Mytek HiFi Brooklyn AMP+ power amplifier Page 2

I placed the AMP+ next to the AMP on a shelf of my Salamander rack, making it easy and quick to switch between the two.

My first impression of the AMP+, contrasted to the older AMP, aligned with Jurewicz's claims: The new model is "cleaner" with a "bigger soundstage" and "more detail." It's "more precise."

Record after record, using the Brooklyn DAC+'s fine phono stage, I heard more explicit, better-defined images. Placement of vocalists and instruments was more specific within a deeper, wider soundfield. The AMP+'s clarity facilitated better microdynamics, those small dynamic shifts that make reproduced sound more lively and more live.

The AMP+ dispenses with the AMP's overt midrange lushness. Compared to the AMP+, the AMP now sounded a tad confused; it blurred midrange notes a smidge, although you might not notice until hearing the AMP+ (or another "cleaner" amp). The AMP+'s upper midrange and treble were decidedly cleaner while maintaining just a touch of richness. That see-through quality was also at work at the low end, with the subjective effect that the foundation seemed more solid than that of the original AMP, which already did this well. On synths, acoustic bass, electric bass guitar, and low-pitched orchestral instruments, bass notes were tighter, faster, weightier but with zero boom or overhang.

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The AMP+ was kind to vocals. Norwegian opera singer Kirsten Flagstad captured my imagination and ardor when I heard her on the London ffrr box set of Wagner's Ring Cycle. Her 1958 release, Sibelius Songs (LP, London OS 25005), presents selected works by the Finnish composer supported by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Oiven Fjeldstad. Here is Flagstad in all her supercharged glory—but when played through the older AMP, her potent voice sounded separate from the orchestra. Through the AMP+, the music was more of a piece, and her voice seemed more flesh-and-blood real. Her image still floated like a sprite above the orchestra. The AMP+ produced a more tangible sense than its predecessor did of a large ensemble performing on stage in a big concert hall.

On a more intimate scale, Chet Baker Trio's Someday My Prince Will Come (1983 LP, SteepleChase SCS 1180) finds the 54-year-old trumpeter leading a drummerless trio with guitarist Doug Raney and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Though most fans acclaim Baker's Pacific Jazz and Riverside recordings, his seven SteepleChase LPs, recorded between 1979 and 1986, make a strong case that he got better with age, hard living be damned. Recorded live in 1979 at Copenhagen's Jazzhus Montmartre, this LP puts you front row, center, for a very cozy performance.

Like the vocal on the Flagstad disc, Baker's horn sounded apart from the rest of the trio through the AMP, but the trio blended better with the AMP+; I don't know what characteristic of the amplifier would explain such an effect, but it's what I heard.

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Through the AMP+, the horn sounded sweeter but with more top-end air and crisper, airier inner detail. Baker's every breath, tongue pop, and note slide was easily heard. When Pedersen played a solo, every note of a fast flurry was clear and easy to follow with no bloat, overhang, or boom—just muscular bass aimed at the gut. The AMP+'s apparent lower noise floor cleared out that little bit of murk, leaving the view on the music clear.

Floating Point's Elaenia (LP Luaka Bop LB0085LP) is a mutating web of rippling melodies and ear-rubbing textures. Melodic lines multiply, twirl, erupt, and recede, with ever-altering crispness and tonal saturation. Through the AMP+, the experience was like diving headfirst into a deep pool of shredded wheat. Here the AMP+'s clarity revealed more of this music's murk, viscous sounds, and scratchy surfaces.

The AMP+'s clarity became even more apparent when I switched in the Kuzma Stabi R turntable. Spinning the Chet Baker LP again, I heard more saturated tones and more air, more breath behind every trumpet note, and a fantastically open, spacious soundstage.

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Mytek meets Parasound
At 160Wpc into 8 ohms and 240Wpc into 4 ohms, Parasound's Halo Hint 6 integrated, which combines bipolar transistors, JFETs, and MOSFETs and operates in class-AB, has less power than the AMP+ and costs about the same, at $2995. I connected the Brooklyn DAC+ to the Parasound's RCA inputs and turned the Parasound's volume knob to maximum, using the Brooklyn DAC to control volume.

The Parasound presented an even deeper and more layered soundstage than the Mytek. On the other hand, the AMP+ sounded more sensuous with more low-end force.

Wrapping up
Mytek keeps making little boxes that do big things, which makes me wonder what Jurewicz might do with bigger boxes. The company's forthcoming monoblocks will be built in full-size chassis, part of Mytek's new Empire series. "AMP+ has newer, faster MOSFETs for a more squared wave," Jurewicz told me, "but it's not yet 100% what could be accomplished. For a better squarewave, you need newer transistors called GaN-FETs. It's a game changer for class-D. In the next few years, we will see examples of class-D proving to be the best sounding amplifier technology with the use of GaN-FETs."

We shall see.

COMPANY INFO
Mytek Audio
148 India Street, 1st floor
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(347) 384-2687
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
tonykaz's picture

"best sounding" in the next few years ?

Thats a Strong extrapolation but coming from you I'd tend to embrace it. ( probably because I want it to be true )

I'm anxious to see the Class D Schiit and/or the Audio Research offerings.

Fingers crossed,

Tony in Venice Florida

ps. that lit front panel might be enough to push this device into a Buy-it-Now! event ( along with: Made in Poland, of course )

georgehifi's picture

"best sounding in the next few years ?"
"Thats a Strong extrapolation but coming from you I'd tend to embrace it. ( probably because I want it to be true )"

Follow what amps are using the new GaN fet as outputs, and it's believable.

