I know Stavros Danos for a very long time. It must have been more than a decade ago, and I remember well his early attempts with “unconventional” high-end creations.
He has come a long way with his brand and products. Much further than some of his competitors expected or would have liked.
I have a lot of respect for the fact that he chose the uncertain path and did not trade it for the high-level, well-paying job in the aerospace industry that was offered to him when he was at a crossroads after finishing the university. At the time, the path was unclear, but more than 10 years later, he has managed to become one of the most daring and forward-thinking high-end audio designers.
With each new product I have had the pleasure and privilege of experiencing, there is a clear evolution and progress. Not only in sonic performance but also in bold and unexplored ideas.
When Danos told me about the new Ianus line and shared his enthusiasm with me, I was naturally interested, but somehow could not understand and relate to his excitement. Well, as you can read further, only until the Aries Cerat Ianous Essentia Triodefet amplifiers arrived at my place.
The design concept
The Ianus Essentia amplifier is not only single-ended but also single-stage! Remarkably, there is no driver stage and no input stage! This extremely spartan topology is, in Aries Cerat’s opinion, a breakthrough in amplifier design that has been an utterly difficult goal to achieve in their research lab.
It is only possible because finally an active element that has the specifications needed for this purpose can be used: extremely high linearity, high voltage gain, high current gain, and very high input impedance.
The Essentia consists of only one TriodeFet stage, directly fed and used as a simple single-ended amplifier, and uses the “essence” of flagship Geminea technology.
Triode or solid state?
The TriodeFet’s triode-like transfer curves indicate that the Ianus Essentia sounds very much like the best single-ended tube amplifier, which translates into excellent mids and highs, accurate timbres, and the extended soundstage you’d expect from ample tube amps.
The Ianus Essentia can also deliver more current and is essentially maintenance-free, as the internal tubes used to generate the curves have a 10,000-hour life. Its unique single-stage nature means that it is as sonically transparent as it gets. The amplifier’s output power is 40W (8 ohms) in full Class A.
While this may not be enough to drive to the nth degree particular power-hungry largest speakers, the Essentia amps still provide a secure grip for multiple monitors and floor standers.
Operational
The Music
The initial hours of listening and a sleepless night were followed by more controlled listening sessions. As usual, here are some of the albums and tracks that extoll the merits of the Aries Cerat Essentia power amplifier.
“Jean Pierre” by Marcus Miller from the album Free is a sonic and musical triumph with so many underlying attributes that can be completely hidden if the amplifiers are not at the proper level and can deliver the needed vigor.
I saw Miller at the Montreux Jazz Festival a few years ago and can still remember the spirited magnetism. Miller puts his heart and mind into his performance to dispatch the message to the audience.
And that’s exactly how I felt about the Essentia amplifiers. They were devised to deliver the musical message unaltered, retain the sonic energy without straying from the sonic course or adding their imprint, and, above all, they were destined to capture the listener’s inner core.
The disappearance of technology is a too-often repeated marketing cliché, but the Essentia amplifiers stand out from the crowd with their particular aural intricacy and sonic excellence. They are able to stimulate the inner sensors and unapologetically bypass the triggering of fatigue detectors.
The Essentia amplifier reproduces “Jean Pierre” with gallant quality, with no sonic thinness or unrealism, something that cannot be said of many far more expensive amplifiers, whether solid state or tube. This virtue alone makes the Aries Cerat Ianus series amplifiers truly unique.
Many amplifiers are capable of imitating the pulsating and dramatic “Main Theme I – Opening” by Shigeru Umebayashi – Nathaniel Mechaly from The Grandmaster (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), but few manage to sound as good as the Essentia amplifiers on every level. They excel in their ability to truly reflect the inner workings of the “Main Theme I – Opening” without distorting it.
Another challenge for any amplifier is to reproduce the music beyond the mind and mere theory of a particular audio designer. Aries Cerat Essentia proved with “Bluesville” by Count Basie & His Orchestra from the album 88 Basie Street that Essentia amplifiers have a unique mainstay acting as pillars of music reproduction and operating as far more than just a sum of electronic processes, which cannot be said for many amplifiers regardless of the price.
“Volver, volver” by Buika, from the album Nina De Fuego engraves to the soul and cuts its path through the sonic cloth with out-of-the-world intensity. It is one of those tracks where the amplifiers make or break by rendering the sheer intensity of Buika’s majestic magic.
When everything in the system is set up properly and the amplifiers are at their best and in sync with the rest of the system, Buika’s sensibility and luminosity can fully unfold.
The Aries Cerat Essentia amplifiers had no problem bringing to life a unique blend of flamenco, jazz, and copla via the Nina De Fuego. The Essentias purrs the emotions, made the hair “stand up” and repeatedly raised goosebumps. A triple check/test that is not exactly Deja Vu.
