Pro-Ject Maia S3: high-quality budget audiophile amp for £500/549EUR?
Did Pro-Ject hit the motherload with their high-quality budget audiophile amplifier?
Pro-Ject makes lots of cool products. We’re fans of their turntables, for starters. But how does their budget amplifier stack up against others in the same price bracket?
The Maia S3 is small; tiny, in fact. Especially when you compare it with a more traditionally sized integrated amplifier. But don’t let its unobtrusive form factor put you off.
Small, but perfectly formed.
Our Maia S3 came in jet black (it’s also available in white), and it looks sleek. The front panel is home to the power switch, a good solid volume control (containing a motor-driven potentiometer) and an input selector array on the right-hand side. It’s a striking minimalist design, and we like it.
Round the back we’ve got generous input options, eight to be exact. 3 pairs of RCA, 1 phono MM (RCA) of the analogue variety then RCA coax and 2 x Toslink.
The rear of the Maia S3 also houses the Bluetooth antenna, providing an aptX/Bluetooth 5.0 connection.
It also ships with a dinky little remote that has buttons to control input and volume controls.
It’s got the power.
In terms of power, you can expect an output of 2x 23W/40W at 8/4ohms (1% THD), and a frequency response of (20Hz — 20kHz): <-0,5dB @4ohm — more than enough for any starter or intermediate hi-fi setup.
Mains power delivery itself comes via the supplied wall cable transformer box.
Did we mention the onboard DAC?
The Maia S3 benefits from an onboard DAC (a Cirrus Logic CS4344 to be exact), which is only available to digital inputs. It’s a nice addition and adds a layer of crispness and bulk to the sources connected to it — especially when using devices like the Argon Argon SOLO streamer. It will also handle high-resolution audio files up to 24bit/192kHz.
In the listening booth.
The Maia S3 sounds fantastic, especially given its price tag of around £500/549EUR. We tested ours with some Q Acoustics 3030i speakers. Using a Pro-Ject Primary E turntable as a source we were blown away by the detail and depth we heard. Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Glory Days’ sounded rich and nicely separated.
Hooking up a pair of Grado SR325x headphones demonstrates that this integrated amplifier is also a fantastic headphone amp. We heard bags of detail and depth in the soundstage. We even tried our trusty pair of Beyer Dynamic 770 Pro’s 250 ohm, which are notoriously hard to drive, but the Maia S3 produced a full and even listening experience. Impressive stuff indeed.
So, what’s the verdict?
You can spend a lot less and get a great integrated amp, but the Maia S3 from Pro-Ject is placed well within the reach of the budget Hi-fi enthusiast. It’s an excellent starting point or worthy endpoint to any Hi-fi setup, let alone a budget one. We were blown away by its minimalistic looks, standout sound quality and spec.
If you can stretch to the extra budget you won’t be sorry. It’s an amplifier with that little something special that will serve you well for years to come.
Find out more at www.project-audio.com
Story originally appeared on thebudgethifiguy.com
