Has anyone heard the new PS Audio Strata, Integrated Amp/DAC/streamer?


PS audio, is introducing an integrated amp with a DAC that looks interesting.
It can also stream from most popular services.
It is said to output 200 wpc at 4 ohms.
Does anyone have any experience with it yet?
I've had separates for years now, but this looking pretty impressive, if it has the headroom for my Maggie 1.6's.
mwinkc

Showing 3 responses by hilde45

It's a huge swiss army knife. Good price point. But with a streamer, DAC, bluetooth, etc. inside, I would be a little concerned that it might be outdated too quickly. Maybe they figured that piece out. It's one thing to buy that cute little Sprout for 700 buck, but this is going to be $3000.
Thanks, @mwinkc . And I really have positive feelings about PSA — mostly from watching videos and reading reviews. My sense is that they realized that there's this price point that they're not fielding a full enough set of products; they realized that they were on to something with the Sprout in filling the all-in-one niche, but needed to do it at a more mid-fi or audiophile-attracting price and quality point.

From my perspective, just getting into the hobby, I realized that once one goes above about $2.5k, there are some very good reasons to separate the streamer from everything else, or, perhaps the streamer and DAC from the power sources. This is due to upgrade-ability.

But perhaps they have a good point — which is that this will be a really good piece of gear that will hit the swath of the market that would likely never buy, say, a deHavilland preamp or a Pass amp (etc.) and that folks will be happy with it — and will feel safe to try it with their 30 day money back and their trade-up/trade-in program.

And what about the audiophiles, then? Well, for those who *really* want/need to keep the price point at $3k or under, well, where are you going to find 200 wpc of good quality with all that other stuff? You'd likely be hard pressed. (Though I do wonder who really needs 200 wpc and also what Parasound might be doing with the HINT line.)

P.S. As just one example of what the Strata might encounter, here's the Naim Uniti Atom, on sale, 1 year old. Similar type of unit as Strata, similar price, 8/10 condition, and already 30% off.
https://tmraudio.com/components/integrated-amplifiers/naim-uniti-atom-stereo-integrated-amplifier-da...