Integrated Amp Reviews

Impressively, "Bonaparte's Retreat" showed me upfront what Fern & Roby's Amp No. 2 was capable of, at least as far as powering my 15 ohm Falcons. While playing Stepp's "Bonaparte," it showcased its talent for spirited rhythm keeping and tone truthfulness. Instrumental and vocal textures were marginally less pronounced and less contrasty than I experience with Elekit's TU-8900 or the Parasound Halo A 21+ amplifier driving the same speakers. But this does not mean the No. 2 plays dull or blurred; it does not. Its demeanor is crisp, naturally focused, and superathletic, with excellent flow and boogie. It doesn't sound solid state. Or soft. Or tubey. Or anything but exciting.

I've noticed that, when I'm listening to recordings and the sound is extra-lucid, super-transparent, and demonstration-quality amazing, my left brain gets stuck oohing and awing at what its engineers have wrought. Eventually, with repeated listening to the same album, my right brain steps in (or my left brain gets out of the way) and the musician's work comes forward.

No repeated listening was required when I listened to Todd Garfinkle's production of Sorrow of the River (M•A Recordings 074A) featuring Guo Ya-zhi playing his suona in a small percussion and wind ensemble performing 12 traditional Chinese folk songs. As I listened, I kept shaking my head in awe of the purity, staggering dimensionality, and unaffected beauty of the recorded sound. But this recording's fantastic sound immediately helped me focus on the work of individual musicians, allowing me to notice how readily their playing inspired reveries propelled by a strong sense of motion: rivers flowing, birds swooping, sirens singing, minstrels marching—movements suggested by the onomatopoetics of Sorrow's sweeping melodies.

I used this recording to see how the 25W Amp No. 2 (and my Onkyo CD player) would handle plucked strings and the suona's delicate, flutelike tones floating over thunderous earth-shaking drums. This was Amp No. 2's most dramatic success. The Fern & Roby made this fantastic recording sound wild and primordial, but it also made it sound bright and pristinely focused, with each instrument distinctly outlined and nailed to an exact spot on the soundstage floor. Spellbinding.

What I enjoyed most in using the Fern & Roby No. 2 was how it succinctly conveyed contrasting elements: loud and quiet, far and near, present and absent, foggy and clear.

The Amp No. 2's phono input
When I inquired about MC loading options, Chris Hildebrand told me the No. 2 loads moving coils at one value only: 500 ohms. My main reference cartridge, EMT's JSD 6 moving coil, sports a relatively high 24 ohm internal impedance and the manufacturer recommends a load of 100–200 ohms. During my JSD 6 auditions in GD78, I experimented with 100 ohms and 500 ohms via MoFi's new MasterPhono and PrimaLuna's all-tube EVO 100 phono stage. With both preamps, I found that 100 ohms gave my preferred balance between vigor and relaxed breathing, but 500 ohms seemed okay as a second choice.

Using the Amp No. 2 with the EMT moving coil, the sound was bright lighting-wise, exceedingly clear and resolved, but more upfront than with the MoFi MasterPhono at 100 ohms. Playing a first pressing of Slim Harpo Sings Raining in my Heart (Excello LP 8003), I heard a bunch of tiny low-signal sounds that I never noticed before. However, I've played this 1961 mono record with countless cartridges and phono stages and they all made it sound rich of tone and dramatically textured, with a whisky-colored dose of early '60s tube glow and Fairchild-compressor presence; the No. 2 with the JSD 6 reduced those effects to something more hi-fi sounding. The JSD 6 into the No. 2's MC input made this vintage recording sound like a modern, drier, hyper-detailed reissue. Bass was clean, perky, and tight, but not as relaxed or heavy loping as it should be.

Fortunately, Harpo's iconic nasal "I'm a King Bee" voice and incredible "Raining in My Heart" harmonica came completely back with Denon's DL-103 moving coil mounted on my 1969 Lenco. With that deck and cartridge, Slim's vibe came alive. His harmonica crackled with full tactility and lit up the air like streak lightning.

Fern & Roby's MC phono suppressed none of the Denon's musicality. What came out of my Falcons reminded me a lot of what came out of jukeboxes ca. 1961: the sound was punchy, crunchy, chunky, and slow-danceable. The No. 2 pulled good blues romance from the DL-103.

Playing through the No. 2's 47k ohm MM input, Ortofon's 2M Black moving magnet cartridge (standard, not LVB version) sounded satisfyingly rich, relaxed, and refined. Soundspace depth was excellent. But compared to the Denon moving coil and the EMT, macrodynamics felt less macro. The Black made Harpo's deep-throated voice and signature nasality sound restrained and Slim's harmonica harmonics feel too tidy.

