SPL Performer s1200 Power Amplifier

The SPL Performer s1200 stereo power amplifier arrived on a pallet, which I thought unusual for such a compact amplifier. It is a compact and dense amp, weighing in at a seemingly reasonable 63 pounds, and then I had a flashback to my importing days. Dense and heavy gear, especially when smaller, will simply destroy the packing materials from the inside out if left to roam through the wild world of international shipping without a pallet as an escort. Sitting on my equipment rack, it looks suave and svelte. But it’s a solid hunk of metal and it needs to be shipped with care–there are even two transport screws on the bottom of the amp for shipping purposes.The Performer is a solid-state class AB design, which is undoubtedly a common approach for amp circuits. What SPL adds to the mix is their proprietary VOLTAiR technology that keeps the amplifier performing more consistently at the frequency extremes. There are separate stages for power and voltage, and each stage has its own negative feedback path which keeps feedback from the transducers from “interacting with the input stage.” VOLTAiR is designed to keep the amp from operating in a critical stage—it’s always relaxed, open and optimal.