BAKOON AMP-13R REVIEW
Simple. Beautiful. Natural. Transparent!
When eventually the answers of life, the sciences, and the universe are given us, they will all have been quite simple, indeed. And there is the high probability that they will have been parading directly in front of our faces for millennia. In the meantime we have made the simple incredibly complicated, have“fetished” our scientific theories, and imbued them with signs and symbols, formulas and speak (jargon) that may well be detached from any reality.
Imagine then, three men who have sought out the shortest, simplest, and most efficient way to conduct themselves when it comes to the scientifically, engineered development of audio products. It has to start somewhere. And that is where the company Bakoon International comes in and the focus of my current review—the Bakoon AMP-13R ($6000).
Bakoon International which began in 2009 was founded by Soo In Chae and established in Seoul, South Korea. Since then Bakoon International had established a research and development facility in Kagoshima, Japan and set its US headquarters in San Jose, California. Bakoon’s manufacturing, however, remains in Korea.
I have long been familiar with the company Bakoon and its products. However, prior to the Bakoon AMP-13R arriving at my door, I had never heard one. The AMP-13R is the third in a line of integrated/headphone amplifiers from Bakoon, which was preceded by the AMP-11R and the AMP-12R, each of which was duly upgraded and circuit-simplified for optimal performance. Bakoon’s current products fall into three categories—headphone amplifier (HPA-01), integrated/headphone amplifier (AMP-13R), and integrated amplifiers (AMP-41, AMP-51R).
Upon opening the AMP-13R’s package, discussed in more detail below, I was astounded by the exquisite graphic and industrial design that had been undertaken on this integrated/headphone amplifier and its product packaging. It would not be at all out of place to see the Bakoon AMP-13R on exhibit in a modern art museum, perhaps, beside the Meze Empyreans, another beautifully designed and packaged audio component.
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various accoutrement, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Queen’s Gambit, In the Shadow of the Moon, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
The Bakoon AMP-13R for the purposes of this review was used as a headphone amplifier only and was never connected to speakers. It was, however, connected to a number of headphones and IEMs of various configurations—planar magnetic, dynamic driver, Balanced Armature, and Balanced Armature hybrids. It drove them all beautifully, while lifting their performance across the board and without exception, as if lifting all boats. And this, for those in the know, is a very rare thing indeed.
The words that run consistently across my review notes are organic and natural and though they may mean closely the same thing, perhaps, their paired occurrence is simply an emphasis on how the Bakoon AMP-13R renders the music. The AMP-13R was also a non-subtractive window on the music. What does that even mean? It means that unlike a good number of components deemed “neutral,” that actually bleach or suck the life from music, the Bakoon AMP-13R did no such thing. Instead it provided a natural, organic, and transparent, portrayal of one’s music, that was beautiful refined. Further, the AMP-13R’s black-quiet background could well have been a black hole for its ability to parse noise from the world, altogether. In other words, the AMP-13R is quiet in the extreme.
The Bakoon AMP-13R’s quiet allowed for a transparency that liberated copious amounts of detail and macro and microdynamic cues that betrayed positioning of singers, musicians, and the ambient space—the venue—itself. The AMP-13R’s quiet would also liberate and allow for the fine parsing of timbre/tonal shadings and texture, which further provided the music with a you-are-there sensation. The Border Patrol SE-i as paired, for its part, would provide a rich, three-dimensional, analog-like rendering of the music. The Mola Mola Tambaqui as paired would provide a good measure of the above, though its rendering would be closer to the neutral zone, more transparent, with an expanded soundstage, and greater dynamic contrasts.
The Bakoon AMP-13Rs volumetric cube—sound stage—is holographic, ethereal, intimate, whatever it is called to be. In particular, the soundstage is broad, deep, with more than sufficient headroom to capture all that extends upward. Positioning, separation, layering are superb and this, mind you, is with headphones!
The Bakoon AMP-13R was partnered with two DACs—Border Patrol SE-i DAC and the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, with the Shanling M8 serving as a wireless transport. The headphone and IEM used were the Meze Empyrean ($2999) and the Obravo RA-C-CU IEM ($10,000). Cabling was Cardas. Power conditioning was handled by TORUS.
