Junk mail rarely serves a purpose, but I'm pleased that I opened
one of those 'You Can Win #100,000!!' envelopes from a famous
producer of junk mail. In it, the company showed a breakdown of
what you could do with your winnings, eg buy a car, pay off your
mortgage and so on, but what intrigued me is that one of the
items listed was 'Top Quality Hi-Fi......#3500'. This caused my
heart to swell because it meant that a totally 'non-enthusiast'
source has publicized the notion that hi-fi can be justified at
above-Amstrad prices. It means that I don't have to apologise for
the Counterpoint SA-12, at a measly #1250, because it could
conceivably fit into that winner's system.

I'd like to think that British audiophiles on a budget have
matured enough to accept that exotica costs big bucks in the way
that car enthusiasts of limited means can understand the price of
a Ferrari. And the only way you can appreciate the Counterpoint
SA-12 is by looking at it relative to the high end, not by
comparing it to NADs or Creeks.

Although this amplifier has been around for a few years,
Counterpoint has continued to refine it in the way that Quad
continually refines its products: without making a big deal out
of it. So although there's no Mk II suffix, this beast is
supposed to offer better performance and greater reliability than
the early samples.

I don't have an early SA-12 to hand, but I've heard this amp
enough times to know that it's a perfect gap-filler between the
sub-#1000 and #2000-plus amps. Its competition includes a slew of
British amplifiers as well as imports like the Aragons, so it's
not No 1 in a field of 1. But it does have some distinguishing
characteristics which could create its own niche (see the Gryphon
review in this issue for further thoughts on niche marketing).

For one thing, the SA-12 is a valve/solid-state hybrid, which
means that those who vacillate between the two technologies can
satisfy both levels of their schizophrenia. The SA-12 employs
four 100W MOSFETS per channel in the power stages, while all
voltage amplification and output stage drivers are valve circuits
(two ECC88s/6DJ8s per channel). The advantages are both musical
and practical, because the valves offer their sonic merits where
they matter most, while the MOSFETS -- easily driven by the
valves -- can almost emulate the classic tube sound while
delivering greater current than an all-valve design could muster.

This latter aspect is important, and not just because fashion has
dictated that current capability is THE yardstick for assessing
modern amplifiers. Exotic speaker designs, the continuing
popularity of small speakers with low sensitivity and low
impedances -- these have created a real, as opposed to imagined
demand for high-current-capability amplifiers. Counterpoint has
employed two N-channel and two P-channel MOSFETs in a
complementary-symmetry Class-AB configuration. To broaden the
amplifier's Class-A range, which eliminates switching distortion,
a high bias is required; this explains the need for fairly large
heat sinks and other 'warm zones' not caused by the ECC88s.

The MOSFETs are driven by a cathode follower consisting of a
single ECC88 per channel connected in parallel, the output of the
drive stage being capacitively coupled. Voltage amplification is
derived from two cascaded common cathode amplifiers, using half
of an ECC88 triode for each stage. Local feedback is used to
improve linearity, while global feedback is returned to the
cathode resistor of the first stage from the cathode follower
driver stage. Biasing for the first stage is a mixture of fixed
and cathode biasing. The SA-12's output stages are kept out of
any kind of feedback loop because the company feels that it
sounds much better; this necessitated the use of MOSFETs normally
found in switching power supplies for their lower output
impedance when compared to the MOSFETs typically found in audio
equipment. The SA-12 sports three, non-regulated power supplies.

The SA-12 is compact by prevailing high end standards, measuring
only 480x113x322mm (WHD). Counterpoint has a knack for producing
hardware which looks both utilitarian and elegant at the same
time, all very Californian, so the SA-12's styling should please
both the aesthete and the technoid. It can be rack-mounted in a
standard 19in frame, but do allow for ventilation.

External details are few. The front panel features only an on/off
switch and a two-colour LED to indicate warm-up (red) and full
operational status (green). The SA-12 takes around two minutes to
stabilize and some of you might get a bit frustrated waiting for
the red to turn to green, but life's too short to get worked up
about it, and such a mood means that you're too tense to enjoy
music. If this is the case, just leave it on 24 hours a day;
it'll sound better anyway, because optimum performance isn't
delivered for at least an hour or three.

At the back, the SA-12 features a pair of gold-plated phono
sockets for signal input and five-way, 19mm spaced binding posts
for speaker connections. The sides are filled with sharp-cornered
heat sinks. Overall fit and finish is very good, but a long way
from Rowland/Krell standards.

