The first line is always the hardest. The tone and intention with which you address your audience can immediately cause a lack of interest. Travel with me if you're not afraid of anything. Give up! If your foundations are made of mud and ideas put in your head by others. You are the spiritual guide; you are the leader; I am just telling you about a first-hand experience.
My story begins with a phone call. Like so many others. Would you like to try an Arne? whispered a voice familiar to me. I asked about the weight and dimensions of the product. It's difficult for me to install products, and this is a preventive measure for me. He tricked me. It was bigger and heavier. But I've forgiven him completely. Now you'll know why.
Receiving a large integrated tube amplifier in the summer is not the most appealing thing. But when you know that it is a new product presented this year at High End Munich, with remarkable success among all who were able to enjoy it, things change.
The 100 kilos of the pallet, delivered to my doorstep, and the subsequent hasty departure of the delivery man, did not bode well for an easy afternoon on my part. Fortunately, its innovative CLIP-LOK TRANSPORT BOX system allowed the plywood panels to be removed quickly and effectively. Unpacking the package was quite dynamic, and carrying it up in pieces in a small elevator was also easy. The shoe print on the top of the box reminded me how important good packaging is to ensure that products arrive at their destination intact.
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Installing a new component is a slow process for me. I am one of those rare people who read the instructions first and then act. I even simulate the movements in the air, repeatedly, before actually doing them. I usually handle components worth many thousands of euros, and the word ERROR is unacceptable. After installing the valves, the most eagerly awaited moment arrives: letting the component acclimatize to the room for 24 hours. There is no rush in my world.
Attractive appearance, balanced size. Its four Emission Labs 300B valves set the volume of the integrated amplifier. These are the four points that catch the eye when viewed from the front, while from the side, the tempered glass resting on the anodized aluminum creates a modern, contemporary line with a careful design. This is not what we often find, where a metal box provides the base for the valves and the transformer without contributing much else to the beauty of the product. Here, everything is much more thought out, elaborate, and studied. If we were writing about a brand with high marketing resources, it would clearly be a contender for product of the year in design. To conclude this topic, I will mention that when I woke up in the morning and saw the Arne, my gaze always fell on it. Recently, some Eric Encore power amplifiers, from the same brand, were displayed in a museum as first-rate works of art. Like a contemporary sculpture and symbol of our times.
The technical specifications that the manufacturer makes available to owners are not extensive. Beyond the 30 watts of power output, its frequency range goes from 10 Hz to 40 kHz, and it has a 48-position potentiometer that can be operated with a remote control. This knob controls the signal attenuation down to -80 dB at its minimum position.
It has four inputs, two balanced and two unbalanced. I would like to highlight one issue here. The amplifier has a balanced internal construction and operation, with the unbalanced inputs being the "adapted" ones. The distributor for Spain provided me with some additional technical data on its construction, but as this is not expressly advertised by the manufacturer, I will omit it, even though I consider it very relevant.
These are what catch the eye when looking at the amplifier from the front. When you look at the Engström Arne MKII from the front, it is impossible not to notice them; it is absolutely impossible. Large and imposing, they are responsible for the amplifier's power stage. In stress tests, where I chose parts that are not easy to resolve for this type of amplification, their behavior was linear.
Four Siemens Röhre D4a tubes
These determine the sound of the amplifier. These preamplifier tubes are only present when the amplifier is turned on. A slight glow indicates that they are working. They do not stand out like the previous ones, although they give the whole unit its sound personality. As I have no previous experience with them, I cannot attest to their individual contribution to the whole, so I refer to the general assessments as a valid element of evaluation.
Correct burn-in of the tubes
According to the manufacturer's instructions, they should undergo between 50 and 100 hours of domestic operation. In other words, at the beginning, turn on the amplifier for a maximum recommended period of 2 hours. Allow the unit to cool down for the necessary number of hours and repeat the process. This prevents premature aging of the valves and ensures optimal performance from the outset. That's what I did. For about fifteen days until it reached the right operating point.