Bass
Eiji Oue’s rendition of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919 version): V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recordings) plays and via the AMP-13R the music plumbs the depths to the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail (HBHG). The bass rumbles and it is propulsive and detailed. The transients are lightening fast and dynamics are turn-on-a-dime explosive. The soundstage is a hologram with the orchestra spread wide and deep, and the rendering is filled with macrodynamic cues that easily give away positioning. And then there is the air and the nuance and the wondrous transparency. Certainly the other accomplished components—Meze Empyrean, Border Patrol SE-i—are beautifully playing their roles, but synergistically they have risen to even greater heights via the AMP-13R. Dave Holland’s B-40/M23-6K/RS-W (Emerald Tears, ECM) plays and it is a cat and mouse, a call and response rhythmic dance with bass notes and air and quiet taking their turns. It would be impossible to get away from the lightening-fast transients, as they jet from zero to some endpoint and back, shepherded on by the Bakoon AMP-13R. The Border Patrol SE-i DAC is not generally known for its sub-bass rumble and thunder and quickness, suffice to say, that the AMP-13R synergy is both potent and empowering for the SE-i DAC.
Midrange
One of my favorite albums, for those who’ve not read any of my other reviews, is Olafur Arnalds “Island Songs.” It is poignant, engaging, beautifully orchestrated, and very well recorded. On the track Árbakkinn (the Riverbank) Icelandic poet, Einar Georg Einarsson, recites a poem in his native language and despite the fact that I do not understand a word (though I’ve subsequently found its translation), the poem and the music are incredibly captivating. This rendition of Árbakkinn is the most realistic, palpable, transparent that I have heard to date and I have heard the SE-i and the Empyrean in action across countless combinations of this same track, but not like this. Katie Melua’s The Flood (The Ultimate Collection, BMG) plays and her voice is nuanced, holographic, her articulation beautifully transparent, emotive. And when the tempo picks up and the mix grows more complex, more dynamic the Bakoon AMP-13R handles it all with a masterful ease. I have used Shirley Horn’s album “You Won’t Forget Me” for decades, literally, as an arbiter for determining a future component. Needless to say, I know it exceptionally well. As Beautiful Love (You Won’t Forget Me, Verve) plays the ease and the transparency, and the wealth of microdynamic cues bring in every nuance of Toot Theilemans’ harmonica and thereafter Shirley Horn’s poised, textured, assured voice. Yes, it is the shoulder-dropping, head-wrinkle-releasing, comfort-food-ease, that comes from good analog playback. And it is aided and abetted by a sublime transparency that, again, “short signal paths, with optimized parts…” appear to handle as though a natural ability.
Treble+
The Kronos Quartet’s Aaj Ki Raat—Tonight is the Night—(Kronos Caravan, Nonsuch) is enlisted once again to ferret out treble resolution, detail, speed, and extension. As Aaj Ki Raat plays there is a coherency, a unified whole, with ample space and air that until now had not been experienced. Dynamics are lickety-split agile and transients rise and stop as though tied to truncated, exponential-growth curves. The decay of notes is natural, organic and only draws attention to itself in how beautifully it diminishes. This track has never passed by so quickly, perhaps I was never as captured. Subtractive elements—sibilance, harshness, stridency, etc.—are all dirt-napping, non-existent, in permanent exile. This is a music lover’s treble—transparent and sweet with the Border Patrol SE-i DAC. And with the Mola Mola Tambaqui it is incredibly extended, evermore transparent, though its overall presentation, again, sits things closer to the neutral zone. Hilary Hahn’s V. Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for Violin in D minor, BWV 1004 (The Essential Hilary, Sony Classical) plays and it is dynamic, transparent, very well extended. The rendering via the Bakoon AMP-13R is also organic and imbued with wonderful nuance, subtlety, air, and texture. Suffice to say, that it is emotionally compelling as rendered by Bakoon AMP-13R and its compatriots—the Border Patrol SE-i DAC and the Meze Empyrean. How compelling is the Bakoon AMP-13R? Well, for the next hour and forty minutes, I could do nothing but listen to the balance of “The Essential Hilary” while nary a single note was taken.
