In this review we take a close look at the SAEQ Audio Armageddon amplifier, selling for $7,600 USD.
Disclaimer: SAEQ Audio is not related to Headfonia in any way. The SAEQ Audio Armageddon was sent to me to be featured on Headfonia.com, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Intro
I first learned about SAEQ Audio at the high-end show in Munich. SAEQ at that time was the company building the amplifiers for the RAAL Requisite ribbon headphones. If you’re familiar with those, you know how well they sound with the VM-1a tube amplifier.
The good people from RAAL introduced me to Dragan Domanovic from SAEQ. One thing led to another and as a result we reviewed the SAEQ’s PDA-1b headphone amplifier. You can find that review here:
SAEQ now is back with a brand new high-end amplifier, named the Armageddon, and it’s what we’ll be looking at today.
SAEQ Audio
SAEQ Audio is a Serbian based company which is starting to make a name in our headphone world. Dragan is the owner of SAEQ audio and he has been building amplifiers since the 70’s, meaning he has over 50 years of experience in the field. Impressive!
The devices that I have developed, constructed and built all these years have gradually acquired a character and tone that I considered to be correct and authentic, in the musical and technical sense.
One of the things SAEQ is famous for is their use of germanium transistors but they are strongly focused on continuous technical/mechanical and aesthetical development. You can find SAEQ’s full “About us” on their website here.
At this time SAEQ is selling multiple different headphone amplifiers: the HYPERION GE, the MORPHEUS, the HSA-1c, the PDA-1band the Armageddon. They also have some cables in their inventory, as well as a DAC. In this article we are focusing on their latest Armageddon headphone amplifier.
Armageddon
I received the SAEQ AUDIO Armageddon right before the High-End Munich show in May, and I have already written a small report on it in one of my High-End Munich preview articles (Page 3).
The version of the Armageddon I have with me for review is the gold one. You can find that Armageddon’s dedicated web page here. The Armageddon is also available in Gold Satin, Chrome and Chrome Satin. They all cost the same and the USD price is set at $7,600 USD, putting this solid state amplifier in the high-end segment.
The ARMAGEDDON Amplifier represents the pinnacle of high-fidelity audio experience. This exquisitely designed device stands as the zenith of Hi-End audio reproduction and quality hardware, earning its name from the cataclysmic shift it brings to audio presentation. With a keen eye on aesthetics, the ARMAGEDDON’s front panel radiates with the brilliance of a fundamentally new sound and a fresh beginning.
The SAEQ Audio Armageddon is an Asymetrical headphone and speaker amplifier featuring discrete components. It has a high impedance single-end input stage with FET transistors, combined with high-gain potential components, including a powerful output stage (with – according to SAEQ – a total potential dissipation of 300W per channel). The Armageddon is a pure Class A drive amplifier, sporting a 24-step attenuator with special metal-oxide resistors to ensure a channel balance error of no more than 0.2 dB. Full specifications can be found later in this article.
According to SAEQ, the Armageddon demands the highest class of sound sources and interconnect cables to open your path to the live sound stage, allowing you to revel in the incredible details and the creation of music’s real-space illusion.
Design & Build quality
The SAEQ Audio Armageddon is a larger sized amplifier. It measures 122mm in height, 370mm in width and 240mm in depth. It weighs approximately 8kg and 9,2kg with packaging.
To be honest, I don’t really know how the Armageddon will show up at your doorstop, as we received the amplifier only. Maybe there are accessories in the box, maybe not, but apart from a good power cable, I don’t expect anything to be included with the amps that arrive at my door step.
Design wise the Armageddon absolutely stands out. The good thing is that there are 4 different “looks” available but no matter which version you prefer, the Armageddon looks impressive with its size. It’s also a flashy amplifier with its large shiny logo, impressive volume control and vents. Personally I prefer more stealth designs (without gold or chrome), but to each his own. Like with the PDA-1b, I myself would integrate a different power button, as I find the red colored and LED lid button to be a tad kitschy. But that’s just me.
Like the PDA-1b, I can’t find any build flaws at all here, and for the price this unit is going for, there shouldn’t be any either. The Armageddon looks and feels like a tank, it stands firm on your desktop and it won’t budge at all when plugging cables and headphones in/out on the front or the back for that matter. The connections on both sides are perfectly finished and all of the switches feel qualitative. The black casing also really oozes quality and it perhaps is my favorite physical part of this unit.
All-in-all a really nice product, but the looks maybe are not for everyone. Probably the satin chrome version, is the most normal, classy one. At least to me it is.
Amplifier layout
The Armageddon is a busy amplifier in all possible ways, the back, front and top are all heavily used.
On the front we from left to right have: the power button, the balanced XLR direct output, the single ended direct output, the attenuation switch, the attenuation level selector, the attenuated single ended output, the attenuated balanced XLR output, the speakers/headphone selector, the RCA ½ input selector, the RCA/XLR input selector and the L/H gain switch. Above this last set of switches you have the large stepped volume control. Centered in the middle is the large and shiny SAEQ Audio Armageddon logo, with the orange power LED just below. All of the connectors have a golden ring around them, and even though one can discuss about the looks, they surely do help not to scratch the lovely casing.
On top of the unit you can find 3 large cool looking vents which work really well, as I never have found the amp to run hot. The feet on the bottom of the amp have the same chrome or gold color. While I am not a fan of the gold, I do like this matching aspect of the vents and feet. On the back of the unit we from right to left have the following lay-out: The voltage selector, fuse and power connector, the XLR balanced input, both of the RCA single-ended inputs. Above the inputs you also have the speaker connections, but we in this article will only focus on the amps’ headphone driving qualities.
Amplifier Usage
Once you figure out what all the connectors are for and how to best use the attenuated and direct outputs, it’s actually very easy to work with the Armageddon.
The connectors on the right side that have attenuation, are intended for headphones that have a higher sensitivity than 105db/mv. Armageddon has very low feedback and high gain and that’s why SAEQ provided these two outputs where you can connect high sensitivity headphones over 105db. By switching the attenuation to -10db and the gain to low, you – according to SAEQ – can have a very nice volume control on highly sensitive headphones.
Personally I feel this amplifier plays very loud, and I find it to perform best with the known harder to drive headphones as we will see later in this article. I don’t really listen to my music at a loud level, and I with normal headphones often can only use 1 or 2 clicks on the ALPS attenuator, even in attenuated mode. More on that later in the part on headphone synergy, but to me this is not the best amp to get for easy to drive and high impedance headphones.
The big advantage here is that you can listen to 4 headphones at the same time, without any loss of quality and power. The PDA-1b also has this possibility, and I have to say I really love this feature and use it a lot. If you have multiple headphones and like switching between them without too much hustle, then this is a perfect amplifier for you.
To come back to SAEQ’s statement about having to use a high-end source as well as interconnects, I can only say that this is the case with all of the high-end amps. If not all of your components are up for it, your amplifier will never get the best possible analogue input/signal. I myself have been using AudioQuest power cables and balanced IC’s from a boutique shop.
The article continues on the second page. Click here or use the jumps below.
Page 1: SAEQ, Armageddon, Design, Build quality, Lay-out, Usability
Page 2: Sound Intro, Sound General, Synergy, conclusion, Summary, Specifications
