DAYENS AUDIO- REVIEW
Dayens Audio Ampino Preamplifer & Monoblock Amplifiers
These days quality HiFi products are made all over the world, with large numbers of manufacturers located in Asia and Eastern Europe. One such small firm is Dayens Audio, located in Serbia. This artisanal manufacturer makes a full suite of attractive gear, including preamps, integrated amps, power amps, and even speakers.
Rob Fritz of Audio Art Cable, a man with a good ear for under the radar gear, imports the Dayens line from Europe. He also brings in the Sonnet line from the Netherlands. You can can read the review of their streamer and DAC here. Fritz is also a manufacturer of excellent cables. We used them to evaluate the Sonnet gear, and also for the Dayens components under review here, the Ampino Preamplifer and Ampino Mono Block power amplifiers. The preamp retails for $900, and the mono block amps go for $1650 a pair.
The Ampino line are designed with a small footprint, high value and reliability in mind. The Ampino Preamp, like the amps, is about the size of a shoebox, with a very smart front panel layout, high quality connectors around the back, and a full function remote control supplied. There is a nice silver volume knob that provides plenty of adjustable range. There are four RCA inputs, along with dual RCA outputs, which makes it easy to use with a subwoofer.
The Ampino amplifiers are as elegant in their simplicity as the preamp. A front panel power toggle switch, a back panel RCA input, speaker terminals and IEC inlet adorn each amplifier. These amps pump out 50 watts per channel into 8 Ohms, and it doubles to 100 watts per channel into 8 Ohms.
The case work is nice, and pleasingly plain. At this price point, customers should be thankful designers allocate resources to components as opposed to opulent appearance. And indeed, Dayens uses Mundorf input capacitors, a beefy toroidal transformer, and other high grade parts. A tidy package that should have no issue with driving the vast majority of loudspeakers on the market.
Set Up & Listening:
TThe Dayens combo was installed in a system comprised of a Sonore microRendu streamer, a Marantz HD-DAC1, a Rega Planar 3 turntable, and a Lounge Audio phono stage. Speakers were a pair of Spendor Classic S3/5R monitors. Cabling, as noted, was from Audio Art Cable. Everything was plugged into an Audience power conditioner for good measure.
The first phase of my time enjoying the Ampinos was spent listening to quite a bit of vinyl. Everything from great reissues like the Intervention Records recent Kevin Gray’s mastered Look Sharp! and Night and Day by Joe Jackson, to well-curated original pressings. What became apparent immediately is that the Ampinos had very nice transparency, and excellent soundstage depth. We have heard amps with wider soundstages, but not at this price point!
A stunning reissue find was the We Want Sounds vinyl remaster of legendary Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid’s Giant + Guitar. I was not prepared for the immediacy, transparency and complete involvement that the Dayens combo produced with this release. With a beautifully recorded Middle Eastern ensemble as backing, Khorshid weaves a web of noir guitar melodies and mysterious passages. With a sprinkling of organ, tabla and other exotic instruments, the listener is taken on quite a journey. The impactful and articulate bottom end really showed the Dayens combo had good control of the speakers.
We also thoroughly enjoyed a backlog of high resolution digital releases. The recently released First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, was a pure joy to behold. The 24/192 download captures Blakey and his esteemed sidemen in peak form at concerts in Tokyo. The source was long lost tapes that were somehow discovered, then carefully digitised and edited. The solos are tantalising, and the energy level is what one would expect from such an inspired band. The Dayens Ampinos locked in and organised everything sonically with great flair.
Conclusion:
The Serbian designed and built Dayens Ampino preamplifier and mono block amplifiers deliver a heck of a lot of good sound for their modest prices. The preamp is a no-nonsense clean sounding, transparent linestage, and the amplifiers will drive most speakers without breaking a sweat. Both sets of products do benefit from good cabling and proper placement.
It is always a pleasure to spend time with products made by small manufacturers who have a passion for building great sounding audio gear for sane, real world prices. Dayens fits that bill, and then some. For well under three grand, the Ampino preamp and mono amplifiers are a great find.
Specifications:
Dayens Mono Power Amplifiers: $1650
Continuous Power: 100W/CH (into 4 Ohms) 50W/CH (into 8 Ohms)
Frequency Response: 1Hz – 200Khz (-3dB)
Sensitivity: 220mV.
Input impedance: 100kOhm (RCA)
S/N Ratio: > 100 dB.
Dimensions (H x W x D): 90 x 150 x 330 mm.
Weight (pair): 8 kg.
Finish: Special powder-coated enclosure.
Dayens Ampino Preampliifer: $900
Type: Active (solid-state)
RCA outputs: 2
Power: 50 watts / 8 Ohm; 100 watts / 4 Ohm
Input (RCA): 1
Frequency response (Hz): 4Hz - 200kHz
SNR (dB): >92
Dimensions (mm): 150x330x90
Weight (kg): 4.5
Manufacturer: Dayens
https://www.dayens.rs/en_index.html
Contact: Rob Fritz, Audio Art Cable