Atoll IN80 Signature amplifier review
The IN80 Signature is created entirely in France, and it is both enjoyable and refreshingly different from its competitors. Give it a shot if you want passionate enjoyment at a reasonable price.
In terms of sound and aesthetics, as well as the overall style of the country, French hi-fi is a relatively specific island. Atoll, a historic French brand, is located in the Normandy region, practically directly across the English Channel. According to its own producers, this producer aims to give its sound to as wide a range of interested parties as possible, in other words, to make the pricing as appealing as possible, which is surely appealing, especially with today's significant price increases.
Atoll offers a fairly wide range of devices that are dominated by amplifiers - there aren't many firms that would sell components starting at $450, let alone those that don't rely on production in the Far East and instead create items in their native country.
Appearance and construction
The IN80 Signature, a highly appealing integrated amplifier, is also made in France. Despite the low price, it has all of the aesthetic and material characteristics of Atoll electronics, including a lovely front panel with rounded corners and a cross-section line that spans its full width. Similarly, there is a pretty simple cover with several ventilation holes or an incredibly simple but unquestionably economical rear panel. However, given that it is Made in France, kudos; while not a premium item, it is durable and fairly constructed.
The front is dominated by a centrally positioned volume control, to the left of which is a basic sequence of diodes showing the selected input, and to the right are three buttons to power on and simply switch inputs; nothing else is required in the end. If only there was a headphone jack and a remote control sensor next to the volume control, comfort would be a non-issue.
The IN80 Signature is, ostensibly, a totally analog component, but the composition of the connections is intriguing. There are three standard line inputs and one that may be converted into a phono input by an extra module. There is also a tape loop (input and output), by-pass (input directly to the output stage), and pre-out - it is even present twice, allowing you to control an additional power amplifier and two subwoofers.
The amplifier has two pairs of speaker terminals, which are simple but meet the class criteria. Aside from the power socket, the only other connection is a small 12V voltage trigger jack.
The bolted panel on the rear hints that a D / A converter module, which would increase connectivity by two optical, two coaxial, and one USB input, should be available here. Bluetooth is also acceptable. The AK4490 chip is used in the module, which supports PCM 32 bit / 384 kHz and DSD128.
The IN80 Signature, like earlier Atoll models, is powered by a massively enormous toroidal transformer. There are two pairs of power elements, each with its own little heatsink, and the number of filter capacitors matches them - they are fairly substantial. Otherwise, the circuitry on the printed circuit board with a double layer of gold-plated nickel is relatively simple, which is not surprising given the norms of typical hi-fi in this class. The volume is controlled using the iconic blue ALPS.
The amplifier has a solid power of 80 watts per channel up to 8 ohms, a working frequency range of 5 - 100,000 Hz, and dimensions of width 44 cm, height 9 cm, and depth 30 cm at a weight of 7 kg.
There is no doubt that he considers the atoll to be his own. Part of this uniqueness comes from the fact that it is made in France (which is unusual at this price point) and that it can be expanded with a digital and gramophone module (which is also unusual).
The IN80 Signature's sound does not aim for authenticity or realism; instead, it clearly shows that it wants to play sweet, colorful, and rich music, that it admires bass and power, and that most music sounds fun and pleasant, so you can play whatever you want, whenever you want, while Atoll maintains very nice control over the speakers. The IN80 Signature is unlike its competitors, but if you want enthusiastic entertainment at a fair price, give it a shot.
