Pioneer has a lot of hi-fi to flaunt in its showroom at Munich High End Show this weekend, among which is something that’s not very ‘high-end’ at all: its new A-40AE integrated amplifier.
The budget A-40AE delivers 76 watts per channel (into 4 ohms), with Pioneers’ ‘Direct Energy’ output stage designed to run at reduced power consumption for high efficiency.
You can tell that the Pioneer is a well-equipped machine just by looking at the aluminium-alloy front panel.
As well as tone, balance and volume controls, there’s also a 'power amp direct' mode, which can bypass the volume control to allow owners to connect an external pre-amplifier. Then there’s an input selector to switch between the Pioneer’s eight inputs.
A 32-bit/384kHz Wolfson DAC feeds optical and coaxial inputs – both capable of 24-bit/192kHz playback – which are joined by a plethora of analogue connectivity. There are five line-level analogue inputs, as well as a phono input for turntables with moving magnet cartridges. Completing the list are line and headphones outputs.
More unusually, the A-40AE can be used with two pairs of speakers - either concurrently or individually.
The Pioneer A-40AE comes in a choice of black and silver finishes and will be available from August. Watch out, Marantz? Maybe.
You can jump straight to our full coverage of the Munich show here, or catch up with this week’s reviews, news and features highlights here.
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