Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amps Reviewed

Now in my audio system are two low, unassuming black boxes, one by each speaker. I’d venture that Orchard Audio’s Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers ($4,999 per pair), with their sloped front panels and generally restrained looks, won’t win any awards for their industrial design. On the other hand, I expect they will win awards for their clean, transparent, powerful sound, which I’ve been impressed with since the day they arrived a few weeks ago.

The Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Mono amps are Class-D monoblocks in the modern mold, meaning high power, extraordinarily low noise and distortion, remarkably flat frequency response and cool-to-the-touch operation. Physically, Orchard Audio has kept things simple, with a blank front panel and a back panel populated by only an XLR input connector, a circuit breaker serving as power switch, and a sturdy pair of WBT binding posts. The specs, like many new Class-D amplifiers, are superb, but it’s common for audiophiles to find that specs don’t tell the whole story. Do these simple black boxes provide a path to audio heaven? Let’s take a listen … 

What Makes the Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers So Special? 

• The Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers have abundant power on tap. Reported specs include 250 continuous watts into two or eight ohms (500 into four ohms), with twice as much peak power. With that output, these amps should control pretty much any audiophile loudspeaker out there, including power-hungry ones like big Bowers and Wilkins, Harbeths, and Magnepans. High power also contributes to open sound in an audio amplifier, as sound character doesn’t change as the music gets louder.
• Their low noise and distortion yield highly transparent sound. The high signal-to-noise ratio (120 dBA) and low distortion (< 0.0006 percent, 20 Hz to 20 kHz at 10 watts into eight ohms) are excellent, even for today’s leading amps. Bandwidth to 80 kHz, thanks to the use of GaN transistors, means there’s almost no phase shift in the audio band. Is it the wide bandwidth that creates the amp’s startling openness? I can’t say, but the sound surely is detailed, open, and transparent.
• The Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers are fully balanced from input to output. Balanced operation contributes to those great noise and distortion specs, but is far from the whole conversation on low noise in these amps.
• The amplifiers use Orchard Audio’s own GaN Class D modules and a 1200-watt power supply that accepts anything between 95 and 265 volts AC. Efficiency of 95 percent means cool running, and the only heatsink needed is the amp’s bottom plate. This is a boon for any audiophile who depends on air conditioning, or who just wants to keep the power bill down. The universal power supply keeps the amps operating safely through mild brownouts or if used internationally. 
• The Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers are easy to place and move. With each amp only 12.2 × 4.6 × 13.9 inches (excluding connectors), placing them right by your speakers is a cinch. Short speaker cables help keep damping factor high and speaker interactions minimal. The amps’ light weight (13 pounds each) will be appreciated by anyone (like me) who has moved 85- and 100-pound amps and never wants to do it again.
• The Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifier is designed by Orchard Audio in New Jersey and assembled in Canada, making service, if ever needed, easy for any North American audiophile. Besides the three-year warranty on Orchard’s Premium product line, Orchard tells me that, because they use modular construction, they can repair or upgrade any of their products, even after the warranty expires.

Why Should You Care About the Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers?

Whether these amps are right for you will depend on a couple of things. First, do you want clear, neutral sound, or do you prefer a more “tubey” amplifier that adds a little sonic sugar? Either is a valid choice, as I am not here to judge you on your sonic preferences. If it’s the beauty of transparency and neutrality you seek (as I do), the Orchard Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium amps provide it in spades. These amplifiers reveal the true colors (timbres) of each instrument or voice without imposing coloration of their own. They epitomize the difference between being colorful (which they are) and being colored (which they are not).

Second, how much do you favor performance over appearance? Again, there’s no right answer in our quirky audiophile world. The Orchard Audio Starkrimsons are sturdy and functional, and their appearance is professional, nothing to be ashamed of. (I like the laser-etched Orchard logo on the top plate.) Still, there are far prettier components out there, ones that will please the eye of many an audiophile. That pleasure, in the form of jewel-like metal work, illuminated meters, and custom-milled heatsinks, comes at a price (in money or performance or both), often a hefty one. If you’d rather put every audiophile dollar towards performance, you and Orchard Audio’s Leo Ayzenshtat are on the same track (as am I), because for sound, these Starkrimsons rival or surpass any amp I’ve heard at anywhere near the price. They are perfect for any audiophile whose top priority is outstanding sound at a fair price.

Some Things You Might Not Like About the Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers

• There’s no pilot light. I don’t mind the plain case, but I would have liked a front-panel power switch and front pilot light. Even just a pilot light would be a convenience. However, this hardly affects the amp’s wonderful sound.
• The amp has only balanced (XLR) inputs. Balanced inputs are ideal if your preamp or other source has balanced outputs. If not, you can use RCA-to-XLR adapter cables when needed, with a loss of only 6 dB in signal-to-noise ratio (probably inaudible, given how quiet the Starkrimsons are). Even better, Orchard sells an active converter ($299.95) that does the job without losing that 6 dB. 

Listening to the Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers … 

For listening impressions, I swapped the Starkrimsons in for my Benchmark AHB2 amplifiers. Speakers were my long-term reference Janszen Valentinas (with electrostatic treble and midrange and cone woofers), run without subwoofers. I used my Anthem STR Preamp for most listening, and substituted the superb SPL Audio Director MK2 (read our review) at times, to hear how the Starkrimsons would pair with that more transparent preamp. My impressions of the Starkrimsons were consistent across preamps.