With the DeVore Fidelity O/93
Hoping to make a system that could show Fern & Roby's Amp No. 2 in a way it might be used, I connected my 10 ohm, 93dB sensitive DeVore Fidelity O/93 floor-standing speakers. F&R's 8 ohm Raven III speakers are specified at 94dB sensitivity, measure approximately 33" × 12" × 12", weigh 55lb each, and cost $8500/pair. The DeVore O/93's measure 35" × 15" × 10", weigh 46lb, and cost $8400/pair. Both are ported boxes with 10" paper-cone drivers from SEAS and wide front baffles.

I celebrated the DeVore–F&R marriage by listening to Todd Garfinkle's latest release Será Una Noche Otra Noche in a 24/176.4 WAV file via dCS's Lina DAC and Master Clock. Otra Noche (M092A) is a continuation of M•A Recordings' project "Sera Una Noche," which began in 1998, then continued with La Segunda in 2003 (footnote 6). Now, 20 years later, Otra Noche appears. It is the most vividly descriptive digital recording I've ever encountered. It comes across like 70mm film, in Technicolor. No recording I know delivers dimensionality more voluminous or explicitly portrayed.

This Otra Noche WAV file has raised my opinion of what digital recording is capable of, how flat-out amazing the dCS Lina DAC can sound, and what talented musicians and master recordist-producer Todd Garfinkle can accomplish with two microphones in a small stone church.

Otra Noche's demonstration-quality sound elicited a scintillating star turn from the DeVore Fidelity O/93's, which have never sounded faster, more resolving, more transparent, or more revved-up alive than when powered by the F&R integrated.

This was Fern & Roby's top "wow!" moment, wherein the Amp No. 2 flaunted its dynamic charge, rhythm-keeping prowess, and invisibility. The No. 2's front panel seems so Pledge wax–ready—you really could put it on your grandma's bureau—that I was surprised how much dirt-kicking, bucking-bull energy it could pump into the DeVore O/93's.

With the GoldenEar BRX
Having heard the results when the Amp No. 2 put clean voltage into the 15 ohm Falcons and the 10 ohm DeVores, I was curious to see if it could sink enough quick current into a load that's less than 4 ohms.

Every time I play GoldenEar's BRX speakers, I'm reminded how much I love their contoured MDF cabinets, bent-metal grilles, folded-ribbon tweeters, and their balanced, transparent sound. The BRXs impress me with the depth of their tuneful bass, extraordinary transparency, and (with the right amp) lively, superclean dynamics.

And guess what? Powered by F&R's Amp No. 2, the BRX sang like the Queen of Gospel and danced like the King of Pop. Powering the GoldenEars, the F&R produced exquisite tone, tantalizing detail, electrically charged transients, and quick, clean bass, with no evidence of clipping or distortion.

The F&R Amp No. 2 and the GoldenEar BRX speakers flattered each other. I love it when that happens.

Compared to the Pass Labs INT-25
Despite very different cosmetics, the 25W, $7250 Pass Labs class-A INT-25 integrated amplifier, which I reviewed in January 2020, seemed like a proper comparison for the 25W, $8500 Fern & Roby Amp No. 2.

As I have stated many times, the Nelson Pass–designed INT-25 is the most transparent and flat-out dynamic solid state amplifier I've encountered. That remains true. Fern & Roby's Amp No. 2 was a bit less transparent and a bit less supercharged, but its talent for singing, dancing, and making beautiful sound resulted in sensual pleasures I've never gotten with the INT-25. The No. 2 presents music with a vital, spirited charm that I found pleasantly addictive and deeply satisfying.

Conclusion
One night, as I was listening to my system with the Amp No. 2, I found myself thinking, Omg! This amp is really lighting up those DeVores! I wondered how F&R managed to get this much vivid, high-energy excitement out of an amp that looks laid-back and tasteful. Then I remembered that the Amp No. 2's designer, Michael Bettinger, and his company G.A.S. have carried on a 40-year relationship with the designs of one of my heroes, James Bongiorno, chief designer at SAE, G.A.S., and Sumo.

As I remember it, Bongiorno's wild-style Ampzilla was the opposite of tasteful and domestic. It had an industrial look and a type-A personality, and it was the first solid state amp I felt I could marry and settle down with. During these auditions, Fern & Roby's Amp No. 2 performed like a silk-suited version of that renowned monster. And that is extremely high praise.

Michael Bettinger and Christopher Hildebrand have accomplished exactly what they set out to do: produced something that could turn people's living rooms "into the best listening room possible."

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Footnote 6: In addition to the 24/176.4 WAV file I described, Será Una Noche Otra Noche is available as a double DSD; see bit.ly/OtraNocheDSD. A CD will soon be available, and a 2LP set is coming later this year.