【EMF Audio (Creek) Sequel2 Integrated Amplifier】
System C 2011｜Part 1 ｜Part 2 ｜Part 3
The power supply section of the EMF Sequel2 uses a toroidal transformer, just like other Creek integrated amplifiers and indeed almost all European-made integrated amplifiers. With low-priced Japanese products, perhaps due to cost and production considerations, toroidal transformers — which are advantageous for sound quality — are rarely adopted. In European products, however, the toroidal type is simply the norm.
The rear of the Sequel2 has standard speaker terminals (also compatible with banana plugs). Back in the days of the 4240/4040/4140/4330, there were just holes here, and you simply pushed a banana plug straight in. Since the plug connected directly to the circuit board, the tension of the cable was prone to causing faults — a real drawback. With the Sequel2, there is absolutely no concern on that front. The depth, excluding the speaker terminals and the knob section, is 20.5 cm — compact enough to sit on a modest bay window sill.
The input selector offers four line inputs plus tape in and line out. As is often the case with integrated amplifiers, the tape input yields noticeably higher resolution than the line inputs — a step up in quality. This is a technique that works on many pre-amplifiers and integrated amplifiers fitted with a mechanical selector, so do give it a try.
A comparison listening CD for power cables! Adding fuel to the fire… ry
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Thanks to the tone controls on the Sequel2, recordings that are light in the bass can be brought considerably back into balance. Switching off the source direct bypasses one layer of high-frequency detail, so the approach would be to leave the TREBLE alone and boost the BASS to maximum depending on the recording. Even at maximum, when using small speakers, the effect is roughly enough to bring the perceived balance to flat — it is not a tone control that makes dramatic swings in balance. As someone who comes from a purist Hi-Fi standpoint, I would ideally prefer no tone controls at all, but thinking about it practically, they may in fact be necessary for the sake of the music. FM sources, which tend to be noisy and thin in the bass, become surprisingly easy on the ear when the tone control is switched in, and I find it genuinely useful for that.
A toroidal transformer and a circuit so simple it seems almost as though the minimum possible number of components was the design goal. If only you could slot the PHILIPS portable CD player AZ6829/06 into that open space and integrate everything into one unit… that would have been the hi-fi system of absolute bliss — a rather extravagant dream to be musing about now, all the same. Come to think of it, the Creek sound has always had a directional affinity with the old PHILIPS house sound. And in fact, switching off the bypass on the Sequel2’s tone control and boosting the BASS does make the sound take on an even more PHILIPS-like, lustrous quality.
※Continued in EMF Audio (Creek) Sequel2 Integrated Amplifier Review — Part 3
【EMF Audio (Creek) Sequel2 Integrated Amplifier】
System C 2011｜Part 1 ｜Part 2 ｜Part 3
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