With the release of its next-generation Sprout100, PS Audio has succeeded in making the tired terms “new and improved” actually mean something by addressing many real-world audio needs. There are upgraded features outside and updated technologies inside. Sonically, you get more headroom, heft, and body, plus greater substance and resolution. Revisiting my review of the original Sprout, I can say that my conclusion still rings true: “The Sprout offers plenty of quality without complication. Just connect the little guy and use the knobs on the front. For simplicity, versatility, portability,...
READ MOREThe Absolute Sound
Julie Mullins
...the Sprout100 / ELAC Debut 2.0 system is in every respect a winner. While you won’t get everything, where would you put it (thanks, Steven Wright), what you will get is a hifi capable of mating you to your music in meaningful ways. I also find the Sprout to be one heck of a nice looking piece of kit, better looking in fact than the endless parade of black metal box w/silver faceplate clones. Sprout has character, and wood! What more can you ask?
Based on my experience, if you decide to buy the PS Audio Sprout100 and the ELAC Debut 2.0 speakers, I can safely extrapolate from that...
READ MORETwittering Machines
Michael Lavorgna
It could welcome new folks to hi-fi and greet them with enough quality to keep them in the freakin' game. The Sprout100 is certainly hi-fi, and as far as New Record Day is concerned, it's one of the most thorough examples of what hi-fi should and can be.
It's a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer!!
READ MORENew Record Day
Ron Brenay
The Sprout100 is quite a few steps beyond what you’d get with a $1,000 AVR. It’s just better…. You’re going to be …experiencing sound in a way that’s just going to blow you away. You’re going to be absolutely stunned by how good this thing sounds.
READ MOREZero Fidelity
Sean Fowler
So, there you have it. Whereas I found the original Sprout to be important, but not necessarily a complete success, I think PS Audio got things very right with the updated Sprout100. Great sound, great ergonomics, a well thought out feature set that does everything that is important in this price range and does it quite well. And it does it all at a lower price than the original. There's a reason I gave it a Writer's Choice award. Very highly recommended.
READ MOREPositive Feedback
Steve Lefkowicz
It’s obvious a lot of thought, passion, and heart went into the design of the Sprout100. It has been beautifully voiced by some hardcore music lovers. At only $599 (which is cheaper than my USB cable) I consider the Sprout100 to be one of the best-kept secrets in audio. One of those rare times you could steal your cake and eat it too.
READ MOREAudio Bacon
The Sprout100 seems born to stream music and play vinyl via a low-cost MM cartridge. Its best trait was that it made recordings sound tuneful and attractive. Its worst trait was that it made recordings sound tuneful and attractive. It did not do such audiophile tricks as strong, tight bass, precise imaging, transparency, or airy highs. It just played music enjoyably.
READ MOREStereophile
Herb Reichert
Who says really sexy audiophile gear needs to be expensive? This $599 integrated amp is the perfect gateway into our hobby, with modern connectivity and simple operation. You have to start somewhere and $599 isn't too bad for a component this nice and this well-connected.
READ MOREHome Theater Review
The brushed aluminum-clad remote control that comes with the Sprout100 is a definite upgrade over the credit-card types you get with some gear. It has a substantial feel when seated in the hand, and its power, mute, and volume up/down control buttons click audibly when pressed. I was happy to see a printed owner’s manual—an endangered species in the A/V world—when I opened the box, especially an informative, clearly written one.
READ MORESound & Vision
Al Griffin
I think I have a Sprout100 in my future.
Like many in our generation, I fulfilled my audio needs with receivers....But now, having tried the Sprout100, I’m reconsidering. The Sprout100 isn’t a receiver, but an integrated amplifier in a small size that packs quite a punch. 10.5 inches across, 5 inches high and 14 inches deep, it weighs in at under 3 pounds. But in the aluminum box with a wood veneer top is up to 100 watts of speaker output per channel, more than enough to drive my big floor speakers to room-shaking loudness (I cranked it up when the Mrs. was out on an errand). I’m not an...
READ MORETech 50+
Bill Stoller
The detail and depth are just striking. It’s still the channel separation and imaging that is grabbing me hardest...I’ve never had this disc startle me. I turned around because one of the voices came from behind me. This is two channel that I’m listening to. The Sprout has opened up the soundstage so wide that it played a ventriloquist act. I’ve never had a piece of gear do that in this room. The second track sounds like a drum circle in the room.
