WORLD PREMIERE

⌈ TRILOGY AUDIO is a British company founded in 1991 by Nic Poulson. From the beginning associated with tube amplifiers, in 2008 it presented their first hybrid amplifier, the 990 integrated. In 2010, the 907 phono preamplifier was introduced, and in 2012 the 933 headphone amplifier. 2014 was the year of the 925 hybrid amplifier, and in 2016 the top, separates system 903 + 993 went to market. Three years later an even more advanced set, consisting of the 915R preamplifier and 995R power amplifiers replaces the previous one as company's flagship. All these devices utilize tubes in their output stages. ⌋

here is no such category, at least to the best of my knowledge, but if there was, Trilogy's devices would be in its forefront. Massiveness, that's what I'm talking about, is one of the hallmarks of high class audio amplifiers. Probably with time, i.e. with the advancement of techniques related to SMPS and amplifiers, this will change, but for now the heavier the device the better the sound.

It's about the design of the chassis and power supply, to a lesser extent in the heat sinks - if it is a solid-state amplifier. All three elements can be found in the tested system, consisting of the 915R line preamplifier and two 995R monaural power amplifiers. It took their boss and chief designer of Trilogy Audio Systems, Nic Poulsen, three years to develop them. Their premiere took place during the Festival of Sound in the Hammersmith, in September 28-30th, 2018, in London. The set was paired with Wilson Benesch loudspeakers for the event.

NIC POULSON
Owner, designer

Wojciech Pacuła asked me, why have I designed these amplifiers, what was my purpose – that's a difficult question. We are not a market driven Company. We don't set off trying to make an amplifier have this or that specification and a market price to enhance sales. I just wake up one day with the seed of inspiration. The final product may end up just like that seed, but sometimes meanders around, going on a journey. Sometimes it even ends up back where the original idea was.

The 995R did indeed take a journey. The original idea back in 2015 quickly led to the same form factor that we have today, but the circuit, it's features and the performance changed considerable during this time. The last "R" or reference product we did was the parallel push pull 211 amp back in 2001. And I thought it was time for another.

So I pushed this amp as far as I could given a "reasonable" footprint and price. It wasn't really one particular thing that changed, after all it already was using many of our house concepts like choke input power supply for the output stage, fully bridge zero feedback output stage, our hugely expensive bespoke machined heat-sinks and a highly linear, high current balanced gain stage. But rather an continual evolution of small changes that lead to an overall product that was worthy of out R status.

However, it wasn't until I decided to add the Class A facility, which in itself was not very difficult to implement as the infrastructure of the amplifier was so capable, that the gains in resolution enabled further improvements to be made elsewhere, which simply were not audible before. At the end of this I was very happy with the 995R.

One further brilliant suggestion from our UK distributor, Nigel Crump of Symmetry, was to try to make the amp "greener" whilst maintaining Class A undoubted superiority. In all my 35 years in this industry I've never heard a "pseudo Class A" that has truly delivered. So it was decided that the amp should be true Class A, but we added a feature that dramatically reduced power consumption when the amp saw no input signal. Instantaneously achieving full bias when signal returned. That way the 995R is fully biased whenever music is being amplified, but uses very little power when you "walk out for lunch".

A similar birth occurred for the 915R. The 995R and 915R share a similar compact compound gain stage, in this instance transformer coupled at the output. As in the power amp, all the voltage gain is made in this one stage. Some 90% of the real estate is given over to power supply and optimum layout. This quickly saw the adoption of a vertical format within the pre. Although this is much more expensive the results were very worthwhile. The signal path is very direct indeed considering the size and is also balanced from input to output of both the 915R and the 995R.

On a personal note I am extremely happy with these products. They took considerably longer than I though to bring to market but I am pleased to have a return of Reference products in the Trilogy range. ▪

| 915R

The 915 preamplifier's form is similar to that of the previous Trilogy Audio reference model, the 903 and it also features a similar functionality. However, it is a much larger and even more chunky device. It is a tube preamplifier, with a semiconductor power supply, controlled by an advanced microprocessor. It is a fully balanced design, but it offers both unbalanced and balanced inputs; its outputs are buffered using transformers.

