Advance guard

Advance guardFrench newcomer Advance Acoustic brings D/A conversion to a £600 integrated ampPRODUCT Advance Acoustic MAP305DA IITYPE Integrated stereo amplifierPRICE £600KEY FEATURES Size (WxHxD): 44x15.5x45cmP Weight: 15.5kg P Power output: 100W/eight ohmsP Analogue inputs: 5x single-ended, MM/MC phonoP D/A conversion P Digital inputs: 4x coax, 1x opticalCONTACT 01623 517000q www.advance-acoustic.comHere’s a question. What does Naim’sSupernait (£2,350) and MusicalFidelity’s A1008 (£2,999) have incommon, apart from four-figure price tags?Answer: on-board D/A conversion. But whatif £2-3k for an amp is simply too much? Stepin little-known French company AdvanceAcoustic. It started with speakers in 1995 andhad some success with its MA 11 model back in1997, but it wasn’t until 2003 that it decided tobranch out into electronics. Now the companyoffers a wide range of integrated and pre/power amps, and a CD player. There’s even atransport and DAC coming, which Hi-Fi Choicehas first. Advance Acoustic also makes a valvepreamp with an iPod dock built onto the front,that sells for a mere £250… pas mal!Looking at the MAP305DA II’s specs doesbeg the question “how do they do that?” And,of course, the obvious answer here is that theydo it by manufacturing the unit in China. Buteven that doesn’t explain the unit’s ratedpower, size and quality of casework. Nor doesit easily explain away the long list of featuresthat, when taken as a whole, are enough togive even Cambridge a run for its money.In the UK at least, Cambridge has a close allyin the retailing business, so it can keep marginstight. This isn’t the case for Advance Acoustic,which comes in via the usual distributionchannels and thus must start out veryaffordable indeed.So what do you get in this hefty box? Well,the specs quote 100 watts per side, whichtallies with the weight at least, but they alsogo on to suggest a doubling of power into ahalving of load (200 watts into four ohms).This strikes us as unlikely, given that you don’tusually get this without spending at least fourtimes the asking price here. But just look atthe quality of those meters! We’ve not seensomething so saucy since the last Technicspower amplifier left the building, and that wasin the 1980s. These meters flicker seductivelywhen you turn the wick up a little, but it’s hardto imagine them actually getting to the one wattmark unless you or your speakers are nearly deaf!The MAP305DA II’s name may not have agreat deal of je ne sais quoi, but it does hint atan unusual feature set for such an affordableamp, namely digital to analogue conversion.This, to our knowledge, puts it in a class of onewhen it comes to amplifiers under a grand. As aresult, it has no fewer than five digital inputsalongside three line-in inputs and an MM/MCphono stage. Fully featured? Certainly.Other features include ‘preamp out’ and‘power amp in’ sockets, which are bridged innormal use, plus ‘tape out’ sockets and bigconical feet. Advance Acoustic has consideredthat you might not want to make dents in yourLouis 13th equipment rack and so providesplastic receptacles to put under the points.Little mention is made of the technologyinside the box, save that it operates in class AB,has sealed compartments within the cabinetand boasts “ubiquitous use of best qualitycircuit components”. Pretty standard fare, then.However, you might notice that the mainstransformer is oriented sideways by conventionalstandards, which means that the field it produceswill be radiating toward the front and rear ratherthan top and bottom as is usual, something that74 HI-FI CHOICE awards 2007HFC300.advance 742/10/07 1:35:47 pm

Advance Acoustic MAP305DA II amplifier [ Review ]“With the amp warmed up, it kicks off in alively, upfront style that’s high on vitality,if a little short on sophistication.”might benefit components placed above andbelow it on an equipment rack.The on-board DAC is specified as being a24/192 device that should work with mostcomponents, including DVD-A players that canoutput 24/96 bitstreams. Surprisingly, givenAdvance Acoustic’s enthusiasm for the iPod,there is no mini-jack input.PERFORMANCEAll of the MAP305DA II’s inputs are accessiblefrom a metal remote handset. The remote’saesthetics are only slightly undermined by alack of volume control subtlety; you have tohave a very delicate touch to initiate anythingless than a significant change in level. It alsoseems to have rather a lot of gain, and evenwith our least sensitive speakers, there wasn’ta lot of range available on the rotary control– which is partly why it’s difficult to initiatesmall changes with the remote.With the amp set up and warmed up, it kicksoff in a lively, upfront style that’s high onvitality, if a little short on sophistication. Thisvia the taxing load offered by a pair of B&W802D loudspeakers, which are, perhaps, rathertoo revealing for an amp of this price. With theCambridge Audio 840A in its place, there’s afuller and more detailed sound, albeit one thatdoesn’t offer any more control in the bass, and,if anything, gives a slightly less comfortablebalance at high levels.A slightly more appropriate speaker – in theform of the ATC SCM19 – suits the AdvanceAcoustic’s bass rather better. The ATC SCM19doesn’t extend as far as the 802D and, as aresult, the sound is tight and tuneful, althoughit does reveal a degree of hardness throughthe midrange. The 840A proves rather morenatural in this area and more detailed asbefore, but it does cost another £150.The Pioneer A-A9 integrated, on the otherhand, is a precise price match, and one thatdelivers greater bass weight (for a lowerspecified power), but doesn’t match theAdvance Acoustic’s resolve through themidrange, or its precision.The MAP305DA II does not have thesmoothest of top ends and we wonder if theaforementioned footplates could help as theycome with stick-on rubber pucks. Placing thisdamped interface between the TownshendVSS (glass shelf) rack and the amp does seemto smooth out the top a little, however.Using the digital input and on-board DAC witha Pioneer PD-D6 CD player produces a calmerand more relaxed sound than the player’sanalogue signal, but does result in a reductionof low-level detail. Remember, however, thatthis is a pretty new CD player with a decentsound and not one that is easy to improveupon. Rega’s superb Apollo CD player deliversa more sparkly and open balance via theAdvance Acoustic’s converter, but loses theappealingly analogue quality that it usuallyoffers. In both instances the amp’s slightlyforward character is more obviously notablevia the digital input.Given that the ATCs are still, perhaps, a littleon the expensive (and revealing) side for anamp at this price, we figured the B&W 683could do better. They immediately bring outthe fulsome brassy sound of Ornette Coleman’sChange of the Century and add some mostwelcome bottom-end too. Just out of curiosity,we also put Cambridge’s 740A integrated ampup for comparison. For its £100 saving over theAdvance Acoustic, it delivers a more tautand precise sound with greater bottom-endsolidity, but a degree of dryness that suckedsome of the life out of brass instruments.The MAP305DA II is a remarkablycompetitive amplifier that offers a superbrange of features for the money, not forgettingthe D/A conversion. It’s dynamic and looksinherently more expensive than it actually is.Something of a bargain, then. HFCJason KennedyVERDICTSOUND >> 82%FEATURES >> 90%BUILD >> 82%VALUE >> 88%OVERALL SCORE >>R PROLively, dynamic soundcombined with digitalinputs and substantialbuild quality, notforgetting the VU meters!S CONTheres a little toomuch gain for fine useof the remote control,and optimistic powerratings. It also runspretty hot, too.CONCLUSIONAdvance Acoustic has thrown down the gauntlet tomid-range amplifier makers in no uncertain fashion, this isa lot of amplifier for the money and its capable of revealingand exciting sound quality in the right company.85%awards 2007 HI-FI CHOICE 75HFC300.advance 752/10/07 1:35:59 pm