Audio Analogue AAcento

JUDGES’ COMMENT
“A truly special stereo hi-fi amplifier from Italy, the AAcento combines clever design and tech with a thrilling performance.”

If amplifiers were listed in a phone book, this one would clearly be at the top of the first page. It would be an Italian phone book, of course, with the brand being designed and manufactured entirely comment, that difference is less than many will think. Doubling a power output, say, doesn’t double the available volume — you would actually need an amplifier that’s 10 times more powerful in order to do that (a difference of 10dB). If you do the maths, 150W is only 1.76dB more powerful than the AAcento’s 100W. And the smallest difference said to be perceptible to the human ear is generally held to be 1dB when using test signals and 3dB when using music, so really, the additional grunt will be primarily useful in giving higher power output into low impedances and with transients if you have inefficient speakers. Otherwise much of the internal circuitry of the AAcento is either identical to or insignificantly different from the Maestro. Build quality is also identical. The remote control is also identical.