Scott Walker Audio is on hand at the 2023 T.H.E. Show at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, CA with several products, but the highlight this year is the Aurender AP20 Integrated Amplifier.
Tip: For show attendees, the AP20 is being demonstrated in Huntington Room 1.
What the Aurender AP20 Is
The Aurender AP20 combines an integrated amp, reference-grade DAC, analog and digital audio inputs, streaming capability (via app), and a dedicated headphone amp for flexible music listening. If you don’t want to listen on headphones, the AP20 provides plenty of power for just about any speakers you would like to use, such as the Estelon Aura that Scott Walker Audio is using with the AP20 this year at the show.
Feature Spotlight
Here are some of the main features of the AP20.
Class D Amplification: The AP20 incorporates class D amplifier modules designed by engineer, Bruno Putzeys. His Purifi Eigentakt 1ET400A amplifier is free of digital harshness, edginess, and grain. Power output is rated at 200 watts into 8 ohms or 250 watts into 4 ohms
DAC: Aurender designed the AP20 for those seeking the simplicity of an all-in-one unit without sacrificing a high level of resolution, transparency, and inner detail. Built around an integrated dual-mono AKM4497 DAC module, the AP20’s DAC section delivers PCM, DSD, and MQA full-decoding at the highest level possible using the aforementioned AKM module.
Analog Volume Control: The AP20 employs an analog-domain volume control based on an R2R stepped attenuator system. Volume control of this type is not usually included in digitally-equipped integrated amps.
Critical Listening Mode: This feature allows users to turn off the front panel screen, buttons, and all background computing activity that is not essential for playing music. This provides a quieter, more transparent music-listening experience.
Analog Pass-Through Inputs: The AP20 provides several analog inputs including 1 balanced XLR and 2 single-ended RCA. Vinyl record fans can connect a phono preamp (if your turntable doesn’t have one built-in) to an available analog input and enjoy pure analog pass-through without any A/D conversion in the signal path if desired.
Digital Connectivity: In addition to analog inputs, the AP20 includes 1 RCA SPDIF, 1 BNC SPDIF, and 2 Toslink digital optical inputs. The AP20 is designed to render external digital sources such as a CD transport, media player, or TV via its internal DAC.
OCXO Precision Clock: This clock generation system incorporates a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with a sub-100fs jitter-reducing clock generator to precisely time digital audio data transmissions and minimize jitter to below detectable levels.
Storage Capacity: Do you like to download and store music? The AP provides 2x User-Installable Storage Slots.
USB HDD and NAS Connectivity: In addition to its expandable internal storage the AP20 also includes USB 3.0 and NAS share connectivity.
Integrated Streaming Services: In addition to built-in storage, the AP can access streaming music services via Aurender Conductor App (iPhone, iPad, Android). TIDAL, Qobuz, Internet Radio, Spotify Connect, and AirPlay are supported.
Front Panel Display: The AP20 has a high-resolution LCD display that is easy to read from most seating positions.
Double Isolated LAN Port: Two layers of transformer-based isolation to filter noise out of the Ethernet connection are provided.
Remote Internet Technical Support: If users have any problems with their AP20, Aurender’s dedicated support team can log into your system remotely to diagnose and fix any issues.
Price and Availability
The Aurender AP20 is priced at $22,000 and is available through Scott Walker Audio
Related Reading
