AM Audio 833S Mono Amplifiers
The high-end of Hi-Fi can be pretty hit and miss between art, true high-fidelity sound reproduction, and inflated price tags pushing upwards of the cost of an exotic car. One Australian distributor aims to buck the trend however, and he has done so representing brands such as Opera-Consonance, AM Audio, and of course his own world-famous brand, Osborn Loudspeakers.
AM Audio (previously "Stereo Knight"), is a relatively new player on the market heralding from China where we're now seeing more and more products of exceptional quality and performance. Fang, product designer and owner of AM Audio is no stranger to high quality audio however. Working away for over 20 years in his search for audio perfection, now going it alone in his new venture he's now able to realise his designs and build products he believes are truly 'world-cass'.
Their flagship amplifier, the 833S is a mono amplifier by design with nothing spared or sacrifed in design. Standing nearly half a meter tall and 75kg each, the construction quality is incredible.
Using the 833 valve in Pure Class A, Single Ended configuration, they produce an impressive 140 watts per channel. Both the amplifier and the power supply sections are isolated to reduce magnetic field interference from the two massive power transformers, thus ensuring that only pure power is supplied to the amplifier. The signal circuit is direct coupled and transformer coupled, eliminating capacitors from the signal path to avoid any compression of the dynamic range.
According to Australian distributor, Greg Osborn, "both the drive and output transformers both use a very complicated winding technique and are constructed of special magnetic materials so that a bandwidth of 10Hz- 120KHz is achieved."
"The attention to detail and lack of compromises results in an exceptionally musical and stunningly clear sound reproduction, that makes it easily the best amplifier I have ever heard." he continued.
What's equally impressive, and a topic we touch on fairly regularly is worldwide pricing, in particular 'price parity'. In Europe the AM Audio 833S Mono Amplifiers retail for $44,000 AUD, however due to Osborn's lean business model, in Australia the same amplifiers can be purchased for just $21,250 RRP.
But that's not the kicker. Osborn uses the AM Audio 833S exclusively in his own reference system, and as he's upgraded to the 'Ultimate Silver' Version ($24,250 RRP), just one pair of ex-demo 833S' are available right now for $16,400 (plus freight).
We're certainly impressed and welcome Osborn Loudspeakers' approach to pricing.
For more information visit Osborn Loudspeakers.
Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
Posted in: Hi-Fi
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