Integrated amplifiers tend to be where most audiophiles get their start for a few reasons, price, and ease of use being a couple of the main reasons. You can get a single item that has all of the electronics you need to listen to music, maybe sans a source, but with the MY Connect from Advance Paris, you even get a CD player built in. Just add a pair of speakers and some cables and you are ready to enjoy both streaming and physical media, and the My Connect 250 comes in at a competitive price of $4,299.00 (U.S.). Advance Paris is a bit of a newcomer in the States and many have dubbed it the McIntosh Killer, due to their incredible value and sound quality, You also get some cool blue meters on most of their equipment. Whether or not it is the one to bring down the king of the hill is less relevant to me than it is as a unique product in a very competitive price bracket. So what does 5000 bucks get you? You get a tube preamp, solid state power amp, CD player, DAC, MC, and MM Phono stage, and up to 280 watts RMS into 4Ω. I would say that it makes for a very comprehensive integrated amplifier, so let’s see how well this All in One stands up.

Unboxing and Setup

Unboxing this beast alone is not the easiest task as it weighs quite a bit and well packaged. I found it easiest to open the bottom of the box and then slide it off the amp as lifting it out of the box was not really an option. Once out of the box, all you need to do is connect your speakers to the speaker outputs and connect any sources you may have to the applicable port. The menu is very simple, allowing you to adjust the tone, select the speaker outputs you want to use (Up to three), and set up network connectivity. Once you have all your gear connected all there is left to do is turn it on. Once you power it on it will go through a warm-up phase to get the tubes up to temp before you can do anything. Once the amp is up to temp you can select your input from either the knob or the remote and you are ready to listen.

Sound Quality

The My Connect 250 sounds great for the price, especially when you consider everything you get for that price. This amp is a lot like a Swiss army knife, in that it offers loads of tools in a small package. Like a Swiss army knife isn’t quite as good as a full-size knife, screwdriver, saw, and what have you, it is also not nearly the size or cost of all those tools. In my experience separates perform better than integrated amplifiers, but they also typically cost more and take up way more space. I would say to make a comparable system of separates you would easily spend at least this much but take up 4 times as much space and require loads of cables so is there really any benefit to doing that? The benefit of separates though is the allowance of modular upgrades and fine-tuning. However, you don’t lose that with the My Connect 250. If you aren’t buying this to save space and plan to upgrade it does make for a hell of a preamp. You have both balanced and single-ended preouts, a whole slew of inputs meaning if you get a separate DAC, Phono stage, or CD player you can connect them without getting rid of the My Connect 250. I used a couple of outboard Phono Stages, as well as my CD-11 Tribute to compare some of the integrated systems vs separates as well as a couple of Power Amps.

Overall Sound

As a unit, I like the sound, using all inboard electronics other than my Turntable as that is one of the only things they didn’t manage to fit into the chassis, I have to say the amp performs far above its price point and I would be willing to put it up against the Michi X5 I reviewed a while back in terms of outright sound quality. While it doesn’t have the same power, the sound quality itself is very on par. The My Connect is very articulate and detailed. The holographic nature of music is ever present with a wide sound stage and great imaging. All of the onboard electronics perform very well and are above that of entry-level separates meaning you aren’t going to feel like you need to upgrade right away, or perhaps ever depending on your needs. As I mentioned, I think you would be hard-pressed to put together a system of separate for this price that sounds as good as this combo sounds.

As an Integrated amp

The My Connect 250 is an impressive integrated amp for the money. You get loads and I mean loads of connectivity. So many integrated amps and many more expensive options have limited inputs. Certainly, there is the thought that those who buy high-end integrated amps likely want to choose their own DACs, phono stages, and so on, but to me, the real idea behind an integrated amp is that it is all you know, integrated into the amp. Even if you want to buy a 50,000-dollar integrated you may still be limited in space so having a single chassis is important. The part of the My Connect that I appreciate is none of the included gear feels like an afterthought. Many AV amps have phono stages because why not, often they feel and sound like they were just added to hit a bullet point on a feature list. The DAC, Phono stage, and the CD Player in the My Connect all seem as intentional as the rest of the amp’s design.

