The Playback
Contents
Anyone who sees two glowing tubes must be thinking: wow… that must sound nice and warm! And in a sense a ‘glow’ is audible, but it is not excessively warm or extremely colored. And that’s the way it should be with a good tube (pre)amp. Tubes basically don’t color. The distortion is simply different than with a transistor. Basically, it runs more evenly and naturally. But of course that too depends on the implementation.
Round and rich
What we really like about the Advance Paris A12 is the richness with which the amplifier plays. Your author sat down with Martijn to listen for a while and we concluded that it just plays nicely . It is pleasant and “fun” to listen to the Advance Paris (or the music this amplifier plays… the thing itself does nothing, of course).
When we switch between some other products – including the Jbl 4305P – we hear a richness in the Advance that is just very pleasant. It’s not the most detail-rich amplifier. Or the fastest. But it does strike a fine balance. And that’s an art not every manufacturer has mastered. If we put, for example, the Jbl 4305P – an active system with built-in streamer – next to the Advance Paris with Bluesound and Sonus Faber Lumina II (2,500 Euros for the Jbl set and about 4,000 Euros for the Advance system), we have to conclude that they are two completely different presentations of music. The Jbl set is more accurate and faster. But the Advance system plays definately larger and with more tonal richness. And, of course, this one is also just twice the price if we include cables.
What is very noticeable is that the Advance drives the TADs without any problem. Frankly, it goes a lot better than we expected. The TADs let us hear a lot. Also errors. But in this case, we just hear a delightful presentation of the playlist. At least: with the Pasithea. With the built-in dac (AES from the Mutec and USB direct) it is a little less nice. Then we miss some nuance and refinement. Logical; different price range, but the difference is very big if we are honest. Later in the measurements it also appears why we hear this. You can read more in the next chapter.
Is the dac then completely useless? No. Of course it isn’t. It’s incredibly useful for connecting a TV, playstation or set-top box to the Advance. And for those purposes it is just fine. If you really want to listen to critical music, we would recommend a nice player with a decent analog output. Advance also has nice CD players that fit this design nicely.
