PS Audio Sprout Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Ron from www.newrecordd... reviews the PS Audio Sprout! While its easy to get lost in the gear and there are so many high ticket items out there in audioland, its nice to see a respected company like PS Audio offering fantastic products like the Sprout. At $500, its a no brainer. Will it replace a $50,000 reference reference rig? No. But what it will do, is give anyone interested in hifi a chance to hear high quality music from just about any avenue they choose to take. Whether its vinyl, analog, digital or streaming, the Sprout certainly has you covered.
Based on everything I have seen, I will take one of these, it looks beautiful!
I just discovered and subscribed to your channel. I love your reviews.
Great review. BTW, your video skills are impressive, too.
Is this a review or a commercial? Even the 70Hz bump was touted as great. Gimme a break...
The real test would be classical music. For example, Mid way thru Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” there is a gunfight using the whole percussion section, brass, and piano, followed by a beautiful soft passage.
Good review. Thank you. I will definitely buy one soon. I got a question about your Dual turntable using the Ortofon blue cartridge. Is the tone arm ULM? I have the CS505 and I was told that I could only use the OM series.
Great video! This seems like a great alternative to the Emotiva Mini X A 100 if you want a Dac, Headphone section, and multiple inputs. Seems like a no brainier for desktop and/or bedroom systems.
tDS
Thanks
I'd rather use a vintage Marantz
At about 10x the size, sure lol..
New Record Day, This sounds like it will color or change (improve) the sound passed into it via the RCA jacks. Is this the case with the 3.5 jacks and USB as well? For mixing in a music production environment will the sound be reproduced neutrally to ensure a truthful mix?
+New Record Day Considering a new amp and right now I've narrowed it to the Sprout, Yamaha A-S501, or the Marantz PM6005. Really between the Sprout and Yamaha. I will mostly listen to vinyl on a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, but will occasionally listen from digital sources. I have Dali Zensor 3s. How will the Sprout be with those vs. the Yamaha? I like detail more than bass, but do listen to some bass heavy stuff. I do have a sub as well. Thoughts? and thanks!
Which one did you get?
Would there be any advantages for Bluetooth connectivity or even sound performance wise if one were to add the Audioengine B1 Bluetooth/DAC to enhance performance of the Sprout100? It would bring the internal Sprout100 Bluetooth 2.0 to Bluetooth 5.0 offered in the Audioengine. That plus introduces the AKM4396 DAC offered in the Audioengine B1 vs the ESS Sabre 9016 DAC. Thank you
Any chance you might do a Peach Tree Nova65SE review? Thanks!
What are your speakers?
How would this pair with a pair of Klipsch RP 5000f’s?
Based on your previous Yamaha reviews, I gave the brand a second look and recently found the A-S301. I've wanted to like the Sprout from the get go and glad that the price came down so it could better compete with the likes of the NAD D3020. Could you comment which might be superior there? Also, could you speculate which might be the superior setup, (Yamaha A-S301 $349 + Schiit Modi2 Uner $139) vs. (the Sprout $499)?
+crispincrunch Sure, what speakers are planning on using and where? Near field? Big room? Talk to me goose!
+New Record Day Elac Debut B6 and Pioneer SP-BS22. I generally love the punchy sound of NAD but was a little disappointed with the D3020. Worried whether the Sprout truly has enough punch for the relatively ineffecient Elac or Pioneer.
+crispincrunch Nearfield in medium sized rooms, Mav.
+crispincrunch If using the Elac B6 (I have those in house) I would say for you the Yamaha might be a better match. The Elac B6 is pretty aggressive in bass and my fear is with the elevation at 70hz on the Sprout, it might be a tad much. Then again - Are you a bass freak?
+crispincrunch I would love to see some kind of db reference in your videos, visual or verbal. It doesn't look like the volume knob ever went past 10 or 11am in any of your pairings but curious to know what kind of SPLs that translated to.
So is this is a good phono preamp for vinyl and other media platforms?
Do you think the Sprout could pair well with the Sound Sommeliers?