Sound evolution
Normally, when burn-in the valves, many enthusiasts turn on the system and do more interesting things in life, such as having a coffee or going for a walk. I understand this and it's normal, as the sound is basic and lacks presence. It has no physical presence in the room. But what happens with a top-of-the-range amplifier like this Arne? Well, the same thing, but its starting point is much higher. Without mentioning brands, so as not to offend anyone, I will say that in its early moments it sounded just like an All-in-One from a well-known British brand. Hours later, about 15, it was already on par with my beloved Bow Technologies Wazoo XL. After 20 more hours of operation, and even my love for the integrated amplifier that has accompanied me for a significant part of my life could not hide the evidence; it had long since surpassed it. It left its comfort zone and began the fight against the heavyweights that have visited my room on occasion.
Before continuing, I want to briefly review the equipment that accompanied this integrated amplifier and that helps to understand the working environment it had:
Equipment used in the tests
Sound source:
»iFi Audio iDSD Valkyrie
»Konus Audio Digitale 2000
» Roon Server
» Qobuz Studio
Power amplification:
» Engström Arne MKII
Speakers:
» RadioTehnika Giant FS-100N
Cables:
» Wires4Music Osiris Signature:
» RCA interconnect
» speakers
» power supply
» USB A - USB B interconnect
HiFi rack:
» Artesanía Audio Exoteryc Rack PRO
You are familiar with all of the components mentioned, or you can read their respective articles and reviews, both in this publication and in others. Only the cables used in it are unknown to most people: the Osiris Signature series from Wires 4 Music, the second highest range created by the renowned Spanish firm using traditional methods, which I have available. A review will be published shortly.
Three sources and one destination
The objective of the author of this article is different from that of most enthusiasts. I am not looking to link the best components in each case, because I don't usually have that option, but rather to find the differences or contributions that each one can make in a configuration. In this case, I tried to broaden the focus as much as possible by working with three different sources. Each of them has its own characteristics and particularities. We start with the EMT 948 turntable, a true benchmark that aspires to remain so over the years, and to surpass some current benchmarks along the way. Connected via XLR, with a cable of my own that does not match the standard of the others used in this comparison. Konus Audio Digitale 2000, connected in Single Ended mode and, therefore, playing away from home. iFi Audio iDSD Valkyrie, connected in XLR, with the brand's proprietary cable.
From the previous paragraph, we can conclude that they all have their advantages and disadvantages. This partially evens them out, and the conclusions I have drawn from them, regarding the difference between sources, could be defined as follows: "It is better to have a significant number of options in your wardrobe than to have only one for all circumstances." . But for those who insist on knowing only the cold result of which one sounded best with the best recording, then Konus Audio. Although this information adds little. It satisfies those who have little aspiration to delve deeper into the wonderful and complex world of music recreation.
Mental collapse and neglect of duties
I don't think I've experienced this feeling very often. And I've had to think long and hard about this topic in order to convey correctly what happened. Fortunately, people are not measuring devices or sound level meters, nor do we analyze frequencies in a Cartesian way; we are human beings with a workload, problems, and experiences in our backpacks that make us diverse and complex. In my case, I define myself as a methodical person, which is necessary if you want to achieve a specific goal, such as publishing an article. The longer you can stay focused on the goal, the sooner you finish the job. Well, this is where the problems begin. With these explanations in mind, let's all get lost together.
I use my Qobuz playlist, called Amigos HiFi, which is open and public for anyone who has access to the platform. I have a sample of several different styles of music to try out and "focus the viewfinder" of my analysis. I listened to the entire list and nothing. No ideas, no clues, nothing. Tomorrow will be another day.
