Argon Audio SA2 Integrated Streaming Speaker Amplifier – HIFI Excursion Of The ARGSA2WH
Argon Audio SA2 is a 499 Euro / $ 594 USD Streaming Speaker Amplifier with a powerful output and insane connectivity. Today we review the Argon Audio Sa2 and also compare it with other speaker amplifiers including Burson Funk (550 USD), Topping B100 Mono Set (598 USD) and Cyrus One Cast (2000 USD).
Introduction
This is the first time we review a product from ArgonAudio, but the company is popular in the HIFI world, and judging from the features their SA2 Integrated amplifier has, and for what price, it is clear that this will be a fun review, and the only real competition that we will explore for the SA2 will likely be with a set like Topping B100 (598 USD).
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Audiophile-Heaven has no Ads and our Youtube Channel has no midroll ads, and our work is supported by Affiliate Links and Donations. Huge thanks to Argon Audio for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/41zvr9O
Official Link – https://argonaudio.com/products/sa2
Build Quality – Design
At its core, SA2 is a powerful speaker amplifier with a 2 x 100 Watt Class D Amplifier, designed for lossless and lossy streaming, and supporting all of the modern streaming protocols including AirPlay2, Spotify Connect, Google Cast, HDMI ARC, Phono Input for Turntables via MM. SA2 comes with a remote which is super nice, and it is included in the package alongside the power cable.
When you measure power, it is best to consider the RMS power, which is 2 x 100W for a 4 OHM impedance, and 2 x 50 OHM for a 8 OHM impedance. This should be plenty for most speakers that are bookshelf in design, and SA2 has a THD+N of 0.0045% as well as Wifi support. Bluetooth version is 4.2 with support for AAC and SBC, while the DAC inside is a 32-B it ESS sabre DAC.
You can use one of the multiple audio inputs that include HDMI ARC, Optical Digital, Analogue RCA and TurnTable MM. This is also plenty, although there is no USB input, as the USB port is only there for firmware upgrade, and there is also no XLR balanced input. There is one Pre output in the single ended RCA format, while the terminals are gold plated. Nordic Hifi made the SA2 fairly light and beautiful, with a net weight of 1.9 kG, and a size of 6.3 x 25.2 x 22 cm. NordicHIFI considers the design to be Scandinavian, and chic.
Subjective Usage
There will be two types of users interested in the SA2, those who want a nice speaker amplifier and already have a DAC, situation in which you will likely use the RCA input and use your external DAC, using the speaker poles, and those who have a digital transport and need the DAC inside of the SA2. This means either using the HDMI Arc, Optical, or using the Wifi streaming abilities of the SA2. All usage scenarios are valid, while the pre output is not designed for speakers really, or a different system, but to allow you to connect a Subwoofer to SA2.
ArgonAudio SA2 is ergonomic, super beautiful and looks far more refined than the Topping B100 Monblock main competitor that I use on a daily basis. This being said, B100 has no extra abilities without a DAC, while SA2 can be a standalone integrated amplifier with the internal Bluetooth receiver and DAC.
An interesting downside, or rather something to keep in mind is that SA-2 from Nordic likes to be powered. It has plenty of advanced, smart features, but it also likes to act as the PRE of the system, which means that it does not like to be left at max volume. I am saying this because it prefers to have a DAC line a line out at max volume, and for you to control the volume via SA2 rather than set SA2 at max and use the DAC to control the volume, since SA2 will power off quickly after it has not received a signal and when being turned on, it expects a rather loud DAC signal to start playing. The whole trick is that you can leave it in standby and it will consume just 0.5Watts of power so it is incredibly efficient but you have to use it the right way.
While at first I thought this was inconvenient, it is actually practical because I would leave Luxsin X9 at max volume for the DAC output, and then I don’t have to touch SA2 as it is always powering up when detecting signal coming in from X9. Another interesting note is that using the Wifi and Bluetooth is really easy and snappy, but you have to make sure the remote is powered for it to enter pairing mode. The remote has a symmetrical power place for the batteries, but one battery should be on + and the other facing the other way around. It took me a bit of fiddling to figure that out as I like to go in raw when reviewing, usually no manual and not reading too much, to not be influenced much by the marketing materials.
