AAVIK i280 AMPLIFIER REVIEW

Sitting in the middle of the Danish company’s i-series of amplifiers and costing £10,000, Aavik’s i280 integrated amplifier offers interesting new concepts of design. Stuart Smith takes a listen for HiFi Pig.

Black and silver with unusual materials used in its construction, the Aavik looks highly distinctive.

A good while ago I found myself reading one of the old print magazines that had the front cover headline “Awesome Aavik” with the review inside being as full of praise for the Danish amplifier as the headline would suggest it would have been. That review by Alan Sircom whetted my appetite to get myself an up-close listen to one of their offerings, and so when they asked if we’d like to take delivery of their i280 amplifier I naturally jumped at the opportunity. Of course, I’d heard Aavik products at HiFi Shows and their set up at the Paris show last year was a treat, but then we’re not really in the habit of forming and sharing proper opinions on kit outside the well-known and more comfortable confines of our own homes using our own systems, though it had to be said, even in these less than ideal conditions it did sound excellent with me commenting “Now, they really should sound good given the system in this room costs in the region of €400 000…”. The amp we have here is a more wallet-friendly £10 000, though that still makes it a significant outlay for the vast majority of people. The amp sits in the Aavik integrated range right in the middle of the i-180 (£6000) and the i-580 (£20 000).

So what do you get for your money with the i- 280? Well at first glance it would appear that with all three amplifiers in the range you get exactly the same specifications whichever of the three amplifiers you decide to settle on, but I will come on to that in a bit.

BUILD AND FEATURES

The amp comes in very nice and secure packaging and immediately feels like you are getting your hands on a luxury product, though I have to say I was a little disappointed to unwrap the remote which is a very basic and generic Apple-type remote. At this kind of price, I would have expected a much nicer remote that matched the quality and aesthetics of the unit itself. The remote is the bit of the amp that many users will have most physical contact with and I genuinely believe that manufacturers should invest in better-looking and better-feeling remotes, even if that is just putting the electronics inside a nicer casing.

Design-wise the remote is my only gripe. Like its siblings, the amp measures 102 x 384 x 400mm and comes in black with shiny metal highlights. The design is suitably minimal with just three buttons to the left of the front panel and a large and smooth-as-butter volume control. It’s a small thing, but that volume control is a joy to use and feels cold because it is solid metal. Behind the scenes, the volume control circuitry is designed to have as small an effect on the sound of the amplifier as possible. The control has 76 steps of 1dB. Three control buttons to the left feel equally nice to use and apart from a large red dot-matrix style screen on the front of the amp – that’s it. The three buttons scroll through the inputs, mute the output and change the brightness of the screen.

The cabinet itself is designed to have as little effect on the sonic performance as possible and to do this the engineers at Aavik have kept the use of aluminium in the cabinet (which they say causes mechanical resonance) to a minimum. Of course, some aluminium is used to help cool the amp but the main panels of the i-280 are made of an “innovative natural-based composite material” that when you tap it obviously has some kind of wooden element to it. Aavik does make a statement on their website about the amplifiers in the range being influenced by the construction of musical instruments and state that this has guided design decisions with regard to materials, shape, and ratios of the cabinet. They also add that they believe that too much damping can “kill dynamics”, whilst too much metal can lead to a “bright and peaky sound”.  At each corner of the cabinet top, you have the tops of pillars and there are adjustable feet below these on the bottom of the amp.

All in all the I-280 looks very different from anything else I’ve seen on the market and it’s certainly a distinctive, “could only be Aavik” design. Personally, I think it looks very cool and I really like the red display, though others may not like it quite so much given it’s a departure from the norm.

Around the back, the inputs are well laid out and slightly recessed within the confines of the cabinet’s shape. At either end of the back panel, there’s a set of speaker posts that are of good quality and accept all the usual, an IEC and master power switch, an RS 232 socket for firmware updates, a couple of trigger outs, five RCA inputs and a pre-out. That should be enough line inputs for most people.

Well laid out back panel with plenty of RCA inputs but no provision for XLR.

The amplifier is a line-level only amp with five RCA inputs, there are no balanced XLR inputs. Inputs one through four have a gain of 5-15dB with a maximum input of 4,5V RMS whilst input five has a gain of 1-11dB and a maximum input of 6.5v RMS. Maximum output is identical across all the amps in this range at 2 x 300W into 8 ohm and 2 x 600 into 4 ohms with distortion (THD+N) quoted as being less than 0.006% (1-100W, 1kHz, 8ohm).

