Intro
Contents
Those looking for an affordable all-in-one device have less choice than they might initially think. We regularly see very nice devices pass by but they are usually well over 1000 euros. Today we found an affordable device and for once it is not from Denon or Marantz. It really is an all-in-one device because besides an amplifier it is a streamer, CD player, dac, DAB radio, headphone amplifier and USB player. We might be forgetting a few more features because the only thing this thing doesn’t do is make ‘French Toast’. Today we are testing the Advance Paris MyConnect M60, a Swiss army knife from France made in China.
Let’s just name the elephant in the room right away and not get too hung up on the fact that the MyConnect M60 is manufactured in China. The design is done in France and the meticulous follow-up is also done by the company from, you guessed it, Paris. This philosophy is not new, and we should not be fainthearted about it. It’s just the way the world works. Chances are that today you are wearing something that says ‘Made in China’.
In any case, this way of working ensures an extremely competitive price and that is often a decisive factor when making a purchase, especially with this type of product. Let’s take a look at what this little white box has to offer. The front of the MyConnect M60 consists of frosted white glass with a rectangular LED screen at the top. Below that we see the tray of the CD player with the necessary buttons. To the right there is a volume knob and to the left the standby button, a USB connection and a full 6.3mm headphone jack. From our listening position the M60 looks quite nice and when night falls, the white light around the volume knob and the standby button provides some atmosphere. We find it quite successful. By the way, the info on the screen is clearly readable from our couch. A plus in our book
Fully loaded
So a lot of functionality on the front but there’s even more to discover in the back. Hold your breath with us for a moment as we go over everything.
We see an Ethernet connection to stream music, a wifi connection, a bluetooth connection, three digital inputs (2x optical and 1x coax), three analog inputs including one for Phono. Let’s take a breath because we are still far from there. We also see a pre-out and a sub-out and two connections for the antennas for the radio and a USB connection for updates. Ok, you can breathe easy again.
There are quite a few openings in the top plate which seems to indicate a linear power supply. Just a little unscrewing to verify our suspicion. Next to the CD loader we see a large toroidal power supply that, with some help from the transistors, delivers 2×48 watts into 8 ohms (class A/B) and 2x 70 watts into 4 ohms. So this time no class D.
Do you need more power than the MyConnect M150 could be the better choice. Looking a little further we see a Wolfson WM8740 dac chip and we notice that the digital and analog sections are nicely separated. The MyConnect M60 weighs in totality a solid 5.5 kg and is solidly constructed
App
We like it when a manufacturer develops its own application and this time it’s a good one. The Advance Playstream app is stable, responsive and pretty intuitive. We got away with it quickly and enjoy using it and that in itself says a lot. Often apps from smaller manufacturers are rather disappointing but this time this is not the case. As you can see from the print screens, the layout is neat and recognizable. Especially the downward pointing arrow at the top, to return to the menu, is an asset as well as the ability to control the volume in the app. The Playstream app does not frustrate and did not crash once during the entire test period, over a month. This has been different on occasion.
