A50

DISCLAIMER:This review is comprised mostly of opinions, which I have formed after spending two plus months listening to this product on a daily basis in both near- (desktop) and far-field (living room) configurations.EQUIPMENT:speakers: KEF LS50 MetaKEF Q10Sony SA-CS9 (sub)streamers: Arylic A50+Apple TV 4K (HDMI —> TV —> optical to A50+)MacBook Pro 15 inch, 2018 (headphone jack —> A50+ via included RCA to 3.5mm cable)iPhone 12 (via bluetooth)DESIGN / FORM FACTOR:Look at the first picture in this review. Can you spot the integrated amp?? No, I’m not talking about the Sony receiver. Look closely and you’ll spot the A50+ in the right-middle shelf of my console, sandwiched between an Apple TV and a copy of the card game “Drunk Stoned or Stupid”. The Arylic A50+ blends seamlessly into its surroundings due to its minimalist design (consisting of a sleek aluminum housing and a glossy black front plate) along with its absolutely diminutive size. I do not understand how this thing is able to pack a 50 watt/channel punch, a capable internet streamer and phenomenal sound quality into such a tiny package.See the following pictures for a better sense of just how small Arylic designed this amp. It’s worth noting that this product has not ONCE become hot to the touch, despite its size. It is also worth noting that the A50+ is significantly smaller than competitors such as the Bluesound POWERNODE 2i ($949) and the NAIM Uniti Atom (~$3300) while packing a virtually identical set of features. Beyond that, Andrew Robinson, one of my favorite HIFI product reviewers and a longtime proponent of the POWERNODE expresses that he actually prefers the sound of the Arylic to it, despite the 750 dollar price gap… but more on the Arylic’s sound later in this review.USABILITY / REMOTE:The A50+ provides a straightforward and intuitive user experience. Although I have spent very little time with the 4STREAM app and therefore cannot comment on its functionality, the included remote is excellent, with volume controls, source controls, media playback controls, and even buttons for on-the-fly EQ adjustments. Airplay and Bluetooth have been working without flaw since purchase. SOUND:Bass:HUGE improvement over my outgoing amp (Sony STR-DN1020 7.2.2 ch Receiver). I’m using a Sony SA-CS9 sub in combination with my LS50 Metas. I know, I know, it may be sacrilege to pair such nice loudspeakers with a truly budget sub like the Sony, but let me say, the Arylic has convinced me otherwise. With my old amp, bass came through as muddy and bloated, and the A50+ has completely removed these undesirable qualities from my sub’s performance. On top of that, bass comes through as punchy, precisely timed, and probably as textured as an under-$200 subwoofer is able to produce. Remove the subwoofer, and the story is no different. The Arylic squeezed more oomph out of my Metas than I believed they could produce, especially when I press the D-BASS button, which dramatically increases low end weight.Mids:The A50+ faithfully portrays vocals and mid-range instrumental frequencies with attention paid to fine details and without sounding muffled by its excellent bass and treble reproduction. Vocals are handled with delicacy rather than being shoved in the listener’s face, which adds to the sense of refinement that is apparent in this amp’s sound.Treble:The Arylic is a high frequency MACHINE. Even uber-high pitched frequencies, such as the barely-audible triangle played throughout Steely Dan’s Aja, shimmer with the help of the A50+. Despite this, the Arylic never sounds fatiguing or piercing, even after extended listening. Very smooth performance across the board, especially when considering the Arylic’s all-digital amplification topology.Power:My LS50 Metas are fairly low sensitivity speakers. This means that they require more power than a higher sensitivity speaker to be driven to the same volume. With that said, I have never once hit maximum volume with the A50+ (and I like to BLAST my music, especially with my living room setup). Clarity:The Arylic A50+ is a musical scalpel. There isn’t too much more I can say about it from this regard… It is highly intelligible and renders music with precision without sounding grainy or piercing. Soundstage:Personally, I believe that the Arylic’s imaging capabilities are its most impressive feature. Set up in my living room, the Arylic, along with my Metas, created what a friend aptly described as “a room full of sound.” The Arylic has the chops to build a 3 dimensional sound field around its listener, with depth and height just as well defined as soundstage width. Speaking of width, the soundstage of A50+ extends well beyond the speakers rather than solely existing in between the two, which tends to give songs a “live” feeling, as if you are right there with the artist during a performance. Things then improved dramatically in my near-field desktop listening setup, as near-field situations can avoid much of the coloration from sound bouncing around your room found with living room setups (when there isn’t room to place speakers away from walls). In my desktop setup, I fond the Arylic’s imaging to be laser focused. Vocals, instruments, and even the various separate layers in electronic music all existed separately in space, with ‘sharply’ defined edges, adding to both the sense that I was at a live show as well as the intelligibility of individual elements of the music.2.1 HOME THEATER USAGE:This amp is fantastic for home theater usage (as long as you are not rocking more than 2 channels and a subwoofer). The clarity and imaging capabilities of the A50+ are so good that I’ve been paying more attention to the sound coming through my speakers while watching movies and TV than the movies and TV themselves.

