APL HI-FI DSD-AR
The golden-eared souls who review high-end Hi-Fi components are, as you’d imagine, rather protective of their hearing, so when I fired-up the newest arrival in my listening room, I wondered just who had it in for me. The APL Hi-Fi DSD-AR, you see, has a programmable volume control that, once it’s programmed with a level, defaults to that level until it’s changed manually. Someone had programmed my review sample to default to ‘maximum’, so that if I hadn’t been on my toes, I could potentially have blasted my loudspeakers to kingdom come.
No doubt this was the work of the person who had reviewed the APL Hi-Fi DSD-AR prior to me receiving it, however I think the DSD-AR’s designer, Alex Peychev, should share at least some responsibility because I think that if a product has an adjustable output volume, that volume should default to zero whenever the mains power is removed. This might then mean that a little re-programming is required in the event of a power outage, but I could live with that.
As for the APL Hi-Fi DSD-AR itself, it’s what its Bulgarian manufacturer calls its “most affordable” DAC, so if you’ve peeked at its price already, you will have a fair idea what