The amplifier section is great for this amp as well. You have 3 pairs of binding posts meaning you can run 3 different pairs or bi/tri-amp a single set that has the connections for it so long as you won’t dip too low in Ωs. I used the A and B outputs to bi-amp my Sonus Faber Sonetto Vs and it had great power and resolution. With up to 280 watts per channel, you can drive nearly any speaker. The amp controlled the dual 8-inch woofers in my Sonettos very well leading to nicely detailed bass and midbass with no muddyness. I also didn’t experience any audible distortion while listening at some fairly high volume levels.

As a Preamp

With the Preouts you can use the My Connect as a preamp, meaning if you want to upgrade to a more powerful amplifier or a different-sounding amp you aren’t required to buy a new preamp as well. I used my McIntosh Mc250 with it for a while and really enjoyed the sonic signature of the combination. The Preamp section of the My Connect is a bit on the warmer side being a tube design and the Mc250 is a little warm for a solid-state amp, and the combo really had a vintage tone to it. I like that the preamp section is as good as it is, as that makes it a much better value to those interested in upgrading as they go. I prefer the sound over my Marantz SR7009 as a preamp quite a bit. It has better articulation and authority. I would say sonically it is closest to McIntosh as a comparison, though I wouldn’t say identical. It does also as I have found pair well with McIntosh products, though I have heard Advance Paris’ power amps and would probably buy those as an upgrade rather than McIntosh in this case.

DAC

You also have a very capable onboard DAC and Phono section meaning you have a complete preamp, as well as the built-in CD player. I have listened to some fairly pricey DACs and would say for an integrated DAC it is a quality unit, being a Texas Instruments PCM 1796 chip. It is also implemented well as the chip is only part of the equation. You get quality clean digital to analog sound without any harshness. I really like the DAC in my CD-11 Tribute, but having it sent out digitally to the My Connect 250 had me second-guessing myself. I wouldn’t say it is a night-and-day difference, but there is certainly enough tonal difference to notice when listening to the same album both ways.

Phono

The Phono amp is similar to the DAC. It is a nice add-in and the fact that it supports MM, and both Lo and Hi output MC is great for someone getting started in Hifi or anyone looking to minimize how much gear they need in order to listen to an album. I compared it to the Pyxi and the iFi Zen Phono 3 and would say it is on par with both of them for the quality of the sound but does differ in its delivery. That said both the Pyxi and Zen Phono perform better than their price would suggest and I would say both could compete with phono stages double their cost. Overall the built-in Phono had good detail, as well as a natural tone with a balanced response. It outperforms my Marantz’s built-in phono stage in pretty much every aspect and it is to be expected as the Marantz is an AVR. The sound stage is large with good imagining and channel separation as well. Overall a great addition to the amp.

CD Player

The Built-in CD player is better than I expected. To be honest I figured it was sort of a, well why not put one in. But it is much more deliberate than that, you can tell Advance Paris wanted to create a true all-in-one that wouldn’t immediately leave you wanting for more. There are not many integrated amplifiers on the market or at least the hifi market with a built-in CD player. They tend to only be found in your typical big box store boom box style systems. Yet here we have a CD player that sounds every bit as good if not a bit better than my CD-11 Trubute by Rotel. I played all manner of music through it from Laufey to Rage Against the Machine and no matter what I enjoyed what I heard. I don’t think it will compete with higher-end CD players like something from Esoteric, but like I said for an included player you get good sound without needing another device to play your collection of CDs.

Speakers

I tried out the My Connect 250 with both my Magnepan LRS+ and Sonus Faber Sonetto V speakers to get a feel of how it would perform with different types of speakers. In both cases, I was very happy with the sound and especially with the LRS+. The tube preamp helped bring down some of the brightness of the Maggies, while the Sonus Fabers are already a warmer speaker I could see some people finding it too warm. I like an overall warmer sound so I found the combo with my Sonus Fabers delightful and extremely easy to listen to.

