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CEE_TEE
3480
Nov 13, 2017
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Stack in the Box Before you become obsessed, buy a big rack, and stack a bunch of separate components into it (creating a monster obelisk that takes over your room)…start with a single Sprout.
Space & Flexibility Sprout is just the right size. You can put it under your TV to be the hub of an entire entertainment system…or place it on your desk under your monitor to power some bookshelf speakers and headphones. People you live with won’t complain that you are taking over with your electronics obsession. :)
Borrow a turntable and some vinyl to use with the Sprout. (I bet your family has a free turntable and some vinyl that hasn’t been played in years. More fun to get together with family and talk about music than politics, probably.)
In California, real estate and rent is SO expensive. We end up spending a good deal of time in just a room before we make it to an apartment, and maybe (much later) we can own a house. Sprout is perfect for this progression.
Aesthetics My home DAC is still a PS Audio Perfectwave Mk. II from about a decade ago. It’s big. It only does one thing, but does it very well in my system. I love the glossy finish on the top, but because of dust, fingerprint, and scratch possibilities…I have never even taken the protective plastic off of it. (And no, I do not have plastic protecting my furniture.)
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The Sprout, however, sports a dense walnut top which is much more practical. Looks good in person and I can put my phone on top of it without worrying a bunch.
New Hotness The original Sprout already had a lot going for it. Drives speakers, streams your phone wirelessly, connects to your computer (or other sources), runs with vinyl, drives headphones. A year and half ago, we did a deep dive into what would make the Sprout even better. It has taken that long to overhaul all of the systems inside.
The phono preamp is a special component in Sprout, many integrated tuners don’t include them today even though they have a ton of room in an oversized case. So the Sprout II retains this audiophile path for many and keeps things easy for getting into vinyl. PS Audio made the “phono stage” quieter with an even better JFET analog output stage.
Power Amp = Moar Power. The Sprout II amp can drive some seriously audiophile speakers with a big increase in power. Hint: This will be quite convenient when some seriously audiophile speakers become available later… ;)
Right now, Massdrop has the excellent, self-powered JBL LSR30X monitors ready to go with Sprout II. In the case of powered speakers like these, the Sprout serves as a “preamp” instead of a “power amp”. This means that since the JBL LSR30X monitors have their own internal amps, the Sprout will just send a smaller signal to them and act as a great volume control with the new remote.
How do you get the biggest sound out of smaller speakers? A sub-woofer. These are getting better and more affordable. Sprout II now has an output for one.
To make the Sprout II as accessible as possible to new audiophiles as well as more flexible for use in home theaters, an optical input was added. This takes the red laser output from your TV or Cable Box through a fiber optic cable into your Sprout entertainment hub. Not sure if you have checked the back of these devices lately, but look for one of these:
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A few units went out around a week ago. We expanded our group of reviewers with these units to cover multiple sites...some impressions should pop up soon!
Nov 13, 2017
Sloblo
409
Mar 11, 2018
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CEE_TEEWould you know or be able to find out if there is any issue running this device (or in my case the sprout 1) on it's side? I need it for a fairly tight form factor, but worry about running this kind of equipment in non-standard configs.
Mar 11, 2018
CEE_TEE
3480
Mar 13, 2018
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SlobloRight off-hand, I notice some vents on the side. If airflow is impeded, might reduce the cooling design of the chassis. Can you at least make sure that as warm air leaves the vents on one side, fresh air can come up and through the chassis?
Mar 13, 2018
Sloblo
409
Mar 13, 2018
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CEE_TEEInteresting, hadn't noticed those before - I actually don't think my unit has those and there is a solid piece all the way around. I'll need to double-check, but it's an interesting difference between the two versions I hadn't noticed before!
Mar 13, 2018
CEE_TEE
3480
Mar 13, 2018
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SlobloOh- you have Sprout 1? Ah, lower powered amp might not have needed vents. Not sure if resting sideways causes any weird thermal or other concerns with your Sprout 1...
Mar 13, 2018
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