Unlocking spectacular sound Without a conductor, an orchestra is a room of unguided elements, struggling to find cohesion with one another. All of them individually brilliant, but without a guide to give them direction, to make the collective into one breathtaking whole. A good quality turntable and speakers both have the capacity to render music with majesty and emotion, though without an amplifier to process the turntable’s signal and provide the speakers with an electrical current infused with all that information, they both lie dormant. An amplifier is the processing centre and the drive behind a great hi-fi system. It takes an input signal, imparts just the right amount of clean power, then pushes it out to the speakers, causing their drivers to vibrate and fill your room with wonderful music. If a turntable or CD player’s signal were played directly through your speakers you’d barely hear a thing. A quality amplifier significantly boosts the precious information from these source components without degrading or distorting it. In essence, an amplifier is the Brains that brings everything to life and paints all the rich, vivid detail. The flexible core of any system Brains is an integrated amplifier equipped with an impressive range of inputs, the perfect focal point around which to build your sound system. You could be diving into vinyl for the first time, streaming music from your phone, digging out your old CD collection, or hooking up your TV for stirring cinematic sound. It has all those bases covered, and is housed in a beautifully minimalist chassis that slides comfortably into any room’s unique aesthetic. You can also enjoy some one-on-one time with your music with the headphone output, excellent for late night listening. Part of the family Brains is made from durable materials, chosen for their sturdy, robust qualities. With so many modern audio products designed to be upgraded or replaced within a few years, its beautiful, timeless looks and longevity are a breath of fresh air. Many aspects of the componentry are repairable, meaning it’ll continue bringing joyful sound into your life for as long as it’s loved, a wonderful family heirloom to deliver music for generations ahead. Total control of your sound Simple bass and treble controls allow you to shape your sound as you like, enriching music, films and games with low-end thunder or adding a touch of extra sparkle and clarity. Tone controls give the benefit of allowing you to adapt your sound to your specific listening conditions. Smaller speakers in a large room? Give the bass dial a generous spin. Music sounding a little flat in a smaller carpeted space? Get that treble singing. Brains hands you full control of your sound. Input selection and volume can be adjusted from afar with the remote control, which is bundled free of charge at launch. Smart engineering, designed in Melbourne Brains boasts a high-current, low-noise transformer, engineered to eliminate unwanted physical vibrations and electrical interference. Think of it as the bridge between the power from the wall socket and the delicate internal circuitry of an amplifier. It’s absolutely essential that this circuitry is fed with clean power, free of electronic noise, and that’s precisely what the transformer does. Under the hood you’ll also find Class A/B amplification. Bluetooth speakers and wireless headphones use what’s called Class D amplification. It’s more efficient, and certainly fits into smaller spaces, but the organic, faithful, vividly rendered sound of Class A/B can’t be imitated or replaced. The resulting sound that’s created by these elements is nothing short of breathtaking. The main chassis is custom-engineered from steel with special tooling for the solid aluminium front panel, and finished with a fine sand-blast to accentuate its elegant lines. Volume is controlled entirely in the analog domain, eliminating the introduction of digital artefacts. Brains is available in black or white finishes with inverted shading for the control dials and input selectors. Design work was undertaken in Melbourne, with dozens of iterations experimented with and refined before arriving at the finished product. Every aspect of the engineering and hardware have been chosen with beautiful, natural sound at front of mind. Encel has been bringing wonderful sound to Australian living rooms for over 60 years, and here that legacy continues boldly.