Magnepans LRS+

The Magnepan LRS+ is their entry-level speaker that offers great magneplanar sound at a very reasonable price of $1000.00 for the pair. You get a smaller panel that fits into a wider range of spaces than some of the larger panels making it perfect for people on a budget with smaller rooms. However, they sound great for the price and I would put them up against more expensive conventional speakers. They can be a tad bright though not to the point of fatigue, though with some amps I am sure you can get to that point. With the My Connect 250 you get the warmer tone from the Tube Preamp but you get plenty of power from the solid-state power section. That means you get lush mids and great dynamics with a good level of bass for the panel size. I listened to some electronic music as it can push the envelope of bass and speed, the My Connect never broke a sweat with plenty of power on tap to drive the Maggies well above the levels I listen at. I do find as I have with anything powering my Maggies that a Subwoofer helps, and the My Connect has preouts for two so you’re covered there.

Sonus Faber Sonetto V

The Sonetto V is a great well well-rounded speaker that provides great frequency response, blissful mids, and a top end that is detailed but doesn’t cut your ears. I tend to class them on the warm side of neutral, not overly warm but certainly on that side of the spectrum. The Tube preamp section added some warmth to the Sonetto and I found that if I bumped the highs in the EQ up one notch they sounded the way I prefer them to sound. I do like when amps have some tone control as it allows me to tailor my listening experience a bit. I don’t need a full graphic EQ, but having the ability to bump the bass or treble a bit is nice. I played the same music through my Sonus Fabers as I did the Maggies for back-to-back listening and I prefer the Sonus Fabers with the My Connect, but I’m not surprised as I prefer them in general. I like their tonality and character. I also find them to have a wider stage as well as better off-axis sound.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Truly an All-In-One Integrated Amplifier
• Hybrid Design
• Plenty of Power
• Built-in CD Player
• Quality built-in DAC and Phono
• Loads of Connectivity
• Great appearance
• Great build quality

Cons:

• No Bluetooth built-in, available as an option

Associated Gear

• VPI Prime with VPI 3d Unipivot (10″) and Wand Unipivot (10″)
• Ortofon 2M Red, Blue and Bronze
• Ortofon Quintet Red
• ZYX Bloom Exceed
• iFi Audio Zen Phono 3
• SOTA Pyxi
• Rotel CD-11 Tribute
• Macbook Air M2
• McIntosh MC250
• Onkyo M5140
• Sonus Faber Sonetto V
• Magnepan LRS+
• Paradigm Defiance V8
• Synergystic Foundation SX loom (Gold and Purple tuning discs)
• Synergystic Powercell 8SX

Price: $4,299.00 U.S.

Specs:

Conclusion

I love the My Connect 250, I love that it offers a true All-In-One solution to people that want more out of their music. Many if not most AIO solutions are aimed at much lower budgets and performance. Here you get something that can either be the start of this hobby or maybe the only piece of gear you buy. You can power nearly any speaker with it as well. The built-in Phono, DAC, and CD player are all of great quality for the price point. My only two criticisms are that the screens are on the opposite side of the face than the knob that controls them. I would have the volume screen above the volume knob and the input screen above the input knob. Granted that has no effect on sound or performance but something I would change. The other is that Bluetooth is not automatically built in. With how much connectivity it has it may be an issue for most users but I think at this price point it would make sense to include it on this type of product. Other than those two points I think it is one of the best integrated amps on the market at its price point and would say even one of the best in the sub-10,000 category. Outside of specific personal preferences on sound I don’t know of another integrated that offers this level of sound quality and feature set under 10k. Advance Paris has been added to my future purchase list, whether it be an integrated for the flexibility or a Pre/Pro setup, I haven’t decided yet. The My Connect 250 is what defines an integrated amplifier to me, it offers users nearly any type of connectivity and none of it is a second thought. This is an all-star product at an incredible price.

For more information click the link below

https://www.advanceparis.com/en/product/myconnect-250/

U.S. Distributor: Playback Distribution

https://playbackdistribution.com

Disclaimer:

Playback Distribution provided Hifi Chicken with a My Connect 250 for the purpose of this review, Playback Distribution, nor Advance Paris, nor any affiliate paid in part or full in exchange for this review.