Audiophilepure

The Level 1 arrives in Jade Audio’s kraft-style outer box, with the Jade Audio brand name embossed on the top face and Hi-Res Audio certification stamps printed beneath.The interior is organized: the amplifier sits in shaped foam, and a secondary cardboard tray below holds the accessories in a tidy, well-protected arrangement.Included in the box are the amplifier, the 48V/5A/240W Merryking power supply, and a power chord.

Sound Impressions

The following impressions were formed using a pair of vintage Wharfedale Diamond III bookshelf speakers, driven directly from the Level 1 via banana plugs.I also did some tests with a powered subwoofer connected to the Level 1. Sources included a macOS via USB-C, a CD transport via coaxial, a Technics SL Q303 turntable connected to an SMSL PH-1 phono pre-amp, and a smartphone via LDAC Bluetooth. Both flat and PEQ-corrected listening sessions were conducted.The Jade Audio Level 1 presents a fundamentally transparent and controlled sound, with a tight low end and an overall tonality that reveals any track’s sonic character with little to no coloration.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-heritage-series-super-linton-loudspeaker

For speakers that failed to impress out of the box, the Super Lintons eventually sang their hearts out. In the initial setup, with higher-end amplification, the scale was immense, and I heard endless airy detail, but it came at the price of occasional harshness. In a second setup—with, incidentally, less-expensive amplification—I heard the Super Lintons at their best, producing engaging sound that soulfully charmed and captured this music lover’s heart.Speakers competitive in price with the Super Lintons include the JBL L100 Classic MkII, the Focal Aria Evo X No.2, the MartinLogan XT F100, and the B&W 706 S3. These are fine, sophisticated speakers, with plenty to say about your music, but I doubt any of them would play it back with the naturalism, lifelike color, emotional truthfulness, and tonal rigor of the Wharfedale Super Linton.

A key feature of the preamp is its two chrome-plated, ball-bearing rotary controls, which feel solid, heavy, and precise during use. The step size of the volume change depends on the rotation speed. Slow rotation changes the level in 0.5 dB steps, while fast rotation changes the volume in 2 dB steps. Unusually for a high-end product, the preamp includes Bass, Treble, and Loudness controls that can also be fully bypassed. Even though there are valid arguments against using EQ, there are times when it can be beneficial. Thus, I always welcome the inclusion of this almost forgotten feature.

The preamp, presumably mandated by law, has an Auto-Standby feature that switches to standby after 15 minutes of inactivity, which can be quite annoying for a tube product with a warm-up period. Fortunately, the function can be defeated in the Personal Setup menu. The manual indicates that “the menu button on the right under the display” must be pressed before waking the unit from standby. To be fair, it says “on the right”, but confusingly, the middle button has a ‘Menu’ label, while the other buttons are unlabeled. As it turns out, the unlabeled button on the far right opens the Personal Setup menu, not the Menu button. With that addressed, I left the preamp powered on for most of the day before starting my listening tests.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/perlisten-a4t-loudspeaker

You don’t, then, need to feed this floorstander a hard-driving, bass-rich diet to appreciate its talents. Shostakovich’s Symphony No.1 in F Minor, from the Boston SO for Deutsche Grammophon [96kHz/24-bit], showed the A4t can sound sprightly and light on its feet despite the visual evidence to the contrary. It easily conveyed the fizz of pizzicato strings and the work’s staccato melodies, while shifts in both tone and weight were well handled. This was a performance of subtlety and precision… until the thrusting first crescendo of the ‘Allegretto’ saw orchestral drums conjured with real depth and dynamics. In a word? Tasty.

Hi-Fi News VerdictWhile aiming for a lower price point, Perlisten clearly has no desire to change the way it goes about designing its floorstanding loudspeakers – the A4t is once again a weighty yet controlled performer, with a focus on imaging precision and nuance. With the push to affordability, however, comes a softer and arguably more ‘crowd-pleasing’ sound. Put this on your list if you like to listen long… and loud.