boXem Arthur 4222/E1 Amplifier Review

[Sputnik]

If you are in Europe, and purchase with shipping, your final price will vary with your country, since each country has its own VAT rate (and law says the destination country VAT is to be applied, AFAIK)

You are right, there is no way to give an exact purchase price for all of EU without a page long list.

But in the Audiophonics ET400 review Amir wrote the vat included price, in this one he wrote the excluded price, so it's worth noting it will be a 20-25% difference.

 

[heraldo_jones]

Who voted not terrible?
This is the top 10 best performing (in terms of SINAD) amplifier that we have measurements for...not to mention 4th best reviewed by Amir so far.

Courtesy of @Matias spreadsheet

I now also voted not terrible. There are amps at half the price (or even less) measuring very similar. My vote never goes for performance, but for the compendium of the entire product (unless the product is a killer one, and this is not).

 

[BR52]

Well done Fred

 

[Vini darko]

Good build , lovely measurments but why are the speaker posts jammed together like that?
I like the orange front panel.

 

[boXem]

Thanks a lot @amirm for the very nice review!
To make things clear, the review unit is an Arthur 4222/E1. 4215/E1 doesn't exist and never existed.

The 4215/E2 is a stereo amp based on Purifi 1ET400A modules, the 4222/E1 is a mono amp based on Purifi 1ET7040SA. The 1ET7040SA is OEM only, and as said before, it's main vertue is the ability to deliver high currents in low loads.

Regarding the price, things are plain and simple: a 4222/E1 costs boXem the same amount as a 4215/E2. So it is sold for the same price.
And for people who like to compare with cheaper offerings, internet is not helping. Would you be able to have both products in hands, you would realize that our quality price ratio is much better.

Finally, regarding the VAT, we display the price with our local VAT applied, as requested by the law. For the actual price paid, VAT is suppressed or recalculated pending the shipping destination.

 

[Mnyb]

So to compare wit audiophonics the 4215E2 is the similar boxem item to compare by ? That’s half the price .

You seems to pay for that low impedance heft and literally per box , power supply and box costs something.

If your speakers have reasonable impedance the 4215E2 may be an more economical choice or other amp based on the same purify board. Suspect that with many speakers there will be no substantial difference.
And a very real in special cases.

I see this offering as total overkill or the ticket for that special speakers that really needs this kind of amplifier.

Ot pay per box seems to be Naims modus operandi hopefully boxem won’t split the ps to separate boxes

 

[Axo1989]

I’ve also read this on the forum, I think people with difficult speakers are prepared to pay , alternative big mono blocks from other sources are very very expensive.

Indeed.

And the colour , I think you can opt for black or orange on all boxes amps , so you can have it in black if you whish.

Also grey, which I like.

 

[Rja4000]

regarding the VAT, we display the price with our local VAT applied, as requested by the law. For the actual price paid, VAT is suppressed or recalculated pending the shipping destination.

Yes, as most internet shops do in Europe.

And that is explained clearly on the product page on your web site:

"Les taxes et le coût de transport correspondants au pays de livraison sont calculés lors de la commande." (French version here, sorry)

"Taxes and shipping cost corresponding to your country are calculated at checkout."

 

[Fidji]

Thanks a lot @amirm for the very nice review!
To make things clear, the review unit is an Arthur 4222/E1. 4215/E1 doesn't exist and never existed.

The 4215/E2 is a stereo amp based on Purifi 1ET400A modules, the 4222/E1 is a mono amp based on Purifi 1ET7040SA. The 1ET7040SA is OEM only, and as said before, it's main vertue is the ability to deliver high currents in low loads.

Do you see stereo version coming?

Glad to see this “better” Purifi finally tested. I am thinking about replacing my current Audiophonics Purifi hooked on electrostats. But do not want to have monoblocks.

 

[JSmith]

So to compare wit audiophonics the 4215E2 is the similar boxem item to compare by ? That’s half the price .

I'd suggest a better comparison would be between this and the March Audio P501, which is €1,674.56... they both use the 1ET7040SA in mono. However the boXem has the auto-signal on/off which March doesn't have.


JSmith

 

[Rja4000]

Well, the audiophonics versions, with purifi modules are way cheaper ... so you pay the extra money only for the aluminium box ... no extra value going to boxem

Just the audio-based trigger is worth a premium, IMO.
(And even more so for a mono block)

And there is more here.