The device has an extremely solid aluminum chassis damped using bituminous mats, with a second housing inside, shielding audio circuits. The amplifying elements are four 6N6П Soviet NOS tubes - there was one in the 903 model. They operate with very high currents, in transconductance mode (with gain = 1), so one should make sure there is enough space around the device for proper ventilation. It seems that the voltage gain is applied only by output transformers, and the tubes operate as a current buffer with a gain = 1. The device features six line inputs, three of them are balanced and three unbalanced, as well as four line outputs - two XLR and RCA ones.

Operating the 915R preamplifier is a pure pleasure, but it's something Nic spent a lot of time developing. The basis of the so-called user interface is a large knob and a large display. Together they allow for comfortable volume control and input selection, but also allow user to easily make changes in the menu. And the latter is quite complex, because we can enter individual names for inputs, set their sensitivity, integrate the entire system via the TAS link, use the internal clock to turn the system on and off, etc. An interesting fact – once you disconnect the device from power completely after you turn it back on before you can use it again you have to enter a PIN delivered with your unit.

The TAS link is an internal communication system based on Ethernet cables, used to have all individual connected with it components in the system to act as if it were a single device. The device comes with a nice, heavy remote control. It is not particularly ergonomic, because there are no separate buttons for the volume control, but once you get used to it it will be fine.

| 995R

The 995R is - if memory serves - the first device of this type in the Trilogy Audio lineup. These are monoblocks, i.e. monophonic amplifiers, featuring a characteristic type of chassis, which is often referred to as a "tower". It's because they look like ones - they are relatively high and narrow, which makes them resemble castle towers. The form itself has been known in audio industry for years, let me remind you such devices as: Theta Digital amplifiers Citadel Monoblock Amplifier, Mark Levinson ML33, and newer ones № 53 by Classé Audio and Omega Mono Amplifier monoblocks, or last but not least their most perfect - in my opinion - incarnation, or HD Amp amplifiers from Nagra https://www.nagraaudio.com .

This form serves several purposes. Firstly, it allows for sensible placement of audio and power circuits inside the chassis, and at the same time such amplifiers have relatively small footprint. In this case there is one more element that makes Trilogy unique, namely a huge and heavy heat sink that is also a front of the device. The heat-sink of these dimensions - makes up to almost 1/3 of the total depth of the device - is justified in this case. The Trilogy Audio monoblocks are capable of delivering huge output of 200 W in class AB @ 8Ω , but as much as the first 40 watts are actually in class A. So - they get quite hot.

In fact, there are three modes of operation. In the first one, when only the red LED lights up, the amplifier works in the AB class. However, it can be switched to work in pure class A - the blue LED will additionally turn on. And finally, there is the eco A mode. As Nic explained, this mode was suggested to him by Nigel Crump, owner of the Symmetry, one of the largest distributors in the United Kingdom.

The point here is that when we listen to music, the output transistors work in class A, but if there is no signal on the input for one minute, the bias for the transistors is significantly reduced, which saves power consumption. The blue LED flashes. After we start playing music again, the amplifier returns to class A operation. Nic also told me, that software development for the control processor took him 4 months, hence the information about this mode was not included in the user manual.

The 995R's design is not that common because it is a hybrid power amplifier, with an input stage featuring tubes - the 6N6П - and a transistor current stage. This is a fully balanced design, with XLR and RCA inputs, and a small switch to choose between them. Have I already said that the amplifiers are very heavy? Even if I have, it will not hurt to repeat it - despite the relatively small size, they require two people to move them.

Every component comes with high quality Isolink cables by ISOL-8, another Nic Poulsen's brand dedicated to development and production of power-related products.

| HOW WE LISTENED TO IT

the reviewed Trilogy Audio set consists of three components: a preamplifier and two power amplifiers. The latter are too big to be placed on a standard rack, one has to purchase platforms of proper size for them. I placed the preamplifier on the Finite Elemente Pagode Edition rack, next to the SACD CD-35 HF Edition player (№ 1/50). The power amplifiers were placed in front of the rack, on the floor.

I treated this Trilogy set as a complete system, meaning I compared the whole set to my reference amplification consisting of the Spheris III linestage and Soulution 710 power amplifier. Both amplifiers drove my Harbeth M40.1 loudspeakers via Siltech Triple Crown speaker cables. During the test I also switched the latter with NOS Western Electric WA310.