The Wrappings and Accessories
The Bakoon AMP-13R’s packaging is beautifully minimalist, elegant, and understated. A tastefully executed orange-yellow sleeve wraps the black inner box. Bakoon’s logo sits centered, atop the sleeve, and is printed in black.
The black, textured, inner box which houses the AMP-13R and its remote control has a distinguishing orange border, that divides the box’s top half from its bottom half. It too has a printed Bakoon logo at its top center and is also well executed.
Inside the box one finds an orange-yellow cover with a line drawing of the Bakoon AMP-13R as seen from a top down perspective. On the inside of this cover are the instructions for the Bakoon AMP-13R and pictures of its front and back faces and its remote control. Each of the attributes—LED display, IR sensor, headphone socket, source input, etc.—are numbered and explained. And beneath this orange-yellow cover and sitting atop the AMP-13R is a cushioned insert/protector that is wrapped in a printed black paper that bears the Bakoon name.
Beneath this cushioned protector sits the Bakoon AMP-13R and its remote control both ensconced in a thick, die-cut, black, foam bed that match the various sizes of its asymmetrical, multipurpose feet and its chassis’ square construction.
The Bakoon AMP-13R’s wrappings represent one of the most well thought out and elegantly designed amplifier packagings that I have ever come across.
Design—Look and Feel
The Bakoon AMP-13R is slim, black, elegant, and diminutive, with orangish marking across its front face—logo, input, volume designations. At the AMP-13R’s front center is a blood-red, Urushi lacquered, multifunction, volume knob, which further solidifies the Bakoon AMP-13R as a modern work of art. On the AMP-13R’s back face are a mix of inputs and speaker outputs all cleanly laid out. A CNC sculpted Bakoon logo sits centered atop the AMP-13R.
The Bakoon AMP-13R embodies exquisite design and execution (graphic and industrial) and meticulous attention to detail. That the AMP-13R is also of a wonderfully diminutive stature may well find it placed in those homes where art, interior design, and music are key points of focus.
Functionality
The Bakoon AMP-13R is a remote controlled, twenty-five (25) watt integrated/headphone amplifier. Its volume is handled by a Microprocessing Unit (MPU) 50 Stepped Attenuator, that is unique in how it calibrates and displays the levels of volume. The AMP-13R’s high setting for speakers and headphones/IEMs is 22.5dB. The low setting for headphones/IEMs is 7dB.
The AMP-13R’s front panel from left to right features the Bakoon logo, three inputs—V1, V2, SL—from which to select, the IR sensor beside them, that blood-red, volume knob and a series of top-row, bottom-row, volume-level indicators.
The volume knob regulates power (on/off), selects input, and, of course, increases volume. The top-row volume level indicator lights are represented as 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. The bottom row indicator lights are represented as 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Even numbers are designated by any two bottom, row indicators being lit simultaneously. So as one turns up the volume, the bottom row indicator for “1” lights. Then 2, which is represented by indicator lights 1 and 3 being lit . Then 3. Then 4, which is represented by indicators lights 3 and 5 being lit, etc. The volume level indicator after 9 is represented by the lit 10 in the top row. The cycle would repeat on the bottom row, while the top row would register each ten-step increase in gain to a maximum of 50.
The AMP-13R’s rear panel features from left to right—an IEC plug, the left speaker outputs, two RCA inputs and one 1-SATRI-Link (BNC) input. The matching inputs/outputs are mirrored on the right side. The SATRI-Link is Bakoon’s own internal, input connection, which is current driven as opposed to voltage driven. The SATRI-Link allows for the interconnection of Bakoon’s other products.
The Bakoon AMP-13R’s bottom surface is quite novel and, perhaps, one of the clearest examples of form following function. The AMP-13R’s transformer and its heat sinks double as the unit’s feet! This allows for the streamlined, slimness of the chassis and an artistically, avant-garde underside. But, there is even method to the asymmetrical placement of the various feet in terms of resonance, thermal re-radiation, and, of course, stability.
