Long-standing customers of Audio T Swansea will be very familiar with our penchant for healthy amplifiers, especially ones made at Chord Electronics’ The Pumphouse, down in bucolic Kent. You may be similarly familiar with our mantra “One big one is better than a couple of little ones” in reference to the phenomenon of a single, high end integrated amplifier very often performing better than a two-box pre/power system of the same cost. I am unrepentant for deploying it here.

The 125-watt amplifier, launched at the High End Show in Munich, is designed by Chord Electronics’ founder, owner and chief engineer, John Franks. It is the first new Chord integrated amplifier in seven years and the only full-width model in the company’s range at present.

The Ultima Integrated is styled somewhat differently from its CPM-appellation predecessors. The design matches Chord’s critically acclaimed Ultima power amplifier range and bears a strikingly close resemblance to our Ultima Pre3 preamplifier, to the occasional confusion of staff.

Those familiar with Chord Electronics will recognise the house style, even if they somehow miss the gold Chord badge mounted centre-top, in its elegant, CNC-machined recess.

that gold chord badge. “ostentatious? MOI?”

Ultima styling has drawn a varied response (mostly positive), with comments akin to ‘It looks like it should be in Flash Gordon’s rocket-ship’, ‘Have they used Lang’s “Metropolis” for inspiration?’ and ‘Why am I reminded of “Bioshock?”’

The first thing I remarked when it was lifted from its carton was how menacing it appeared. Putting the demon into demonstrator, our black anodised unit is finished with the signature Chord “Integra” legs and it looks very… purposeful. When powered up, the (also) signature Chord internal LED illumination spreads a pleasing aquamarine glow over its surroundings through its perforated top plate and its power button, which is actually a frosted sphere about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Très chic.

the beautifully machined aluminium top cover and perforated plate reveals components bathed in an aquamarine glow. (it’s my favourite colour)

my goodness it’s pretty. red ring on the input selector denotes xlr input engaged. the power button glows red during standby, green upon power-up and aquamarine when it’s ready for action.

Flanking the power ball/button/indicator is the volume/input selector knob and the balance/AV bypass control. Pushing the volume knob in yields a satisfying click and cycles through the inputs, the ring of light around the knob changes colour to indicate which input is currently engaged. Holding the balance control in yields a similar click, a purple illumination is displayed and the volume/input selector is bypassed for AV, more of which later...

mmmm.…aquamarine. i’ve got a lovely jumper that colour.

The rear panel has a row of five robustly manufactured analogue inputs; a standard XLR, three RCAs and an XLR marked AV Bypass. (This is for use with a home theatre processor/pre-amplifier and bypasses the Ultima’s volume control, enabling a direct signal from the processor’s output sockets and allowing the system volume to be controlled from the processor.) Should you wish to add a power amplifier in future, an XLR pre-amplifier output is also present.

note the handy earthing nut (no phono stage) and those safely radiused heatsink fins.

All inputs feature individual buffering and are selectively filtered against potential ingress from radio frequency interference. Selection switching is via microprocessor-controlled sealed relays. Below is a 10A IEC power socket and below that are a pair of loudspeaker terminals. The rest of the rear panel is taken up with neatly machined heatsink fins.

Powered up and glowing softly, initially Ultima appears to take a fair turn of the volume pot to elicit a usable level, until you realise that this amp is so deathly quiet and free from noise, that you are able to keep turning the volume down and still hear everything on the track. This is particularly useful trait for late-night listening sessions. Conversely, turning the wick up yields very satisfying weight and scale, with no apparent trace of noise or distortion until pushed way beyond the bounds of decency and the safety of your hearing. It will go very loud indeed and yet it’s just so very… clean.

paired with the excellent linn selekt dsm media player.

a rega Planar 10 turntable & aria phono stage, black rhodium cables and dynaudio contour 30 speakers complete the picture. the components are sitting on a solidsteel hy4l rack.

Connected to our Rega Planar 10 turntable, Aria phono stage, Linn Selekt DSM media player and Dynaudio Contour 30 speakers with Black Rhodium cables, needless to say electronic music absolutely shone with huge ambient soundscapes filling the room with tight, extended bass. Acoustic instruments shine too. The textures of plucked strings, struck skins and resonant bodies are simply presented for you to enjoy. Nothing added, nothing taken away, performers’ techniques are revealed, but not exposed so ruthlessly that you are distracted from the music. Singers in particular are given an honest treatment that demonstrates their skill, passion and artistry without getting distracted with forensic detail. The Ultima is clean, not clinical, the music presented with a creaminess I haven’t heard in Chord Electronics’ umm… electronics before. It really is very, very good indeed.

But don’t take my word for it, the Ultima Integrated is on demonstration in our ground floor dem room. Skip over to the shop and I’ll play you a tune or two…

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

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