+Adam Dilk Yup! Love that combo.
"tactical feel"
Pretty sure you want 'tactile'.
Thanks for the correction!
I'm surprised that there are not vents in this for heat build up. It must get quite hot when playing at loud levels. BTW is that a Dual 1246 belt drive table?
+margaretsville Dual 504. Sprout stays really cool.
+margaretsville Very efficient amplifiers are used in these, also the case acts as the heatsink itself. I had a Topping with a class T amplifier, ran very cool even running big speakers, no ventilation to the outside.
How do you think this would be with B&W CM8 s1? I'm trying to get a really simple setup for my brother.
You need more a Arcam a19 at very least or Cambridge CXA80... The sprout is made for nearfield and easy speakers
Okay how about dm602 ?
Wait for the ELAC Debut Series Integrated Amplifier DA101EQ before getting this PS Audio Sprout.
Looks like that one will be $100 more expensive and lack a phono stage?
I also have the Ones on my desktop and looking to replace my Emotiva mini amp. What do you recommend for the Ones.
+MAELOB I really liked the Sprout with them ;)
Cool thanks
So basically it;s also an EQ, with a 70Hz bump, just because... Nice editing skills, poor reviewing aptitudes. Take it easy.
*appreciate the critics, said nobody.
How is the bass of this product. I like bass. my budget is limit. I want to use ELAC B6 for this product? Is it a good choice?
It would be an abysmal pairing. The Elacs are already bottom-heavy and rolled off at the top. Combine that with the sprout which measures horribly (bumpy midbass mess) you will have a tubby sounding stereo setup.
big cd player, big vinyl turntable and a small Amplifier......whats the point? Just go for a normal Amp.
Wondering what would be the best speaker for sprout. My budget is around $300.
Kef q100 or Elac b5
As someone who has been into loudspeaker design for 40+ years and having worked in the commercial sector, I wouldn't was my time with the above suggestions, instead I would get a decent speaker kit from either Madisound or Meniscus. Example: I bought the Classix II kit for a friend and they replaced his Dynaudio BM studio speakers!!! meniscusaudio.com/product/classixii-bare-bones-kit-pair/ There are some seriously knowledgeable and skill speaker builders out there, that aren't burdened by the usual commercial costs, and with non of the pomp of marketing nonsense, so what you end up with is a seriously good sounding product. With $300 speaker kit you could have a pair of speaker that could easily lick a $1,500+ pair of commercial speaker ... *at the very least!*
Good choice! I would add Q Acoustics 3020 in that group mostly due to its size vs. performance. Elac B5 are dirt cheap and hard to beat in under £500 price range (currently £169 in UK!!!)
Elac Bookshelves are paired with them as a package so you might want to check those out
Can it drive ls50?
Have anyone compared the sprout 100 to the Yamaha WXA-50?
I bet the Pyle PDA6BU sounds better, it is class A+B, 40 wpc (real world not the 200wpc PMPO in the manual) and has a Toroidal transformer. No digital coax or optical though...
pyle= pile of shit ok...not even in the same l;eauge as this amp...go sit back down son.
doubleu dee
L😂L that told him!
Unlike the - not sure what really to call them - folks over at - not really sure what to classify that as - avshowrooms.com this is actually a well done video review series... Congratulations, fantastic work!!!
how would I run this from a dap?
Nice Review! Also.... thats a sweet Dual! Which model is it?
+byzantio007 Thanks man! Thats my wife's Dual 504 that was given to her by her Mom. Nice little table.
New Record Day I keep wondering why you still haven't chosen to upgrade to a 2M Blue. Especially with all the pricey equipment that you have hanging around.
I really have liked all of your reviews. And like anything reviews like this are subjective. But I have auditioned the sprout. And aside from all the bells and whistles. The sound quality was mediocre at best. The bass sounded thin, and the hf tonal textures do suffer because its a class d amp. The sound stage was barely present and the imaging was very small. IMO id rather fore go all the jack of all trades but a master if none. There are better sq offerings than the sprout which are cheaper.