I purchased the A50 stereo amplifier from Amazon on September 13th 2019 because of its combination of WiFi, Bluetooth AND Airplay connectivity - along with the regular streaming service compatibility. When unpacking it the quality was impressive but the real test was how it works and sounds. It was easy to setup after downloading the free app. In my case I used the Google Play Store for the Android App. I am using the 4stream app but have also used the Muzo app. Both apps quickly found my WiFi network and have worked seamlessly ever since.The A50 Airplay feature was important for me as it is a really inexpensive way to get high quality music from my Apple iMac - better sound than Bluetooth. The iMac also connected to the A50 easily and in OSX you just click on the sound icon at the top right of your screen and select the A50 from the drop down list.I also have FLAC, ALAC, MP3 and other music files stored on a Synology NAS and an Open Media Vault NAS which are connected to my router. Both the 4stream and Muzo apps identify these NAS's, list the available files and play seamlessly through the A50.Initially I had the A50 connected to a pair of old JBL bookshelf speakers but a few months ago I remembered a pair of Energy RC-10 bookshelf speakers that were packed away. Both sets of speakers provide plenty of volume in the 16 foot by 18 foot room that the A50 is in - but the sound quality from the Energy RC-10s just amazes me. I believe that the A50 compares well with the Onkyo TX-NR807 that the RC-10s were connected to a few years back.Both the 4stream and Muzo apps also feature several streaming services but I have mainly used Tidal. The Internet Radio feature has allowed me to find lots of new global radio stations and I just love using my phone as a remote control to find these stations and update my list of favorites.After 8 months of use, I am still very impressed with the Arylic A50 and would recommend it to anyone who wants the convenience of all the services, quality of music output and the small size it takes up.The only 2 features I would like to see added are dual band WiFi (it now has 2.4 only) and the Pandora service to be added to the apps (which have iHeart already).Highly recommended.3 # photos added May 19th, 2020 - these show the size in comparison to my hand and to a small bookshelf speaker. The photo of the reverse also shows the connectors including the ethernet plug which I am not using. The blue light on the front is bright but not as bright as my cell phone pictures appear. It could easily be toned down or blanked out with a small piece of tape but this has not bothered me.

I 'm rating this product as 4-stars only because the bluetooth signal to the patio speakers was very low and couldn't get it to an acceptable level. Another bluetooth unit I have, worked much better. As far as airplay and wifi, I would rate this streamer 5-stars. I mainly purchased this product for its wifi/airplay capabilities as due to my large lot, bluetooth signal was limited. The A50's sound via wifi is extremely good and very loud with little to no distortion. Wifi works much better than bluetooth in my application, as it provides a strong signal all throughout my homesite which also allows me to control the music from anywhere around my home. This unit was a bit difficult to connect via wifi at first but then determined the issue was with my wifi. Once fixed, the unit and my iphone/ipad connected very quickly using the 4stream app. Once connected and using the remote to set bass/treble levels, I now only use airplay to stream all music on my devices and don't use the 4stream app. The app although good, could use an update and improved capabilities. Airplay allows me to play any music from my devices or any app on my devices without having to go into 4stream. In the end, this is a very good product at a great value for the money. It served my purpose extremely well and would buy it again! Great to now have "uninterrupted" music playing on the patio speakers without all the signal problems I experienced using bluetooth.