Two years ago I wrote a preview for Leonid (Leo) Ayzenshtat’s of Orchard Audio‘s very first product, the Crispin stereo amplifier. I found it to be a very musical Class D amp. You can read that post here. Now I have their new BOSC™ Monoblock amps in my system to do a follow up to Adam LaBarge’s review of these amps that we published last month.
The two little amps are basically 5″ by 5.5″ by 2″. They can sit inconspicuously behind each speaker. The amps can be this small because they each have their own external power supply. The power supplies are approximately 8″ by 4″ by 2″ with a nice long umbilical cord so that they can be placed in a convenient place.
I used the BOSC monoblock amps to drive my DeVore gibbon SuperNines. The preamp was an LTA MicroZOTL 3. The sources were my AMG V12 turntable with a 12″ Turbo tonearm mounted with a DS Audio Master1 Optical cartridge and an Innuos Mini II with a BorderPatrol DAC SE. My speaker cables were Audience FrontRow, and the interconnects were Audience AU24SX.
Listening
Let me start this follow up with a couple of questions. First, when I was listening to the BOSC monoblock amps did I think about them being Class D amps? I found them very dynamic, very musical, and beautifully detailed in the top end. The tone was better than in many transistor amps. The same could be said about emotional involvement. Listenability was very good with a relaxed and detailed sound. The soundstage and imaging were also very good. So, the answer to the first question is no. As I listened to one performance after another, I did not think about them being Class D amps.
The second question is, did I think that the price of these amps is $1,500? The answer is still no, but I never thought that they were $10,000 amps either. Though, I do have to say that they come closer to sounding like really expensive amps than other amps that I have heard that are in the $1,500 price range.
I also appreciate that Leo chooses to voice his Class D amps for tone, musicality, and emotional involvement rather than for just how much power he can get out of them.
Summing It All Up
After spending some time with these amps, I could well understand why Adam was so excited about them. They are very special, and they are also very musical. The only amp with a similar price point that I have reviewed lately is the Parasound ZoneMaster 2350. The BOSC monoblock amps are more detailed than the ZoneMaster 2350, but to my ears, they don’t sound quite as rich. On the other hand, the BOSC monoblocks present a bigger and wider soundstage.
I highly recommend the BOSC monoblock amps, and we just learned that Leo is offering a kickstarter campaign for them. You can find out more about this campaign in the press release here.