I’ve known the track “Crazy Love” from Van Morrison’s Moondance album for decades, and it’s never sounded more realistic than through the Starkrimsons. Morrison’s voice came across natural and well-centered in the soundstage. Bass guitar had a solid, purring quality that was just right. (The Starkrimsons controlled the bass so well, I forgot my subwoofers were off.) The combination of clarity, detail, natural timbres, excellent bass, and stable imaging was so involving that I got goosebumps, and that doesn’t happen often. Compared to the other amps I had on hand (Benchmark AHB2 [read the review] and Apollon PuriFi monoblocks), the Starkrimsons sounded a little more transparent and colorful. If those other amps earned an “A” in my system with this music (and they did), the Starkrimsons earned an “A+.” 

Another landmark album from the same era is the Butterfield Blues Band’s East-West. I put on “I Got a Mind to Give Up Living,” and was amazed at how great this old track sounded through the Starkrimson amps. Though it’s clearly a multi-tracked recording, imaging was spot-on, with guitars and keyboard panned right, drums left, and Paul Butterfield’s voice well centered. Again, the amps showed their superb bass control – something they have in spades. Mike Bloomfield’s guitar work was aggressive, yet the sound remained natural and enjoyable. Everything on the track was beautifully clear, even the artificial reverb added by the producers. 

Cécile McLorin Salvant, one of today’s most interesting female vocalists and an audiophile favorite in my circle, won a Grammy for her album Dreams and Daggers. Recorded live at New York’s Village Vanguard, the album showcases Salvant as a vocalist with great chops and a distinctive, playful approach. On “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me,” The Starkrimsons presented a lovely natural soundstage, something I always hope for from a live recording. Reproduction of Salvant’s voice was spot-on, and the sound was seamless through her wide ranges of pitch and dynamics. Plucked double bass was clear and even, with no trace of muddiness; snares and cymbals were clean and well-characterized, and timbre differences of different cymbals were convincingly realistic. I noticed here that the Starkrimsons maintained their poise beautifully through big dynamic shifts, which not every amp does. At about 4:50, Salvant suddenly belts it out, and through the Starkrimsons, her voice was loud, but it didn’t make me wince, as it has through some other gear. The audience reaction was infectious, and I wish I’d been there for the show. 

Will the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers Hold Their Value?

Orchard Audio doesn’t come up all that often used, but they’ve quickly built a following among value-oriented audiophiles, which will likely help them sell fast. Gallium Nitride also is a hot topic in the audiophile world, thus there are those looking to make their systems smaller, cooler, more modern and better who will be drawn to a pair of Orchard Audio amps. Lastly, the overall cost of Orchard Audio products is so dialed-in that the amps don’t have that far to depreciate, as they aren’t that expensive in the first place. With all of these factors under consideration, I bet your investment in an Orchard Audio power amp is going to be pretty safe.  

What is the Competition for the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers?

We’ve reviewed other Orchard Audio Starkrimson amplifiers, including an earlier “Ultra” modelwith the same power ratings (former staff reviewer Steven Stone loved them) and, most recently, the lower-powered Starkrimson Mono Premium Amps, which Jerry Del Colliano called “an early contender for Product of the Year Award consideration.” When I asked Orchard Audio about differences among models with the same power rating, Leo told me: “As you go up in price with my amplifiers, the bass/sub-bass and transient performance improves due to increased capacitance on the power supplies and or additional power supplies.” I haven’t heard the other Orchard models, but the amplifiers under review lacked nothing in those areas. 

I recently reviewed the Benchmark AHB2 stereo power amplifier ($6,998 per pair), which as a monoblock is specified at 380 continuous watts into eight ohms (480 watts into four ohms). To my ears, the Benchmark and Orchard Audio products offer competing versions of excellence. Both stand head and shoulders above many amplifiers in neutrality and low distortion, with the Benchmark amps sounding a bit more mellow in my system and the Orchard Audio Starkrimsons a bit more colorful and open.

The NAD Masters Series M23 stereo power amplifier ($7,498 per pair) can be bridged into a monoblock. I have not heard this Class-D offering, but it uses the PuriFi output modules; I am familiar with their excellent performance. In bridged mode, it’s specified at 700 watts per channel into a minimum impedance of two ohms.

The ArgentPur GaN Monoblocs ($5,900 per pair; read our review) use the same Orchard Audio modules as the Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium amps. The ArgentPur amps distinguish themselves with an attractive natural aluminum case, silver internal wiring, and single-ended, as well as balanced, input jacks. According to Orchard Audio, the Starkrimsons have a larger power supply and added rail capacitance.

If high efficiency is not a must, the Anthem STR Power Amp ($6,499.99; buy at Crutchfield) is a Class-AB powerhouse, specified at 400 watts per channel into eight ohms, 600 watts into four ohms. At 60 pounds, it’s substantially heavier than the other amps listed. 

Final Thoughts on the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium Amplifiers …

The Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium amps displayed many admirable qualities during my listening: transparency, naturalness of timbres (both vocal and instrumental), control and quality of bass better than I’ve previously heard through my speakers, silent backgrounds, and a relaxed quality that persisted even when music became loud or complex. The treble was extended, yet never irritating. These qualities combined to make music that seemed exceptionally realistic and exceptionally engaging. 

The Starkrimsons delighted me (and my listening panel) on every track we tried. I haven’t heard allthe amplifiers at up to twice their price, but I’ve heard more than a few, and the Starkrimsons wouldn’t suffer in any of those comparisons. If you’re thinking of spending around $5,000 for amplification, I’d urge you to hear the Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium amps. (Orchard Audio offers a 30-day refund policy.) Even if you are considering gear that costs two or three times as much, don’t miss checking these out. You could save a lot of money and wind up very happy.