I had assumed already that the amplification in the i280 was a Class D design but wanted to find out more about its design and what stands its design apart from readily available modules. I asked Aavik directly about their UMAC (Unmatched Audio Control) amplification and they confirm it is indeed Class D but constructed with the following principles:

“At Aavik we utilize the patented UMAC™ amplifier technology. This technology was developed to avoid the design flaws of traditional switching amplifiers. UMAC technology primarily targets two areas of modulated amplifier design. Firstly, the PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) generation is produced with sine wave modulation rather than the more common triangle modulation. The benefit is that sine waves create far less high-frequency noise than triangles, no sharp corners, and thus require far less inductive filtering at the output. The lower inductance in the output gives the amplifiers a much better damping factor and thus a distinctly better speaker control. Secondly, the advanced dual mixed-mode feedback allows damping factors that are characteristic of only the very best linear amplifiers.”

As I have touched on, the three amps in the range look to be identical in both appearance, features and in their rated output. So why the significant differences in the price? Look closely at the specifications and you will see that the differences in the three amps are visible in the Aavik Noise Reduction section with each amp having different numbers of Active Tesla Coils (36, 72, 108), Active Square Tesla Coils (96, 168, 240) and  Dither Circuitry (5,8, 11), though each amp has four Anti Aerial Resonance Coils.

That’s all beyond me and so I spoke to Aavik directly for some clarification and guidance:

1. The three amplifiers in the “I” range appear to be identical in their make-up and on-paper performance other than the “Aavik Noise Reduction System”. Could you tell me what each of the elements that make up this system does? 

In fact, the noise reduction technologies (Tesla Coil Principles) come from our sister company Ansuz Acoustics.

The key operating principle of the Ansuz Tesla coil is to have two coils wound in opposite directions – one coil and one counter coil. In Ansuz words, this is called  “A double inverted coil”. The two coils both carry voltage, and when one of the Tesla coils encounters a voltage spike, a counter spike is activated to eliminate the noise. Since noise spikes are pure voltage carrying virtually no charge, the cancellation is quite good, but not perfect. Adding more Tesla coils in parallel increases the noise cancellation and the perceived blackness in the music increases significantly along with the purity and clarity of the sound.

Ansuz uses various types of Tesla coils, as their individual properties ideally complement and reinforce each other. These coils are:

Active Tesla Coil (Minimized Impedance): The active Tesla coils are current fed, which ensures a much lower impedance and thus, a much better ability to eliminate noise. The active version is about three to four times more efficient than passive Tesla coils.

Active Square Tesla Coil – Embedded efficiency: The active square Tesla coils are embedded in our printed circuit boards – a coil on the top and the counter coil on the back. The principle is exactly the same as the active Tesla coil and thus has a greater ability to eliminate noise than the passive Tesla coils.

Anti Aerial Resonance Coils: All cables and cable shields act as antennas for unwanted airborne sound waves (RF noise), which impairs the clarity of the authentic audio signal. The passive end coil technology splits the length of cables into undefined lengths. As a result, the cable is less likely to absorb RF noise, which no longer can bleed into the audio system as annoying ‘white noise’.

Analog Dither technology: Analog dither technology originated in radar, where it ensured a stronger signal and thus greater range. Ansuz adopted this technology. Their active Tesla coils send pulsating signals at precisely defined frequencies. These signals are sent in anti-phase. This significantly amplifies the musical signal and eliminates the background noise floor.

I’m certainly no electronics engineer and whilst the answers make logical sense from a layman’s perspective I’m in no position to suggest these are or are not relevant or effective solutions. My job is to listen to the unit and, quite frankly, what goes on inside any box I’m sent for review is of little interest or consequence to me. What matters to me is the way a product sounds and that is all that interests me.

A look inside the i280.

SOUND

As I often do with new kit I hooked the Aavik up to our Falcon LS3/5A speakers with the source being our LAB12 DAC and Auralic Aries G1 streamer running via Roon. And it was immediately apparent, and I mean within a matter of seconds that what I was listening to was a class act. Now that may seem like an odd statement and folk may well assume that it takes hours and hours to get a feeling for an amp, or indeed any item in for review, but the truth is you can make a pretty good overall opinion of a product very quickly indeed. Of course, I’d never base a review on such a fleeting acquaintance as kit warms up and can change slightly in its delivery over time but this amp did make me sit up and take notice pretty much immediately! There was something inherently and immediately “right” feeling about what this amp brought to the little party. I suppose my job here on in is to try and convey to you, dear reader, exactly what the amp does so right…and if anything is amiss.

Still with the LS3/5As in-line I’m pretty astounded by the “cleanliness” of the amp that comes from having an exceptionally low noise floor. Reverbs and effects fade organically to silence and whilst some lesser amps may well represent a reverb tail in broad strokes, the Aavik seems to etch them into the air where you can hear a little further into the reverb itself and what makes it up. This effect was first really apparent and clear on the guitar on REM’s Crush With Eyeliner from the Monster album and when it fades at the end of the track into feedback. There’s a level of detail in that sound that makes you look (listen) further into the track than you may otherwise have bothered to. That’s not to say that you need to sit and listen really closely to hear this detail, as I said, it’s pretty apparent from the off.

