Another affordable option when it comes to credible one-box amplification
The world seems to be awash with interesting new, capable, versatile, high-quality integrated amplifiers. The idea might not be new: shove all the things that make big separates so great into a single box and (at least in theory) it becomes smaller and more affordable. But whereas in the past, such high-end integrateds have tended to be neither particularly small, nor particularly affordable, as well as often disappointing when it came to musical performance, that also seems to be changing. The Neodio TMA is a case in point, if you want to go the hair-shirt route. If you value both versatility and musical performance, the (review pending) Heed Lagrange ticks all the right boxes. Now, another new entry has hit the market, closely mimicking the Heeds feature list and price. The €5K price-point certainly seems to be hotting up!
Starting out as a Naim-alternative in the UK market, Exposure has long been known for its high-value, performance orientated, minimalist electronics. Bit its new 5510 integrated amp takes a sideways step into the world of configurable, versatile, single-box solutions. The compact, slimline, amplifier offers five, single-ended inputs and a tape loop, two sets of single-ended pre-outs and two pairs of speaker connections per channel. Power output is a healthy 120 W/Ch into an 8Ω load. To that, owners can add a phono input board (to suit either MM, MC or the DS Audio Optical cartridges) and/or an internal DAC, with coaxial S/PDIF, TosLink and USB2 inputs.The basic amplifier, without optional boards, costs £4,600 (inc. 20% UK sales tax), pitching it head-to-head with the impressive products mentioned above. When so much equipment at the upper end of the audio market seems to be spiralling further and further out of reach, here’s one sector of the market that really seems to be stepping up in the value-for-money stakes.
