Set-up
Contents
The Atoll ST200 Signature takes the place of our NAD M50. We mainly listen via the built-in dac but we also connected a Metrum Acoustics Onyx. Speakers on duty are a pair of Audio Vector QR1 driven by a Bryston B60r. The speakers are disconnected at the acclaimed Isoacoustics Aperta stands. As a second setup, we connect the ST200 as a pre-amplifier to the power amplifier part of our Bryston. This preamplifier is the icing on the cake of this versatile unit. Ok, time to get to work!
The streamer and dac.
It has to be said, that Burr-Brown in the Atoll is excellently implemented! But really excellent. You have to have a good loose dac to do better. If we listen to the new album of Cass McCombs (Tidal Masters) we have little to complain about. “Tip of the Sphere” is the successor to his beautiful breakthrough album “Mangy Love” which we turned grey. His last record needs a little more time to get under your skin but again it’s very good. We’ve been fans of the man for a long time now and because of the Atoll ST200 streamer the album sounds delicious. Nothing to complain about. A lot of detail, a somewhat rounded high and a very good flow of the music. The strings on the guitar in the song ‘Real Life’ come through nicely and the layer is very rich in detail.
If we listen to “Quiet Signs” by Jessica Pratt, we hear a very balanced sound again. The people of Atoll listened carefully and chose a sound that doesn’t disturb anywhere. It is a surprisingly ‘musical’ rendition. By this we mean that the music is not hyper-analytical or clinical. Everything we’re chasing through just sounds really good. Prolonged listening via the built-in dac does not cause the dreaded listening fatigue and ‘an sich’ we have little to complain about. As a total solution, we have done a very good job here.
Just to be on the safe side, put on some solid blues. Buddy Guy’s double album “Rhythm and Blues” is full of beautiful songs. The CD recording is excellent and the guitars sound excellent and with a lot of emotion. Voices are nicely positioned in the middle of the soundstage and the dynamic display propels the songs forward. Because of the level of the recording and the quality of the dac we are completely in the music.
The preamplifier
After a few weeks we connect the Atoll ST200 Signature to the power amplifier part of our Bryston B60r. Now this streamer/dac is turned into a versatile, high quality preamplifier with lots of connection possibilities. We put the Bryston away in the closet and get a very tight setup. Apart from the speakers, there is only one visible component left in the listening room. The streamer with its beautiful colour screen now comes even more into its own.
We listen to “Amplified Heart” by Everything but the girl, an album we know through and through, and immediately we notice the wider soundstage. Where the music used to remain within the two speakers, it now goes all the way to the outside of the speakers. The music also separates more from the speakers and plays a little more to the listener. Our Bryston is fast and tight and keeps the wider soundstage nicely together. The whole thing won’t float.
On the number “Rollercoaster” we soon notice a second difference. The instruments are now clearly more at the front of the mix. This makes them sound wonderfully fresh and sparkling. We must already go back to the fantastic PS Audio Stellar dac to a similar moment to call. We hear the brushstrokes in the percussion a lot more emphatically and can almost touch the drums. Throughout the album we hear blissful little details that came through less clearly with the Bryston in integrated mode. Lovely.