The preamplifier was powered using the Hijiri SM2R „Sound Matter”, and power amplifiers using the Acoustic Revive Absolute-Power. The Ayon Player was connected to preamplifiers using Siltech Triple Crown RCA IC, preamplifiers and power amplifiers on the other hand were connected using balanced Acoustic Revive Absolute FM.

Recordings used for the test (a selec- tion)

• Fusion. Best Sound Selection, sel. Yoshiro Obara, Stereo Sound SSRR-12, „Stereo Sound Reference Records”, SACD/CD (2019)
• Alexis Cole, A Kiss in The Dark, Chesky Records JD366, CD (2014)
• Bogdan Hołownia, Chwile, Sony Music Polska 5052882, „Pre-Mastering Version”, Master CD-R (2000)
• Laurie Anderson, Strange Angels, Warner Bros. 7599-25900-2, CD (1989)
• Pat Metheny Group, Offramp, ECM/Tower Records PROZ-1095, „ECM SA-CD Hybrid Selection”, SACD/CD (1982/2017)
• Röyksopp, The Inevitable End, Dog Triumph DOG013CDW, „Promo | No. 25”, CD-R (2014)
• Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus , Prestige/Analogue Productions CPRJ 7079 SA, SACD/CD (1956/2014)
• Takeshi Inomata, The Dialogue, Audio Lab. Record/Octavia Records OVXA-00008, SACD/CD (1977/2001)
• Tame Impala, Currents, Universal Music Australia/Hostess 4730676J, CD (2015);
• The Beatles, Rubber Soul, Parlophone/Apple/Toshiba-EMI TOCP-51116, CD (1965/1998)
• Voo Voo, Za niebawem, Wydawnictwo Agora 5903111492953, CD (2019)

Let me say it again: in audio we are dealing with a constant progress. Yes, often we sacrifice some features in the name of some others, but in the long run it is balanced and we ultimately end up with them all improved. I respect "anachrophils", I think I understand their point of view, but I think differently - progress is obvious to me.

It is best observed in two areas. One of them is the resolution. This is something that can not be faked, although companies do try, which results from better and better components, a better understanding of the role of power supply in audio systems, and the fact that manufacturers can use not only their own knowledge and experience but also ones of their predecessors.

The second areas in which progress is amazing is the timbre. When I started my professional life adventure with consumer audio devices, less than twenty years ago, the high-end product had to deliver a strong top, well-controlled bass and a clear midrange. It sounds idiotic, because in this way we cover the whole band, but it would be enough for you to spend a moment with such a product to make you understand what I'm talking about. And the point is that each of these elements demanded listener's attention. Each of them seemed to shout at us "look how awesome I am ......!"

The Trilogy system, but also my reference one, and even relatively inexpensive integrated amplifiers from Leben - CS600X - and Ayon Audio - Spirit V - follow a completely different way, and thus they achieve something that amplifiers from a few dozen or so years ago did not - credibility. The Trilogy system is, in what it does, very credible. I can't really say that it sounds neutral, but it is precisely the impersonal neutrality that was one of the features of "yesterday's high-end". The high-end's main feature here and now is credibility.

One of the manifestations of this type of presentation is that the tested amplifier sounds in a soft, warm way. This is one of the distinguishing features of the Nic Poulson's devices. And it worked fantastically well before with his older amplifiers that were incredibly ease to listen to, i.e. one could live with them happily for years, having wonderful “discussions” with them by feeding them next albums and listening to them responding with a beautiful sound - beautiful in every meaning of that word.

I do believe though, that this time the designer wanted to break through a barrier - because it is after all a barrier - and he wanted to improve communicativeness. Oh boy, how beautifully, how wonderfully he did it! But he did it in his own way, not following the path trodden by others. He did it differently - the presentation of his system is close to us, at the fingertips, and at the same time the sound is not at all pushed closer to us. We simply blend in with the music. We feel as if we were sitting in a recording studio - and I know what I'm talking about.

