Hi everyone
Good evening everyone
Today we’re reviewing an amplifier from Aune, a company that needs no introduction, model N7
It sits in the mid range of the company’s lineup
A big thank you to Aune @auneaudio for sending the unit for review 🌹
And before we start the review:
Aune sent me this unit before I became their dealer and asked for my honest opinion on it, and that’s what’s going to happen God willing, and I’ll be tougher on it than on others because it’s one of the products we sell in the IEM WORLD store
Sources:
Streamer: Lumin U2 Mini
DAC: DENAFRIPS Ares 15th R-2R DAC
Headphones:
HEDD2 & Sivga PENG & Verum One MKII
Speaker:
Kef LS50 Wireless
connected with an RCA cable
and I’ll lay out the full chain at the end of the review
I’ll start my review with the pros and cons:
First: the pros
– The unit is small and won’t crowd your desk at all
– Color info screen
– Class A amp
– It can drive any headphone you plug into it (no matter how power hungry the headphone is)
– A purely musical sound signature (it won’t please users looking for a neutral or analytical signature)
– True balanced inputs and outputs
– Two selectable Current levels (one of the best features, especially for anyone who owns a planar headphone)
– The Volume Control is an R2R type, and that’s rare to find except on units above 1000$
– It supports Preamp mode .. with volume control in this mode too.
– It comes with a metal remote control for most of the unit’s functions
– Exceptional performance for the price
The cons:
– It doesn’t have an XLR headphone output
– There’s no standby mode, so it’s either fully on or fully off + the power button is on the back !
– The volume control, whether from the remote or the unit itself, isn’t very precise (sometimes you turn it up and it jumps two steps even though I only pressed the remote once).
– The unit runs kind of warm (even though that’s normal for this class of amps, I mean Class A, but I wanted to mention it)
– You can’t use a power cable with it, you have to use the adapter that comes from the company.
– The sound signature won’t suit a lot of users, especially those looking for the finest details or analytical performance, and that includes gamers.
Unit specs:
Inputs and outputs:
Moving on to the unit’s technical performance, I’ll go through it in a few points:
– Sound signature:
Warm
A purely musical approach .. and honestly, units with this kind of sound are very rare
and I can say with full confidence that this amp gave me a level of musical enjoyment I consider the best so far, second only to the holo audio bliss kte that I reviewed before on my YouTube channel, which costs 3600$
– Soundstage:
Wide and very, very, very deep ..
One of the most beautiful stages you’ll ever come across
– Layering:
Excellent .. the spacing between the layers is clear
– Clarity:
In line with its sound approach .. meaning whoever wants the best clarity should go for its big brother the Aune S17 Pro EVO
and that doesn’t mean it’s bad on this unit .. not at all, it’s just not the best
– Quiet background:
Excellent .. no noise and no hissing at all
– Separation between sounds:
Great for this sound approach .. and this also depends on the headphone you use, it has to be excellent in this area
– Detail retrieval:
If you take its sound approach into account .. I find it excellent ..
but if you compare it to units with a neutral approach .. no, of course they’ll be better than it
and to keep it short, if detail is your number one priority .. this unit isn’t for you
As for the sound performance:
Bass:
The strongest and most beautiful performance I’ve come across so far ..
The unit boosts the bass response and brings it forward, especially the sub-bass, no matter how I describe it, I can’t fully do it justice
It improves the air, raises the quantity, and gives it warmth, and all of this shows in whatever headphone you use with it, for example the sivga Peng and the HEDD2 both have weak sub bass, after hooking them up to this unit the problem was completely gone .. it became prominent and gave the sound an amazing musical warmth
And if your headphone already has a lot of bass, it’ll go up even more .. you need to watch out for that .. unless that’s your preference
And it was the best amp I’ve used with the kef speaker, it brought out the bass in a waaaaay awesome and fun way
Mids:
A tiny bit behind the bass, warm, fun, natural, all the voices have weight, it doesn’t suffer from thinness or harshness
Treble:
Comes last in line after the bass and the mids, just slightly, the sparkle level is moderate, no harshness or sibilance, even if your headphone is harsh it’ll calm down a bit with this unit.
The detail stands out moderately, so if you want a unit that pushes it forward you won’t like it .. you’ll hear it and it’s clear, but it doesn’t stand out
Its extension into the high frequencies is great ,, no idea how they kept that with this kind of sound signature
– The full source chain explained
Router
Ethernet Cable From ERUMPENT
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oF9AtUB
⬇️
Streamer
LUMIN U2 Mini
https://www.suncoastaudio.com/collections/lumin/products/lumin-u2-mini
⬇️
Coaxial cable
https://iem-world.com/ar/DppYAOb
By : IEM World
⬇️
Dac
DENAFRIPS Ares 15th R2R DAC
https://iem-world.com/ar/YgEbZwE
⬇️
ULTRA Copper – X / XL cable
https://iem-world.com/ar/vAXDmDl
By : IEM World
⬇️
AMP
Aune N7
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_olwOi5H
Headphones
Blue Orbit – headphone cable
https://iem-world.com/ar/WzAARZP
By : IEM World
Kef LS50 Wireless – RCA
And to wrap up:
If you’re looking for an amp with a warm sound signature and a musical, emotional approach that can drive any headphone at a very reasonable price, then the Aune N7 is hands down the first choice ..
Regards
Naif
In the market
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