Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1870-orchard-audio-starkrimson-mono-premium-amplifier

Speaking of class-A amps, I compared the pair of Starkrimson Mono Premiums directly against my First Watt F5 stereo power amp (discontinued; $3000 when new), which is roughly their polar opposite. Both amps post near-cutting-edge distortion and noise specs, but the First Watt gets there from a different direction.

The F5 is a big, heavy, class-A push-pull transistor amp, with output MOSFETs bolted to chunky heatsinks, a hefty linear power supply fat with capacitors, and not much else—designer Nelson Pass favors designs that put as few parts in the way of the signal as possible. With these two amps coming from competing philosophies, I knew this would be a fun comparison.

At first, I was struck by how similar they sounded. Both amps circled closely around neutrality, but each offered its own distinct flavor. Replaying “Car Radio” with the F5, I heard the class-A amp thicken things up a touch, in the expected way. It provided more density and tonal color than the Starkrimsons, albeit at the expense of the micron-precise separation of the GaN amps. The flawless tonal presentation of the First Watt F5 gave the amp more verve and groove-factor, though it gave up some grip at the frequency extremes compared to the Starkrimson Mono Premiums. The Orchard amps let me hear everything in the music more clearly, however, and surprised me with their imaging prowess.

Keeping the A40 in context with the gear I’d probably pair it up with if I were building a system for about 10-15k is a home run. An out-of-the-ballpark, across the fence, into the parking lot home run. Using an older ARC SP-9 preamplifier (about $900 – used), the Naim CD5is CD player (about $2k new), a used SOTA Sapphire turntable (again about $1,500) along with the Harbeth Monitor 30 speakers, Magnepan 2.7X speakers, and the Vera-Fi Vanguards.  Altogether, these Legos were combined to build systems worth about $6,000 to about $20k.

It’s also worth mentioning that the A40 does an excellent job driving the MartinLogan ESL9s we have on hand. If you have a pair of MLs around, this can be your amplifier, too, if you don’t need to blow the windows out. Great success was had with my vintage Acoustat 2+2 ESL speakers, so this might just be a FAB amplifier to pair up with a pair of Quad 57s too. Finally, the A40 perfectly matches the new SVS Ultra Evolution Towers. We’ve got a pair of those in on review, too, and their highly resolving diamond tweeter might be a bit too much for some, but the combination of the modestly mellow A40 and the up-front SVS speakers is a killer combo.

In conclusion, the A40 is an excellent anchor for a sub-$20k hifi system without having to go used or DIY. While you can’t bridge them (again, there goes the magic), using a pair of these in a vertical biamp type system could be incredibly good for those craving more dynamic headroom.