The instruments are cleansed from successive layers, which were added to them on the way between the performer and us. I do not know if you ever had to deal with thermal or chemical paint removal from wooden surfaces. It is a fantastic feeling when the natural color and the texture of the wood emerge from underneath the damaged paint. And this is what Trilogy does for recordings, I'd say using thermal means to do that :)

I listened to The Beatles album titled Rubber Soul on this system for a long time. It comes from the period when George Martin pushed the vocals hard, raising their sound. With Trilogy this strategy is clear, but also other elements, overlooked by lesser amplifiers emerge, such as deep colors, harmonic chords, layers. It's still George Martin, there is no doubt about it, but one taking a similar approach to that of his son, Giles Martin, remixing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and White Album - adding some density to the sound, and thus creating the impression of closeness.

It's mainly about intensifying emotional side of events, musicians, albums. It's a very similar action – of Martin on the source material and Poulson's on what the amplifier does with it. But there is more. Although the amplifier sounds low, which is a hallmark of a modern high-end, it does not push instruments or vocalists in front of the speakers, it is not the case. It does something else, namely shortens the reverbs, which makes everything seem clearer - richer and more saturated, yet clearer.

Do you remember me mentioning at the beginning that the “old” high end devices sort of demanded listener's attention? Paradoxically, the Trilogy does something similar. But "similar" does not mean the same - what asks for our attention in this case is not the sound but music, it's artists who appeal for our commitment, we are not tempted with cheap tricks. It was beautifully shown with the Beatles, because every next song was strong and "here and now". But not by emphasizing something, but by piercing a curtain between us and the performer

And yet - it would be difficult to call it a "distinctive" sound. It is exactly the opposite, because I felt like there was something else behind what I heard, that it was strongly suggested. And maybe it's the true high-end, not the one where all the cards are on the table from the very first moment, where there is no secret? I do not know, it is hard to say, but it is one of the most interesting proposals to solve the age-old dilemma of designers and music lovers: how much do you have to hear to hear the truth? Quite often "more" does not really mean "better" at all.

So one of the most important features of this system is a close, saturated sound with something behind it, which makes it much more complex than offered by more communicative amplifiers. Its second feature is the incredibly rich, weighted sound. In part, I have already referred to it, but now I would like to (sic!) extend it to the bass range. It's really well extended and well controlled, but it always maintains a "human" softness, warmth, fantastic feeling.

It's a bass that is not excessive, and yet it organizes the whole presentation, everything else is built upon it. I heard it already listening to the aforementioned Beatles album. Although it sounds quite light, there are a lot of low drums on it. Because they are low on the volume scale, they can be treated like a low-level signals. And these almost always die, obscured by midrange and treble. Not in this case - Trilogy presented them equally well as my reference system, with equal commitment and feeling.

The immediacy and palpability of the reviewed amplifier's presentation also apply to the bass range. Although nothing pops up, it does not attract attention, but such a dense and nice bass sets our perception as if it reprogrammed us. Only with devices of this class will we hear what Jacek Gawłowski heard in his studio when he, for example, worked on the Voo Voo Za niebawem album.

Due to the fact that he uses such large and so good loudspeakers in his studio, he knows exactly what he works on, while the vast majority of other sound engineers only suspects what is really happening in the music material. Or they simply do not know anything about this sphere and can not even imagine it. Listen to, for example, It's like that track with fast, short bass impulses, and you will know what I'm talking about and what can happen when a person knows what he's doing and can hear what he's doing.

What does it give us? - Fullness and momentum, but focused. It is not an amplifier that would present particularly deep space. It cleanses the foreground from any “impurities” and shows it in an incredibly natural way, also extinguishing the reverbs that blur it for us. Even albums released by Chesky Records as part of the "Binaural+ Series" played with a fairly close perspective, although normally you can hear everything on them, like from a distance, with a long reverb. With Trilogy I listened to them sitting in the second, third row, while with my reference system I sat in the fifth or sixth one.

I do not even need to add that there is no brightness here, right? This is the antithesis of brightening. But it is resolving and dynamic enough so that it does not collapse into density and warmth. The top of the band is warm, delicate, but also surprisingly resolving. I would even say that it is slightly more resolving than the one of my reference system, although it is also a bit more withdrawn. The Trilogy system does not have the momentum of the Ayon Audio + Soulution system, it does not show the depth of the stage in the same way, but - as I said - it's just a different approach to the sound presentation, not a flaw.

| SUMMARY

The Trilogy Audio system meets all the requirements a modern top high-end system has to fulfil. I mean, it does not focus our attention on the sound, it does not ask for attention for itself, and by saturating the presentation with emotions it demands respect for the music. It will be difficult to listen to individual tracks with it, because - it just somehow happened naturally – while testing it each times after listening to a track I wanted to hear the whole album, interested and already intrigued by the first song. Even if it seemed to me that a particular album is not particularly interesting.

