Competition and Comparison
Feel free to compare the Audio Analogue Maestro Settana amp against other amps by reading our reviews for the Audio Note Conquest amp and the AMC CVT 3030 amp. You can also find more information in our Amplifier section.

'Maestro' is Audio Analogue's bid for a slice of the 'entry-level/high-end lifestyle' market. The sublime Primo budget models duke it out with Musical Fidelity's X-Series - I'd hate to have to choose between them - and the Puccini, Donizetti and other 'composer' models have shown what the company can do for entry-level purists. The units covered here are key parts of the Maestro series, the range's upscale CD player and integrated amp; there are or will be various separate pre/power packages for those wishing to spend more for a source/amplification combo.

As is expected of Italian manufacturers, the stuff is both gorgeous to look at and so beautifully-made that you can't resist the seductive, tactile finish. They're constructed from a mix of aluminium and steel, and the sense of luxury they impart is undeniable. Each unit measures a substantial 5.3x17.5x16.8in (HWD) and the two create an impressive stack. Though absolutely minimalist and almost Copland-like, the Maestros have a distinct presence, the fascia featuring a protruding centre section housing the displays and controls. With the amp weighing in at 41lb and the CD player at 31lb, perceived value for tyre-kicker types is a given. These are seriously chunky components, so avoid flimsy shelving.

MAESTRO SETTANTA INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
Although rated a seemingly sedate 70W/ch into 8 ohms and 125W/ch into 4 ohms, the solid-state Maestro Settanta (Italian for '70') is something of an animal. It was unbowed by a bout with the 1 ohm Apogee Scintilla, and was unfazed by the Wilson WATT Puppy 7. I don't know if it's possible to engineer xenophobia or nationalism into an amp, but this bambino simply adored driving the Sonus Faber Guarneri, a speaker known for its hunger; that's why I used for nearly all of the listening sessions.

Unlike the £475 Primo (a bargain, I must stress!) which is built to a price, the Maestro Settanta is uncompromised, with high-performance circuits featuring discrete components, 'function-based and channel-based' circuit sections, and PC and home-automation systems connection. So, despite its audiophile-friendly minimalism, the unit is loaded with features to keep it in step with current multi-room/multi-channel adaptability. In particular, it can be programmed with a bypass mode facility to serve as a power amp-only for integration into an A/V system, with the tap of a few buttons restoring it to integrated amp status.

A goodly portion of the unit's weight is a large toroidal transformer in the power supply, with separate supplies for each channel, and full independence for the analogue circuits. Highest-quality passive components, no doubt specified by Bertini, include the lowest-tolerance, milspec, metallic-layered resistors and low-tolerance, non-polarised polyester/propylene capacitors, high-speed, low-loss, high-capacity
electrolytic capacitors and organic-electrolyte, low-capacity electrolytic capacitors.

When you realize that everything operates from two rotary controls, you rightly suspect that this beauty has some form of microprocessor control. Switch on from stand-by, if you're not using the remote (see sidebar), requires nothing more than turning the source selector or volume control. An integrated-resistance network controls levels, and there's no buffer to ensure maximum sound transparency. The micro-processor also monitors the amplifier's operation for security and protection, as well as speaker protection, with 'low impact on sound quality.'

There's plenty of scope for tailoring the Maestro Settanta to complex systems. You can, for example use every input for line sources or set one up for MM or MC phono, the former with 40dB of gain and the latter with 60dB - they're damned fine phono stages. Balance is by the decibel, and it's very precise.: I thought the image in a pure mono recording seemed off centre. A check revealed that the balance (probably because I screwed around with the remote) had been set accidentally a single dB up to the left. All of this is monitored through a fabulously legible, high-contrast 'PLED' dot-matrix display that also shows standby mode with a red indictor for off and blue for on, the input selected, and the playback level in dB.

For £1750, you feel even before switch-on that this is an awful lot of amp for the money. The only marketing concern? Too many of you demand separate pre/power packages at that price. But that's probably considered to be an old-fashioned attitude by today's standards. Me? I have no trouble with integrated amps. Remember: there are technical pros and cons for both...like no evil, loss-inducing wires between pre-amp and power amp in integrated units!

MAESTRO CD 192/24
Possibly more interesting for some of you is the Maestro CD 192/24 - an absolutely, resolutely two-channel CD-only player with minimal gimmickry. Instead, the goodies are found on the inside and the benefits are clearly audible: this is one sweet-sounding CD player.

AA wanted a 'no-compromise' player, so the Maestro CD 192/24's model nomenclature indicates the use of Analogue Devices' AD1955 192/24-bit D/A converter. In keeping with the technological pedigree of the Settanta, the Maestro CD 192/24 also boasts function-based and channel-based separate circuitry, PC and home-automation systems connection via an RS-232 and that tasty, high-contrast PLED dot-matrix display. It also uses a massive, by CD player standards, power supply with two transformers (one of which is a toroidal adequate for a small integrated amp!) with eight separated sections and the analogue stages are isolated from the digital.

Bertini's benediction includes ultra-high-quality passive components consisting of milspec, lowest-tolerance metallic-layered resisters,; low-tolerance, non-polarised polyester/propylene capacitors, high-speed, low-loss, high-capacity electrolytic capacitors and organic-electrolyte, low-capacity electrolytic capacitors. Spinning the discs is a heavily-modified Samsung CD-ROM, specially enclosed and mounted.

Differing only from the Settanta in that the two rotaries are replaced with the basic transport buttons, the Maestro CD 192/24 is about as clean a CD player as you can get. Around the back, there's little clutter, with an RS-232 socket and both single-ended and XLR-balanced analogue and digital outputs. But, sadistically (because the price increase that would be caused by fitting true balanced inputs would have pushed the Maestro Settanta way upmarket), you cannot actually use the Maestro CD 192/24 in balanced mode with the matching integrated amp. Bugger!

Instead, I assessed the player's balanced output through the McIntosh C2200 and, as I expected, it was audibly superior to the unbalanced output, especially for dynamic contrasts and bass control. But as the importer pointed out, 'This CD player addresses the whole Maestro range up to existing and forthcoming "extreme" models, including the Maestro fully-balanced two-chassis line pre-amp, and the high-power monoblocks." In AA's defence, too, this isn't the first time I've had two products in the same series with one balanced and one not. Indeed, cost concerns contributed to the lack of XLR/balanced output on the otherwise hard-to-fault Audio Research PH-5 phono amp. It's a judgment call, and - I suppose - the right one. Why? Because all this wonderfulness is available for £1650.