What is it about Italian hifi that makes it so appealing?
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a global citizen when it comes to my audio tastes, as my systems attests, with separates from Blighty, the US, Sweden, Japan and more. Yet each time some Italian crafted hardware crosses the Audiograde threshold, I go all dewy eyed.
Two recent examples include Synthesis’s Action A50 Taurus tube amp and Opera’s suede-clad Mezza v2 speakers, which exuded a sense of refined style as soon as they exited their packaging.
The two Unison Research amps we have under scrutiny here very much fit this critique, and then some. Because as hifi amps go, they’re gorgeous.
Our review models arrived in luscious ‘velvet gold’ finish, but if that’s too bling for your buck, there’s ‘midnight black’ on offer too (which is way past my bedtime these days)
And I’m glad they are, as the Unico v2 preamp and DM v2 power amp, which sit atop Unison Research’s Unico range, represent a new design language for the brand. So expect to see more units being released in equally curved and finely chamfered casework further down the line.
While highlighting each model’s evolved status over their longstanding predecessors, the v2 moniker afforded both amps only hints at the substantial upgrades both units offer, which extend way beyond their elegant casework.
View from above showing how the branding is carried over to the amps’ top panels, affording plenty of ventilation for their hybrid tube/transistor architecture
Modern hybrid
Starting with the Unico Pre v2, Unison Research is clearly moving with the times, both in terms of underlining vinyl’s rightful place in high-end audio and digital being more de rigueur nowadays within your average preamp, meaning it packs an onboard phono stage and DAC. They’re well thought out too. For the former this offers a usable suite of settings for moving-magnet (MM) and moving-coil (MC) cartridges, with 33/44dB gain at 47k ohm loading for MMs and 40/50dB gain options alongside 100 ohm loading for MCs.
As a regular MM user, I often find gain options too high on many an amp as standard, so seeing how Unison Research has tailored gain unique to each pick-up type is a nice touch for real world use.
Things are just as accommodating via the preamp’s DAC, with twin coaxial and optical inputs flanking a USB-A socket, catering for data up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 [see Specifications section]. Digital to analogue conversion happens via a Sabre ES9018K2M chip with balanced architecture, evidenced by the amp offering a trio of selectable balanced (XLR) outputs alongside line-level (RCA). And sticking with the modern theme, you get a sub-out for high-end bass junkies.
Unico Pre v2’s well spaced inputs span four line-level analogue (three selectable as balanced or single-ended) plus MM/MC phono and digital via optical, coaxial and USB. Outputs are spread over variable RCA and XLR plus fixed RCA and a dedicated subwoofer socket
Rear panel socketry is sensibly arranged, split for left and right channels, denoting the preamp’s dual-mono topology. While all of these features are welcome, they’re also perhaps what you may expect from a preamp at this level, and the Unico Pre v2’s trump card lies in what else resides within its internal circuits, which is built around the brand’s all important three-stage hybrid tube/transistor topology.
Stage one employs a ECC83 (12AX7) Gold Lion valve in each channel which the company says gives the amp its sonic character. The first solid state stage converts the output of the valves from voltage to current, while the second one does the opposite, to avoid overloading the valve output stage and to increase linearity (noting that the Preamplifier is intentionally without global negative feedback).
Like its partnering valves, the pre’s transistors are all carefully selected being high voltage KSA916YTA, MPSA92 and TTA006B bipolar types.
Unico Pre V2 can drive a range of suitable power amps, while being designed to partner the brand’s own DM v2 power amp, boasting matching tech and casework
Energia refined
Embracing the partnering power DM v2 amp and you’re immediately aware of its mass, as at 33kg (verses the pre’s 11kg) it’s no shrinking violet. A good deal of its weight is accounted for by twin 750 VA toroidal transformers, which carry on the dual mono approach of the pre, with each one supplying the juice to each stereo channel.
The brand’s three-stage amplification circuit is also at work here, comprised of a Class A valve stage using ECC82 (12AU7) Gold Lion valves in each channel. The second and third stages are also both solid state, with the final power stage featuring UR’s push-pull configuration, using three parallel pairs of MOSFETs.
DM v2 power amp’s minimalist front panel hosts buttons to toggle between RCA/XLR inputs plus power saving mode
Unique to the Unico DM v2 is the brand’s ASHA (Analog Synchronized Hybrid Amplification tech), built around an exclusive power-stage configuration it calls Class A-AB, which, Unison Research says, combines the musicality of Class A with the efficiency and reliability that’s typical of Class AB, while minimising crossover distortion.
This accounts for whole lotta grunt, equating to well north of 200/300W into 8/4 ohm loads. But if that’s not enough then a rear panel switch combines both channels into a bridged output stage, giving you a mono power amp that’ll churn out over 600W at your asking. While this may seem excessive, it offers owners a sensible upgrade path, by starting with one power amp in stereo mode with the option to add more as dedicated monoblocs further down the line. And given the Pre v2 has two sets of RCA-output per channel, it’s possible to connect up to four power amps for a bi-amped stereo configuration.
Unico DM v2 rear panel boasts XLR and RCA inputs, two sets of multi-way loudspeaker connections per side and an all-important mono mode switch for a multi power-amp system
Performance
Thanks to the quality, generous spacing and clear labelling of the socketry, once you’ve wrestled the weighty power amp into place, set up is quite straight forward.