However, the Bakoon AMP-13R’s true genius lies in its JET SATRI CIRCUIT, where “JET” serves as an acronym for Jet Exact Thermal Tracking. The JET SATRI CIRCUIT employs next-level efficiency. This is achieved through maintaining the shortest signal paths and the lowest number of parts, which have been optimized for speed, their ability to sense temperature and voltage variations, and to correct those variations in milliseconds. Additionally, the JET SATRI CIRCUIT employs an EXICON MOSFET transistors, and a Microprocessing Unit (MPU-50 Stepped Attenuator) in its implementation. The result is a fully discrete, ultra-fast, wide bandwidth circuit that is not affected by temperature or voltage variations. Further, the JET SATRI CIRCUIT ensures channel balance, zero negative feedback, and unparalleled signal purity. And of particular importance for this review, the delivery of all aforementioned benefits apply directly to the AMP-13R’s headphone output, with no diminishment whatsoever! Our “Sound” section above proves this to be quite true.
In terms of headphone power, as the Bakoon AMP-13R was only used to drive headphones and IEMs, it drove every headphone and IEM in house and beautifully so, without ever passing the one-third mark on its volume grid. And given this fact, there is, perhaps, no headphone, not even the monstrously inefficient, that the AMP-13R can not drive.
The Specifications
Power Output : 25 watts (8 Ω, 1 kHz)
Gain : 22.5 dB max. (speaker, headphone high) or 7 dB max. (headphone low)
Gain Control : MPU Controlled 50 Stepped Attenuator
Frequency Response : 10 Hz ~ 500 kHz
Input : 1 SATRI-LINK (BNC), 2 Voltage (RCA)
Input Impedance : 3.68 Ω (SATRI-LINK), 10 kΩ (Voltage)
User Interface : Encoder with a built in switch, Remote Controller
Power Consumption : 100 watts max.
Dimensions : 230 mm (W) x 230 mm (D) x 55 mm (H)
Weight : 4 kg (net), 5 kg (shipping)
Compatibility (Synergy)
The Bakoon AMP-13R was alternately partnered to the Mola Mola Tambaqui and the Border Patrol SE-i DAC, with the Shanling M8 (DAP) as a wireless transport. The headphones/IEMs used to ferret out synergy are listed below. Each of the headphones/IEMs, exceptional on its own, when paired with the Bakoon AMP-13R was, truly, at the next-level of its abilities. Rare is the integrated/headphone amplifier that is consistently stellar across a broad array of headphones/IEMs, DACs, etc.
DACs
Border Patrol SE-i DAC ($1925)
The Bakoon AMP-13R’s pairing with the Border Patrol SE-i DAC was incredibly musical and smooth, with very good detail, a broad and deep soundstage, and excellent layering, separation, and positioning. And while the combination exhibited explosive bass when called to do so, the highs refined, textured, sweet were not as extended nor as detailed as the Mola Mola Tambaqui’s treble renderings. No doubt, the tubed Border Patrol SE-i DAC was able to shine through the very organically neutral AMP-13R. This is the synergy for music lovers, who prize the analog realm.
Mola Mola Tambaqui ($13,500)
The Mola Mola Tambaqui’s strengths are its incredible, detail-rich transparency, its astounding dynamic contrasts, and its evocative musicality. Further, the Tambaqui’s transients are start-and-stop-on-a-dime swift! Tone/timbre and texture are fully and beautifully realized! And this is regardless of whether it is utilized as a stand-alone headphone amplifier/DAC or as a DAC feeding an amplifier. Its ally in this respect was the Bakoon AMP-13R and, suffice to say, that the music they rendered together was see-through in the best, most engaging sense. And the AMP-13R and the Mola Mola Tambaqui’s top to bottom extension was truly extraordinary. It is, however, a combined voice that sits closer to the neutral zone than the Bakoon AMP-13R and the Border Patrol SE-i DAC, but it is, nonetheless, wondrously musical.
Headphones/IEM
Rosson Audio RAD-0 ($2600)
Accomplished. The Rosson Audio RAD-0 and the Bakoon AMP-13R represent a rather grand synergy. Their individual and paired ability to extend from sub-bass to treble+ regions, free of any any all subtractive elements—boominess, stridency, sibilance, harshness, etc—is truly remarkable. In the RAD-0’s review I spoke to its sublime transparency, its ability to render “cavernous sound-staging,” and its gorgeous musicality.” Tone/timbre and texture added decidedly to a palpability born of a wealth of micro and macrodynamic details, that stood singers, musicians firmly in space. The Rosson Audio RAD-0 as partnered to the Bakoon AMP-13R became a dance of combined, matching strengths, that lifted the duo to one of the best, in house, matches, performances.
