Crazy Integrated Amp is the Best I Have Ever Heard… But

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Subs

[careylymanjones]

Tape In and Tape Out can be used with a subwoofer that has bass management. Tape Out to the sub, and Tape In will have the power-hungry bass frequencies reduced, allowing the amp to work with the upper bass, mids, and treble.

[audiodemos]

A person that came to my house two years ago to purchase a pair of speakers that I was selling had one of those Unison integrated amps and I had the opportunity to hear it. Amazing sound a value indeed. One of the best I have heard.

[broeheemed]

I'll never understand these newer electronics. None of the new integrated amps have any tone controls, balance control, high/low/subsonic filters, loudness compensation just a volume knob and a source selector. Now we're at the mercy of what the engineers decided we should like a giant Walkman: Either press [PLAY] or that's all you get. All music isn't produced the same, all room acoustics are not this is why it's a good idea to have the ability to alter the sound settings. At this point, I'm just going to go with a refurbished Marantz or maybe a I could even try to find an actual graphic equalizer (which nobody even makes anymore). We should have more choices, not fewer.

[robertchattin-smith]

I have one of these with the matching CD player. Speakers are B&W 705 Signatures. Music to my ears.
As for cost, I got mine from a dealer, ex display stock. £500 each here in the UK. Don't know the $ equivalent but that is a great saving. Speakers were less than half the retail price as well. Right place, right time.
Oh, and mine came with the phono board as well.
Great bit of kit.

[stephencosta]

The power amplifier stage, which is responsible for driving the speakers, is Class AB. This hybrid approach allows the Unico Primo to combine the sonic benefits of Class A tube amplification with the efficiency and power of Class AB solid-state amplification.

[badpenny]

I was lucky enough to get this amps bigger brother the Unico Nuovo. Paired with KEF ls 50 Metas, and SVS micro sub. It is outstanding at all reasonable listening volumes, but it starts to fall apart soundwise above 85db. It just fills the room with magic, and its ability to give instruments, and sound genuine texture has to be heard.

[stephenross]

Long live manual transmissions, from another dedicated stick owner!

[dennislaska]

I have owned this amp since this January. That's my review in the link at THE STEREO ROOM. It's a sweet powerful amp. It's beautifully made and a solid piece of kit.I would say the only negative is that you really need to play it for about an hour to "warm up". And the bass isn't as "tight" as a nice class D or AB amp. I did trade it in as new condition this spring back to The Music Room and they were selling it for ~ $1450.

[austinjw]

Not Class A. Here a quote explains how circuit really works to achieve what Unison Research calls "Dynamic Class A"
"Dynamic class-A" circuit design: "In the circuit, " Alessio said, "after the rotary switch input selector, the signal goes to an Alps potentiometer, to a polypropylene capacitor, and then to the ECC83 tube, which provides [active] preamplification and gain. There are no other capacitors in the signal path. The output-stage polarization is regulated by a microchip, which keeps both final MOSFETs always on (with a limited current). We call it 'dynamic class-A' because the MOSFET output is never switched off completely. Obviously, it is not a pure class-A, but it's not standard class-A/B [either]."
Copied from Stereophile review Ken Micallef  |  Jun 23, 2016
Great review!

[stephencosta]

You’re right. The preamp stage of the Unison Research Unico Primo operates in Class A. This means the tubes in the preamp section are biased to conduct continuously, providing the characteristic warmth and low distortion associated with Class A operation.

[JohnLee-dbzt]

Unison Research has been around for a long time. Surprised he just discovered it.

[rogier]

Hi Randy, for as long as you have this channel I have watched your reviews, and this review made me buy a second hand Unico Primo for a bargain. And wow Randy.... You hit the nail right on the head with this one. A HUGE soundstage appears from my B&W 804d3 just after thinking it couldn’t get any better. It blew me away. So thank you for making me and your viewers aware of this great little Italian amp. You just made me very, very happy entering audiophile heaven 😇

[cdgerhart]

I doubt that's it pure class A at 80 watts in that small chassis. Stereophile reviewed it and in measurements section they call it a/b and they ran it at a constant 25 watts and it shut down in 15 minutes.

[ericschmitz]

Ecc83/12ax7 in the front end of an integrated amp can do 2 things: 1. 12ax7 can can does add harmonic distortion which is very pleasing. 2. Tube stages are resistant to RF and may reduce RF unpleasantness, typically using tube rectification. There are numerous signal tubes (like 12au7 used by CJ and others) that provide a cleaner, lower distortion than the 12ax7...but the sound of the 12ax7 is addicting and is used in classic guitar amplifiers for a reason...the effects cheapaudioman is describing are real and are known characteristics of the 12ax7...but, lets give Unison Research credit for achieving what they have achieved using solid state rectification...

[gibcoprobe]

I have it's big brother, the nuovo and it sounds amazing.

[romica]

Thank you thank you a million times I bought the amp - it is

[llee]

Not to many reviews on Unison Research products so was happy to see one. However, it dont believe it is full class A due the size and heat sink. Most likely high biased for a few watts in Class A before entering into class AB.

[carlbrown]

Very nice review! Would absolutely love to see you review more Unison up line products.

[bertpeters]

Wow, I now have a new dream integrated. Thanks a lot, Randy. I mean that in whatever way you want to take it. I appreciate the value. My wife is not an audiophile, though I think she did get the difference between Bluetooth and CD when I was demoing Dire Straits' "Ride Across the River" a couple of days ago. It's one of my favorite test tracks. And the system I was using for this is my "portable system: 1990s vintage Infinity RS-1 bookshelves, a cheap Sony Blu-ray player as CD transport, and the surprisingly good Fosi Audio DA-2120C. Then I put on Pat Metheney"s "Secret Story" CD. If you aren't familiar with that one, it's probably available to stream from somewhere. Pretty darn good. It was good enough that she actually asked to listen to music instead of watching TV the following day. That's a win at my house. Thanks for another great video.

[thomasdix]

bought one from The Music Room; looking forward to receiving it