Cheers George

a.wayne's picture

Class D amplifiers can’t pass Squarewaves so how do they have a perfect TF ..?

Regards

That Other Guy's picture

a bit edgy.

JRT's picture

All audio amplifiers are bandwidth limited devices. The woofers and tweeters that they power are bandpass devices, and likewise the microphones. The better question to answer is how much bandwidth is needed to be fully sufficient for the recorded audio signal.

a.wayne's picture

https://www.stereophile.com/images/421Mytekfig02.jpg

Like its predecessor, Mytek's Brooklyn AMP+ is indeed a tiny powerhouse. It matched the measured performance of the original Brooklyn AMP in most ways but with a wider small-signal bandwidth and a lower level of ultrasonic noise. Even with its hair-trigger protection circuit, it will offer sufficient power into low-impedance loudspeakers with music signals.—John Atkinson

Ohhh please John , its an 8ohm amplifier and barely will sink sufficient current to deal with 4 ohm loads forget 2 .

Regards

Ortofan's picture

... the $2K NAD C 298 class D power amp, which uses the Purifi amp modules?
Tests have shown that it is capable of a continuous output of 260W @ 8Ω and 516W @ 4Ω.
https://nad.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NAD_C298_Test_Stereo.pdf

John Atkinson's picture
Ortofan wrote:
Will there soon be forthcoming a review of the $2K NAD C 298 class D power amp, which uses the Purifi amp modules?

Kal Rubinson reviews the C298 in the June issue.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

JRT's picture

I am looking forward to reading Kal's review, and your measurements and associated comments.

JRT's picture

From the NAD press release at the link below, "The Eigentakt modules are manufactured by NAD under license from Purifi, allowing NAD to optimise these specifically in combination with the custom designed power supply and input stages of the C 298."

https://nadelectronics.com/nad-intros-c-298-power-amplifier-with-purifi-eigentakt-amplification/

So there are no Purifi Eigentakt amplifier modules utilized within the NAD C 298, rather are modified designs manufactured under a technology license. It will be interesting to see if the design modifications and optimizations were more toward improving cost or performance, or perhaps both.

If somebody does not need to bridge the modules, they might do well to consider the Audiophonics LPA-S400ET which uses two off the shelf Purifi Eigentakt 1ET400A amplifier modules, one Hypex switch mode power supply module SMPS1200A400, and Audiophonic's in-house design interface board. Price is €1,124.17 plus S/H (taxes/duties?) from France. I have no affiliation. There are similar competing products from others, but Audiophonic's looks to be nicely assembled and includes cooling slots that some others seem to not include. The interface board includes balanced differential input and single ended input, includes a couple of choices in gain, and includes facility to bypass the input stage to drive the modules directly with outboard gear (if that upstream device can swing 10_Vrms differential output across a 2_kOhm load).

tonykaz's picture

Today Mr.Stoddard said: looks like the Sol will not continue in production.

I'm not giving a accurate quote here, just paraphrasing .

Schiit are doing a broadcast from the Texas Location, a tour of the Building with workers working and a rather long Q&A for Jason from the Audience.

Seems like the Sol is too much of a commitment ( my summary ).

I agree, my Retail outlet, Esoteric Audio, was a Turntable, Arm & MC Cartridge Specialist . It was great fun that involved Tons of critically technical workings accompanied by ample room for disruptions in quality. We maintained a complete diagnostic service.

1985 CDs killing vinyl was an emotional relief. ( for my family )

Today, I feel for the Vinyl people as Chad's beautiful and pricy offerings require all the best & priciest vinyl paraphernalia and a significant monthly purchase budget.

Tony in Venice Florida

Jim Austin's picture

First, it's not certain yet, although it's very likely that the Sol will be discontinued.

Pure speculation here, on my part, but I suspect we'll see it again, or a version of it, once supply chains stabilize and they've had a bit more time to refine the design--not so much from a functional standpoint but from a sustainability standpoint: They need a 'table they can consistently and successfully build. Profitably, too.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

ken mac's picture

I'm really sorry and puzzled to hear that news. I thought the Sol was unbeatable for the $$$$. I really enjoyed my time with it.

Michael Fremer's picture

If they really are discontinuing the SOL they should license or give it away to someone else to manufacture. When correctly set up it sounded great for so little money. Yes it was “fiddly” but so was Heifetz!

tonykaz's picture

Thank you for writing back.

Mr.Stoddard explains that they are now selling 10X more than they forecasted and are experiencing acute Supply issues in every area.

They are also doubling in Factory Size with the two locations being 1,000 miles apart. ( I would NEVAH sign-off on an arrangement like that, these guys are designers not manufactureres )

I also suspect that these guys aren't Transducer specialists either. This player should've Sale-priced at $2,500 ( in my estimation ).

Overall, Schiit is HigherEnd Audio's Tesla type Company except they are growing much faster than their supply chain ( which seems one to two years behind )

For all us Schiit owners, Schiit gear sells for 80% of New Prices on eBay, residual values are outstanding.

Schiit is a Smash Success.

I was surprised that Stereophile reviewed the Sol but not surprised that Schiit can't quite make the darn things.

I wonder what a Cost Analysis would reveal.

Tony in Venice Florida

ps. Mr. Stoddard appears to have resigned himself to managing a Run-a-way demand situation accompanied with a backordering dilemma .

ken mac's picture

Well stated!

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