Meze Empyrean w/Upgraded Copper PCUHD Cables ($2999)
Beautiful. The Meze Empyrean is a very special planar magnetic headphone with incredible tone, texture, transparency, and the ability to extract rivers of nuance. The Empyrean is spectacularly musical having won the honor of our Best Product of the Year for 2020. Suffice to say that its alliance with the Bakoon AMP-13R was exceptionally musical. The combo also rendered transparency on another level altogether, and brought palpability to voices that stood against a black-quiet background. This is truly what we refer to at AudioKey Reviews as a Magical Synergy. In terms of efficiency, the Bakoon AMP-13R was set to a gain of 13 of 50 steps to power the Empyrean. And the soundstage was vast and encompassing with excellent layering, positioning, and separation.
oBravo RA-C-CU ($10,000)
Breathtaking. The Bakoon AMP-13R drove the oBravo RA-C-CU beautifully! It gave a low end weight to the RA-C-CU that was unmatched by all comers. The RA-C-CU’s bass rumbled thunderously, was taunt, and rich with detail. And the oBravo RA-C-CU’s voice was natural, rich, and entirely sibilance free. Together the AMP-13R and the oBravo RA-C-CU scaled treble heights with an ease, sweetness, and beauty that could well have been a siren’s song. Obravo’s AMT driver implementation sets it clearly above the IEM driver and exotic driver—BAs, dynamic drivers, electrostatic—race and, in truth, on another level altogether and the AMP-13R took full advantage of this.
Conclusion
Short signal paths, a minimum of optimized parts, that are able to discern temperature and voltage shifts and correct them in milliseconds, a MPU-50 Stepped Attenuator, and EXICON MOSFETS all equal the JET SATRI CIRCUIT. And what this translates to is superb musical reproduction, that is organic, natural, lightening fast, transparent, and captivating! Bravo!
As of late, I have experienced a number of exceptional products that have made the resident cynic (of audio equipment) that lives within confused, elated, concerned. Yes, I have turned away a number of quite expensive components that did not meet our musical expectations, as I refuse to write bad, flame-throwing reviews. What’s the point? But that so many of the products that remain may well be award winners, to varying degrees, or, at least, “highly recommended” is an end of year problem, that already has me concerned. But I must admit, that audio is one of the few places where advances in technology stand ready to serve the whole of humanity. Why not do my part in this respect?
The Bakoon AMP-13R is much like a great leader or coach or a superstar athlete in that its inclusion with any combination of capable components will lift all boats to levels that they may not have experienced, previously. Please don’t take my word for it, seek out the Bakoon AMP-13R and discover this for yourself. The truth in this case will be in the listening and the subsequent lifting of all boats/components in your respective, head-fi systems. Finally, the Bakoon AMP-13R performed flawlessly over the course of its entire stay!
The Bakoon AMP-13R is a form-follows-function, work of modern art. Further, the AMP-13R is incredibly transparent, of a natural/organic musicality, and wondrously engaging. It is our latest DIAMOND award winner.
I will be very sad to see the Bakoon AMP-13R go on its merry way. I have certainly held on to it for as long as I could. And for this I am grateful to Soo In Chae, a decidedly nice and wonderfully, gracious man. Thank you!
Pros: Transparency, dynamic contrasts, musicality, transient speed, imaging, etc.
Cons: Zero.
The Systems
1.
Bakoon AMP-13R
Border Patrol SE-i DAC
Shanling M8 DAP (as transport)
Cardas cabling
TORUS TOT MAX
2.
Bakoon AMP-13R
Mola Mola Tambaqui
Shanling M8 DAP (as transport)
Cardas cabling
TORUS TOT MAX
THE MUSIC
The Company
Bakoon
Bakoon AMP-13R ($6,000)
Bakoon
Bakoon International Inc.
San Jose, CA
www.bakoon.com
info@bakoon.com