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Ezo Aria HE
The nameplate says Ezo, but this amplifier is made by a
company called Cairn, a name that Linn Products objected to on
the grounds that they have a UK registration of the name Kairn.
Ezo comes from France, and consists of a range of beautifully
presented high fidelity components which - if the Aria is
typical - are constructed internally to standards closer to the
high end than most.
Like others in the range, the Aria integrated amplifier is
housed in a non-magnetic aluminium case with 2mm thick walls,
and has a 9mm thick slab alloy fascia extrusion. WBT connectors
are used on the back. Bright blue LEDs indicate the state of
the headphone and tape monitor switching (the headphone socket
is on the back panel, which could make life difficult in some
installations), and a preamplifier output is fitted. Inputs:
four at line level, plus a single tape circuit. A peek through
the top panel reveals what appears to be a well specified
toroidal transformer, and a bank of small value power supply
reservoir capacitors in a low-inductance parallel connected
configuration.
Sound Quality
Arguably the most distinctive sounding amplifier in the test,
the Ezo Aria is a demanding amplifier on audition that stakes a
strong claim after some of the less satisfactory models in this
group. This distinctiveness inevitably raises question of its
own: one of neutrality and transparency.
This is a distinctly forward, dramatic amplifier, and there
were times when it sounded unrefined and even rather crude.
Coloration was noted, for example in the Marianne Faithful
recording, though this recording was also felt to be 'more
dramatic and more three-dimensional' than most, and the piano
recording was praised for the ease with which fingering noise
could be picked out. On the negative side the guitar in the
Tracy Chapman recording, which ordinarily is bold and
lifelike, 'sounded like a pick-up though a cheap amp'. Although
the Aria was universally praised for its airy, spacious
quality, it did not generate 'a quality acoustic', as one
listener put it. The Bach betrayed subtlety but also a loss of
dynamics, and the midband lacked 'punch and control'.
There was widespread acknowledgement, at least with some of the
test material, of the Aria's 'messy and splashy',
even 'scratchy' treble, indeed of some treble distortion. For
distortion to be identified, it has to be at a fairly high
level, and even leaving this to one side, the amp sometimes
sounded 'veiled' and 'unsubtle', with clear evidence of
deterioration as the volume was increased. 'It becomes confused
as it goes louder', as one noted.
These things were also apparent in the hands-on tests. The
amplifier tends to be up-front and upper-mid dominant - yes, it
shouts a bit - but unlike others with this characteristic, the
Ezo Aria was at times rather ungraceful, which made it
needlessly fussy about partnering source components and
(especially) speakers. This is not the most articulate
amplifier either; lyrics appear to be clearly enunciated, but
can be hard to follow.
Conclusions
Interesting, even arresting, as it sometimes sounds, the Ezo
Aria is far too intrusive, far too ready to place its own gloss
on the music to be a credible and transparent amplifier. It can
sound coarse and grainy, and the detail and analysis that it
unevenly brings to the job are inevitably compromised.
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