Hi-Fi Voice - Pilium Leonidas Integrated Amplifier

Greece is the cradle of wisdom and many virtues, which we recognize even thousands of years after their establishment in the heyday of this Mediterranean state. However, it can't be said that this is a hatchery of top brands in the field of hi-fi, although every now and then in a country of ten million people, some interesting things pop up to the global level. That's where the Pilium brand, founded in 2014, is headed.Although based in Bulgaria (to keep the company in the EU in the event of a forced Greek exit), it is run by Konstantinos Pilios and manufactures its products in Greece - as is often the case with stories like this, the company was founded out of a feeling that the world wasn't exactly what Pilios, as a discerning audiophile, wanted.

At the moment, the relatively small company has a single line of components called Divine (or "divine"). The very basic component, as it happens, is the integrated amplifier, named Leonidas - in fact, all the company's products proudly bear traditional Greek names. What is not quite usual anymore, however, is the concept and price of this basic model.

Although there are great integrated amplifiers in the world (Vitus Audio SIA-030, Soulution 530, to name a few), none of them are like Leonidas. It's simply bigger and, more importantly, heavier - moving it from the importer's car to the listening room involves only four steps, and even then it was a job for two burly men and a wheelchair. Leonidas is a huge cube (48 cm wide, 49 cm deep and 30 cm high) that weighs 100 kg.

Yes, it is a full metre of electronics, although the brutally made chassis contributes an estimated 30% to the final weight. The style of the aluminium case is absolutely minimalistic, it is practically a perfectly smooth and clean surface, which only on the sides leaves room for large areas of cooling fins, in front for a large engraved logo along with the model designation and, on the contrary, a relatively small touch screen with simple controls, plus the eye of the receiver of the remote control signals, which you have to aim relatively straight, because the sensor is slightly drowned. The aesthetics are complemented by a grilled hole in the middle of the top panel, through which residual heat can again escape (however surprisingly little it was during operation), and the Divine product line designation. Everything is excellently crafted, everything is beautifully polished and the thickness of the aluminium used is exaggerated, the device is simply extremely robust.

The back surface adheres to the philosophy of total design purity, it is simply a large aluminium surface with embedded connectors and engraved labels. The large wing nuts of the loudspeaker terminals as well as the input connectors embedded in the robust housings are sure to attract attention. Surprisingly there are only five of them, on the tested piece there were two pairs of symmetrical XLR and three pairs of unsymmetrical cinch. What is very interesting, however, is the pair of power sockets on the sides of the industrial-looking switching cradle - it corresponds to the design of the "ideal dual mono amplifier", which has in fact only control circuits in common.

The manufacturer boasts that, unlike the vast majority of integrated amplifiers, the Leonidas actually combines a dual mono preamplifier and two end stages in a single chassis. This is confirmed by a look inside, where you will find four transformers - each channel has its own preamplifier section and end stages. A pair of powerful 1.2 KVA transformers (each) is prepared for these, and 2x 100 VA for the preamplifier.

Also impressive is the battery of custom capacitors in the final stage - they reach a total capacity of 20,000 uF, but even 75,000 uF in the preamp isn't exactly common. The unusual oversampling from every angle continues with the transistors - there are 22 pushpull transistors per channel, delivering 200 watts into 8 ohms per channel in Class A/B. Thanks to the generous design, however, they have no problem with stability even in a permanent load of only 2 ohms, where they can deliver a fair 800 watts. The amplifier is generally built as differential (fully symmetrical), its operating state is monitored by a microprocessor and watches for short circuit, overheating or presence of DC voltage at the output, etc.

The manufacturer boasts only of rather abbreviated technical parameters. Besides the aforementioned performance from the category of sufficient, it is the frequency response "more than 100 000 Hz", distortion (without specification) "below 0.01%" or output impedance below 0.1 ohm.

From a technical point of view, it is probably worth mentioning the possibility of fitting Leonidas with better anti-vibration feet (these are the ones you see in the photos).

We listened to Leonidas in two setups - in the main one with Métronome DSC1 (and possibly OPPO UDP-205 as transport) on Xavian Quart, where it was powered via GMG Power Harmonic Hammer 3000P and connected completely with Nordost Heimdall 2 cabling. We compared here with the Norma Revo IPA-140. In the second setup, in a small editorial listening room, Leonidas was "tidied up" for a few days before critical listening began, playing with a Cambridge CXC and/or Teac NT-503 instead of a Grandinote Shinai, running a Fischer&Fischer SN-70 through the complete Nordost Red Dawn cabling when wired through an IsoTek EVO3 Sirius. Surprisingly, even in a small line-up, Leonidas showed his qualities in a big way.

