Excuse me avid readers as i have been busy on other projects, I beg your forgiveness. Well, not really, if you like what’s on here, then the next review will be just as interesting for you as the last one, no matter how long ago it was posted.

with that rubbish to the side, let’s dig in !

Starkrimson 25 Mono-blocks from Orchard Audio

In case you’re wondering the product is pronounced ‘Star Krimson 25’. Initially, I had a laugh at myself trying to get my head around how my eyes and brain interpreted the name initially ‘stark rims on 25’ thinking it had some sort of link to car wheels – I have to ask myself sometimes, where does my mind go?  – obviously I’m a car enthusiast 🙂

Intro – Who are Orchard Audio?

Great question! Let’s see if we can shine a little light on that for you.

Orchard Audio is LEONID (LEO) AYZENSHTAT, a fussy perfectionist if ever I saw one and that’s a good thing for us Audiophiles and those who are looking for the right kit that delivers some of the best bang for your buck in HiFi equipment available today. We’ll appreciate and benefit from Leo’s care and attention to detail. – I dislike using the term bang for buck as how it may imply to some a lower quality item against a higher priced item of the same type but delivers similar/ better performance at a lower price point – Instead let’s just call all Orchard Audio products priced correctly/ fairly! – IMHO.

When I elude to value as in ‘bang for buck’ this can mean different things to different people. We are not talking mega bucks here or budget, specifically we are talking about the amount of engineering excellence and attention to detail that’s been put into these products as second to none; from great quality components and well thought through design all the way through to allow for DIY and in-place upgrades for some components from previous models, to the latest design at reasonable prices.

Where does Orchard Audio come from?

Located in Succasunna, New Jersey USA which can both be a good and bad point depending on how you want to look at it. For our Australian readers it means Orchard Audio isn’t local but don’t let that stop you Leo has worked hard to to make the product available globally. With the few emails we have had he’s been very responsive with answers to questions and supportive of opening up the amps to take a look inside or change GAIN if required.

Why you should bother with Orchard Audio?!

Another excellent question (well statement) I’ve put forward – so let me answer.

Service, Support and an excellent value product, as good as the big players even better mind you. With Orchard Audio you’re cutting out the middle man in this instance x 2 – the distributors and the retailers. Some might argue that we need to support our retailers which is true but Orchard Audio are not a retail store or a distributor so in this instance we are cutting these overheads – Orchard Audio are the manufacturer and are going direct to public which from a financial perspective saves on markup. Due to the personal service delivered you can speak with Leo directly and get a response without a lot of the sales fluff that’s involved otherwise. – go straight to the source!

Direct to client in this instance will net you a much better product with great support at a very reasonable price point.

Hey and if the shit hits the fan I’m sure a competent local electrician can work on your amp to save on freight costs.

What’s in the box?

Not a hell of a lot which is to be expected for power amps.

Some picks to get the ball rolling.

You get an instruction manual, power cable, some foam to protect your investment from harm while in transport and let’s not forget the star of the show the Starkrimson 25 Mono-blocks – that’s about it.

Look and feel?

It’s a black sleek looking amp, with a lovely Orchard Audio logo embedded in the top of the case very tastefully done. The rear of the amp is super simple with only XLR inputs, power socket + switch and very robust speaker binding posts – me like!

The top panel is locked down with a number of well placed screws on top and side to make sure the amps symmetry is all properly aligned with the other edges and corners of the chassis, It’s well put together and has a little bit of weight to it, not too much, not too little – just right – like baby bears porridge (for those who don’t know I’m referencing Goldilocks here ;).

Opening up the unit you can see the care taken with assembly, component selection and the attention to detail cleanly segmenting components to help keep signal paths as clean as possible – Thank You Leo.

For those who are interested I’ve posted a link to the Starkrimson 25 Mono-blocks instructions PDF

Objective Measurements?

I’m glad you asked. – I haven’t personally taken these measurements as my time with the Starkrimson 25 Mono-blocks is limited and I don’t have the testing kit on hand, normally I would take them down to Jack my audio electrician who we have used in the past to take a look behind the curtain and see what’s going on inside components, but not in this instance.

