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| Whether the stainless steel and gold finish meets your requirements is a matter of taste, but other finishes are available, and sound quality is genuinely natural and organic
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Manufacturer: Token Audio Telephone: Price: £350 Reviewed in issue: 186
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Although distributed through the same channel that bought
you Magnum, Token Audio is an independent brand, designed and manufactured by Principia of Cambridge, headed by
one Kelvin Newton (geddit?). The products are generally a little more affordable than Magnum, and although the
K50 amplifier tested here is the most costly in this month's group at £345 with a stainless steel finish and
gold plated control knobs, it can be bought for just £299 in a more utilitarian black suit of clothes. There's
even a half way house version with a black carcass and a stainless steel facia at (you guessed it) £325. For a
small volume amplifier from a specialist brand, these prices seem almost too low. Notwithstanding a rather
stiff input selector and a mains on/off switch apparently straight from the RS catalogue which is really a
match for the rest of the front panel furniture, the test amplifier looked good and handled well. Our favourite
feature is the Token badge with a reversed K motif, mirrored incidentally on the pair of gloves thoughtfully
provided to help avoid fingermarks when handling. Rated at a minimum of 50 Watts per channel into eight Ohms
and 80 Watts into four, the K50 is a minimum features straight-line amplifier with no tone controls or other
audio signal path impediments other than source selection, tape monitor switches and a volume control.
Additional socketry described as an auxiliary output is in fact a preamp output taken from after the volume
control - there is no input buffer or gain in the preamplifier - which can be used in conjunction with
another K50 whose volume control is set to full gain in a bi-amplified system. The amplifier is bipolar,
with 'very low' feedback, whose circuit is contained on a single PCB, with a minimum of hard wiring, star
earthing and a leavening of 'selected' passive components. Sound quality The K50 acquitted itself well in
two presentations to the panel, with extremely consistent scoring between listeners, and between sessions.
"Very clear, informative, detailed and dramatic" wrote one panellist of the percussion piece, and of the Friend
and Fellow track he described this amp as "possibly the clearest amp yet", though he felt the vocals "could be
warmer and friendlier", a judgement that presupposes the track has this quality to start with, which is
arguable. Another described the Beethoven piano sound as "comfortable and mellow, with good scale and weight,
but lacking a little air", and most of the other comments were in the same ballpark. The average test panel
score was a good indication that this was one amplifier that emerged from the test smelling of roses. The
hands-on listening painted a picture of an amplifier that was naturally distanced, with a smooth, unprocessed
quality, though dynamics were not particularly, and there was comparatively little adrenaline in the music. The
tonal balance is notably warm, but the overall prognosis has to be favourable, in part because it is so lacking
in the usual transistory cues that the test systems built around it tended to sound very
believable. Conclusion This is a quality minimum features amp that differs from others of its type thanks
in part to surprisingly reasonable pricing. It is not the most powerful or dynamic amplifier around, and detail
resolution is only fair, but transparency is first rate, and despite some tonal anomalies this is an amplifier
that doesn't get in the way. Recommended. AG |
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