Firestone has been kind enough to send us a few of their products recently and today we take an in-depth look at a new digital amplifier. The Big Joe 3, as its numerimacality suggests, is the third generation of a series of small, yet powerful amplifiers.
...Powerful if you think 20 watts times two is power. "Huff, Huff", you say? "My amp has over 100 watts per channel, what would I do with this little thing?" When was the last time you made it through even one song at a volume above 2 or 3 on the dial without someone yelling at you?
Noise is just not appreciated by most of the population and no matter how great you think your own musical tastes are, to everyone else it's just a racket. So why not focus on quality, not quantity? A new breed of affordable and beautifully designed products is here to fill this broadening niche.
This amp is perfect for the office, garage, bedroom, and dorm. When I went to college, I thought volume was king and bass was like... the wizard emperor. I loved quality but I didn't have enough experience to know what quality was. If I could go back again, I would take one of these with me... and a list of all the winning horses at the Kentucky Derby over the last 13 years, see?
Here are the basic specs of the amp:
One of the great things about this amp is the HUGE number of inputs you can... input... into it. Just look at the back of this thing-
It's actually a bit of a tangle and when you have a few things plugged in, it's almost impossible to turn it on and off- not a big deal, but you gotta pick it up and sort of stick your finger in the right place... This is the price you pay for amazingly small size. You could fit this anywhere in your life and even though it isn't specifically designed for portability, you could definitely take it anywhere you find electricity.
Anyway, as you may have noticed from the specs, this is a class D amplifier and if you are into clean, on demand power, this is an enourmously efficient amp.
Hook it up directly from your computer through USB, through an optical input from your CD player (or computer or wherever), or through the analog line-in from your iPod. Whatever source you choose, you are covered. You can even run a coax cable in... a lot of choices.
Just be sure to remember that when you turn it back on, the selector switch on the front defaults to "Line-in". This caught us off guard a few times when the sound did not come back on after firing it back up. Again, not a big deal at all.
If you don't have banana terminals on your speakers you can do one of a few things:
1. Buy adapters to fit your speakers.
2. Cut the Banana plugs off and stick the wires into the backs of your speakers.
3. Jam them in the holes as we did below (ok, we didn't JAM them in ...finagled)
Using the USB interconnect, this is a plug-and-play set up. The computer should just switch all audio output to your amp with the line-out being disabled.
THE SOUND?
The overall sound is best described as "Superior"- very clear, with sharp attack and fleshy delivery. This amp will kill many way above its price point. There is one category which will surpise you in its outstanding-ness; Soundstage. I was really amazed at how situated every instrument and vocalist in any given recording was. The music felt "present", like you were there taking a bath in it. There was real depth to the sound which extended in front of and behind the speakers. Among others, I tried it out with some 80's vintage Bose 301's and some 90's vintage Paradigm Atoms. This amp is better suited to the Atoms- you might say they were made for each other.
It will take care of any small to mid-sized room and at $347 it might seem a bit pricey for some, but this is real high end sound in a small package- iPhone small:
Looks the part too:
They really have thought of everything so no matter what your needs are, there is a way for this to fill them.
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Price?
view jzh797s's profile
"This amp will take care of any small to mid-sized room and at $347 it might seem a bit pricey, but this is real high end sound in a small package."
view gregory's profile
Been in the market for a nice headphone amp/DAC/integrated amplifier (that goes into speakers) in one single combo piece. Does such a thing exist I wonder? And I'm not talking about just your standard AV receiver either.. I wants me the gooood stuff! Anyone?
view ekoshyun's profile
I wonder how this compares to some of the cheaper chip amps. It has more inputs then some, but not sure it that is worth the extra $$. I sure do like my $20 Sonic Impact amp.
If anyone has doubts on what these itty bitty amps can do, I am currently using mine for sound in a large science classoom/lab.
view sciteach's profile
Those inputs make a big difference because you end up doing all your Digital conversions in the amp itself. The T-amp is great but has a smaller "window of greatness"- the clarity goes down the louder you go. I love my T-amp for more basic stuff, but this Big Joe is truly high end. ...And if one day I want to buy a wicked CD player with an optical out, this is ready for action. I feel as though this amp can really grow with you.
It may look small, but that is a function of super efficient engineering and not an indication as to which market it's in. This should only be compared to more feature-rich amplifiers which will typically be much larger.
Whenever you take a line-level signal out of your computer you are subject to all kinds of interference, including little scratching sounds from bumping the cable. This is not the end of the world but you can really be transported by super clean sound and so upgrading can make a huge difference.
I didn't mention it in the article, but you can also switch out the op-amps in this amplifier by opening it up and popping them out- this can get you sound that is exactly how YOU want it.
You get what you pay for.
view Peter_Unplggd's profile
I ordered the Big Joe II. I prefer to add on the dedicated DAC and extra power supply.
The Big Joe III is similar to the Travagan's Green, but minus the additional built in headphone amp.
view Nighted's profile
Price is $347 - More info and specs viewable here: http://www.soundadditions.com/bigjoeIII-digital-power-amplifier.php
view soundadditions's profile