Who knows what one actually expects when a machine so massive that it almost eclipses a whole table of ordinary equipment, and so expensive that in many places you can still buy a small property for its price, is enthroned and warming up in front of you. Maybe the earth should stop turning, maybe an angel should descend from heaven and introduce each song with a lovely harp playing. But the fact is that none of that happened, she just "just" started playing music...

But that she started playing very nicely. From the very first notes of the double bass in "Upojenie" from the album of the same name, a collaboration between Anna Maria Jopek and Pat Metheny (2008 | Nonesuch | 7559-79909-8), the amplifier has shown that its domain is not accentuation, but rather that it is one of the least conspicuous instruments you can buy. The limit here was the range of the speakers, not the ability of the amplifier to maintain confidence to the lowest positions. Leonidas doesn't ostentatiously show control, but compared to virtually any other device, the latter seems more effortful, sometimes even forced. Leonidas articulates every note with a truly regal calmness, neither critically dry nor jubilantly juicy, one wants to say that this bass is almost plain in its lack of any colouration or the feeling that, despite its not very special performance on paper today, it can deliver a sound with fascinating precision and clarity. You can basically say that whatever source and whatever recording you give it, that's how it will repay you. Combined with the Métronome, the sound was very dignified and the double bass was warm, supple and fantastically informative.

Also with "So far so good", a poppy track from the album of the northern girl Carola ("Runaway" | 1984 | Polydor | 829298-2) Leonidas proved to be a perfect analyst, letting the sound of the recording and the pre-recorded system shine through, but he did it with complete non-technicality, so organically natural that the slightly "pleasant" sound of Métronome stood out, as well as some harder and more core moments in the vocal recording. But these are not aggressive or cutting, the music seems to have broken out of the chain as such in the performance of Leonidas and calmly, unobtrusively flowed into the listening room. The recording is famously airy, the singer is perfectly understood, and the amplifier reveals everything Métronome has to offer down to details rarely and rarely heard. It's an excellently clean and fantastically natural performance.

Also the highs, sometimes a bit shrill considering the age of Duke Ellilngton's "Caravan" ("Money Jungle" | 2002 | Blue Note | 7423 5 38227 2 9), helped Leonidas to sound amazingly natural thanks to his first-rate control and that overall totally "normal" character. The cymbal's expressive line is superbly controlled, with just the right amount of energy but also a beautifully defined texture and sense of surface, without the clarity of each note driving the reproduction to the edge of sharpness. The metal is hard, bright and punchy, with a healthy intensity and undistorted concreteness. Here, too, you'll enjoy lots and lots of detail, however, you may take a while to get used to how little noticeable, how relaxed Leonidas serves it up, as the sound seems to be trying not to "be".

The large reservoir of instant energy in the capacitors and oversized transformers provide, in that old-world way, enough power for massive dynamic peaks, and one could feel on Leonidas that even at very high volume (by the way, even at 50 m2 far from its maximum) the pumping "Glem ikkje" by Kari Bremnes ("Detv i har" | 2017 | Strange Ways | CD 15132-2) is completely controlled. The amplifier doesn't pretend to be a strict authority, it doesn't pulsate in that modern style, on the contrary, as if it was just opening a passage to what is contained in the recording - nothing more, nothing less. It's a kind of quiet, unspectacular confidence, but both in the quiet passages of nighttime listening and at the aforementioned peak of reasonableness in a real room, you can feel that the amp doesn't slip into any uncertainty or nervousness, that it doesn't have the slightest problem with reserve, and that the music is reproduced in an uncompressed and dynamically self-evident form. In addition, Leonidas can really control virtually any speaker perfectly, and he made every one we plugged in play accurately and specifically with absolute clarity.

