The South Korea-based Aurender manufacturers high-end digital playback systems, several of which have been reviewed by Dagogo, including the $3,300 N100SC caching music server and streamer, the $16,500 A20 reference analog output network player, and the $13,750 N20 ultra high performance digital output network transport. The company established its reputation early on with its cache digital transports that married niche craftsmanship and metalwork with innovative user interface and class-leading designs and performances such as the N100. The design speaks to that group of savvy audiophiles who has a keen eye on avant-gardism and value, and are attracted by the exquisite melding of finesse and craftsmanship in products. I pay particular attention personally to what this company is doing because it is one of a few companies exhibiting comprehensive technological knowhow, user interfacing finesse and pricing constraints. Its management prices the company’s products below those of competitors consistently and often rather precipitously while offering comparable performances. Disciplined. (All prices adjusted as of 8/26/25)
The $24,200 AP20 Reference All-In-One Music Server arrived amidst a series of auditioning of four other digital integrated amplifiers. Two of them were of budget range and another two in addition to the Aurender were of the $10,000+ flagship status. While neither of the budget designs excelled, the $10,000 Technics SU-R1000 GaN-FET digital integrated amplifier impressed me and landed a review last year. The auditioning of the other flagship ultimately didn’t result in a review due to a persistent, midrange coloration that while eminently pleasant with all music, failed to reproduce sounds of instruments faithfully. The Aurender AP20 is the third and last one that passed the audition, and is the only one with an integrated cache player.
Featuring only analog outputs, including a pair of XLR Preamp Out in addition to speaker cable connectors, the AP20 evolves from the company’s $16,500, 31lbs A20 Reference Analog-Output Server, charging an extra $7,700 and twenty-six pounds heavier for the new class D output stage. Under the chassis, a pair of the Danish Purifi 1ET400A analog class D amplification modules runs in a dual-mono, fully linear configuration, capable of pumping out 200 watts per channel, up to 350 watts into 4 ohms. This amplification module sports an efficiency of over 90%.
The power supply for the two Purifi 1ET400A modules is a fully linear, dual-mono design centered around premium audio-grade Toroidal transformers from Toroidy of Poland — the same supplier behind the all-new power supply in the upcoming flagship streamer/server, the N50. These are the highest-performing toroidal transformers Aurender has used in any product and were chosen specifically for their exceptionally low noise and superior regulation, making them ideal for Class D amplification supposedly.
According to Aurender Lead Product Designer Justin Jang, as relayed by the company’s America Sales Director Kelly Scheidt, “each channel is equipped with six 6,800µF Nichicon capacitors, totaling 40,800µF per channel. This substantial capacitance not only ensures smooth and stable DC voltage but also provides deep current reserves to deliver effortless dynamics and authority, even under complex speaker loads. The combination of a linear power supply and robust capacitor bank brings out the full potential of the Purifi modules, achieving exceptional clarity and musicality.”
The Technics that I reviewed last year was a marvel at what it offered and at a price as only multinational conglomerates with the advantage of economy of scale could manage, but it did convert analog inputs digitally, and while the performance speaks for itself and I consider it of reference caliber, having the analog signal processed digitally is not a savory notion to a good many audiophiles. The Aurender costs more than twice the Technics and passes analog inputs straight through to the power amplification stage with no conversion.
In addition, the Aurender also outputs 50 watts more than the Technics in both 8- and 4-ohm loads. Its DAC section uses the Asahi Kasei Microsystems AKM 4497 “Velvet Sound” series 32-bit chipset, and it features an analog preamplification section with two pairs of RCA and one pair of XLR analog inputs. Again, no A/D conversion. The most seeming disadvantage of the design lies in the fact that Aurender possesses no prior analog preamplification engineering knowhow at the level Technics does, although many will prioritize the AP20’s performance on its DAC first and foremost understandably.
The AKM 4497 is a circa 2016 32-bit two-channel DAC chip. I have fond memories of enjoying music from CD players and DACs of the early 2000 using AKM chips, and I have found those made by Burr Brown, Analog Devices, Wolfson, etc., all adopted by manufacturers at one time, promising. The ESS chips of late are a different breed as their design is so integrated that manufacturers often take advantage of it and create their consumer products with minimal additional original engineering. The result is various models from manufacturers all sounding similarly. There are exceptions, of course, such as in the case of the Audio Research DAC 9.
On the company’s choice of selecting the AKM 4497 chipset, it is noteworthy that an October 2020 fire at the AKM facility disrupted supplies of the AKM 4499EQ, the latest flagship. Aurender Director Harry Lee offered that, “When we developed the A-series (Analog outputs) about 10 years ago, we had narrowed down our choices to AKM and ESS DAC chips. The decision was primarily made due to sound signature of the AKM chips winning out with our development team. Because this essentially became part of our A-series house sound [on top of the disruption of the 4499EQ chip supply], we decided to stick with the AKM 4497 and push the envelope on getting the very most out of this brand of chip with each new iteration/model.”
Aurender upgraded my digital audio source in early 2024 from the discontinued N100SC to the N200, a slightly higher performing cache network transport, which is now reusing the same 4TB SSD previously feeding the N100SC. I know people whose music library consists of 8TB of audio files and more, but even the 4TB is going to last me a very long time, partially because I routinely chuck those music that I never accessed. If I haven’t listened to a recording for over a year, chances are it is not important to me and it’s just taking up space and I won’t miss it. Despite my ongoing hording of a considerable CD collection, I access the Aurender more and more. For the review, I installed a separate SSD with 2TB of files into one of the two rear docking compartments of the AP20. There is no discernible difference in sound quality between sourcing the music files from the N200 via an Audience frontRow USB cable or from the SSD in the AP20 itself. Note that there is no digital output on the AP20, meaning its cache player feeds only the internal preamplifier and cannot be used as a reference cache player to pair with an external DAC.
- (Page 1 of 4)
- Next page →
