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We carefully wake up the Kora TB140 for a first listening session. On the display we see that the tubes get some time to stabilize but after less than a minute we can listen. Let’s note that this amplifier does not get warm and after a good half hour it plays optimally. Due to the innovative concept, the tubes last twice as long as a normal tube amplifier, so the first ten years are certainly not to worry.
From minute 1 we forget all about the technology and are drawn into the music. This particular amplifier produces a sound we haven’t heard before. Therefore, we had to search for appropriate vocabulary and finally came up with clean. We have used the terms pure, open, fast before, but clean is something else. Music truly shines through the Beryllium tweeters of our Revels without any edge or glare and everything is produced extremely holographic. A revelation.Â
We try to describe the sound a little better through some music and start with a bit of jazz. Nica Carrington sings jazz classics on her debut album “Times like these” and does so with panache. This album is ideal not only to test the timbre of instruments but also to check the “justesse” of the female voice. What we hear is close to perfection. The breathing, the accents, the sighs…. Everything is easily perceptible. The Kora TB140 not only lifts our Revels to a higher level, it makes our Sonnet Morpheus come into its own. We are completely immersed in the music and can listen for hours without any stress.
Next album is the new Meskerem Mees. “Ceasar” is full of gems and with this album Mees even surpasses her acclaimed debut. Her typical voice may not be for everyone but at least through this system she sounds crystal clear. There are a lot of quiet songs on this album but a few more complex as well. Although her voice gets most of the attention, the silence between notes is striking. Her guitar playing is intimate and repetitive and when things quiet down like on “Away the sparrow flies,” you can hear all sorts of things happening. The strokes on the strings also come through wonderfully. Every detail is effortlessly audible without distracting from the core of the music. There is no warmth as you might expect with tubes. Rather, it’s the opposite. The reproduction is fresh, fast and transparent.
Time for the boys. The duo Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith from Tears for Fears made the wonderful album “The Tipping Point” early this year. The final track “Stay” is a typical Tears for Fears ballad that contains everything a good pop song needs. The Kora TB140 delivers great imaging and perfect placement of every element in the song. We again hear that clean reproduction. Like a polisher has been at work. The song “Master Plan” is delicious eighties pop full of strings and horns with the obligatory background chorus. A song that swells until everything erupts. We turn the volume up to eleven. Now we’re talking. The Kora TB140 comes across as very dynamic in addition to being an insightful amp and is great with popmusic. Why don’t we hear this kind of music more often on the radio.
One last album. Nits with “Neon.” The last part of an impressive trilogy. Once again, the recording is impeccable with lots of little accents and background noises emerging with ease into our listening room. There’s depth, height and width if the recording and space allow for it and a certain “flow” that we rarely experience. With so-called transients, moments where things go from quiet to loud, this amplifier truly shines. Music flows freely from the speakers like liquid honey. Listen to “Peugeot 405,” great title, and you’ll know what we mean. Usually you need headphones to pick up every little detail but the Kora TB140 is so insightful and forensic (in a natural way) that you hear everything. Provided the speakers are up to scratch of course.
For whom
This amplifier is for the seasoned audiophile who has seen and heard it all. Someone who is ready to drive his favorite speakers with a simple amplifier without the fuss. Just press play and enjoy the music. It can be that simple but rarely is. This amplifier doesn’t hold back and tells you everything that’s on a record, compact disc or stream and it does so in a beautiful way. Just make sure the whole chain is on top of it’s game and don’t plug it into some kind of filter.