Turning up the volume into the little BBC monitors there’s a sense of the amp being very much in control of the sound, both in terms of grip and where things sit in the soundstage – which is itself impressively portrayed. Nothing strays from its given position and whilst the stage is wide and deep it’s not over-exaggerated. Again, I am trying to listen into the sound and mentally tick the things off that you’ll be expecting to read about, but again and again my notes go back to the detail within the mix that this amp brings out. I find myself drawn to little sounds and details I knew were there but now seemed to be a little more evident and complete.

ACDC’s Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be through the 5As has the rhythm section absolutely rock-solid in the mix and lays the foundation on which the rest of the track builds. And this is another positive the Aavik has – even on busy tracks it manages to remain totally unflustered and, if the mix is good, it just pumps it out into the speakers without embellishment. Cold and analytical is a term I’ve read about kit in reviews in the past and I suppose that is where the Aavik sits in my mind. Now cold and analytical has been used as being a negative characteristic, but, to put this into a non-audio analogy, I’d rather have a cold and analytical surgeon taking care of me than one that was a bit woolly and lackadaisical in their approach to the job in hand. To continue the medical analogies, the Aavik is akin to a precision scalpel rather than trying to get the job done with a rusty butter knife. You may not like the accuracy and cleanliness of its delivery, but that is a wholly different matter! Personally, I absolutely loved it and could see the Aavik being used as a tool in the studio as well as the home -it would certainly make for a great review tool.

The 5A’s sounded very good with the Aavik giving it to them, but my Diptyque dp77 speakers are a wholly different kettle of fish. They are a harder speaker to drive and can sound bloody awful when partnered with the wrong amp. Conversely, they can sound freaking marvelous with the right amp. Thankfully, and immediately it was clear that this Danish-French alliance was one that delivered the goods. That same ACDC rhythm section I mentioned before, only this time on the track War Machine, was fuller and more rounded in its presentation. Still scalpel-sharp but with more body and texture and the extra bass the dp77s afforded really played to the amps strengths. The kick drum particularly just felt totally correct to me; not overdone or overblown, just right sounding. I listened to a lot more rock through this partnership than I have in a while and thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Another view of the front of the amp. That volume control is as smooth as butter.

Still with the Diptyques I put on Armand van Helden’s 2 Future 4 U and the track Rock Da Spot, primarily to listen to the rock-solid beat and how the amp got on with it. All present and correct in the foundations’ bit and the scratches and effects on the flew around the soundstage. Again, I noted that there was more detail in effects and their tail-offs than with the Merrill Thor amps have in this system – I suppose other reviewers will call this micro-detail. The dynamics are fantastic and the speed at which sounds start and stop is impressive. I defy anyone listening to the right kind of tunes on this amp and not have their foot tapping to the beat!

Deep Dish’ Yoshiesque TWO is utterly magnificent on this setup. Right from the opening synth drones of Chemical Brothers’ I Think I’m In Love there’s a feeling of rightness and that you are listening to something very special. The vocal line is out in the room a couple of feet above the speakers and almost tangible. And then that bass line comes in. It goes low and yet utterly controlled but the amp. And then it’s not just the vague suggestion of a synth noise; there is that texture and depth to the sounds in the mix that just draws you in. Again, I’d say that this amp and these speakers trounces my own Thors which I have loved for years. There’s just more control, more detail, and more moreness! This amp in this specific system is one I could live with and I’d love to see Aavik partner in some way at a show with Diptyque to allow others to experience what is clearly a very synergistic partnering.

The amp is ten grand or so and it’s clearly the odd component out in this system with each box supposedly costing around three grand, though some rules may have been broken. However, I maintain that the Auralic streamer, LAB12 DAC and Diptyque speakers are a very, very good match and one I’d look very seriously at purchasing if I was looking for a final system around the twenty K mark. A lot of money and half of it taken up with the amp, but it is what it is!

Plumbing the Aavik into the bigger downstairs system and using a turntable as a source into the LAB 12 melto 2 phonostage and the amp supplying the juice into our Audiovector R6 there’s an immediate “crikey” moment. If I thought the Diptyque/Aavik combo worked well then the two Danish products (Aavik and Audiovector) just blew my mind and I wonder if that’s anything to do with them both coming from the same neck of the conifer forest.

Actually, my “crickey” moment was a bit more expletive.

The R6 aren’t a particularly difficult speaker to get a decent noise out of, but the Aavik really did grab them by the knackers and bring them to attention, much in the same way that our (mostly) class A Krell amp does. Control and detail are again the order of the day.

