Pioneer A-676 Amplifier

From the people that brought us the legendary A-400 comes the A-676 Reference Stereo Amplifier. Ought to be pretty good then! Funnily enough, once you wade past the bass, treble, balance and loudness controls, the MM/MC phono selector with subsonic filter option, the independent rec-out and input selection and speaker switching facilities (puff puff) you're left with a rather uninspiring piece of kit.

Not that the A-676 is bereft of good intentions. Take Pioneer's 'Direct Connection II' which ensures that all input and rec-out selections are achieved using local switches near the back panel. Even the volume control is positioned midway down the amp to reduce track lengths.

Then there's the 'Clean Ground System' which finds both the mains transformer and honeycombed heatsinking insulated from the main chassis but electrically grounded at a common point in the power supply. The idea is to reduce noise circulating in the metal chassis, noise caused by capacitive-coupling between the power transistors and heatsink as well as the transformer core and its windings.

Techniques that are also incorporated in the A-300 and A-400, I might add. But the A-676 is not a big A-400 with knobs on, simply a return to the old school of heavyweight mass-market engineering.

Sound quality

'I'd get more excitement cutting my toenails' remarked one listener in response to the even-handed but generally lacklustre performance that drifted past our ears. Apparently this amplifier loses bass lines with casual regularity. Take the plucked bass from Brahm's Symphony as an example, for though the instrument had an obvious 'presence' it lacked both weight and focus.

Tracy Chapman also began promisingly enough but the deep bass rhythm became progressively more strained as the complexity of the song mounted note by note. Here dynamics, space and fine detail were all traded for a crude increase in level.

In its defence, the A-676s balance is both fairly even and also very consistent from input to input. So though the amp is not off-putting in a bold or aggressive fashion, it's the sheer indifference of its music that disenchanted our listeners.

Conclusion

Described by our panel as a 'mineral water amplifier', the A-676 certainly offers very little flavour to tickle the palate. A pity really, because there's no earthly reason why Pioneer could not beef-up the A-400 into something equally special but simply more powerful.