Credit has to also be paid to the ingenious front panel power buttons. Because where most brands would just stick a standard on/off switch somewhere obvious, Unison Research has expertly combined wood and two-tone metals into the brand’s logo, which doubles up as the standby switch. I just love using these to power the amps up.
Logo-inspired power switch is a definite contender for the most stylish standby button in hifi
Partnering kit is AVID’s Dark Iron deck, Primare CD15 Prisma digital player and MoFi SourcePoint V10 Master Edition loudspeakers, with cables by Nordost and soon-to-be reviewed models from In-akustik (told you I was a global hifi citizen).
Patience needs to be a virtue, because each amp takes 40 seconds to become fully operational, allowing for their valves to warm up. For the preamp you get a neat warm-up icon and loading bar on its front screen showing this in action. Both manuals also state to allow at least 15 minutes for the amps to be fully warmed up and sounding at their best.
To preserve said valves, the power amp also offers a front panel power saving mode button to reduce energy consumption when not operational, while still allowing the front panel buttons to be operated (i.e. to toggle between RCA and XLR inputs).
UR’s supplied universal RC3 remote caters for the wider Unico range meaning despite all the buttons, only volume up/down and input select are needed for the Pre, while being nicely designed to stand, as well as lay flat
Bread and butter
I’ve generally been in two minds about the hybrid topology approach over the years, which is designed to blend the sonic sweetness of valves with the slam and power of the solid-state variety. My reservations being based on hearing a number of hybrid amps striving for both, but ultimately falling short at the extremes in each camp, compared to their thoroughbred rivals. It’s a bit like that terrible bread my mum keeps on buying that claims to be a best of both, while tasting like the worst of each all at the same time, but I digress.
Of course there are exceptions to my hybrid stereotyping (Musical Fidelity’s Nu-Vista models spring to mind), and it only takes the opening bars of Moby’s Everloving (at an intentionally lowly 16-bit/44kHz via Qobuz) piped in from the Primare’s analogue outputs to reveal that Unison Research has got its hybrid recipe deliciously right. Those opening acoustic guitar strings have a sense of authentic delicacy that I’d associate with the most refined glass bottle burning amps of today. Yet when the mighty rhythm section and deep percussion kicks in there’s real weight and grip here on a solid-state scale that only the most power hungry can muster.
Together these attributes prove to be a killer musical combination. Listen to how those wistful high-pitched notes float effortlessly through the grandly conjured soundstage on this track around two minutes in and delight in how the bass slam drops. Delicacy, with dynamics.
Large, dished, rotary dials flank the front panel OLED display showing selected source and volume, with input select via the left controller and volume through the right. The latter is digitally governed through 0.5dB steps for plenty of fine adjustment
Alice, unchained
No matter what you throw at these amps, there’s an underlying sense of these amps having plenty in reserve, as the Dm v2 is able to effortlessly push the MoFis in my 30m² space to room shaking levels, despite the pre amp’s volume barely nudging 20 on its OLED screen.
Using the Primare’s coaxial output to test the Unico Pre V2’s own DAC demonstrates that this is a worthwhile inclusion for an amp at this level. In comparison, the Primare is a smoother sounding beast, but this doesn’t mean it’s better sounding, it’s just of a different sonic character, with the Unison Research model favouring a bit more bite to its leading edges.
Serve the Unico pre War on Drugs’ Thinking Of A Place (24-bit/44kHz) or Secret Machines’ Everything Starts (24-bit/96kHz) from our Contemporary Prog Rock playlist and while the Primare will envelope you in a soundstage that’s on the warmer side of enticing, the Unison Research punches a little harder, and a little drier, which is nicely offset by the amps’ more organic-sounding-than-standard-solid-state acoustic nature.
Close up shot of the phono-stage left channel dip switches on the rear panel, with settings helpfully displayed to save you reaching for the manual
And this organic flavour combined with oodles of power and a canny knack for convincing detail allows the amps to really bring the music to life. With its phono stage receiving a healthy dose of Neil Young’s opinion dividing Tonight’s The Night LP there’s a greater sense of honesty than I’m used to with this album that has me reaching for vinyl delights of a similar ilk, leading me to Alice in Chains’ 1994 seven-song masterpiece, Jar Of Flies.
And with the Unison Research amps in the hot seat, it’s a vinyl rabbit role to savour. The way they render the initially soft and slouchy rhythm section of Nutshell, contrasted with the delightfully rich stings of the guitar solo summarises what these amps are all about in their ability to deliver what the music demands with realism and above all, a sense of passion. Sure the phono stage isn’t quite as accomplished as my standalone all-singing Primare R35, but neither is it just an entry level add-on to inflate the spec sheet, and you’ll have to go some way to better it (i.e. perhaps via one from Unison Research’s own stable).
Each amps’ casework oozes Italian class. I love the way the light catches the front panels’ bevelled edges, which are intentionally offset around each faceplate, making them swankier than many rivals’ offerings
In summary
Few brands are able to take on the hybrid mantle and do it this well, because with its Unico Pre v2 and DM v2, Unison Research has nailed it.
What these two Italians offer is oodles of power and grace, that equates to effortless dynamics and a soundstage to match, overlaid with a tonality that’s detailed yet so easy on the ear, which combine to really bring the music to life. Bravo!
