Интегральные усилители — Perreaux 80i

The Audiant 80i is a stereo integrated amplifier from Perreaux of New Zealand that combines a preamplifier, a power amplifier, an upsampling DAC and a moving magnet phono stage in one chassis. It appeared in 2011 at around USD 3,000, and the current Australian price is AUD 4,890. For the brand's 40th anniversary Perreaux built a Special Edition limited to 100 units, fitted with an upgraded mains transformer and priced at GBP 2,990 in Britain.

Key specs that matter

Rated output is 80 W per channel into 8 ohm and 130 W into 4 ohm. Gain is 28 dB. Noise in the main amplifier lies 105 dB down, A-weighted, referenced to 80 W into 8 ohm, while the preamplifier section manages 113 dB referenced to 2 Vrms and the digital section 120 dB referenced to 0 dBFS. THD+N is typically 0.002% at 1 kHz and below 0.05% across 20 Hz to 20 kHz, response is within 0.1 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and the damping factor is 400 at 1 kHz. Eight stereo inputs are provided - line level on three RCA pairs, a phono pair for MM, plus USB, coaxial and a pair of optical sockets on the digital side. The chassis is 431 mm wide, 309 mm deep and only 67 mm tall, and weighs 11.5 kg.

Engineering and use context

The power stage runs in class AB with MOSFET output devices, supplied by a high-current toroidal transformer of Perreaux's own design. Digital decoding is handled by an ESS Sabre ES9006 Reference DAC that upsamples incoming data to 24 bit and 96 kHz, and the USB input works in asynchronous mode with its own independent clock. The phono module accepts moving magnet cartridges only and provides 40 dB of gain. Controls are capacitive touch pads on the aluminium front panel beside a dimmable display, and a full-function infrared remote is included. A selectable home theatre bypass lets the 80i act as a fixed-gain power amplifier for the front channels of a surround processor. Standby consumption is below 1 W in line with Energy Star requirements, and the amplifier draws about 50 W at idle.

Pairing

The power reserve into low impedance loads allows the 80i to drive typical floorstanding speakers of moderate sensitivity, including Perreaux's own SR35 towers with their low nominal impedance. Owners of low-output moving coil cartridges will need an outboard phono stage. A computer can connect over USB, and the pre out and line out RCA sockets allow a subwoofer, a second power amplifier or a recorder to be added.

Alternatives

Above it in the Perreaux range sits the 200iX integrated, rated at 200 W into 8 ohm with an MM/MC phono stage, an ES9038 Pro DAC and a 665 VA toroidal transformer.