Предусилители — Aries Cerat INCITO

The Incito is the entry preamplifier from Aries Cerat, priced at GBP 10,450 in the UK. It uses two E280F tubes in a transformer-coupled super-triode gain stage with a step-down output transformer, a 5AR4 rectifier and a relay-latched resistor attenuator, and it provides true balanced outputs as standard alongside five RCA inputs and one balanced input.

Key specs that matter

Maximum output is 32 V RMS into 10 kohms, output impedance is below 50 ohms and the preamplifier drives loads down to 250 ohms. There are five pairs of RCA inputs and one balanced input pair, and outputs are true balanced as well as unbalanced. Bandwidth at -6 dB is 4 Hz to 100 kHz. THD is 0.005% typical and below 0.1% at 20 V RMS. The power supply uses double pi filtering per channel. The weight is 33 to 34 kg. A metal remote control operates volume, input selection and balance.

Engineering and use context

The two E280F tubes work in what Aries Cerat calls a super-triode power gain stage. The stage is transformer-coupled and uses a step-down output transformer, which lowers the output impedance. There is no feedback in the circuit. The 5AR4 is a tube rectifier for the high-voltage supply. Volume is set by a relay-latched discrete resistor attenuator, in which latching relays select fixed resistor values and hold their position without a continuous coil current. Driving low loads, the Incito copes with long balanced cables and with more than one power amplifier connected at once. With its high output voltage, it will not clip before any power amplifier reaches full output. Aries Cerat also offers an upgraded Incito S in its Reference Series.

Pairing

The balanced outputs connect to power amplifiers with XLR inputs, including Aries Cerat's own amplifiers, and the low output impedance suits long cable runs between preamplifier and amplifiers. Five RCA inputs cover DACs, phono stages and tuners, and the balanced input suits DACs such as the Kassandra Reference.

Alternatives

The Aries Cerat Impera II Reference is a larger preamplifier using four Inverted Triode tubes and a 26-step transformer volume control, with 15 V RMS output.