Sound Quality
Pairings – To properly test the Argon SA2 I have used it to drive multiple speakers including Pylon Jasper Monitor 18, Elipson Heritage XLS7 Speakers, Pylon Diamond 30 MKII Stereo Speakers, Amphion Argon3s, and Pylon Audio Jasper 23 Speakers. I have used SA2 both directly as a DAC AMP with streaming, but also as a standalone amplifier using the line out from Luxsin X9. SA2 works really well with all of those, and it has no audible noise with any of the inputs, which is top notch. I can leave it at max and set the volume from the pre section of X9, but it does not like that, and would react much better if leaving it to control the volume and setting X9 at max volume. Either way, SA2 has no audible background noise despite using RCA inputs for the line in, so it is a brilliant inner design from an AMP perspective.
To be fair, for streaming I am not the biggest fan of the platforms supported as they include AirPlay 2, google cast and spotify connect, but I have been able to test them and can confirm that they work well. One interesting little thing you can do with the USB port at the back is use it for Ethernet with the aid of an adapter, so you don’t have to rely on the slower wifi speed and can have ethernet.
Overall Signature – Argon SA2 sounds natural, it has a bouncy, fairly full midrange and bass, paired with a smoother, more natural treble that makes all music sound agreeable. It is quite good at revealing details, and although it runs in class D, it has a tuning slightly different than the standard Class D Amplifier, having a more natural, less dynamically compressed and more open sound than most of its direct competitors. You can tell it apart from Class B, Class AB or Class A, but it does have a lower THD, lower total distortion and more controlled sound than many higher class amplifiers, plus it runs cooler, consumes less power and feels more controlled in general.
Bass – Starting from the low-end, Argon Audio SA2 sounds bouncy, deep, but places a strong emphasis on making the bass jumpy, playful and dynamic. It is quite ideal for pop, and EDM but works alright for rock, metal and even classical. It has a specific tuning that feels like it keeps the bass loaded, ready to attack, gives music a strongly dynamic sound, and makes the bass always attack naturally. Decay is a bit sloppy which creates a sleazy, fun and enjoyable presentation that usually works superb with reggae, rap and slower music styles. It has a good synergy with latino inspired music too, creating a long decay, full body and warmer bass than what is true neutral. This all happens for all inputs, although it is more evident on the line input than if using its own inner DAC. It feels like the internal DAC was tuned a bit more for neutrality and its bass is a bit faster to make up for the slower decay of the amp part.
Midrange – Midrange is clearly the emphasis of the sound for SA2, although it is not quite as present as the bass. I am saying this because the midrange is brilliantly beautiful, musical and open, it sounds far more punchy and more vivid, more energetic than what the Class suggests. While testing Class D Amplifiers, all of them tend to have the same tuning, a bit compressed, but SA2 is at the other end of the spectrum, it sounds open, dynamically wide and projects music nicely in the lateral plane. SA2 also has a uniquely revealing sound while having a natural tonality. It is smooth, has a slight emphasis for female voices and generally gives music a warm, pleasing and agreeable tonality. If anything, it is a bit laid-back and always free of fatigue.
Treble – At the top end, SA-2 is quite smooth, silky and a bit relaxed, without any strong edge. This blends really well with brighter and more aggressive sounding speakers, but can take the edge away from relaxed sounding ones. It is most certainly not an aggressive sounding amplifier and it gives music lushness, smoothness and makes all sound laid-back. Even in more aggressive rock and metal, cymbal crashes are on recessed side, and the whole signature is more of an L-Shaped tuning, where bass is plenty, midrange is at the middle, and treble is both recessed and relaxed. This being said, treble has a very strong extension, up to 20 kHz, just silky, smooth and less present in the mix.
Dynamics And Textures – Despite being a Class D Amplifier, SA02 is on the smooth side of things, it sounds dynamically wide, it has no audible compression, very little aliasing and zero clipping, making it quite ideal for both quiet and loud listening. In fact, this is what I think makes it worth the asking price, it has the same consistent dynamic range at all volume levels, it always has a strong contrast and has a juicy, natural texture that is enjoyable and slightly smooth, allowing richness in the midrange to breathe without feeling analytical or too technical. It is ideal for all music styles, makes all music interesting and detailed.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – I like how Argon SA-02 can handle both loud and quiet volumes nicely. It can easily reach 110 dB with Pylon Jasper 23 loudspeakers, it has exceptional control at both loud and quiet volumes and generally sounds wide and holographic. I find that it tends to have a strong contrast and plenty of power for speakers of all sizes, those 100W per channel in Class D are enough for all the speakers I tested it with, and it has no clipping along with zero audible distortion as well as zero audible self noise. In fact, I like how it can be purely quiet even though it has an RCA line input, you never heard DAC noise or self noise or a background noise floor. It is quite impressive for driving floorstanding large speakers, but I believe it is the perfect streaming companion for bookshelf speakers too.
