In an upscaled tier of Advance Paris’ Classic line, now with revised design and engineering across the entire series, the French company has announced the new ‘APEX’ range.
The flagship of the APEX series is the A12 APEX integrated amplifier (there are the A8, A10 APEX amplifiers and ACD APEX CD player), a refined version of the A12 Classic’s hybrid topology. The A12 APEX features a mix of valve preamplification mated to powerful transistor-based solid state amplification stages in a dual-mono design. In addition, the A12 APEX features a high quality on-board digital-to-analogue converter from ESS Technologies while also offering home cinema integration.
The preamplifier stage features two 12AT7/ECC81 triode valves chosen for their easy availability via NOS and new designs. The valve stage is aimed to provide the fullness and “warmth” often associated with valve designs while its coupling to the solid-state amplification provides the power, control, and longevity of transistors. The amplification stage offers 190 watts RMS into 8 ohms and 292 watts RMS into 4 ohms with a frequency response from 20 Hz to 80 kHz +/-1 dB. Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise (THD+N) is given as 0.047% at 135 watts/8 ohms at 1 kHz while the Signal-to-Noise Ration (SNR) is said to be 104.8 dB also at 135 watts/8 ohms/1 kHz. The A12 APEX’s power supply employs two 280 VA toroidal transformers. Interestingly, the A12 APEX offers an on/off high-bias switch, doubling the level of Class-A output.
The ESS9039 digital-to-analogue converter chip is capable of PCM resolutions of up to 24-bit/192 kHz via the S/P-DIF, AES/EBU, and optical connections. The USB port option provides 24-bit/192 kHz PCM and up to DSD128.
The A12 APEX is comprehensively decked-out with a wide variety of connectivity options. On the analogue front, there are five unbalanced RCA and two balanced XLR line inputs, an RCA -based phono stage for Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC) cartridges with a three-impedance switch (100/200/300 ohms), while there are unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR preamplifier outputs and an RCA Record Out. Subwoofer outputs are via two RCA sockets.
Digital inputs provide for three coaxial RCA S/P-DIF, three optical, one AES/EBU, and one USB-B. For home cinema integration, there’s a HDMI-ARC port. Connectivity to other compatible Advance Paris electronics is via 12V in/out triggers. There are left and right channel Zone A/B speaker binding posts.
The A12 APEX features an in-built headphone amplifier with RIAA circuitry. The headphone outputs offer a 6.5 mm jack and 3.5 mm mini-jack on the unit’s front panel. On the A12 APEX’s rear panel you’ll find switchable impedance and gain levels for each headphone output.
Included with the A12 APEX is a comprehensively featured infrared remote control. As an optional extra, Advance Paris offers a Bluetooth A-BTC receiver module allowing high quality aptX wireless streaming and wireless headphones connectivity.
The Advance Paris products are available to audition via Australian distributor Synergy Audio’s specialist audio retailers around the country.
Advance Paris A12 APEX Integrated Amplifier
Price: AU$5999
Australian Distributor: Synergy Audio
+61 3 9459 7474
www.synergyaudio.com
