Review on SoundArtist SA 200IA Amplifier Integrated Control by Adam Abner

Heard about it on YouTube, decided to give it a try. I'm a sound lover, I have many amps to compare myself to, but I'm downsizing these days. Do audio research, walk through the lab, primaluna, nuprime, . For less than $500, this amp is hard to beat. What it lacks compared to multi-channel amps are sins of omission rather than irrelevant sonic extras. It has 8 output transistors, which allows it to generate a large current. This means the ability to drive woofers or magnetic planars. (The Pass Labs XA30.5 30W/ch has 40 output transistors!) Most others in this price range can have 4. You get decent clarity, transparency, and dynamics. What suffers is the detail and the soundstage. The lack of detail has to do with cost control in the preamp and volume control. Try this: turn the volume all the way up and roll off the DAC level. Then turn the volume down and turn the DAC level all the way up and compare 2. More detail is shown at the fully adjusted volume. I compared it to the Nuprime IDA-8, which is my top pick for a $250 integrated amp. It's $1,000 but has a fantastic DAC and volume control with a switchable resistor and a great amp. If you don't need power, the IDA-8 is a much more transparent amp/preamp/DAC that can't be beat at this price point, even with ChiFi. The bass is also better controlled. So my conclusion is this is a good but not a great amp to drive Magnapan speakers. I can try bypassing the entire preamp/volume to see how good the amp section is.