Soundstage – Staging is wide, holographic, wide and deep. Argon SA2 has no trouble pushing the bounds of the stage both wide and deep, it creates a strong layering, exceptional lateral separation, although it does not have a technical sound so it does not have a strong instrument separation, instead it blends instruments nicely so music sounds a bit laid-back, playful, bouncy and relaxed. It does have an exceptionally wide sound, depth is medium, so it pushes the bounds nicely when it comes to the size of sound, it creates a bombastic, punchy tuning.
Comparisons
Argon Audio SA2 vs Topping B100 Mono Set (594 USD vs 598 USD) – Size wise, SA2 and B100 occupy about the same space, with Sa2 being slightly larger. This being said, B100 looks very industrial and spartan in comparison to the rounded shapes and design of SA2, and SA2 stays cooler in long operations, having far better features and wireless integration, but it does not have XLR balanced inputs, only SE RCA inputs. Sonically, SA2 is more vivid, more holographic, sounds wider and more realistic too, it has a higher control, more bass depth, better impact and feels generally more interesting. Only SA2 can drive headphones, so I cannot compare the two for headphone driving, but both can do an excellent job for speakers, yet considering the price point, SA2 would be a better purchase if you need the features it has and don’t mind it not having balanced XLR inputs.
Argon Audio SA2 vs Cyrus One Cast (594 USD vs 2000 USD) – While both One Cast and SA2 can drive headphones and speakers, One Cast is far larger and more spartan looking, while SA2 is modern, elegant and smooth in design. I like both for their more juicy midrange, but the max driving power you can get from SA2 is higher for both headphones and speakers, it has a more capable amplifier inside, and both are mainly to be used with RCA single ended formats, so there is no inherent advantage for One Cast. In fact, both are supposed to be advanced streaming amplifiers, but SA2 has the advantage of being much newer, having much better and more reliable streaming tech inside, and also being quite cheaper compared to SA2, so it makes for a better overall purchase. Theoretically One Cast would have a better speaker AMP in class AB, but sonically I find SA2 to be just as engaging and controlled, if not slightly superior.
Argon Audio SA2 vs Burson Funk (594 USD vs 550 USD) – Funk is far more minimalist in design, but it can drive headphones and speakers and it is within margin of error price wise. You can configure more for Funk sonically as it allows you to use different OP-AMPs to fine tune it, but overall SA2 has more actual power for most speakers, and will sound fuller, more controlled, more vivid and with a lower distortion. Generally, Funk sounds similar to SA2 with Pylon speakers that eat up quite a bit of power, but SA2 has more features, while Funk has a better speaker amp inside. This being said, you can do streaming and SA2 has a DAC also inside, so it can be a more complete media center, plus it looks much better in design.
Value and Conclusion
With a tag of 594 USD, Argon Audio SA2 is an exceptionally affordable stereo amplifier, considering the complex tech inside, especially the kind of sound it can produce, competing with AMPs far pricier and more interesting.
Award – No product is perfect but Argon Audio SA2 is exceptional in sonic performance, clarity, detail and versatility, despite the minor issues when using it via the line input. I am quite sure that the behavior can be changed via a firmware update since it is most likely related to saving power and keeping the AMP from getting too warm when nothing is playing, but otherwise, the sound is so spectacular that Argon Audio SA-2 won a place in the audiophile-heaven Hall Of Fame.
When you’re looking for sound and shape, performance and connectivity, advanced features and an exceptionally good build quality, Nordic Hifi and Argon Audio will deliver on all your needs and desires, bring you a juicy, vivid and engaging sound, all for a meager price considering the power and resolution they can deliver with the SA2.
PROs
- Exceptionally good support for wifi and bluetooth
- Numerous inputs and it even includes a subwoofer preamp output so you can use a dedicated sub
- Tons of power, enough for all speakers tested, including hard to drive floorstanding speakers
- Better driving power than Topping B100 monoblock amps which are around the same price point
- Volume control and remote included in the package
- Beautiful and interesting design that feels premium
- Universal and fun to use
- No delay, perfect for watching movies when it is used as an amplifier
Cons
- Single ended RCA only, no XLR balanced line inputs
- Fussy about the DAC being set to max or close to max and using the volume on the AMP to control the volume
- While not hot, it does get pretty warm
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/41zvr9O
Official Link – https://argonaudio.com/products/sa2
--- Please remember to stay safe, and always have fun while listening to music!---
- If you have a dime to spare, please donate, and help us! It would make the day brighter for me and my wife-
Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
--- Contact Us ---