 

[Axo1989]

I'd suggest a better comparison would be between this and the March Audio P501, which is €1,674.56... they both use the 1ET7040SA in mono. However the boXem has the auto-signal on/off which March doesn't have.

Or the handy 3-way gain switch (you can order the March with fixed gain to suit either 2v or 4v source).

 

[Rja4000]

Thanks a lot @amirm for the very nice review!
To make things clear, the review unit is an Arthur 4222/E1. 4215/E1 doesn't exist and never existed.

The 4215/E2 is a stereo amp based on Purifi 1ET400A modules, the 4222/E1 is a mono amp based on Purifi 1ET7040SA. The 1ET7040SA is OEM only, and as said before, it's main vertue is the ability to deliver high currents in low loads.

Regarding the price, things are plain and simple: a 4222/E1 costs boXem the same amount as a 4215/E2. So it is sold for the same price.
And for people who like to compare with cheaper offerings, internet is not helping. Would you be able to have both products in hands, you would realize that our quality price ratio is much better.

Finally, regarding the VAT, we display the price with our local VAT applied, as requested by the law. For the actual price paid, VAT is suppressed or recalculated pending the shipping destination.

Hi
A few questions, if you allow:

What power supply is this using ?

Is it the same that you use in the stereo version ?

With the 1ET400 versions, most (including Purifi themselves) are using the SMPS600 for the mono version and the SMPS1200 for the stereo.

How do they compare in reality ?
Is there a benefit of one vs the other ?

 

[sweetchaos]

Building on solid foundation of Purifi amplifier module, the 4215/E1 delivers the goods with tons of power with very low noise and distortion.

Please fix.

 

[Scytales]

Good build , lovely measurments but why are the speaker posts jammed together like that?

Sound practice : it's always better to keep the return current path close to the forward path from an EMI/RFI point of view.

Congratulations to boXem for the achievement this cute little amplifier is.

 

[LTig]

Who voted not terrible?
This is the top 10 best performing (in terms of SINAD) amplifier that we have measurements for...not to mention 4th best reviewed by Amir so far.

I guess the traditional class D haters ...

 

[AudioSceptic]

2 of these cost 1500 EU tax included, more than twice the price for a few extra watts is wild.

I agree. You pay a lot for the boXem custom cases. The Audiophonics ones might be bought-in commodity items, but they look fine to me.

Edit: the boXem uses different Purifi modules but the comparison is still valid on performance.

 

[Matias]

Amir did not say but this amp has an auto-on function too. One can leave it on 24/7 using little energy and it turns on when the source begins to send signal (or use trigger cable too).

My pair would be all silver.

 

[Scytales]

I don't see a need for Purifi mono amps at twice the price of stereo versions.

Although the price difference is of course debatable, monaural amplifiers can advantageously be put right next to the loudspeakers, thus decreasing the influence of loudspeaker cables to almost nothing.

 

[boXem]

Hi
A few questions, if you allow:

What power supply is this using ?

Is it the same that you use in the stereo version ?

With the 1ET400 versions, most (including Purifi themselves) are using the SMPS600 for the mono version and the SMPS1200 for the stereo.

How do they compare in reality ?
Is there a benefit of one vs the other ?

For sure I allow
It is using a SMPS1200A400.
We never made a mono version with the 1ET400A, the SMPS600 cooling is done by convection, this doesn't fit well with our case that was designed for cooling by conduction. So monoblocks would have used and SMPS1200, and would have costed almost the same as the stereo version without offering a lot more.
Actual benefit of the SMPS600 over the SMPS1200 is that it costs half . I have to admit that I never tested it due to the reason above.

Good build , lovely measurments but why are the speaker posts jammed together like that?
I like the orange front panel.

There happens to be a standard for binding posts spacing and we follow it .

I guess the traditional class D haters ...

I also happen to personally have a few haters who enjoy sending insults and various threats in a regular basis. Internet...

I don't see a need for Purifi mono amps at twice the price of stereo versions. It's also hard to justify the extra expense of the 1ET7040SA versus 1ET400 as they both sound great. This breaks down to diminishing returns for twice as much. If you can hear a difference your ears (or imagination) are better than mine.

Depends your speakers and listening habits. Clipping in a low load is quite audible.