Thanks for watching! I'm shocked to hear you thought the bass was thin. There is a pretty significant bump at 70hz.
Sorry man, but it is BS. This is not justified at all at $500, maybe at $150 it could be called a bargain. There is no justification for not having a tone defeat button...a 70Hz bump is unacceptable regardless of what you hook it up to. 50w at 4ohms is not insufficient, and one should have an option to do what one likes to with the amp. Bigger speakers are more efficient than smaller ones, and for anyone that claims that 50w is small, check the output voltage when you hear your music next time. I like Paul in his interviews, but this amp is extremely overpriced. Class D amps with this power are extremely cheap, and one can upgrade the caps and the power supply for very little money, to get something better than this under $100. Also, how many people who want an amp this small care for vinyl...also, making a vinyl preamp is extremely easy. Burr Brown ICs, though not very better sounding than your run of the mill chips can be had for $5 a piece or lesser.
MusicwithMohit dont look at wattage... Says nothing about loudness
You can disable the bump by holding down the power button for a few seconds. Learned that from a Z review, I've never heard this unit in person to be able to comment on anything else you said :)
Well apparently you have the skills to build your own amp, so go ahead- the rest of us do not..
'Also, how many people who want an amp this small care for vinyl'..answer- LOTS of people who do not want a giant old-school amplifier taking up more space than the turntable itself, and who are looking for a clean, simple setup with some bookshelf speakers...Not everyone has space for a giant set of floor standing speakers with exposed tweeters that can get poked in by kid's fingers!!
@@Matasky2010 Lambert
how this compare to NAD D3020? thanks
+bridgebolt51 Never heard the NAD, not sure.
thanks
"Never heard the NAD"...you are joking, right?!
I need optical inputs
I believe you meant 'tactile feel' not 'tactical feel'.
Lmao that digital rev intro
wish it had a remote. I like my mute.
Can it drive ls50?
Michael Roldan Arcangel not ideal pairing. Unless you are using them in nearfield
@@TheWretchedWorld Can you recommend a small amp to drive an LS50 or the Meta?
@@MrJossher700 how small are we talking?
Seems like a reasonable DAC and also would make a good integrated amp if you're not picky about EQ settings. I won't bother using it in my entry-level setup, though.
+Sam Wittsell Thanks Sam, what are you using for your setup?
***** Well, I don't have the money yet, but I want my entry-level setup to be a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon with an Ortofon 2M Red, one of the less expensive Yamaha integrated amps, and an undecided pair of bookshelf speakers as I do not have room for floor speakers yet.
+Sam Wittsell Sam, for the speakers, go with the Elac B5s.
***** All right. I also forgot to mention that I will use a Pro-Ject Phono Box S rather than the phono section.
+Sam Wittsell Awesome, never heard those guys but um sure it would be a nice setup. I also love the Lounge!
They never stuffed every item in it. I have an item with an HDMI and a optical cable. So this item is not good for me. I watch TV through a HDMI cable. There is not plug in for that.
Not for me at all I prefer a real integrated amplifier with a high quality built in DAC several digital inputs and analog inputs it looks like it lacks power to and I heard the phono preamp in here leaves a lot to be desired I use a silver Cambridge cxA60 and pro-Ject tube box s phono pre amp. I just prefer separate and more powerful components this may be ideal for other people though I don't know I'm not impressed. And No remote control is pretty lame too.
PS Audio made in china..... i'm sure there is a chinese version for 125 $
I didn't understand any of that. OK I'm not an Audiophile, but all you do is repel.
Thanks for watching anyway
This thing is a toy. When Paul & Stan Audio figures out how to build a vintage Pioneer SX-980 clone reproduction for $500 smacks they might actually have something exciting. Until then I'll pass. NEXT!
If you're into full-size monster amplifiers then why are you even watching this video?? This product is not made for you!
P
Smug yuppie
ugh. Remind me again how much I hate audio nerds...