Coltrane’s Giant Steps (Atlantic/UHQCD WPCR-18247) or Pepper’s Smack Up [Analogue Productions CAPJ 012] have a punch and clarity that is absolutely compelling. If you want the up-close-and-personal, spit and sweat version of events then, when it comes to recordings like these you’ll do well to better the ARNE/TD-1.2 pairing – short of taking the expensive step up to the Lars monos.

 

One area in which the ARNE really excels is vocal articulation and communication with the natural tonality and diction of familiar voices, whether singing or speaking being quite remarkable. So much so in fact that I decided to hook up the pairing to the TV, just to appreciate its impact on dramatic delivery. The results were seriously impressive: impressive enough just on news broadcasts, moving on to well recorded TV drama replayed from DVD or Blu-ray elevated the performance significantly, both in terms of clarifying the current trend towards mumbled speech and heightening the emotional and expressive range. If ever you want living proof of the “2.0 is the answer to AV” argument, this is it.

In an effort to discover just how much of the Lars’ surprising load tolerance had carried over to its little brother, I hooked the ARNE up to the Wilson Sasha DAWs – a bit of a stretch (in power terms) but instructive despite that. The first discovery was that (as noted above) the more demanding load – the DAWs get down to around 2.5 Ohms – and deeper bass extension really benefit from the more muscular output of the Emission Labs tubes, the added musical authority and dynamic control outweighing the loss of colour and expressive grace. The leaner, meaner balance allows the Wilsons to do their thing, with an expansive and impressively transparent soundstage. Images tend to favour focus over dimensionality, but there’s many a listener who’ll take that trade-off in a flash. Neil Young’s ‘Needle…’ takes on a sense of scale and presence that escapes the smaller speakers, further adding to the overall immediacy. Playing a track like ‘Word As Weapons’ [Birdy, Fire Within – Atlantic/14th Floor 825646351589] the simple voice and guitar opening is startlingly clear and present, while the piano entry arrives with crisp body and impact, the rest of the band filling out the soundstage in impressive style. The ARNE does a sterling job of driving the Wilsons, perhaps reflecting the DAWs’ easier load characteristics when compared to previous WATT/Puppies. But increase the scale and dynamic demands and you start to discover its limits. The Barbirolli Sibelius 2nd Symphony is a case in point (with the RPO, Testament SBT 1418): the ARNE never extracts the bass extension or power that the DAWs are capable of. This isn’t so much a criticism of the ARNE, more a recognition of its limits.

, ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated amplifier

All of which makes the Living Voice OBX-RW3 the obvious match, one that delivers effective scale and dynamics and convincing musical communication, happily scaling all but the most Himalayan of musical peaks, while allowing performers and performances to breathe, irrespective of scale or intimacy. Overall it makes for a more musically versatile, engaging and satisfying partner for the ARNE, one that really communicates the energy and power in a performance. Playing the Barbirolli Sibelius 2nd on this pairing underlines the point, delivering emphatic and beautifully scaled musical peaks. Play the Fitzwilliam Quartet’s Shostakovich String Quartets [Decca Box 591108] or the Amandine Beyer/Gli Incogniti Seasons [Zig Zag Territoires ZZT080803] and the vibrant energy, tension and musical cut and thrust are as vivid as they are exciting. Alongside discs like Jackson Browne’s Solo Acoustic Vol. 1 [Inside Recordings 0094634494021] this is the material which shows the ARNE to best advantage, at once intimate and energetic, with immediacy and attack, natural colours and a broad expressive range.

To really understand and appreciate the ARNE, you need to look to its strengths while also accepting its compromises – and its key strength is its astonishingly musical and engaging performance. There’s no denying the appeal of the push-pull 300B topology – but equally that comes with limitations. However, the ENGSTRÖM amps (both the Lars and the ARNE) work those limitations remarkably well. It’s not that the ENGSTRÖM integrated won’t go ‘big’ (as we’ve seen, it delivers large-scale music with surprising impact when teamed with the right speaker), but ‘small’ plays to and reveals its strengths more readily. The ARNE might not possess the astonishingly lucid clarity and precision of the Lars, but it has enough of it to make it an intriguing proposition for the musically committed.

I feel the prototypical ARNE customer will value that tactile, naturalistic performance, will crave the intimacy available from small-scale (probably acoustic) bands and recordings, will probably live in a small(-ish) space, will probably hanker after something bigger and even more capable and so take the time and trouble to get the best out of what they have. That ‘jazz band mentality’ of the design runs deep.

 

At its best, on small group jazz, classical or acoustic pop, the ARNE is a remarkably musical and musically satisfying performer. With the right speaker and in the right space, it’s a handy all-rounder. But what it will never be is cheap, meaning that owners will want and need to wring every last ounce of performance from its speaker terminals to justify its price.

, ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated amplifier

Too eclectic to be an ‘everyman’ amplifier, too expensive for many and yet not expensive enough for some, the ENGSTRÖM ARNE integrated exists in its own audio niche… and that might just be the secret to its success. Its musical credentials can be polished to a brilliant sheen, but ultimately its success is going to depend on how many customers share its particular outlook.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: Line-integrated tube amplifier
  • Tube Complement: 4× 7721/D3a,
    4× 300B
  • Output Topology: Push-pull
  • Inputs: 2× balanced XLR,
    2× single-ended RCA
  • Input Impedance: 12 kOhm
  • Overall Gain: 20dB
  • Output impedance: 5 Ohm
  • Rated Output: 20 Watts/Channel eight ohms, 30 Watts/Channel four ohms
  • Remote Control: Volume, mute
  • Dimensions (W×H×D): 498 × 315 × 460mm
  • Weight: 38kg
  • Finish: Black or white
  • Price: €24,000 (plus local sales tax)

Manufactured by: ENGSTRÖM
St Petri Kyrkogata 10, SE-222 21 Lund, Sweden

Tel: +46 (0) 733 70 51 51

URL: engstromsound.com

https://hifiplus.com/reviews/

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