Integrated Amplifiers

If your preferred loudspeakers are either insensitive or present a challenging load then Audia Flight's FLS 9 integrated should be on your shortlist. Rated at 150W and 290W into 8/4ohm, respectively, it succeeds in delivering 2x160W and 2x280W at <1% THD with sufficient headroom in that huge PSU to support 180W, 338W, 615W and 1.015kW (31.9A) into 8, 4, 2 and 1ohm loads under dynamic conditions [see Graph 1, below]. Overall gain is a moderate +34.4dB, some 10dB lower than most amps but far more practical for use with today's 2V+ line level sources. The A-wtd S/N ratio is slightly below average at 83dB, albeit from an innocuous white noise than any hum from that large toroidal transformer. Output impedance is low, and damping high, at 0.019ohm (20Hz-5kHz) while the response reaches out to ±0.1dB from 5Hz-20kHz (and –1dB/100kHz). Finally, distortion is low at 0.0075–0.027% (re. 0dBW, 20Hz-20kHz) increasing gently with level to 0.017–0.075% (re. 10W/8ohm).

Measured via the balanced preamp output (–8.0dB volume setting = 3.1V; 0.0dB volume = 7.9V), the new digital card only had one of its digital filter options enabled, despite selections '0' to '6' seemingly on offer. The default filter is a steep linear phase type that has long pre/post echoes but trades this for a superb 135dB stopband rejection and flat response that reaches out to –0.45dB/20kHz, –2.0dB/45kHz and –6.1dB/90kHz with 48kHz, 96kHz and 192kHz digital files. Jitter is low at just 48psec, the A-wtd S/N acceptable at 105dB and low-level resolution good to ±0.5dB over a 100dB dynamic range. While distortion is a moderate 0.01-0.05% at max/0dBFs output (20Hz-20kHz), it falls as low as 0.00025-0.0025% at –25dBFs [see Graph 2, below]. PM