The Future of PC:



Glow Audio's Amp One is this company's first offering in the rapidly growing Computer Audiophile sector. Glow along with manufacturers such as Tecon Audio, AVI HiFi, Peachtree Audio and M-Audio are raising the bar on PC sound quality. Internet inspired like most things these days, the enormous number of music files available online eventually found its way to the ears of music lovers including Audiophiles. The Amp One is based on what is known as a SEP or Single Ended Pentode circuit and as an integrated amp with built in USB DAC, all that's needed is a USB (or RCA analog) source and a pair of efficient speakers. Amp One specifications taken from their website are listed below.

Removable tube cage included with all amplifiers

Simple plug-and-play USB connection for your laptop, PC or MAC (cable included)

1 pair RCA inputs

Single ended (SE) Class A pentode design

EL84 power tubes

Ceramic Tube Sockets

All point-to-point wiring

Precision hand wound transformers

Minimum negative feedback

Tubes are self-biasing and never need adjusting

1/4" Headphone jack

ALPS volume potentiometer

High quality binding posts

High Gloss Enamel paint with anti-corrosion undercoating

Steel chassis

Full one year warranty

115-220 V switch able, fuse protected

CE certified in compliance with European Economic Area (EEA) requirements (09 version)

Until recently most PC Users connected their on-board sound or an add in sound-card to a pair of powered speakers or surround sound setup. For many years the term "PC-Audio" where music playback was concerned was practically a misnomer. Today companies such as AVI have given us some remarkable hardware. On the test bench at present is the AVI ADM9.1 system. Effectively these powered speakers each house powerful bi-amplifiers, with the main speaker incorporating a Wolfson Audio DAC via a S/PDIF Optical input, this fully remote controlled system sounds amazing (look for my review very soon). But that's another review. So what does the Amp One offer?



As far as incorporating Digital to Analog conversion the Glow Amp One employs the C-Media CM102S is a 2-channel 16-bit DAC with 48 KHz sampling frequency. A special USB cable is included for connection with your PC or any "music server" with USB connects (2.0). Looking at the rear of the amplifier we see decent five-way binding posts, RCA inputs for use with a pre-amp to circumvent the internal DAC, AC-input and USB (off to the right).



Onto build quality ->