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Primare A10 AmplifierThe Primare A-10 is a chip off the old block. It has the same highly engineered finish, ultra-solid construction, and clean, elegant lines as other Primare amplifiers, and it is heavier than you might expect from such a slimline product. The black painted extruded alloy front panel accommodates a turned alloy volume control. The main on/off switch is hidden below the left hand front edge, which makes it accessible but encourages leaving the amplifier on standby, which is recommended to keep the high impedance V-FET input stage under power. V-FETs seem to need an age to reach optimum performance. The amplifier has rudimentary features: six line inputs, including tape, but not phono, though a separate phono step-up is available. A system remote control includes a display dim switch as well as the balance control, neither of which are accessible from the front panel. The design of the amp appears to be meticulous in its detailing, though it is essentially straightforward in its topology. This is a bipolar design, with a DC servo to ensure stability, and active protection circuitry which mutes the output if necessary. SOUND QUALITYThe A-10 was one of two amplifiers whose panel test results were not completely in keeping with hands-on experience, both before and after the panel tests themselves. 'It sounds like a budget amp,' said one. 'It's slushy and turgid - everything merges together - compared to the reference amplifier.' Another described it as 'too safe, inoffensive and uninvolving', noting that the Bach track sounded 'warmer and rounder' than the reference, while the top end sounded 'bright and hard'. The Marianne Faithful track however redeemed the Primare to an extent though this track too was described as 'warm, but thuddy', another listener adding that he felt the Primare offered 'poor detail resolution' and 'no dynamics', though it was also 'light and airy'. On balance - and after a great deal of extra listening over a busy weekend with some new CDs (Mozart's Requiem, Brahm's Clarinet Trio, Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer, and other equally upbeat material) -I can only report that there is more than an element of truth in the panel findings. But they didn't hear the best that the amplifier was capable of, for two reasons. First, the amplifier may not have been under power for as long as it should have been immediately prior to the panel tests. It had been powered for about 48 hours under static conditions (that is without being used) and certainly there were further improvements to sound quality after the panel tests ended. The other reason is that the Primare's character is a little sweetened and laid back compared to some of the others, and certainly the reference amplifier, which from prior experience is almost always a disadvantage in the adverse conditions of a long blind listening test. My own take on the fully prepared Primare is that it is a little warm and lush, and perhaps too much so with large, wide bandwidth speakers, but that it has an unusually elegant and progressive quality. There are times when a certain lack of precision shows, but the A-10 remains intelligible and articulate, with an unusually natural tonal quality, especially with acoustic instrumental orchestral and vocal recordings. CONCLUSIONSAlthough there are split opinions on this amplifier, I'm happy to override the panel on this occasion, and although a careful audition is advised, a formal Recommendation is in order. |