Here, even amplifiers far more expensive than Essentia usually fail to bring fiery magic and enchantments to life. Aries Cerat Triodefet amps are the exact opposite of bland, boring, and tedious. They have a heady, intoxicating, soul-stirring quality that is hard to forget once you have experienced them.
David Amram – The David Amram Jazz Quintet – Howard Weiss – Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra “Triple Concerto: I. Allegro con brio” from the album David Amram: Triple Concerto & Elegy for Violin and Orchestra, released by Flying Fish in 1977, was a particularly fitting testament to the Aries Cerat Essentia amplifier’s ability to handle dynamic shifts and contrasts while keeping the essence of timbre, tone, and color intact.
The Aries Cerat Essentia amplifier is inherently predisposed to getting to the heart of the music, and “Triple Concerto: I. Allegro con brio” is a perfect example of how profoundly the Ianus Triodefet amplifier weaves, sustains, and perpetuates the sonic sphere.
The Conclusion
I am not sure what Danos’ original idea was with Ianus Essenta and its bigger siblings Ianus QuintEssence and Gemini, but Essentia is an extremely flexible amp that acquaints something that is both evolutionary and revolutionary.
There have been a few attempts at similar ideas, but I have yet to see or use anything that even comes close to the technical simplicity and sonic and musical directness of the Essentia.
We consistently talk about simplicity and purism in high-end audio. As simple as possible is always the forte of any purist, but even for Aries Cerat, such an approach has not been possible before.
By implementing an active virtual element, extremely high linearity is achieved in combination with a high voltage gain, high current gain, and very high input impedance. This ensures a purity that is utterly hind to find and can be easily used within different audio systems.
The Essentia as the name implies essential and consists of only one TriodeFet stage fed directly and is used as a simple SE amplifier. It employs the very essence of the Ianus series technology.
Since the landing of Aries Cerat Essentia amps, there were numerous inquiries about them. This write-up should give a clearer view and acknowledgment of the tantalizing quality of Essentia.
To put it succinctly. These are the dream devices. Not just for the reviewer, where every new component or wiring disrupts the system synergy and brings a new equation. In general, there is always a lengthy, difficult, and challenging path in finding the right system fit when any, even the slightest change in the high-end audio system occurs.
With Aries Cerat Essentia I can imagine distributors loving this kind of music machine because they can practically show how it can transform and adopt the system sound hands-on. Perhaps even more importantly, the professional audio advisor can adjust the Essentia on-site at the customer’s home at the coveted performance level and find a proper system synergy. That alone is worthy of all the high-praising.
Whatever the setting, the familiar and much-appreciated Aries Cerat leitmotif is preserved at all times. Yes, it can sound like an Aries Cerat amplifier, but also like a tube amp, or solid-state amp.
Essentia has by default the well-known and appreciated Aries Cerat fine upper-level resolution, the firm instantly locking lower range, and can instantly tune in to the unsurpassed Aries Cerat system gain. Still. It doesn’t sound like any other Aries Cerat amplifier.
Aries Cerat Essentia power amplifiers feature a genuine grande sonnerie quality, that by each minute reflects in the pure music intake, unlike anything I’ve come across so far.
Like all of the Aries Cerat products, Essentia is brazen and unapologetic in its raison d’être. I’m both smitten and struck by the Essentia juxtaposition ability to offer a sonic reality so riveting.
Every change attracts immediate, non-forcing attention, and Essentia is literary of all stripes. In its diversity, the stars align easily never in the harm of resolution, speed, dynamism, and most importantly the music.
After experiencing Aries Cerat Essentia amplifiers in different system permutations and by driving various speakers I’m ready, to sum up my findings with the notable 2023 Editors Choice Award for these unconventional and forward-thinking expertly conceptualized one-of-the-kind sonic gems.
Despite the crazy times we have experienced over the past two years, as you can see from the photo above, this journey began with excellent high-octane and remained amazingly exciting to this day. ⧉
Matej Isak
Price
- 40.500 EUR (with VAT)
- 1200 EUR TVC input
Technical Specifications
- Power Output (Class A operation):
- 40W @ 8ohm 70W @ 4ohm
- Stable operation down to 1 ohm
- Zero feedback design
- Gain Stage: Single Stage. Single Ended.
- Gain: 26db (26-22-18-14-10-6)db (gain switch using TVC system)
- Signal to Noise Ratio: 100db with reference 0db
- Full power bandwidth: 5Hz – 60Khz (upper range limited with oscillation prevention limiters)
- Damping Factor: User Switchable
- Idle power consumption per channel:
- 100W depending on the bias setting
- Inputs: RCA X1, TVC X 1 , AC link X1, XLR (optional)
- Maximum dimensions (excluding plinth): 420mm H x 400mm W x 310mm D
- Weight unpacked: 80kg per monoblock
Contact
Aries Cerat LTD
52 Vasileos Pavlou A’
Limassol, 3052
Cyprus
Web: www.aries-cerat.eu
Email: info@aries-cerat.eu
Fax: +357 25565916
Mobile: +357 99307099