With that said looking at the measurements that Leo has provided with the Starkrimson 25 I would be very surprised if they didn’t live up to the measurements provided as these amps sound sublime and we will get to that next.

In the meantime you can download the Starkrimson 25 measurements PDF from this link and have a look for yourselves.

With an SNR – Signal To Noise Ratio of -121 DB you will never hear Starkrimson 25 Mono-blocks in your chain, they are as transparent as you will ever need, they add no distinguishable noise or sound to the end result.

With amps like these neutral is the expression I’m looking for, when you hear a difference in sound it’s not specifically the amp itself you hear, it’s how it interacts with your equipment/ components.

With hard to drive speakers having an amp with more power isn’t necessarily the solution to get the best out of your speakers. As an example having a higher dampening factor for the amp will help move the speakers better which in turn helps deliver a tighter bass sound and dynamics.

With the Starkrimson 25’s that’s exactly what you get ‘more grip on the road’ (yes another car reference) so you can get moving faster, referencing the specifications we’re looking at a DF – Damping Factor of 700 per amp which is more than enough to give the most demanding home speakers enough grip to tighten bass and improve dynamics.

What’s in the stack?

It’s time to play what’s in the stack!

Things have changed a bit since sharing my original post Audiophile reference System back in June 2024, it’s still a great read and many of the components like the vintage Sony’s are still in use today when I feel like a change or need to compare against something like the Starkrimson 25’s.

In this listening session we have the following items in our reference stack.

– Speakers – Mofi SourcePoint 8’s (A post is in the works for these babies)

– Subs – REL T/7x – dual (tested with subs on and off)

– Preamp – Topping Pre90

– DAC – SMSL SU-9n

– Source Streamer – Fiio SR11 as a Roon end point connected to the SU-9n over USB-C

– Source CD – Sony X77ES

– Cables – Custom RCA, XLR & Speaker from NB – Speaker Cables

Subjective Listening & Notes.

Well well well what can I say, there has been nothing to complain about let’s just get that out of the way to begin with. With great appreciation and respect to Leo he has done a fantastic job refining the S25’s, they do deliver in every sense of the word.

– Sound: Clean, clear and crisp full bodied sound, no low level noise to be heard when the music stops, the noise floor is so low it’s inaudible even when your ear is close to the speaker

– Leading edges of notes are clear and well defined, this gives a good sense of space and separation between notes – it’s exactly how i like to hear my music!

– Bass is punchy, tight and full – with the SourcePoint 8’s they are not hard to drive with a Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/1m, a Nominal impedance: 8 Ohms, 6.4 Ohms minimum – so it’s not a fair challenge for the 25’s but with that said I’ve heard the SP8’s sound sloppy with some other amps so there is a noticeable difference at all volumes.

– Due to the DF of 700 even at low volumes the SP’s sound great with every note and vocals very distinguishable, lots of enjoyment to be had.

– Plenty of Power on tap: Class D 150W/ 8 Ω or 200W/ 4 Ω to drive almost any home speaker you can throw at them.

– Over 100+ Db recorded on Android Decibel X in my listening room, clear as a bell my ears didn’t want to go any louder for too long, all the while the S25’s are barely warm to the touch.

– Paired with the right components you wouldn’t want for anything more, at this price or higher. The only reason you would want to spend more isn’t going to be for better performance it’s going to be for look, feel or nostalgia.

Price RRP: USD – $1,249.95 = AUD – $1,923 each = $3,846 for the pair + Shipping.

Comparison with Advance Paris X-A160 (Yes I have one of these on hand)

– Power on tap: Class A/B – 160W/ 8Ω or 240W/ 4Ω from a single big daddy toroidal transformer – plenty of power here, with an SNR of -120Db (cant hear them when the music isn’t playing) I love the A-160 it’s so good – it’s a draw for power with the A160 slightly edging out the S25’s.

