Dayens Ampino

Dissonant

Active Member
Sending my payment on Monday. New amp to replace my Marantz PM17 (which I sold for a tidy profit). The Dayens had a short period of intense hype due to the 6Moons review, but later quietened down. It ticks many of my boxes:

- Simple solid state, no frills. I'm a USB DAC > Integrated > Speaker person. An analog tuner (which will be obsolete within this year in Singapore) for my father means I only need 2 inputs. The Dayens provides that in spades. :D

- Toggle switches. Why twiddle your knobs when you can flick switches ;)

- Discrete, through-hole PCB construction means easy repair even way in the future. Class D SMD need not apply. It potentially presents a good alternative to the higher-end Tripaths and TPAs, in my opinion.

- Great parts quality; 2 * 10,000 uF Mundorf M-lytics and M-Cap ZNs. Alps Blue Velvet pot. Toshiba bipolar transistors.

- Handmade in an European country. Never underestimate the power of suggestion on the human mind's perception of sound.

- Fantastic, personal customer service with the founder of the company. Zoran was professional and engaging throughout our e-mail interactions. He tells me they've never had a customer return for a working Ampino; even those who upgrade, whether within the Dayens line or not, tend to keep the Ampino for a bedroom/second system. That bodes well, in my opinion.

- Keen pricing. VERY keen, in fact. Dayens switched to offering a shipped price of 400 euros worldwide (direct), for countries with no distributor. Less known is the cheaper version, at 350 euros. 2 * 6,800 uF Chinese Jamicons with the entry-level white M-Caps. Dayens can also accommodate further customization. Zoran told me they couldn't do Elnas/Nippon-Chemicons/Nichicons though. They are priced similarly to Mundorfs in Serbia. Pick your poison.

Will be pairing it with a sealed Jeff Bagby-designed standmount (http://meniscusaudio.com/docero-full-pair-p-1408.html) and a Geek Out 450. 25 wpc is enough for my needs. Definitely taking pics and reviewing it. Just getting it off my excited shoulders first.
 
Last edited:
In car terms, the Dayens reminds me of a Caterham or Lotus. Stripped to the bare essentials and providing the maximum satisfaction. Hopefully that'd be the case. I nearly went down the DSP active speaker route. Slightly regret not trying actives, but keeping things conventional for the time being.

Can not imagine this combo sounding anything but outstanding .......
Thanks for the compliment. Its all up in the air and I'm still placing my orders. Hopefully it'll meet the hopes I harbour :D
 
Last edited:
Please do give us a complete review when the time is right. I hope you enjoy your Ampino.

cubdog
 
Please do give us a complete review when the time is right. I hope you enjoy your Ampino.

cubdog

Of course. By any chance has anyone tried it? It seems to enjoy a cult following in stereo.net.au and, to a smaller extent, in the USA. By the way, the USA distributor is Verty Audio (http://vertyaudio.com) in case anybody is curious. The Ampino also seems to be well-reviewed in the non-mainstream audio press (Stereomojo, Positive Feedback etc.)

Experiencing some wire transfer problems right now. Bank rarely does transfers to Serbia. Seems to be one of the challenges facing direct sales from smaller countries. Do check with your bank before sealing the deal.
 
I've read comments from an Ampino owner at Audio Circle.

A few years ago the Ampino and Miniwatt won 6moons' Realization Award.
 
I haven't built it yet so I wouldn't know for sure, but I recall reading it was in the 85-87db range. Impedance curve should be quite okay; Jeff tends to optimize his crossover to maximize drivability without affecting the response adversely. If only the exchange rate didn't take off over the last few months. Prices have increased about 15% compared to last year, when I crunched the numbers.
 
Being the finicky man I am, I suddenly decided to request for an upgrade to a TKD potentiometer at my cost. Hopefully it can be done. I've heard people substituting Blue Velvets with the entry-level TKD to great improvements. Anyone here have experience with Tokyo Denpa Ko-on pots?

It was a blessing in disguise for my bank to be so terribly slow in confirming if it could send money to Serbia. I'd never have thought of such a customization otherwise. (By the way, they accept Paypal now)

Just saw pictures of its internals from the Polish press (attached below). Man, there is something so elegant about its layout and intelligent way of shielding the transformer from the main board, with a shaft for the volume control to shorten the signal path. Its a study in the compact, low-power Class AB amplifier.
 

