Are you looking for an amplifier that curls up tight thanks to its switching power supply and digital power amp section? Are you interested in an all-rounder that is receptive to all digital formats, regardless of whether the bits and bytes are fed in wirelessly or via cables? Then you are not going to find what you are looking for throughout the subsequent lines.

If, however, you are looking for a sensitive component that can assume the role of the musical (power) centre cladded in a classic 43-centimetre outfit, then it’s well worth reading on. With the Struss Audio Ultimate, the Polish specialist completes its small but fine amplifier range at the upper end of the scale. Nevertheless, first of all muscle strength is required to place Poland's contribution to the world of audiophile amplification in the heart of the test system. Its weight of just under 20 kilos already gives a fairly substantial indication on the expenditure of materials used. A glance through the cooling slots reveals two generously sized toroidal transformers, of which each supplies one channel by together aspirating up to 1200 VA from the power grid. As aforementioned, old virtues are being cultivated here. Signals, if analogue, are mostly welcome to be processed through the comprehensive board of connections. In view of the unit’s lavish dimensions, its five adjacent high-level inputs find sufficient space on the rear panel. A further input terminal, separately placed and equipped with high-quality WBT connectors, is explicitly entitled as CD/DAC connection.

The two pairs of RCA sockets reserved for turntables fit in the classic picture as well. The first is intended for pickups that are designed to generate electricity using moving magnets (MM), the second provides amplification for the fine and particularly low signals of MC cartridges. At this point it’s important to emphasize that a phono preamplifier not only equalizes, but also amplifies the signal, thus being a factor that cannot remain unmentioned within the overall conception of the component. But more of that later. With regard to the input impedances of both phono inputs, no customized solutions have been implemented. Most cartridges will feel comfortable with the impedances offered.