German Physiks Emperor Integrated amplifier receives Hi-Fi+ Integrated Amplifier of the Year Award

“Outrageously good”, is how Alan Sircom concluded his review of the German Physiks Emperor integrated amplifier in the September 2021 issue of HiFi+ Magazine. We were extremely pleased to receive such an excellent review. We were even more pleased when we were informed that the golden ears at Hi-Fi+ had been so impressed with the Emperor integrated amplifier that they had given it their coveted, Integrated Amplifier of the Year Award for amplifiers priced £10,000 and above.

Here are a few quotes from Alan Sircom’s review.

 “Short of rocking up with a pair of old Apogee Scintillas, there is no loudspeaker that will challenge the Emperor. It exudes a sense of quiet confidence, physical control and presence because nothing fazes the Emperor amp.”

That is because the Emperor integrated delivers 300W rms into 8 ohms, 600W rms into 4 ohms and almost double that power again into 2 ohms.

"The amplifier might be all about precision and control, but it’s also a rich and inviting sound. It’s an amplifier of great poise, whether it’s playing something large scale [Haydn’s ‘Nelson Mass’, Wilcocks, Kings College Choir, Decca] or small, quiet jazz [the gentle bossa nova of ‘C’est Magnifique’, Melody Gardot, Sunset In The Blue, Universal]. The Emperor ‘scales’ beautifully and keeps time like a stopwatch, too. In fact, whatever you played, it simply made it sound ‘better’."

"There is also a profound sense of stereo staging, a fully three-dimensional experience rooted in a sense of solidity and presence that makes the sound emanating from any loudspeaker – not simply a German Physiks design – sound centred, precise and extremely communicative."

"... the amplifier makes smaller speakers sound bigger, bigger speakers sound more powerful, and more powerful speakers sound a little bit awesome."

Read the full review in Hi-Fi+ issue 199 here.

Visit the Emperor integrated amplifier web page.