The next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, I repeated the same action with the same result: nothing. Nothing means, in this case, that there was no musical style that stood out above another. Quiet rock didn't sound better than electronic music. Opera and blues were equally good. Talk Talk and Nirvana came one after the other without difficulty. I got tired and started playing one recording and letting it finish, then another, and another. I was lost for many days. I literally didn't know what to say. Do you understand now why I wrote that first line? I didn't know what to say because I didn't understand what was happening. It was something different, abnormal.
One morning, I went out for a walk alone. In a quiet place, watching the sunrise by the Mediterranean, I began to talk to myself. I asked myself questions and answered them. Aloud inside and quietly outside. The internal block that had been accumulating ideas and feelings for days came crashing down and everything made sense. Now I could put words to my feelings.
Music for the Engström Arne MKII
In short, any. Something so simple is very difficult to understand when you are looking for the forest and all you see is one tree, then another tree, then another tree, and so on and so forth. And you... looking for the forest...
There is a jazz version of Van Morrison's "The Healing Game" that recreates the soundscape in such a hyper-realistic way that you are convinced that this type of sound is perfect for the amplifier. You hold on to this idea firmly until you hear the version of "Carmen" conducted by Simon Rattle and performed, in the leading roles, by the duo Kozená-Kaufmann. " Taphead" lowers your biorhythm to vital minimums. This Talk Talk song fills the room with a set of unconnected sound frequencies that draw the boundaries of the stage and the imagination. From any point in the room, a small sound light can emerge and captivate you, while from another place, the subsequent stages of this acoustic dream appear. Well, among the micro-details of the composition, I began to understand the greatness of what I had in my hands. You need to apply a deep zoom to the sound to appreciate, in all its splendor, what this Swedish amplifier gives us. If you don't, you remain captivated, without knowing why, by the sound it delivers. It doesn't have a spectacular sound. It is the spectacle of sound! It doesn't enhance anything, it reproduces what is there. In recordings where it would be very easy to apply an enhancement factor to certain frequencies, Arne MKII remains true to its principles of maintaining sound linearity. Do you remember me mentioning this term before?
With Steve Ray Vaughan, I was concerned. In his song "Little Wings," there was a slight hum in the sound. Later, there was a scratch on the speaker. My hair stood on end. Had something strange happened? Houston, we have a problem. And, just like the famous phrase, it's due to a misinterpretation. Everything wrong with this magnificent recording is in the recording itself; they were not current problems with the integrated amplifier. As in the phrase by Jack Swigert, astronaut on Apollo 13, everything was in the past, in my case, of the recording, and of the space mission. His exact phrase was: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here. ".
To conclude this section, I would like to place special emphasis on the subject of cables and, in particular, their connection. We are talking about an important device, with significant power consumption and heat dissipation, very significant. It is true that I have had this unit in the summer, but summer exists for everyone, so my advice is still very valid. The back of the amplifier reaches high temperatures and the connectors and their associated cables must be top-notch so as not to degrade with use.
Final conclusions
Sometimes the obvious becomes confusing. Engström Arne MKII is a tube integrated amplifier. This is what your eyes clearly see, and it is generously sized. But its sound has nothing to do with what one might expect from it. It does not suffer from any of the bad habits of this type of amplification, none whatsoever. But the way it fills the musical space is something only tube integrated amplifiers can do. And this one does.
The quick definition and detail in the upper range are intrinsic to solid-state integrated amplification, with no frequency rounding in these parts of the spectrum. That is its strong point. Pure dynamics in music. However, the Arne MKII also gives you that. And it is not a solid-state integrated amplifier.
Engström Arne MKII (also written Engström Arne MK2) can only be enjoyed intensely when your mind is freed from everything known and expected; you close your eyes and let your whole body, including your ears, be intensely penetrated by the music.
It's really strange for me to hear the automatically dubbed English version. But if you want to watch the video, with images presenting other products from the same brand, here's the link.
| Manufacturer's Website | Engström Labs |
| Distributor Website | Broker Audio |
| Price | Not available |
| Technical Data Sheet | Click here |
| User Manual | Click here |
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