Griffin Twenty Airport Express Amplifier Preview

[admin]

We really wish we knew how much the Griffin Twenty was going to cost. A single unit, very compact solution for streaming music to your old speakers you now longer have a use for we think will be an attractive prospect for many consumers. But with the price of AirPlay-enabled receivers constantly coming down, the Griffin is going to have to have a very competitive price. The subwoofer output should give the Griffin Twenty the flexibility (and bass) serious music lovers demand though the hardwired crossover at 80Hz and subwoofer auto-sensing limit the control they may want. Overall, the Griffin Twenty looks to be a very interesting product. If it can be used as a standalone amp with an optical input, it may be the go-to office solution for those looking for a way of utilizing old gear.

Discuss "Griffin Twenty Airport Express Amplifier Preview" here. Read the article.

 

[macddmac]

$99.99 mine showed up today- will post impressions soon
Cheers, Mac

 

[macddmac]

First impression

Ok, just had few minutes to throw this together.
First off, I tried it with Apple TV ,works fine.
Then I hooked up an old panny DVD player and threw on some dire straits.
Also had a small sub hooked up to the sub output and a pair of E41B's
Yowza,, it really works

Pros: Inexpensive, small, lightweight , sounds great, no wall wart, 20 wpc class d amp

Cons: only one input- Optical , power plug on top only works with older airport express, can't use banana plugs, no remote.


Bottom line, for 99 bucks shipped, i got an Amp/ dac with a very basic (80 hz only)bass management function. I'm happy.
Cheers, Mac

 

[bikemig]

I like it; this is a clever device and reasonably priced.

The nearest competitor I can think of is the Denon M39 executive compact system. It runs $399: Amazon.com: Denon D-M39S 192kHz/24-Bit Micro Component System for High Quality Sound: Electronics

It has digital inputs so it would work well with an apple express as well. The Denon is considerably more expensive than the Griffin but the the Denon comes with speakers, a tuner, a CD player, and usb input for a direct digital connection to an ipod. It has a sub out but no subwoofer management features.

 

[bikemig]

The Kanto Yaro amp has 2 digital inputs, a sub out, and runs $249 or $399 with speakers: YARO: Quality audio for the new era of media players.

The amp is rated at 47 watts at 4 ohms and seems like a pretty capable amp.

In any case, the Kanto Yaro and the Denon M39 are potential competitors to the Griffin for a small room set up.

The apple express and TV are both pretty nice streaming units. They lock you into the apple universe but they work well and are inexpensive. It's great that there are all these alternatives for a relatively inexpensive small room set up that will work work well with either the apple express or TV.

Edit: here's an online review of the kanto yard: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/kanto-yaro-amp-speaker-set-for-apple-tv/

 

[DS-21]

The Kanto Yaro amp has 2 digital inputs, a sub out, and runs $249 or $399 with speakers: YARO: Quality audio for the new era of media players.

The amp is rated at 47 watts at 4 ohms and seems like a pretty capable amp.

In any case, the Kanto Yaro and the Denon M39 are potential competitors to the Griffin for a small room set up.

The apple express and TV are both pretty nice streaming units. They lock you into the apple universe but they work well and are inexpensive. It's great that there are all these alternatives for a relatively inexpensive small room set up that will work work well with either the apple express or TV.

Edit: here's an online review of the kanto yard: Reviews: Kanto Yaro Amp + Speaker Set for Apple TV | iLounge

Interesting. Considering that it probably uses the same Icepower 50asx2 module as the $500 Teac A-H01, which alone costs $100 right now from Classic Audio Parts, and a DAC, and a front end, and a remote that unike the above Teac has a power button on it, that's a very good price. Had this thread come about a week earlier, I'd probably have bought one instead of the Parasound Zamp v. 3 that's going to be replacing the Meridian 551 in my bedroom once my new APE arrives. (Sold the 551, as well as the ATV2 that was driving it, because I could buy an APE for less than the current market price for the ATV2. I'll just run an analog wire from APE to amp, and control volume with our iPhones.)

Griffin must be sad that their delay caused their new unit to come out after Apple had changed the APE. Otherwise, it looks like a neat piece.