Audiophilepure

I love being able to revisit a manufacturer after years between products. In the case of Karan, it’s clear the advancements made to the KAS 600 amplifier and the KAL REF MK3 preamplifier have been more evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The essential character of the combo definitely harkens back to its lineage. I like that. Why mess with the secret sauce? The areas of improvement heard by these ears while wracking my failing memory are to be found in transparency and speed from top to bottom. They seem more efficient and effortless at passing the signal than their ancestors. It strikes me it would be very difficult to find precisely what the Karan duo offers in other products. At least that’s how I hear it. The Karan sound remains unmistakable, yet very difficult to pin an overt coloration too.

As I always do with any component I review, I let my fangs out and try to come up with a reason for someone who can afford the asking price not to add the components to their system. In this case, I simply can’t come up with anything. The lack of remote input switching? The lack balance control? No, those are not not game changers when such wonderful sound is provided by the Karan KAS 600 amplifier and KAL REF MK3 preamplifier. I cannot imagine a scenario where this combo would need to be replaced for years  to come if enjoying music, all genres of music at the highest level of fidelity, not obsessing about gear, is the priority. 

The front panel of the Antileon Evo is mostly acrylic and has six buttons. The far left button is an ON/STANDBY button that, when pressed, activates the amp and reveals a red display behind clear acrylic. This also initiates a self-check that takes approximately 15 seconds and lets you know if there are issues with the amp. The CHECK button at the far right allows you to run the self-check while in full operation. There is also a MUTE button that does exactly that — mutes the sound — which is handy when you want to change out some cables without turning the amp off. However, the remaining three buttons are the most interesting to the dedicated audiophile.

The remaining three front-panel buttons allow you to choose between three bias settings: Bias L (low), M (medium) and H (high). Bias L provides 25 wpc of class A power. This setting is fine for listening at low levels or when simply playing background music, and to my ears sounds better than the vast majority of A/B amps. I mostly used this setting to keep the Evo warm during the day so that it would be ready to play in Bias M or Bias H mode at a moment’s notice in the evening. Bias M and H were the settings I used for serious listening. Bias M delivers 50 wpc of class A power, which I use when blasting certain rock or other highly in-your-face music. Bias H delivers a sumptuous 150 wpc of class A power. I used this for most really serious listening sessions, even most rock, but especially when the music is vocal, orchestral, moody or sophisticated (I’ll expand on this below).

I also asked Naim about this. They say the pre-amp outputs can be used for a subwoofer, and while true, the output is not labeled such on the back panel and there is no mention of how to hook up a sub in the included documentation. Naim says they will update the documentation as well. All in all, Naim is to be praised for seeing these issues when pointed out and taking proactive steps to correct them. Many companies would just ignore the criticisms.

Once your speakers are ready to go, plug in a network cable or put the unit on your local Wi-Fi network. If you are streaming high-resolution files, a direct network connection is your best bet.

Using the app, you can set up Tidal or whatever streaming service you have. The app allows more control than the included remote, so I found it was best to keep my iPhone handy.