Advance Paris PlayStream A7 Integrated Amplifier (Pre-Owned)

*Pre-owned

** Mint Condition & original boxes

The PlayStream A7 is a robust integrated amp with class-AB topology and specified output of 115Wpc into 8 ohms. Although no specifications are given for lower-impedance loads, the massive toroidal transformer and my subjective testing lead me to strongly suspect that it should at least come close to doubling its output into 4 ohms and is probably quite stable below that.

Advance Paris

All told, it features one coaxial and three optical digital audio inputs; a phono stage with support for MM and MC cartridges (high and low gain for the latter, selectable via a DIP switch); five line-level stereo RCA inputs; a record out; a stereo RCA pre out; an amp in; dual subwoofer outputs; an HDMI ARC port; hard-wired and wireless network connectivity; a DAB/FM antenna connection; two 12V trigger outs (3.5mm); and a connection for Advance Paris’s X-FTB01 and X-FTB02 Bluetooth receivers, the latter of which supports aptX HD.

The X-FTB01 that shipped with my review unit only officially supports the standard aptX codec according to the Advance Paris website, but much to my surprise, it also supports AAC for Bluetooth, and indicates as such via the front-panel screen. There is also a USB-A port on the back panel that supports playback of MP3, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, and AAC files from a thumb drive.

The PlayStream A7 features a High Bias switch on the back that allows you to bump the standing bias current from an unspecified default up to the point where the amp effectively operates as class A for the first watt. That’s still not a high enough standing bias current to qualify as “high bias,” but that’s just my opinion, and you’re under no obligation to care what I think about it.

The front panel features touch-sensitive source-select buttons, although there’s a bit of overlap. The same button, for example, is used to choose the CD and Phono inputs, despite their being separate physical connections. Curiously, that double-dipping doesn’t apply to the remote control, which gives you no direct way of accessing the Phono input, unless you tape the Mode button and use the d-pad to scroll through the list of inputs on the amp’s display. And frankly, it’s difficult to read that list from more than about four feet away.

Advance Paris

That sort of thing would normally aggravate me, but the PlayStream A7 frankly charmed me so much that I forgot about it after a day or so. What’s more, when I’m spinning vinyl, I’m walking over to my gear rack anyway, so pressing the Phono/CD button didn’t bother me a bit. The rest of the inputs are similarly forced to tolerate roommates on the front panel, with the rest of the dual-function buttons breaking down as follows: Aux 1/2, Aux 3/4, Opt 1/2, Opt 3/Coax, Network, HDMI, BT, FM, DAB+, BY PASS, and Amp In. Why FM and DAB+ get their own separate buttons but CD and Phono get crammed into one is beyond me, but hey, there’s a lot I don’t understand about the way the world works.

One last front-panel detail worth pointing out before we get to the innards and network connectivity is that there are separate 6.35mm (¼″) and 3.5mm headphone outputs, side by side.

Documents

• User manual
• Information