Интегральные усилители — BC Acoustique EX-234

The EX-234 is a stereo integrated amplifier from BC Acoustique, the French hi-fi company founded near Paris in 1993 by Christian Avedissian and Bruno Roux. Launched in November 2022 at a list price of EUR 899, it houses an analogue preamp, an MM phono stage, a DAC section and Bluetooth reception in one black chassis. It is rated for 2 x 80 W RMS into 8 ohm and 2 x 140 W into 4 ohm, and BC Acoustique says it can drive loudspeakers of 4 or 8 ohm. It arrived together with the EX-714 stereo system and the EX-614 slot-in CD player, which is listed at EUR 499 and uses an AKM AK4432 converter, and it sits above the earlier EX-214 that founded the range.

Key specs that matter

Analogue connections cover two unbalanced RCA line inputs, a single balanced XLR socket, a 3.5 mm mini-jack input for portable players and a phono input intended for moving-magnet cartridges. Four digital inputs are also fitted, two optical TOSLINK and two coaxial S/PDIF sockets, each accepting signals up to 24 bits at 192 kHz, and a wireless Bluetooth input completes the list of sources. Outputs comprise an RCA line out, a REC out, an RCA subwoofer out, a 6.3 mm headphone jack and four screw speaker terminals that take banana plugs. Total harmonic distortion is below 0.02 percent, with signal-to-noise above 100 dB and bandwidth from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The case measures 434 x 104 x 355 mm and weighs 10.7 kg.

Engineering and use context

BC Acoustique builds the power supply around two toroidal transformers, a solution the brand describes as rare on amplifiers in this price class, and says both the supply and the output stages are oversized relative to the rated power. The preamplifier section is shielded. Incoming S/PDIF data from the coaxial and optical ports is handled by an AKM AK4112 receiver chip, and conversion to analogue is done by a Texas Instruments PCM1606E circuit. Front controls include a volume encoder, balance, treble and bass adjustment and input selection, and a remote control is supplied with two batteries. A USB socket is reserved for firmware updates. Bluetooth reception uses an integrated antenna with a quoted range of about 10 metres.

Pairing

The pre-out socket feeds either an active subwoofer or an extra stereo amplifier used for bi-amping. An MM-equipped record player goes directly into the phono stage, while a source with balanced output can use the XLR socket.

Alternatives

Within the same catalogue, the BC Acoustique EX-214 is a lower-powered integrated amplifier listed at EUR 499.