If you have it in you to call yourself an audiophile, it is only natural that more than a few pieces of equipment have made their foray into your listening room over several years and each one of them have been bought and brought in with the same zeal and enthusiasm as the one it replaces. The episode usually starts with waiting for the gear to arrive impatiently, connecting the equipment hurriedly, being impressed with it, promising and reassuring yourself this is the final stage in your pursuit and that you would now rather buy some music rather than equipment. Alas, only if this phase lasted forever! 2 months later the equipment magically transforms I am not talking burn-in. maybe we can call this burn-out! The thing impresses you. You reconnect your old one again to reconfirm and yes, the new one is definitely better. But just about slightly better. It impresses you more but there is a silent voice inside your head that says you dont want to be impressed. You want something that connects with you with the music and your new equipment is sadly not doing so anymore. The Mercedes S class you bought is not so perfect afterall. Panel gaps are evident, there is a mild rattle, the suspension isnt so plush, the paint finish on edges isnt flawless. So were the reviewers wrong ? Did the manufacturer pull a fast one on you ? Is the placement wrong? Or Is it the cable ? People still rave about your possession but deep inside you are not excited about it anymore. You turn on your system one in maybe 2 months for a 20 min session and tell yourself it isnt sounding as good as it should because you havent turned it on for this long
If you have it in you to call yourself an audiophile Well, I dont yet call myself that, but I have been all too familiar with the above feeling. That is why I have been putting off writing about my recent upgrade and acquisition for about 8 months now. I did not want to let my initial excitement and its resultant review influence someone elses decision. I presume it is a safe time to voice my opinion as I have given myself the time to overcome the prejudice that may influence my new equipment.
Enter the Ayon Spirit III. I first heard it in Chennais at Audio Lounge. The musicality of the amp grabbed my attention. Since this was my first tube amp I was a believer in Solid State technology, I took my time to read as much as possible about the magical world of tubes. Discussed with various tube gurus and understood the implications of various designs, their pros and cons. They were extremely helpful in educating me and also took time to arrange for few demo sessions that finally sealed the decision to change course by 180 degrees and go the tube way. Along the way I realized and understood concepts of tube rolling, bias, topology and design implications. I auditioned several tube amplifiers but the musicality and tonal characteristics of the Ayon Sprit touched me the most. Most importantly it came with a set of perfectly factory calibrated tubes and auto bias adjustment so that I did not have to do the fiddling myself. The unit from the factory sounded just right to me.
Mr Venkat of Audio Lounge was extremely patient and never once tried to sell me the amplifier (if you know what I mean). He was aware of my quest and was patient enough to answer every question I threw at him. Certain clarifications were provided by Mr Gerald the founder of Ayon himself when I needed them, of course routed through the dealer.
The Sprit is a Push-Pull integrated amplifier that can be used in both Triode and Pentode mode by the flick of a switch placed in the rear panel. It is driven by a quad of KT150 Tung Sol tubes. I got the Sprit III which is the third iteration of the amplifier (Yes, the 3 means that). In its present Avatar it is equipped with the mighty Russian made KT150 tubes. The KT150 is the Rolls Royce of tubes. TungSol has precision manufactured these tubes to extremely close tolerances and the results speak or rather Sing. I was replacing a highly respected and revered Mark Levinson manufactured by Madrigal labs and a JRDG Preamp combo and was skeptical about going the integrated way with a 30-40 W power but the Spririt III threw my skepticism in a matter of minutes. My B&W 802 Diamond came to life like never before. There was a huge improvement in midrange, soundstage and spacing of instrument. Most importantly the top end now appeared silky smooth. The 802 Diamonds are infamous for this singular attribute and it takes an amplifier with tons of pedigree and refinement to tame this nature of the 802. If not controlled, they can induce severe fatigue. The Ayon handled them beautifully.
Installation was a breeze with proper labeled tubes and an easy to understand manual. Also worth mentioning is that Mr Venkat was just a phone call away during the installation.
So to end in the note in which I started, the Ayon Spirit III is a well made, beautiful sounding piece of equipment that still puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it and I can say with confidence that it is definitely going to stay with it for a long long time and is a worthy integrated to get you into the magical world of tubes and savour every bit of it. A must consider amplifier if you are looking for one.
If you have it in you to call yourself an audiophile Well, I dont yet call myself that, but I have been all too familiar with the above feeling. That is why I have been putting off writing about my recent upgrade and acquisition for about 8 months now. I did not want to let my initial excitement and its resultant review influence someone elses decision. I presume it is a safe time to voice my opinion as I have given myself the time to overcome the prejudice that may influence my new equipment.
Enter the Ayon Spirit III. I first heard it in Chennais at Audio Lounge. The musicality of the amp grabbed my attention. Since this was my first tube amp I was a believer in Solid State technology, I took my time to read as much as possible about the magical world of tubes. Discussed with various tube gurus and understood the implications of various designs, their pros and cons. They were extremely helpful in educating me and also took time to arrange for few demo sessions that finally sealed the decision to change course by 180 degrees and go the tube way. Along the way I realized and understood concepts of tube rolling, bias, topology and design implications. I auditioned several tube amplifiers but the musicality and tonal characteristics of the Ayon Sprit touched me the most. Most importantly it came with a set of perfectly factory calibrated tubes and auto bias adjustment so that I did not have to do the fiddling myself. The unit from the factory sounded just right to me.
Mr Venkat of Audio Lounge was extremely patient and never once tried to sell me the amplifier (if you know what I mean). He was aware of my quest and was patient enough to answer every question I threw at him. Certain clarifications were provided by Mr Gerald the founder of Ayon himself when I needed them, of course routed through the dealer.
The Sprit is a Push-Pull integrated amplifier that can be used in both Triode and Pentode mode by the flick of a switch placed in the rear panel. It is driven by a quad of KT150 Tung Sol tubes. I got the Sprit III which is the third iteration of the amplifier (Yes, the 3 means that). In its present Avatar it is equipped with the mighty Russian made KT150 tubes. The KT150 is the Rolls Royce of tubes. TungSol has precision manufactured these tubes to extremely close tolerances and the results speak or rather Sing. I was replacing a highly respected and revered Mark Levinson manufactured by Madrigal labs and a JRDG Preamp combo and was skeptical about going the integrated way with a 30-40 W power but the Spririt III threw my skepticism in a matter of minutes. My B&W 802 Diamond came to life like never before. There was a huge improvement in midrange, soundstage and spacing of instrument. Most importantly the top end now appeared silky smooth. The 802 Diamonds are infamous for this singular attribute and it takes an amplifier with tons of pedigree and refinement to tame this nature of the 802. If not controlled, they can induce severe fatigue. The Ayon handled them beautifully.
Installation was a breeze with proper labeled tubes and an easy to understand manual. Also worth mentioning is that Mr Venkat was just a phone call away during the installation.
So to end in the note in which I started, the Ayon Spirit III is a well made, beautiful sounding piece of equipment that still puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it and I can say with confidence that it is definitely going to stay with it for a long long time and is a worthy integrated to get you into the magical world of tubes and savour every bit of it. A must consider amplifier if you are looking for one.
