PS Audio readies Sprout100 integrated amplifier

Hot dog! Way back in 2014, PS Audio introduced the more bank account-friendly Sprout: a handsome Bible-sized integrated amplifier with Wolfson DAC (fed by USB, coaxial S/PDIF or aptX Bluetooth), MM phono stage, analogue input and headphone socket. The Sprout offered everything needed to get up and running with an entry-level hi-fi system.

Well, almost. The absence of a remote control wasn’t a show-stopper but it gave some buyers pause. And that coaxial digital input; it doesn’t talk to TVs and game consoles.

Just ahead of the Munich High-End audio show that gave us first sight of Sprout four years ago comes news of an updated version.

PS Audio’s Sprout100 maintains the forerunner’s form factor and feature set but swaps out the Wolfson DAC chip for an ESS Sabre 9016 (for 24bit/384kHz PCM or 2xDSD) and adopts “the latest, state-of-the-art ICEpower modules” to push twice the original’s power rating into connected loudspeakers. We now get 50wpc into 8 Ohms and 100 wpc into 4 Ohms.

Best of all, the Sprout100 comes with a remote control and puts a more mainstream-friendly TOSLINK socket next to the USB input on the back panel.

The Sprout100 will sell for US$599 when it goes on sale at the end of May, either directly from PS Audio in Boulder, CO or Amazon.com.

Further information: PS Audio