Attachments

  • 03.jpg
    03.jpg
    56.5 KB · Views: 44
This is a outstanding killer lil amp.....they also have them in monoblocks now...

Mine actually came in last week. Was shocked by the weight given its size. They even slipped a free CD inside the box from their own collection. How's that for a personal touch? In fact, the warranty certificate was hand-signed by the boss himself. The promise that they listen to each amp and tweak it as needed after completion seems to hold true.

The box was well-packed and survived the journey by registered mail from Serbia to Singapore. Wire transfer was murderous. Paid out my nose for the charges and the amount that reached Serbia was still off by 20 euros. Thankfully Dayens just gave me a discount to cover that. When I bought it their Paypal was wonky and couldn't accept payment. Whilst my transaction was being cleared, Zoran apologetically informed me their Paypal mysteriously started working again. Just an option for prospective buyers. They also do Western Union via the owners' personal account as a last resort. All in all, it was the singular best shopping experience I've ever had.

Haven't hooked up the amp (DAC and speakers are still incoming), but initial impressions are: solid no frills build. The switches flick up and down with a reassuring heft. The volume knob is largely smooth, but is slightly hampered by the use of a shaft (see internal pictures in my previous post) to allow the pot to be as close to the circuit as possible. It is an elegant solution.

Sonic impressions will come ASAP.

BTW, the Germans gave a raving review to the power amp version (no pot). It measured with very low noise levels that your run of the mill Marantz/Denon can't hope to match. Power also measured right on spec. Dayens are honest and sincere.
 
I also heard the Meneutto amp which as great as the Ampino is a sizable step up, we have a distributor here in the states he used to be in Pasadena, Ca but i think he moved to Florida. I will say that both amps near the best at their price point im gonna even say the Meneutto at $995 is a stoned cold bargain that competes far its price, interesting to see if the Ampino mono can eclipse it, they also have some very good speakers to...i heard their budget floorstander which was very impressive...
 
Update: in lieu of my absent speakers and DAC, I tried it on my uncle's setup. He has the floorstanding JBL Studios (the big brother of the Studio 130s - forgot the model) and a Cambridge Audio Azur CD player. Lovely sound. Sweet, quiet and refined. Sure-footed and dynamic within its power limits. A black background with lots of air.

Also, in my correspondence with Dayens, I have some juicy gossip. Remember, you heard it here first!

1) The Dayens all have passive preamplifier stages. The power amp stages of their integrateds have a sufficiently high input impedance (100k ohms) to handle a passive preamp easily. We have a 10K ALPS Blue - and then the power amp stage.

2) The transformers are custom-wound for them by Traformatic. Trafomatic doesn't readily accept custom orders.

3) The 35wpc power amp version is the integrated amp, minus the ALPS Blue Velvet pot with a beefier power supply. The Mundorfs have 50% more capacitance and the transformer rated more highly by 50%.

4) There is an Ampino preamplifier in development. 6moons briefly touched on it, but didn't mention that there were some obstacles that Dayens only recently overcame. It is a relay-based resistor array with remote control. Again, a passive preamp. It will come out near the end of this year. Whether it comes out by fall or winter depends on their schedule in summer.

5) Dayens is not developing a headphone amp at the moment, but they are keeping their options open. They MAY start developing one in a year or two. I reckon that they should start soon with the headphone market being ascendant as it is.

6) Not new information, but I'll note that the trannies are fairly overspecced. 100VA for a 25 wpc amp is pretty darn good, especially since it is not sourced from the usual suspects like Noratel or Talema, but from a boutique supplier.

BTW, placed the order for my new speakers! It'll likely take a while before it reaches me though, such is the nature of custom-built speakers. Finished in white lacquer with magnetic grilles coloured maroon. Can we say daring? ;)
 
Indeed. The monos are definitely at the top of my drool list right now.

Time to start socking my pennies away I guess.
 
Indeed. The monos are definitely at the top of my drool list right now.

Time to start socking my pennies away I guess.

Haven't heard much about the monos. Seems most step up to the Menuetto instead. Their top models don't seem that popular too as they are competing in the price range of Job, Odyssey, ATI and many other top amp companies. If you are a believer in the less is more philosophy, short of a chipamp or the very niche Pass designs, I suppose it could do for you. I would be very tempted by something like an Odyssey Khartago + preamp myself if I were shopping in that price range. Not that I am actively discouraging you; would be lovely to get more Dayens owners on board :yes:
 
Back
Top Bottom