– DF – Damping Factor 100, with a lower DF the A160 may struggle a little with harder to drive speakers that have bigger woofers, for the SP8’s it’s not a problem due to their sensitivity making for a great pairing. – It’s a draw when driving the SP8’s. – But if you have less sensitive speakers with larger or multiple woofers then the S25’s will be a clear winner for your setup.

– Sound: High Bias mode on the A160 really pushes the mids and highs making them super clear and crisp, it’s like boosting the power without boosting the power. The music is more audible at lower levels, never any harshness or sibilance to speak of at any volume. There is a slight difference to presentation here between the 2 amps subjectively for me the AP A160 wins out here due to a slightly softer presentation in this area – Winner in mid and treble presentation to the A160 but only just.

On a side note slightly turning out the SP8’s away from your listening position will help in reducing some of the sharper presentation by changing the directivity, if you’re into tubes or are using let’s say the AKM4499 dac chip this has a different presentation softening highs. The ESS Pro chip in the SU-9n has a sharper presentation which adds to what I’m hearing proving once again that component synergy matters – we could also just adjust some EQ to knock that down and we are good to go.

– Look and Feel – This bad boy is heavy @19 KG, This is very subjective, are you lacking space? Do you like UV’s? What about buttons? – it’s really a draw here as there is appeal on both sides of the coin. I’m not really a big UV meter fan, they are ok at times and distracting at other times, the A160 when running an 8Ω load won’t get much movement on the UV’s unless you “pump up the volume” above 60Db then they start to dance, on 4Ω loads they will dance sooner.

Price RRP: AUD – $2,699

Comparison with Dual Sony S55ES bridged into mono.

– Power on tap: Class A/B 300W/ 8Ω or NA cant run / 4Ω – with a SNR of -120Db (cant hear them when the music isn’t playing) will blow the house down if you need all the power. The Sony’s are power houses, they deliver power in spades – if you need the juice then go Sonys but if you don’t – well the S25’s are more than enough packing plenty of power into a much smaller box.

– DF – Damping Factor 100, with a lower DF the Sony’s may struggle with harder to drive speakers that have bigger woofers, still easily drive the SP8’s as we have covered above sensitive speakers are easy and make a great pairing. – it’s another draw when driving the SP8’s.

– Sound: Here is where those who love vintage will pick the Sony’s every day of the week. Clear in presentation and lacking nothing they are amazing for 30+ year old power amps, but if vintage isn’t your thing and you want to inch out every last drop of musical detail from your gear then the S25’s win hands down. The Sony’s are amazing but the S25’s are that much better, if you’ve never heard them side by side you wouldn’t know. – for peak detail and sound stage width the S25’s win but you would need to hear them side by side to tell.

– Look and Feel  – @12kg each they are not heavy or light, full sized width, black sleek and can come with or without rose weed sides. Hey it’s vintage HiFi vs Modern minimalist there can be no clear winner here. If you have space and love vintage get 1 or 2 Sony’s, Short on space and would be happy hiding the power amps away out of sight go the S25’s.

Price RRP: AUD approx – $600 – $900 on eBay each

Summary

My review on the S25’s is a bit late to the party, I was kindly offered to review the Starkrimson 25 Mono-blocks as part of a tour on stereo.net with a number of awesome participants that have very different gear. All participants have given the S25’s a good run for the money, with a bevy of equipment testing the S25’s thoroughly and loads of listening impressions head over to Stereo Net and read the reviews you will be very glad you did.

I have zero bias towards brands, if it sounds good and I like it then it’s for me. Let’s put it this way when the opportunity came up to purchase the review samples I jumped at the chance to have the S25’s as my new reference power amps.

Outro

If you’re into HiFi, looking to setup or install a system you can reach out to me for a chat. vAudio Architect specialize in custom installation services and supply of HiFi/ Audio Video for both domestic and commercial use.

Have a special project you’d like us to consult on? I’d love to hear more about it.

Or just ask if we have any review stock to be cleared.

Reach out using the contact form below or call the 1800 number.

Happy sound hunting!

“”Cheers

G