Unlike the Aragon 4004, for #500 more, the SA-12 is not a good
match for the Apogee Divas. Then again, who uses one small
85w/channel amplifier to drive nearly #9K's worth of ribbons?
Being realistic and wanting to assess the Counterpoint in an
'entry level' system of like-minded products, I chose instead to
pair it with the Sonus Faber Electa Amators and the Celestion
SL700s. Pre-amps included the Audio Research SP-14 and the
Gryphon Preamplifier, with the complete Roksan
turntable/arm/cartridge combination, the Oracle/SME/Tsurugi
turntable package, and the CAL Tempest II Special Edition and
Marantz CD-12 CD players. Admittedly, the products in front of
the SA-12 were of the next highest price level, but I didn't want
to assess what went in so much as what came out of the
Counterpoint.

Auditioned from a cold start, the SA-12 is unmitigated doggie-do.
It is, far and away, the worst sound I've heard from a cold
component and I thought something must be seriously wrong. Going
through LP after LP, I could actually hear the amp improving as
the temperature rose. This is the most extreme case of mandatory
warm-up I've ever experienced, so make certain that any demo of
the SA-12 that you might attend has been preceded by the
amplifier enjoying at least two hours' worth of action, or more
if possible.

After recovering from the initial shock, all was bliss. The first
impressive aspect of the SA-12's capabilities to materialise was
its effortlessness with suitable speakers. While I mentioned that
the SA-12 wouldn't mate well with the Divas, it showed no strain
driving either the Sonus Fabers or the Celestions -- neither of
which work well with gutless amplifiers. Within this context, the
SA-12 is an ideal choice for top-quality, small monitors, and it
eliminates any craving for purchasing an overkill design. The
most revealing test for this characteristic is the way it
amplifies delicate signals -- solo instruments for example -- to
exceptionally high levels without losing any of its sparkle and
without manifesting any traces of being overdriven.

I know that sounds strange, to use what should be an intimate,
gentle performance at head-banging levels, but bear in mind that
I do my listening in a room much larger than would normally be
the venue for small monitors. The Sonus Fabers have proven time
and again that they're capable of filling rooms larger than
they'd ever (reasonably) be asked to accommodate; the SA-12 rose
to the challenge. And remaining delicate and sweet-sounding at
high levels is a virtue which shouldn't be underestimated.

The SA-12 also excelled at 'sounding big', not just loud.
Californian manufacturers have a penchant for truly holographic
images and realistic soundstages, and the SA-12 -- when paired
with speakers capable of resolving the sensation of space --
proved to be a champion in its class. Width and height were
exceptional, while stage depth bordered on the unbelievable. If I
had to single out any 'above the call of duty' characteristic,
this would be it. You might think that exceptional stage depth is
a minor trait over which to enthuse, but I know how wonderful it
can be if your listening room is small and you have to listen in
the near field. Believe me, it's a damned sight cheaper than
knocking down the wall behind the speakers.

The music itself betrayed the hybrid nature of the design in a
curious fashion. Instead of solid-state extremities and a tube-y
midband, as I've experienced with other hybrids, the Counterpoint
offered a linear transition from solid-state to valve sound,
starting at the bottom end. It made the sound seem like a Double
Decker bar, chewy and crunchy, with rock solid lower registers
loosening up a bit by the time it reached the upper bass. The
midband had the clarity and detail associated with fine solid
state amplifiers, but the upper midband on through the extreme
treble showed the lushness and romanticism of all-tube designs.
It's hard to imagine almost-dry bass coupled with ambient-rich
upper frequencies, but the SA-12 has it...and I love it. Maybe
it's too much Voltaire in my youth, but there's nothing to beat
'the best of all possible worlds', and the Counterpoint visits
more planets than most.

If there's a down-side to this, it has to be an overall softness
to the sound, revealed particularly by the way that it smoothed
or blurred the edges of even the finely-etched Gryphon. The match
with the Celestion was only partially successful, because the top
end of the SL700 is too reticent to be driven by the
almost-as-shy SA-12. This characteristic will eliminate a number
of speaker choices, but I'm all for components which let you know
emphatically with what they will or won't work optimally.

Getting back to the financial concerns, the SA-12 is priced
perfectly to serve as the heart of an absolute top-notch high end
system which won't break the bank. Even the #3500 figure
postulated by the junk mail competition is sensible for a
single-source package. Install the SA-12 in a system using
speakers such as the Sonus Faber Electa (not the much dearer
Amator) or Magnepan SMGAs, allow #500 or so for a reasonable CD
player or a turntable/arm/cartridge combination of Rega/Revolver
level and a pre-amp from any one of a dozen competent Britsh
makers and you could sneak in under that figure, cables, stands
and all.

And no-one need ever know that your system cost less than a basic
Mercedes.