Konus Audio Integrale 2000, the magic box

When Eric Garcia , CTO of Artesanía Audio, came to the house to record a video of anecdotes at international audio fairs, he couldn't resist listening to the music system he had installed at the time. Eric, a person accustomed to traveling to different continents representing the brand, to listening to all kinds of products, qualities and... price; he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to test the sound of the room.

His curiosity peaked with the tiny integrated amplifier. For him, it's tiny. His racks support amplifiers and power stages weighing several dozen kilos each. His expression as he listened to Jean Maurer's speakers move was like a commercial.

My problem is to convey in writing and with little information the benefits of a product that does not sell an image. It does not sell advertising. It lives on the other side of the market, the one that moves outside the spheres of popular knowledge and is aimed at a very specialized sector with a knowledge of audio. Its website is a declaration of intent, where it almost invites you to visit your nearest distributor. It doesn't offer much information about the product, it just mentions it and wants to convince you of its virtues through listening rather than through its writings. I am still on the opposite side of Mr. Sead Lejlic, the owner of the company, since my job is to convey in writing what words cannot reproduce: the music. That is what is expected of me, and that is what I will try to do.

It does not exist publicly, nor does it give more information than the following: 33 Watts in 8Ω, class A/B. Let's apply logical deduction to expand, as far as possible, this scarce data. Obviously, as the manufacturer also indicates, it is a real dual mono. I say it is real because the rear connections, both the signal input (two RCAs) and the speaker output, are not in the "usual" arrangement, one on top of the other, but on each side of the integrated amplifier, following an aesthetic more typical of power amplifiers than integrated amplifiers. All this, supported and isolated by only three bases, not four.

On the front panel, a potentiometer without any visual position indicator, a toggle switch to select one of the two sources and a red status LED at the top. Nothing else.

We live in an age where we mainly come across two types of integrated amplifiers: those reconverted to All in One (AIO), with DAC, phono preamp, streaming, inputs of all kinds, etc., and the "fake" minimalists, that is to say, although they do not have all of the above, they are bulky, heavy, with a lot of material incorporated to dissipate the heat generated and always looking for a "good photograph" to satisfy their future owners.

Konus Audio uses the same external enclosure for its integrated, DAC and phono preamps. And only two "factory" colors. When I write about the DAC, the word minimalist is already written in capital letters.

Personal anecdote. I experimented with different locations for the integrated and the DAC inside the Exoteryc Pro rack, taking the corresponding images and viewing them later to try to find the most attractive position. Finally, I decided to put them together on the same shelf to give a better feeling of a complete system.

Equipment used in the tests

Sound source:
» Konus Audio Digitale 2000
» Roon Server
» Qobuz Studio
Power amplification:
» Konus Audio Integrale 2000
Speakers:
» Jean Maurer JM320E
» RadioTehnika Giant FS-100N
Cables:
» Wires4Music in cabling:
    » Horus Hybrid RCA interconnection
    » Evolution in loudspeakers and mains power
Rack HiFi:
» Artesanía Audio Exoteryc Rack PRO

I have used two different speakers, with sound profiles that are also different from each other, in order to squeeze out more possibilities and arrive at more well-founded opinions about my personal experience.

You arrive at the dark room and it suddenly lights up with all the musical information floating in the air. The clarity of the notes projected in the room and the instrumental separation is so noticeable that, in delirious moments, you "see" the eighth and sixteenth notes as they caress your ears, leaving you exhausted in the futile attempt to capture all the information emitted by this combination of musical elements.

It's dynamic, very dynamic. Both the speakers and the integrated one have been designed to work at full speed. This characteristic may not be to the liking of people whose taste is very much conditioned by the "sweet" sound of conventional valve amplification. Traditionally, this sound has been associated with coldness, but this is not true. It is not the same to emit a large amount of musical information as to make it sound metallic.

The extraction of musical information and its subsequent presentation in the soundscape is so expressive and detailed, setting the bar so high, that it is somewhat difficult to move away from it. I have to insist that this synergy is not to everyone's taste. Those who prefer thicker sound lines, less definition in exchange for a greater presence of dominant notes to "simplify" the sound message, may be somewhat stunned. It's all a matter of taste and all of them are respectable. Personally, I still think it's a clear winning combination, which I will explain below.

Before connecting it, I knew the sound it could produce in all registers except the lowest. The treble from these speakers is smooth, very easy to handle, and the midrange is pleasant, with some coloration, not very analytical but more relaxed in its interpretation. Where some low-wattage integrated amplifiers have failed, it has been in moving their four woofers. Projecting the sound in the room, but perceiving it as lacking any body, lacking depth, giving a light signal that did not meet the needs of any particular piece.

And the Integrale 2000, with its 33 watts, the least powerful to have been used in a room in all these years, did not seem like the best partner. So I started with the most difficult thing that came to mind and I wanted to hear at that moment:

The violinist, of Georgian and German origin, Lisa Batiashvili, plays the piece "The Dance of the Knights", Op. 64. With arrangements by Tamás Batiashvili for solo violin and orchestra, it is simply wonderful. If you don't have it, buy it, listen to it, do whatever it takes to hear this creative result.

During the performance, the timpani mark the military rhythm of the piece, forcing the response of the speakers and their ability to respond adequately. It is a complicated piece to perform well, as the violin is energetic in execution, with a lot of intensity in its interpretation, but the martial nature fills everything. And it always emerges victorious from the forcefulness of the scene with its sweet musical stridency. It makes you really enjoy it and you live it with vehemence when the result is satisfactory.

It highlights the shortcomings, if they exist, and... they did exist. Integrale 2000 was not in the least bit fazed, drawing a profound sound scene with many dB's of intensity, which my beloved Radiotehnika did not have the capacity to follow in its dynamism. The dance of the knights unhorsed one of them. Other battles and other scenarios will come. Radiotehnika bows out with its head held high, Konus Audio has surpassed it. Life goes on.

Forget about technical characteristics and other things you may have thought you had learned over time. They are useless. And the hardest part is yet to come: when I write about the Digitale 2000 DAC. All those people, true music lovers and not of their devices; who only "aspire" to have something really spectacular in their home, in sound and not in presence, have to listen to this.

Be wary of my words and my praise. Don't believe any of it, just what comes next: "You must listen to it with suitable speakers". The biggest mistake you can make with this integrated amplifier is to base your decision on its price, thinking that by adding speakers of a similar price you will achieve the optimum result. Even I have defended this theory on many occasions in a general way... although here it does not work. For every euro that this integrated amplifier is worth, you will have to spend at least four euros on the speaker. That way, the two will be on an equal footing.

I hope I have filled a little of the gap left for fans on the manufacturer's website. He wants you to listen to it, he doesn't want readers but listeners. I have readers who I encourage to be listeners.