Review AVID Hifi Accent integrated amplifier – The right accents

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This amp has some serious grunt and tremendous grip on the speaker. An absolute plus in our book. The AVID Accent’s control is bizarre. If we had to choose one word to describe the playback we would go with instinctive. This amp feels like it has what it takes to reproduce music the right way. After a while, we begin to understand AVID’s somewhat pompous slogan “Breaking the Sound Barrier” better. They really go for sound that doesn’t compromise on anything. Music pops out of the speakers no matter the genre. The fun factor is “off the charts”. This is an amp that rocks and grooves and is not ashamed of it. Quite the contrary, in fact. Fortunately, there is plenty of refinement as well.

Listen

The first CD we slide into our transport is the album “Spokes” by Plaid. Top shelf EDM and especially very complex music. With this we want to test the speed and control of the amplifier. It does not always have to be classical music.

What is noticeable is that the bass extents beautifully. It resonates so to speak. There is also no extra “fat” to the sometimes extreme bass. Music starts and stops at the nanosecond, essential in this genre. In any case, the speed is fine. The track ‘Marry’ is a torture track for any amplifier but the Accent effortlessly keeps each element apart and keeps the speakers in a grip.

The second disc comes from Andrew Bird who made a wonderfully beautiful album in 2008 with “Noble Beast.” “Effigy,” a beautiful song, comes through open and clear. We hear no extra emphasis on voices. Whew! Violins and guitars sound full and round and each element is nicely placed in a spacious soundstage. Still, it’s Bird’s voice that runs with the attention more than anything else. It is nicely centered and sounds pure and convincing. There is a certain immediacy in the reproduction that makes you listen intently to each piece of music at all times. Taking notes is not evident.

Compact disc number three is “In the Seams” by Saint Saviour, aka Rebecca Louise Jones. This British singer, whom you can know from Groove Armada, has an angelic voice that can, however, sound particularly sharp and harsh on the wrong system. So we often use this album as a reference to test new amplifiers and speakers.

Through the AVID Accent, her voice sounds flawless with no edge and what is also striking is that the music comes to the listener. Drum, bass and piano have plenty of body and the violins take the music in tow every time. On the last song “St-Malo,” the intelligibility is fine and the second voice is nicely separate from the lead singer. Here it is the guitar that runs with most of the attention.

We stream Søren Bebe Trio’s new throw “Echoes” via Qobuz (Flac 96kHz/24bit). This hushed music needs a system that is sufficiently transparent, and the AVID Accent does not disappoint. The soft “brush strokes” are clearly audible in the background and the interplay between piano and double bass also sounds heavenly. The AVID Accent goes all out, doesn’t emphasize anything and brings each piece with verve and panache. Wonderful.

We listened further to Renee Reed, Vincent Coosemans, Mike Patton, Arno, The Slow Show and Feist.