2023-09-03 10:38:55
Atoll Electronique is a unique case. It is the only manufacturer producing in France to have managed to rise to the rank of the biggest international brands of democratic audiophile electronics. Its Hifi Atoll IN50 Signature amp, an entry-level model, is the result of a long and patient optimization process and already bears the brand’s high standards.
Atoll IN50 Signature
– Type: stereo integrated amplifier
– L’avis d’ON-mag : (5/5) ON-topaudio Award product
– Price at the time of the test: 850 €
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The Atoll IN50 Signature is an integrated stereo with a simple appearance, but which does not lack elegance. It has a 4 mm thick brushed aluminum front, nicely designed and rounded, while its cover and sides are pierced with a multitude of small ventilation holes forming concentric patterns.
Phono stages, a DAC and a remote control, only if you need them
In its basic version, this amp accepts five line sources (therefore only analog) and has a headphone socket on the front, a monitoring loop, two preamp outputs as well as a direct input to its power stages. It is especially possible to make it evolve. You can add a phono card for turntable P50 (MM) or P100 (MM/MC) and a DAC card DA100 (with coaxial and optical inputs) or DA200 (adding Bluetooth and Hi-res Audio USB port). All these elements are optional (respectively at 60, 100, 200 and 350 €), as is the Atoll universal remote control (45 €). One may find that to be petty. But isn’t it better to offer a device with the essential elements at an affordable price and to let the user choose whether or not to acquire the additional elements that he really needs? From the point of view of ecology, of a reasoned consumption without excess or useless equipment, it is certainly a good approach.
Under the Hood: Nothing Too Much, Just the Right Thing and the Best
Atoll Electronique has existed for more than 25 years. The company was built little by little, it grew but kept its artisanal dimension. She still ensures her own production in her workshop in Brécey in the Manche department, in Normandy. Today’s Atoll IN50 Signature is the result of the evolution of an amp that has existed since the company’s early days. Its circuits have been the subject of a long and patient optimization, always guided by the same philosophy of purity and simplicity.
Under the hood, the circuits of the Atoll IN50 Signature are an example of an audiophile school. It’s airy, everything is in discrete components and easily repairable if necessary. The layout is dual mono except for the power transformer. The latter is a toroidal model Diemen Efiter of 170 VA, detached and separated by the heat sinks from the audio signal processing stages. Its two main filtering capabilities Nippon Chemi-con, 63 V at 6800 µF each, are installed as close as possible to the power stages. The main board is premium epoxy glass with nickel/gold finish and star ground center point. The link capacitors are MKP type. The amplification uses for each channel a pair of MosFet transistors (International Rectifier IRFP9140N and IRFP140N), in push-pull, polarized in class A/B. Each of the transistors has its own aluminum radiator, with fins, separated from the chassis, in order to avoid intermodulation and memory phenomena.
The Atoll IN50 Signature that we received for testing was equipped with its DA200 conversion board. It has a USB interface XMOS and a converter AKM (AK4490EQ) de type 32 bits/768 kHz.
A pure and luminous sound reproduction that does not lack warmth
For our tests of the IN50 Signature, we used bindings from the French brand Real Cable whether it’s for the analog modulation coming for the occasion from a Taga Harmony TCD-50 CD player, for the USB digital stream provided by a 2012 MacBook Pro and for our landmark speakers. The latter, Kelinac KEL 714 MG, allowed us to properly assess the potential of the device, but they are not the best suited to it. Because of its power and its characteristics, the Atoll amp will make a better match with bookshelf speakers, floorstanding compacts or small columns.
Using the Atoll IN50 Signature is very simple. It has a switch on its back and on its front panel, its controls are limited to the standby button, the volume potentiometer and two source selection buttons.
When listening, the device immediately stands out for the subtlety and delicacy of its sound reproduction. He is a follower of purity and his midrange is particularly elegant. It manages to be very rich in colors and timbres, while showing great transparency with an excellent effect of presence. on the piece Sirens by Flume, which FIFA 23 players know well, rearranged by Tourist, we discover inflections and mixing details on Caroline Polachek’s voice that we had previously overlooked, even from amps ten times more expensive. This transparency does not mean that the device gives a feeling of too much neutrality, coldness or surgical.
Compared to some of the brand’s previous creations, the Atoll IN50 seems more fulfilled and less reserved. At high volume (because the 2 x 50 watts already make it possible to reach a substantial level), its balance can even seem a little physiological and emphatic with round, well-present bass, brilliant treble and a full-scale image. But the Atoll amplifier excels above all at a moderate or reasonable level of listening, that which we practice every day. Contrary to certain devices which it is necessary to push in the turns to have feelings, it is very lively and full of vitality as of the lowest modes. The Atoll IN50 Signature is an everyday audiophile companion, faithful, who knows how to make Hifi and especially music.
In summary
Here is an integrated stereo truly made in France which has nothing to envy to the best international audiophiles in its category. The Atoll IN50 Signature is unpretentious, does not seek to impress, either by its appearance or its performance, but delivers a reproduction that is both very delicate and full of energy. We also appreciate its simple and very healthy construction as well as its possibilities of evolution which make it a product designed to last a long time.
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The Atoll IN50 Signature dissected by ON-mag
Specifications
Type: stereo integrated Hifi amplifier Power: 2 x 50 watts at 8 ohms, 2 x 70 watts at 4 ohms Inputs: 5x Line, one “bypass” (power amp) on RCA Outputs: pair of speaker terminals, headphone socket on 6.35 mm jack, monitoring and 2x preamp on RCA Options: phono preamp and DAC cards, remote control Weight: 7 kg Dimensions: 44 × 9.5 x 30.5 cm
Prix : 850 €
Brand website: www.atoll-electronique.com
Our opinion
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