![]() ![]() In similar fashion, the Due is also well suited to the AOR of Fleetwood Mac on the band's recent 50 Years: Don't Stop retrospective. That said, it does sound rather fine with these new versions which sound warm, intimate and mature, helped substantially by the rich low-end of the amp, and its smooth, sweet treble. For example, it's better suited to the acoustic versions of Bruce Springsteen's canon on his …On Broadway live set than it is with the more thundersome originals given the full E Street Band treatment. If you want an amplifier that's snarling, abrasive and all about attack, this might not be the one for you. Indeed, the personality of the amp overrides any differences in sound between the various inputs, rather as might be suggested by the manufacturer's comments about the power amp section being designed to 'let through' all the character of the valve preamp stage.Īs it says on the front of the Due, this is a 'Tube Sound' amp, and whether that's a good thing or a bad will depend on your point of view and sonic preferences. Whether with the digital input from a computer, via the analogue ins or even playing vinyl, this amplifier has a distinct sonic signature of richness and ease, making it an entirely effortless listen. However, the sound of the Due needs rather less graft. These things would happen less if one were to live with the amp for an extended period, but there are times when idiosyncratic can become just plain annoying, and leave you thinking 'Why on earth did they do it like that?'. I also got lost a couple of times by accidentally enabling the 'monitor' function, or selecting mute when I wanted to adjust the balance. I can't help thinking that a simple fixed-gain input, either provided as a separate connection or fixed using a rear-panel switch, would be more useful than a tape loop in this day and age. For example, even if you've set up the AV bypass it's possible to disable it almost unwittingly through a sequence of control operations, so quite apart from having to remember that 'push' means 'AV bypass', it's also possible to find that when you push 'push', nothing happens, and you have to go back and set things up again. You'd not be wrong: it has a balance on the lush and generous side of neutral, allied to plenty of clout when the music demands.īut before you get to that, some familiarisation is required – not just with the front panel controls but also with the remote control. And that's appropriate, given that you might be forgiven, once you have realised that this plain-looking amp is a bit special under the lid, for thinking that its sound might be somewhat characterful, too. That means it can be used to crash out music at party levels should you really want, but it's likely to shy away from the task and opt for a bit more decorum should you get carried away. ![]()
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