Ayon Audio Alpha Review – The Absolute Sound

Ayon Alpha Amplifier

(From the 2013 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest)

By Robert Harley     | Oct 16th, 2013

The most intriguing new product had to be the Alpha from Ayon Audio. This black-box component (no front-panel controls) is designed to complement a lower-powered tubed amplifier so that the tubed amplifier can drive a wider range of loudspeakers beyond high-sensitivity models. The Alpha contains a 400Wpc stereo solid-state power amplifier, crossover, and DSP, with the on-board amplifier driving your speaker’s woofers, freeing your tubed amplifier from that burden. When driving the 88dB-sensitive Gauder Akustik loudspeakers with a 30Wpc Ayon integrated amplifier, I was shocked by the system’s dynamics, bass extension, and ability to play loudly. The midrange and treble retained all the qualities of a low-powered tubed amplifier, but with rock-solid bass. The Ayon Alpha delivered the seemingly impossible—the sweetness of low-powered tubed amplifier with the control and dynamics of solid-state, coupled with the ability to drive speakers of any sensitivity or impedance.