READ MOREThe Shoestring Audiophile
Michael Laurance
I had some reservations about the original Sprout due to its always-on loudness curve and lower-than-I-usually-need power output capabilities. The new Sprout100 eliminates both of those concerns. Not only does it sound amazingly good, but it has enough of the right inputs and outputs to put together a first-rate, borderline drop-dead kick-ass desktop or even room-based audio system.
READ MOREHome Theater Review
Steven Stone
A Sprout, you say? Indeed, I’m speaking of PS Audio’s gateway drug into high-end audio, the venerable Sprout integrated amplifier/DAC/phono preamp. It seems that receipt of a Sprout has become something of a coming of age moment in my family. My daughter got the first generation sample I reviewed when she was a junior in college, having moved out of the dorms and into a place of her own with a bunch of other collegiate ladies.
…Ultimately, as with the original Sprout, I had to conclude that one of the best attributes of the Sprout 100 is that it serves to bring generations of people...
READ MOREPart Time Audiophile
John Richardson
I pulled out about $6,000 worth of amp and preamp and stuck the $599 Sprout between a pair of Legacy Classic speakers on the output side and about $12,000 worth of MC cartridge, tonearm, turntable, phono cable and phono stage on the input side of the Sprout using the analog input. Not a fair test at all. I was setting up the Sprout to fail. It was surprising easy to listen to. Very non-fatiguing. Not grainy or crappy at all. This $600 unit held its own.
This is the new vintage integrated amp. And with Bluetooth and all those other features this could be the entry level integrated that you...
READ MORERecord Collector News
Jim Kaplan
The Sprout100 ticks all the boxes and then some. It poses a headscratcher of a question itself: What does it not do for $599? And as you can see from the specs listed below, "not much" is the answer. How one judges PS Audio’s latest incarnation is a matter of perspective, so I’m going to look at it as the core of 3 systems: starter, office, and travel. Normally, specifications find themselves at the end of a piece, but the Sprout100 is nothing short of extraordinary for the price.
READ MOREDagogo
David Blumenstein
I began this review by stating that PS Audio was once considered the poor man’s budget audiophile gear, and the PS Audio Sprout100 continues that tradition without reservation. Providing a large soundstage with excellent dynamics, a great tonal balance and musicality sufficient to tame the occasionally edgy SABRE DAC chip, while able to drive anything from the most sensitive of IEMs to reference quality planar magnetics, the Sprout100 has earned a place as one of my three favorite DAC/Headphone Amplifiers under $1,000, and is only bested by the Modwright/Oppo DAC, as an ESS based DAC.
The...
READ MOREHeadphone Guru
Gary Allen Barker
...to see how the Sprout100 can handle these very serious speakers that cost $15K per pair, with a frequency response down to 29 Hz. We jumped right to it and played Bela Fleck’s classic cut Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. The Sprout100 drove them well, displaying more depth, more bass, more presence and shaking my couch. Of course they did not yield the sound quality that the Celesta shows off with when paired with my 700 W per channel reference mono blocks, and peripheral reference equipment—but confirming that a $599 Sprout100 can drive these speakers was a revelation.
At the mere price of...
READ MOREAudophilia
Karl Sigman
I watched a few episodes of Handmaid's Tale Season 2 on Hulu with the Sprout 100 and the LS50s, and the sound was so good I didn't miss a center channel speaker (in part because I was sitting equidistant from the left and right speakers). Stereo imaging was broad and sharply focused in ways you'll never hear from a sound bar.
So yes, the PS Audio Sprout 100 is an overachiever, just pair it with a good set of speakers and you'll be good to go...
READ MOREC-NET
Steve Guttenberg
PS Audio knows the importance of maintaining tonal integrity and placing musicality above all else. No matter how smartly engineered, elegant, or expensive a piece of gear is…it’s fruitless if it ignores these key ingredients. These qualities are what makes something captivating and keeps you in your seat.
It’s obvious a lot of thought, passion, and heart went into the design of the Sprout100. It has been beautifully voiced by some hardcore music lovers. At only $599 (which is cheaper than my USB cable) I consider the Sprout100 to be one of the best-kept secrets in audio. One of those rare...
READ MOREAudio Bacon
Jay Luong
The Sprout 100 is a musical integrated amp that gives you so much for your money. The Headphone Amp/DAC alone is worth what they charge for this thing, but then when you factor in the power amp that drives speakers down to 4 ohms, the Bluetooth streaming, phono pre-amp, etc. you can see this product is an excellent value.
This integrated would be a perfect product for young guys putting together their first hi-fi setup, or someone who wants a quality amp and doesn’t have a lot of room to spare. It would also make a great anchor for an excellent desktop setup.
All in all, though the Sprout...
READ MOREHi-Fi Trends
Paul Cash
