Playback Designs SPA-8 Stereo Amplifier – Quick Impression
Review organized by Marc Loubeau / Prestige Audio Diffusion
Review sample supplied by Playback Designs
Retail price in France & Monaco + Benelux including VAT: 94.990 euro
Due to my highly positive experiences with Playback Designs’ digital components, I immediately agreed when my French contact, Marc Loubeau of Prestige Audio Diffusion, asked me to review the Playback Designs SPA-8 stereo power amplifier. During the phone call, he mentioned that this was a very large and heavy amplifier, but clearly, I did not think it through at that time, as its true heft did not fully register until I saw it in person later.
Measuring 73 cm wide, 86 cm deep, and 34 cm tall, and weighing 137 kg, the Playback Designs SPA-8 stereo power amplifier can truly be described as an absolute beast. I mean, this amp is 73 cm wide! Even very large amplifiers are rarely more than 73 cm deep. As one can imagine, the crate in which this amplifier is shipped is even more massive, and as it turned out, it’s impossible to get it into my apartment unless it is fully unpacked. However, at 137 kg and requiring four persons to carry it, we decided it was best to take an alternative approach for this review.
Although I included myself in the photo above as a size reference, I still think the amplifier appears much smaller than it actually is.
An alternative review approach
Instead of conducting a comprehensive review using my reference system, I will evaluate the SPA-8 amplifier at the Aequo Audio showroom and their new Ensium loudspeakers on two separate occasions.
In this Quick Impression article, I will share my initial experience listening to the amplifier with Aequo Audio Ensium loudspeakers. These speakers are brand-new, and I have not yet had the opportunity to hear them before, hence the Quick Impression article rather than a full-fledged in-depth review. Nevertheless, I will conduct A-B comparisons in this same setup using WestminsterLab amplifiers that I have reviewed and am familiar with.
Following this Quick Impression article, I will perform an in-depth review of the Ensium loudspeakers in my listening room. With a solid understanding of the speakers’ capabilities, I will then return to the Aequo Audio showroom to re-evaluate the SPA-8 amplifier.
Playback Designs SPA-8
The SPA-8 was introduced and demonstrated for the first time at the 2019 Munich High End Show. This amplifier was designed to showcase Playback Designs’ capabilities in amplification, with the goal of creating a state-of-the-art product that would be the ideal companion for the brand’s Dream Series digital sources. Although the amplifier is included in the product catalog, it is available only by special order and with a lead time. This beast of an amplifier is intended for customers who seek the very best that the brand has to offer—regardless of weight, size, or cost.
The SPA-8 is an extremely potent amplifier, and one of the few in existence that doubles its output from 800 Watts into 8 Ohms to 1,600 Watts into 4 Ohms, and doubles again to 3,200 Watts into 2 Ohms. As a Playback Designs audio component, I would expect this amplifier to be not only very potent but also highly musical.
SPA-8 is built with a discrete and complementary Class A input stage and a Class AB output stage using 20 200-Watt BJ transistors per channel. Two toroidal transformers with a capacity of 1,800 Watts and a filter capacitance of 294,000 μF provide plenty of energy. The total harmonic distortion is an extremely low 0.00054 percent at 1 kilohertz and 400 Watts of output power into an 8-ohm load.
The amplifier is controlled and protected by a dual microprocessor (one per channel). The front panel display features various modes of operation and can display either a discreet dot, the musical dynamics, volume level, or the words “Playback Designs”. Naturally, the display brightness is also adjustable.
System Context
The Aequo Audio demo system consists of the following components: the Taiko Audio Extreme Music Server, connected via USB to the Playback Designs MPT-8, which was connected via PLINK to the MPD-8, which was connected to the WestminsterLab Quest preamp. This preamp then feeds either the matching Rei mono power amplifiers or the Playback Designs SPA-8 stereo power amplifier. The system uses Aequo Audio cables throughout.
The speakers deserve their own review, but in brief, the Aequo Audio Adamantis and Ensium (respectively, fully passive and active bass versions) are the result of ten years of exhaustive research into driver and cabinet technology. The cabinets are constructed from a newly developed proprietary material called Diluvite. When cast in its complex shape, it is twice as stiff as aluminum and offers ten times better damping from 1 to 100,000 Hz.
Like the Aequo Audio Stilla, the Ensium has an active bass section powered by an Ncore amplifier and controlled by fully analog ARPEC (Analogue Room size and Placement Extension Control) electronics. The ARPEC’s two rotary controls enable easy and intuitive adjustments for room and placement. Keeping the signal in the analog domain neatly avoids any phase alignment issues with the other drivers.
The SPA-8 looks stunningly beautiful with its curvaceous enclosure, even though its size becomes more evident in the photo above. Just look at how it makes the WestminsterLab Rei power amplifiers appear to be half their actual 23-cm width. Also, note that the Ensium speakers appear compact, but they actually measure 42 cm in width and 116 cm in height. Now, recall that this amplifier is 73 cm wide!
Next: Listening
