A correction needs to be made about the retail price, which is correctly $1750. I recently acquired this integrated, due to a recommendation that was made to me by the designer of Zhorn speakers, Tom Zuworsky, of Madison, WI. Shape/finish: The integrated is a two piece unit, consisting of the main body amp and a separate power supply, linked by a slender, but sufficient detachable connector...the wire hangs from the control unit and it plugs into the power supply box. The unit's power supply is always on, and you can tell it is powered up by looking at the 47 Labs log, in the front of it, which is perforated and through their sequence of small holes, you will see a lighted red led, not bright, but dim. The control unit sports two toggle switches that alternatively will allow you to listen to input 1, 2 or 3. The other toggle switch is the power switch. Volume is done through a sliding control, up and down. The body of the units is made out of two materials, the top box being SS, clear and shiny (allow visible finger prints) and the bottom that also serves as platform a heavy piece of Shigaraki ceramic with small 47 Labs logos in different parts of it.
Ergonomically speaking, the unit is not as light footed as it was first seem after the 6moons review. The one issue should be that both pieces do not have feet of any sort. So, if you place them on a MDF finished rack that is painted, it will mar it, it will be the same for glass and other material racks. So, I decided to place some rubber feet, self sticking ones on the bottoms of each unit. Now, it does not necessarily slide anywhere and they cannot scratch any surfaces.
Sound: Being a rather impish SS integrated of about 20 watts per channel, sensitivy and speaker pairing are a must. I ran them rather well with two different sets of speakers.
1- EPOS ES11- this monitor has a sensitivy of 88 db, with a one cap crossover that passes the signal to a metallic dome tweeter. I used Tara Prism bi wire cables.
2- Zhorn Garuda cabinets- back loaded horns with a full range Fostex 208 Sigma 8" drivers, with a sensitivity of about 96.5 db spec. In this case, I used a pair of 47 Labs OTA cables.
Impressions: With the EPOS, the volume was not as sensitive, thus I need to slide the volume control higher in order to get what I perceive was decent, normal listening levels. The slider never, ever got passed the 5 mark or maybe a proverbial 12 O'clock equivalent on a rotating scale. The sound was punchy, dynamic, with great sense of drive and sophisticated tonality when doing intrumentals and vocals. EPOS monitors are famous for their sophistication and the Shigaraki drove them to the glory in a simple, satisfying way.
With the Zhorn, I did not need to crank the volume to even 9 o'clock rotating volume scale and the sound is full. Through more sensitive speakers you can hear a faster reproduction of all instruments and vocals. What really shines through this integrated are the orchestral works, as well as very well recorded albums. The albums that are not well mastered sound as they are, muddied. Through a different set ups that I have had, I thought the recordings were simply, boomy, but the Shigaraki reveals their true nature. Can I call it ruthelessly revealing? Not really, but they are truthful in the presentation it gives. The bass lines are quick and rhythmic.
| Associated Equipment for this Review: |
| Amplifier: | Assemblage 300B Platinum, DNA 225 McCormick |
| Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | First Sound Deluxe MKI |
| Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Panasonic DVD transport |
| Speakers: | EPOS ES11 Zhorn Garudas and Gershman Acoustics X-1+SW-1 subwoofer pairs |
| Cables/Interconnects: | 47 Labs OTA, Tara Labs Audio prism biwire bananas, XLO digital toslink to toslink between DVD transport and DAC, Bel Canto DAC-2.0 |
| Music Used (Genre/Selections): | vocals, jazz, rock/electronica, orchestral |
| Room Size (LxWxH): | 12 ft x 8 ft x 9 ft |
| Room Comments/Treatments: | none |
| Time Period/Length of Audition: | 2 months |
| Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | BPT 2.5 Deluxe with bybees and silver wiring |
| Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
