This amp section has the juice to drive even less sensitive 4-ohm speakers, which is a fantastic feat for such a small device. They are known to be quiet and efficient amps, and they are used in PS Audio’s $1500 Stellar amps as well. The amp/power section is a 100w ICEpower unit, a Class D digital amp made for high-end audio applications. Also, as I said earlier, the manufacturer includes two pairs of Banana Plugs in the box, so this makes things a lot easier if you only have bare speaker wire on hand. The use of these speaker terminals could be considered a minor inconvenience, but all my speaker wires have Banana Plugs installed on them already, so I was all in. To fit all of those jacks on the back of the Sprout100, they decided to use Banana Plug only connectors for the speakers. The Bluetooth signal, like the digital signals from the USB and optical inputs, runs through the high-resolution ESS Sabre DAC (9016) accepting resolutions up to PCM 384/24 and DSD128 (DoP) The back panel also has a built-in Bluetooth antenna, allowing streaming from a smartphone right out of the box. There is also the aforementioned sub-out for the addition of a subwoofer. The analog jacks support expansion since there is not only an analog in but an out as well for adding a more powerful amp. There is a moving magnet phono input for vinyl lovers, Toslink optical and USB “B” digital inputs for connection to TV and Laptops, plus RCA jacks for analog connections instead of the 3.5mm jacks on the original Sprout. The Sprout100 is no larger than the size of an average hardcover novel, so I can’t help but marvel at the number of connections present on such a small chassis. From this list, you can see PS Audio tries to cover all the bases, making sure an audio newbie has everything they need to get started except a pair of headphones, speakers, and speaker wire. In the box, along with the amp, you get a beautiful brushed aluminum remote control (perfect size and weight), 4 gold banana speaker connectors which come in very handy (more on that later), a 6ft Power Cable, a 3.5mm to ¼” Stereo TRS headphone adaptor (a nice touch), 2 Sprout100 stickers (?) and a owner’s manual. The inner carton folds up to reveal the Sprout100 in all its walnut topped (real walnut!) and bead blasted aluminum glory, then instructions on the lid show you how a simple flip of the cardboard storage tray releases the amp from its plastic inner wrap. Accessories Include: 6ft regional power cord, remote control, 4x banana adaptors, 2x Sprout Decal, Owner’s Manualįrom the moment you open the box, you can tell great care was taken in the design of this product, beginning with the packaging itself.Signal-to-Noise Ratio 100 dB at max power into 4Ω.Dedicated subwoofer output, automated internal bass-boost switch.Headphone output 32Ω: 500mW, 300Ω: 125mW (drives all headphones).
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