Amplifier A20
The sweetest twenty Watts
Eight years after the first amplifier, Audial introduced another one.
With 20 Watts, and the ability to drive 4 Ohm or higher loudspeaker impedances, the A20 is made to fit most home loudspeakers and environments.
On the other side, the Audial design approach and audio performance make A20 a unique amplifier, genuinely standing out from the crowd.
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Concise topology,
rich performance.
The A20 is the real successor to the already great Model A, and it is also, due to five inputs and friendly input impedance, notably more compatible with different systems.
The A20 employs a digitally controlled resistive network potentiometer chip, and power opamps based output stage, to develop a stunning performance.
Other than the output wiring, the signal path is only a bit longer than the length of the parts themselves.
The A20 also includes:
• JFET buffered line pre-out
• High-quality parts, including Toshiba and National / Texas Instruments semiconductors, Panasonic and Elna capacitors, and Vishay carbon resistors
• Discrete, zero-feedback regulated supply for line-level circuits
• Tinned copper (RoHS compliant) printed circuit board (no nickel here)
• Pure copper, Audial made binding posts
• Volume and balance control and input selection are simply operated by a single knob
• A20 can also be operated by the optional remote control.
Tone and ambiance.
And spaciousness.
The A20’s smooth presentation, especially admired by tube lovers, with instruments in their real size and music flowing through the room, is great for long-term home listening.
Yet its amazingly precise, pinpoint soundstage, and state-of-the-art phase coherence, make it a great choice for studio monitoring too.
Power: When less is still more, even in the-more-the-merrier world.
By maintaining “the golden mean”, and keeping its architecture as simple as possible, “but not simpler than that”, we scaled the A20 to the usual home amplifier needs.
And came with a perfectly shaped amplifier, which 20 Watts can drive most loudspeakers, and fill the usual home environments with music.
Input voltage
Min 0.5 V RMS for full power
Max 5 V RMS (input overload)
Input impedance
45 kOhm
Output power
20 W RMS @ 8 or 4 Ohm
Maximum output current
3 A
Output DC offset
Less than -2 mV
Frequency response
20 Hz – 200 kHz, ±0.5 dB
The amplifier is directly coupled, but its gain at DC is unity, for the loudspeakers’ safety.
Harmonic distortion
0.01% @ 1 kHz @ 8 Ohm
0.02% @ 1 kHz @ 4 Ohm
0.03% across the audio band (worst case) @ 8 Ohm
0.06% across the audio band (worst case) @ 4 Ohm
Intermodulation distortion
0.03% (SMPTE), @ 8 Ohm, full power
Gain
31.3x (29.9 dB)
(max gain between the input and speakers out, and also the ratio between the pre-out and speakers output)
Pre-out gain
1x (0 dB), at volume max
Pre-out impedance
130 Ohm
Absolute phase
Correct, for both the loudspeakers and pre-out
Mains voltage
220-240 VAC, or 110-120 VAC, or 100 VAC
50-60 Hz
Idle power consumption
19 W, typical
Allowed DC on the mains
40 mV max
(for the silent operation of 150 VA toroidal mains transformer, with tweaked core flux)
Size (W x D x H)
426 x 280 x 92 mm, including feet, but excluding the knob and connectors
Weight
6 kg
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