Audiant 80i Reviewed by HiFiMusic
Our Audiant 80i integrated amplifier received very favourable initial reactions shortly after its release and reviews are beginning to emerge qualifying these initial impressions.
Issue 213 of The Absolute Sound features a review of the Audiant 80i by Neil Gader, where Neil calls the 80i "the right amp at the right time".
Following on from The Absolute Sound review, HiFiMusic from Israel recently posted an Audiant 80i review on their website.
With their WLM La Scala loudspeakers they found the 80i punched well above its weight, producing "deep and powerful bass", in fact the bass was the first "special feature" they noticed.
All in all the Audiant 80i gets their recommendation, "What is certain is that I do not have to think twice before I would recommend to anyone looking for a transistor amplifier at this price to hear the 80i. Actually I do not have to think at all".
For those whose Hebrew isn't so sharp, you can read the Audiant 80i review translated by Google (albeit a bit rough and disjointed).
Many thanks to BG Sound, our distributor in Israel, for supplying the review sample.
Further reviews of the Audiant 80i are pending, with a number of reviewers enjoying time with the Audiant 80i at the minute – so keep an eye out for reviews to drop out of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden and USA very soon. Follow us on Twitter, or join us on Facebook, and we'll keep you up to speed with reviews hot-off-the-press.
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High end hi fi amplifiers, preamplifiers, CD players, and other hi fi audio components made in New Zealand with pride since 1974.
Perreaux Industries Ltd.
PO Box 305,
Mosgiel,
Dunedin 9053
New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 4892975
Fax: +64 3 4892976
Email: nz.info@perreaux.com
© Perreaux : New Zealand
In fact you'll get more power, the features of a fully spec'd integrated, including a remote control and a better DAC.
The DAC in the Audiant 80i is based on the ESS Tech Sabre chipset, whereas the SXD2 uses an older Burr Brown chip. We've found the ESS DAC is more musical than the Burr Brown, but gives away a smidge of detail and resolution.
Since you're considering the SXV2, the one area you would lose out on is the phono stage. Although the phono section of the 80i is based around the SXV2 it doesn't have the same potential. We feel the 80i phono stage sounds great given that it is inside an amplifier and we've done all we can to isolate it from noise sources - such as turning off all digital circuits when using any analogue input, physically distancing from noise sources and keeping low-level input traces as short as possible.
At the end of the day, when you put the Audiant 80i into context, it is exceptional value. You should take one for a test drive and see what you think.