I played a lot of records and initially just got into this powerful combo’s delivery whilst listening to techno and not a listel drum and bass. However, I wanted to check out a few things with regard to this so far brilliant amplifier. Out came Kind of Blue (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab version) and the volume wound back a bit on the amp. That same level of detail is still there and the projection of Miles’ horn into the room is stunningly good to my lugholes. As well as detail with regards to the instruments and the whole micro-detail (sorry) thing the thing that grabs me is a sense of being there at the recording if I close my eyes, or rather it feels like being in a club. Instruments spring out from the speakers but not in an exaggerated or artificial way! Everything here is very organic sounding and natural. That control I mentioned is evident again and the amp leaps into action instantaneously with regard to changes in volume or dynamic changes in the playing style of the musicians, which leads to a sense of rightness to the whole listening experience.

Whacking some early jungle back on there’s excitement and the amp really does take control of the speakers in every way and from top to bottom. I thought the level of detail, particularly in the top end from the amp may be a little much for the AMT tweeter and I wrongly assumed that I’d very soon get tired of listening to tunes, but I didn’t, and whilst there are loads of tiny nuances brought out of a recording through the amp/AMTs it’s not harsh in any way – just fast, open and expressive.

What all the bits and bobs of the Aavik Noise Reduction System do I cannot say as it’s impossible to judge them in isolation, but I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to have all three amps in the range here to compare and contrast – I’d also love to hear what the i580 does for the substantially bigger asking price.

QUIBBLES

This is a ten grand amplifier and it really does deserve to have a remote control that is commensurate with that asking price. The supplied Apple remote works fine but I would rather pay a little extra and have a proper remote control. That’s about it on the moaning front to be honest, though some would like to see an onboard phono and perhaps a digital module – though I fully understand why these may have been left out.

I’d also have liked to have had the option of at least one balanced input, if not more.

CONCLUSION

Sonically this is an excellent amplifier and I can only guess as to what the amps further up the Aavik food chain do. It’s certainly one of the best sounding amplifiers I have had in the system and had just a smidgen of effort been put into the remote control I would have had absolutely no hesitation in giving this my Editors Choice award. However, I just cannot overlook this at this price.

Takeaways from my extended time with this amp (I really didn’t want to send it back, but an integrated doesn’t suit how I have to put systems together) are speed and dynamics partnered with huge amounts of detail throughout the frequencies.

Loudspeakers are grabbed by the balls, told to behave and they comply without a whimper. Even more troublesome loads that can get a little unruly from time to time get in line and take what’s coming to them. However, that power and control over speakers isn’t brash or harsh and the Aavik allows speakers to exhibit their own small nuanced shades in their performance. Likewise, with the music, the Aavik doesn’t wield its power unduly and comes across as allowing the music to flow in a pure and unadulterated way whilst adding very little of its own character to the music that you hear.

If this amplifier was a drug it would be pure Colombian cocaine cut straight from the block…I imagine. It is clean, it is sparklingly crystal-like, it is powerful and knows how to throw a party. On the downside it is also highly addictive and once heard through the right loudspeakers it becomes pretty difficult to move on and let it go. It’s also pretty expensive and likely to want you to hear what it’s even more expensive sibling can muster!

Yep, Alan Sircom was right, the Aavik is awesome, though it is not perfect as outlined below.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:

Looks will divide opinion, particularly that red matrix screen

Unusual build materials don’t inspire confidence and feel cheap next to more solid offerings

Remote is poor

No XLR input

Don’t be put off by the Aavik Noise Reduction System “voodoo” – whatever is in this amp it works!

Sound Quality:

Absolutely stunning

Powerful and dynamic with speed and yet grace

Detail right down to the tiniest fading note

Will take control of difficult loads

Value For Money:

Value for money is a difficult one with this amp. It sounds fabulous and is up there with the very best I’ve heard, and certainly better than our reference Merrill Thor amps. However, I think the remote is unforgivable and I’m definitely deducting points for that. On purely sonic terms it’s great value for money, but we don’t just judge on sonic prowess.

We Loved:

Plenty of inputs

Stunning sound

Ability to take hold and control most speakers

Detail in spades but not achieved by artificially boosting the treble or presence band

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Did I mention the remote?

Elevator Pitch Review: Aavik is a Danish brand that uses unusual materials not usually associated with amplifiers. Its looks are unique and that will appeal to some, whilst others may not be so taken with it. However, forget the looks, forget the Apple remote and forget the lack of balanced inputs, because where the Aavik scores very highly is in its ability to deliver a highly detail and nuanced performance from even relatively difficult loudspeakers and to deliver that performance with power, dynamics and control. I dread to think how good its bigger brother sounds!

SUPPLIED BY AAVIK

Stuart Smith