The Alchemist unleashed
Fresh from another bout of ghost-busting, resident wizard SHAHRIZA HUSSEIN looks to see if the magic that transforms lead into gold can turn a trick for the audio world
ALCHEMIST is a British brand I'm familiar with only from afar, through brief mention in foreign publications and via the audiophile grapevine. Which means that, bottom line, I haven't much idea of what this audio house has to offer to the hi-fi experience. Neither, it would appear, does Anthony, which may explain why he passed the Alchemist Nemesis on to me for review.
Undeterred, I visited the Reckon Concept room at a recent hi-fi show. But sorry, no info was available on Alchemist -- the company, the people behind it, its philosophies or even its popularity. Maybe that's just as well, because for once in a long while, I'd be reviewing a product free of expectations or preconceptions.
Features
The first acquaintance was favourable. There was this big carton in which is securely wedged, a compact amplifier between two thick sponge poly-whatever packs. The unit is a beauty, no bigger than an Audiolab or Arcam integrated but finished in gold, chrome and black -- a welcome change from the usual drab charcoal or grey colour.
Workmanship is first class, with a fascia of thick-gauge brushed aluminium, cabinet of black-anodised steel and knobs of gold-plated (?) brass. The sides of this amplifier are not straight drops but triangular wedges, the entire surface area made up of heat-sink fins. A nice, but entirely decorative, touch is the two gold-coloured triangles on the fascia, flanking the four control knobs; they echo the similarly shaped sides of the amplifier.
The inside, accessed by sliding out the thick top plate after undoing four Allen screws, looks like something from a NASA computer. A toroidal transformer occupies the centre, flanked by two pairs of capacitors. The latter's arrangement is not quite symmetrical but it obviously points to two power supplies, each serving one channel. It looks like a quasi dual-mono configuration, the notion reinforced by the siting of the output transistors well apart, on opposing sides of the cabinet.
On the rear panel are six inputs, a tape loop and two pre-amp outputs, all gold-plated. The last suggests that the Nemesis would not be out of place feeding a more powerful power amplifier, although on its own it puts out a healthy 80 watts per channel (at 1kHz) into 8 Ohms. With this power rating, the Nemesis falls in between the company's Axiom (40wpc) and Forsetti (100wpc) integrateds. All, of course, are lower in rank than the Forsetti pre/power combination.
The Nemesis has only one pair of speaker outputs. These are the screw down gold-plated variety which can typically accommodate banana plugs, bare wire, soldered ends or spade lugs. Unfortunately, to conform to EU specifications, the entire thing is encapsulated in a plastic sheath that takes only thin soldered ends or angled-pin connectors. Sad.
All in all, then, the Nemesis is an obviously high quality product and, as things turned out, quite a bit of a primadonna.
Sound
Sources were CDs and LDs through an Arcam 70/DAC combi and a Kenwood multi-disc player, while the last link in the chain were my trusty Thiel CS2.2's. Connections were by Audioquest, JVC and Monster interconnects and, because of the limitations imposed by the EU specifications, vdH and QED speaker cables. The on-hand MIT and CSA cables could not be used, much to my regret.
Setting up the amplifier was simple enough, but that was as far as the easy life went. The unit displayed an idiosyncrasy from the word go, a refusal to dispel a rough edge until after almost two weeks of burning in. In exasperation I fed every possible signal through it, including TV and radio.
Into the third week, the music sounded more than decent, but even then serious listening had to be put on hold for an hour after switching on because the unit needed that much time to stabilise and achieve proper channel balance (the right channel takes more time to equal the output of the left channel). And the amplifier runs as hot as a Class A unit, although operation is unashamedly A/B. The heat extends even to the control knobs.
The question, of course, is whether the sound quality is worth putting up with all this hassle. The answer, thankfully, is a resounding Yes. Readily noticed, even before complete burning in, is a high degree of resolution, revealing the inner details of a piece of music.
Serious review-type listening spread over two nights of four hours each, extending to 2am (yes, we work that hard!), after both amplifier and CD player had been left on for three hours before that, the player feeding a null input (speakers disconnected).
When thus nicely warmed up, the Nemesis comes into its own. Bass control is impressive, taut right down to the toes. It makes my Thiels sound like they should in the nether regions, and raises suspicions that my own RM12,000 Luxman is a lax master. The bass is also articulate, uncovering melodic lines in what in less amplifiers would be a monotone.
The midrange, though as articulate and detailed, is a bit less remarkable. It is mildly projected, resulting in a degree of forwardness and therefore more presence than one gets from, say, the Audiolab. The balance with the bass is, however, well maintained, as the latter is somewhat stronger than average. Coupled with a fast response, the result is that guitar, piano, strings and voice come through as large as life.
Of course, the whole sound balance would be spoiled by a sniffle in the treble. The good news is that the highs are clear and well aired. Here again, there is this impression of control. There is no sign of glare or undue sheen.
Overall, then, the Nemesis is a revealing, natural sounding amplifier, one able to unravel the finer details of a recording. It worked well with my Thiels and even made the resident TDL Studio 1M sound better than it did with some other amps submitted for review.
What was bothersome, however, was a merest hint of hardness in the sound, a quality not dispelled by a change of cables. It was less obvious in the Thiels than in the TDLs, suggesting that perhaps the Nemesis does something to speakers with metal-cone drivers. Wish I had the Avance Signatures handy.
Conclusion
At the price, this amplifier represents a good buy. Its appearance may be boutique pretty, which will not easily match other components, and it runs very hot, but its abilities outweigh the inconveniences. I wouldn't mind keeping it as a reference against other amps of the same price range. Makes a good yardstick.
Model: Alchemist Nemesis APD22A MkII integrated amplifier
Price: RM3,440
Review sample courtesy of RECKON CONCEPT SDN BHD (03-777-7900), 187 Jalan SS2/24, 47300 Petaling Jaya.
Verdict For: Deep-delving, natural-sounding amp with impressive control and fast response; a musical instrument rather than merely competent hardware.
Against: Probable incompatibility with metal cone speakers; runs hot; unusual presentation.
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
我找到这个！好像全新的价格是RM3,440 ！不知是人民币的标称？还是其他的？搂主的价格好像贵了点！