It's a warm, low-set, rich sound with fantastic bass. The whole is slightly rounded and soft, but only slightly and I perceived it as an advantage. The perspective from which we can see the performers is a very characteristic feature for this sound. It is as if we sit close to them, maybe even on the other side of the glass in the recording studio. And that's because the sound is so immediate, so full and so clean (I finally said it :)). It's a beautiful example of audio engineering and a proof that 'progress' is not a bad word in the high-end world, and that it is desirable. This is a phenomenal amplification system - extremely expensive, but everything offering such a fantastic performance costs a lot of money.

| DESIGN

The housings of both devices are made of aluminum, milled plates screwed to the steel base, and a bent part of the latter forms the backs of the devices. The aluminum top covers have been damped with a bituminous mat. The devices feature small, plastic feet – amplifiers use three of them.

| 915R

Front and rear | The front of the device features a large, convenient knob and a high quality display. With the knob one adjusts the volume level or changes settings in the menu. The display is made of LED modules with large dots; you can adjust its brightness. Next to the knob there are two buttons – they are elements of the menu control. The RCA and XLR sockets on the back are of the highest class - if I'm not mistaken, these are Cardas Audio sockets with Rhodium plated (RCA) and gold plated (XLR) contacts.

Inside | The electrical circuit seems to be relatively simple, but it's all the systems around it that made its simplicity possible. It is based on four 6N6П tubes, two per channel, and two, enclosed in metal shields, output transformers. The tubes are placed horizontally - so that from their outputs and inputs only very short lead wires had to be used to connect them with an input PCB (at the top) and transformers next to it; than from them, with equally short wires, signal goes to the output PCB (at the bottom). The inputs are switched by a microprocessor in a row of reed switches.

The gain stage is surrounded by a very thick, milled aluminum screen, which is a kind of "housing inside a housing". Plates with power supply are screwed its outside surface. It features three toroidal transformers and a large size choke for the anode voltage for the tubes.

| 995R

Front and rear | The front of the 995R amplifiers is simply a 110 mm thick aluminum block milled to act as a heat sink. On the front, rounded baffle, there is only a standby button and two red and blue LEDs. The latter only turns on when the amplifier operates in Class A. The rear panel sports RCA and XLR sockets and single, solid Mundorf speaker terminals. And, of course, RJ45 sockets used for communication between Trilogy components. Next to it, there is a "Mode" button, which allows user to change amplifiers' operating mode. There is also a socket for connecting an external, passive ground.

Inside of the device a PCB with the current stage, which consists of six pairs of complementary transistors, is screwed to the heat sink in the front, and the input section, or voltage one, to the rear panel. There are two 6N6P tubes because the signal is amplified in a balanced circuit. At the bottom there is a power supply, with a shielded, powerful power transformer. It is unusual that the power supply for the output section features a choke - it is almost as large as the transformer itself.

| PRC remote

The 915R preamplifier features a PRC (PRC = Personal Remote Control). It's made of aluminum and features small metal buttons with a clear trigger point. It will allow user to adjust volume level, select inputs and settings in the menu. The manufacturer says that it is equipped with a powerful infrared transmitter, so you do not have to aim it in the direction of the device for the control to work. The upside is a nice appearance, high quality fit&finish and good balance of the remote, and the downside is that the volume buttons are not clearly separated from the others.

Technical specifications (according to manufacturer)

| 915R
Gain (RCAXLR): 14 dB (+/- 0.5 dB)
Frequency range: 2 Hz-45 kHz +(/- 0.5 dB)
Weight: 19 kg

| 995R
Output:
• Class AB: 200 W/8 Ω
• Class A: 40 W/8 Ω
Frequency range: 2 Hz-100 kHz +(/- 0.5 dB)
Gain (RCA | XLR): 31 | 25
Weight: 38 kg