Leonidas and his "charmless" sound with great reserve worked excellently even on the complicated and somehow strangely sounding "Sabbath" by Brad Mehldau ("Largo" | 2002 | Nonesuch | 9362-48114-2). The recording itself is certainly not a showcase of audiophile mastering, and so most of the time it just sounds like a bunch of chaotic sounds, and it takes top resolution to properly calm it down. Leonidas certainly doesn't look fascinating at first glance from the point of view of analytics and resolution, it sounds somehow "normal", but it's only on such complex material that you realise how naturally, casually and unexpressively, how easily and how immediately even a sound drowned far in the background reaches you, how easy it is to navigate through the recordings and how realistic the feeling you get from the recordings is thanks to the fact that the amplifier gives you practically everything here. Even at low volume, the sound is excellently clear, and at night, even at the first volume level, the recording was listenable - so quiet that even in silence you have to strain your ears, but when you do strain them, it's not just noise, but really structured music. It's fascinating. However, the fact is that at normal listening volumes the reproduction was even more open and Leonidas confirmed that it is completely transparent and that it is practically the ideal of an amplifier in terms of uncoloredness - i.e. a "cable with gain", as Stewart Hegeman, one of the Harman Group's prominent designers, described the theoretical ideal.

The same is actually true for the presentation of stereo-based recordings. How they set it up in the studio and how your source equipment can handle it will make the surround work in your room. Leonidas neither adds nor subtracts, he doesn't rely on effects, he just controls and directs with precision and clarity, allowing the very character of what is in the chain around him to stand out - for better or worse. Brian Wilson's "Summertime" ("Reimagining Gershwin" | 2010 | Walt Disney | D000428902) was, for example, very nice through the OPPO, seemed nicely defined in the right and fore-aft directions, localized between the speakers and generally "fine stereo". After switching to Métronome, however, the sound blossomed in all directions, suddenly much bigger and feeling delightfully unmechanical, as if the music simply magically emerged from space and remained materialized standing or flowing around you. The localization of the instruments is first class, they are separated from each other, beautifully delineated, and although you don't get the feeling that it's a living hologram (the music sounds a bit too subtle for that), the organization is actually perfect.

When it comes to the slightly "assed" "The Blackest Lily" by Corinne Bailey Rae ("The Sea" | 2010 | EMI | 5099960851123), Leonidas shows exactly this characteristic, but at the same time does not interfere with pleasant listening. You know it's not a high-end recording, but it's still a fine experience, so you don't have to forgive yourself for your favorite "dirtier" recordings, as is sometimes the case with super high-end gear that pulls out more flaws than musical qualities. But not here, despite the purist audiophile dissection of the recording, the result is seamless. There is no trace of any wow effect, nor do you get a sense of schoolboy technicality. The music just plays, you feel the power of the bass pulses, you feel the tempo, and the objective qualities here are brought to maximalist standards, even if subjectively the form of reproduction may be a bit more cautious at first. But don't be fooled, it's easy to get used to - you can then play as loud as you like, even quietly the piece has structure and meaning, and the louder you play, the more energy and nothing else really increases; no nervousness, no uncertainty, no feeling of impending distortion.

So what is the basic amplifier from Greek Pilium? Well, not "basic" in either sense of the word - it's extremely expensive, no question about it, but the high-end is now rising in price even significantly further, so why not. But it's also extremely well made (but look at the amount of metal consumed), has just the right amount of inputs (though there could definitely be more), is extremely well sized (don't let the relatively standard defined output fool you, you have virtually no chance of using it up) and thus could also last for many, many years. It is also an instrument that is sonically tuned in a remarkably unobtrusive manner, with pure audiophile transparency and the ability to convey information about recordings and strings in an unprecedentedly sophisticated manner. You have to give it time, because you have to get used to the very unspectacular, perhaps at times cautious sound. But if you quiet your enthusiastic mind and immerse yourself in reproduction, you can spend a whole day at any volume without getting tired or feeling like you're missing out. Don't expect - despite the extremely large body and the price tag - any bombastic effects, don't expect to be immediately drawn into a whirlwind of some never-before-heard emotions. No, Leonidas "just" plays faithfully and does not have a weak or problematic sound characteristic in his tuning, everything is conveyed authentically, organically and immediately. And that's an extremely difficult benchmark to reach - all honour for a young brand like Pilium.

Kč 920 000,-

PROS

• beautiful object with beautiful processing
• construction with great zeal for fine-tuning details
• absolute sound unobtrusiveness
• oversizing of all components from all angles
• insight and control
• very soft, perfectly smooth volume
• resolution, unspectacular but practically perfect
• neutrality and non-colouring

RESPONSIBILITIES

• somewhat limited connectivity
• neutrality without colouring is not for everyone

SOLD BY: Dream Audio | www.dreamaudio.eucore/
for e-magazine Hi-Fi Voice / www.hifi-voice.com / by Daniel Březina