Overview & Features

Passive EQ moving magnet phono preamplifier

Vinyl is an important part of a growing number of people’s lives today and Sprout100 brings LPs to life as you have rarely experienced. The engineering team at PS Audio has been designing and building vinyl amplification for 4 decades and we know a thing or two about making records sound their best. Within Sprout100’s compact enclosure lies a rich history of audio technology, waiting to be told. Are you a soldier in the Vinyl Revolution? Sprout100 offers a world class phono stage to bring your favorite vinyl, new or classic, to life. We engineered a brand-new hybrid circuit design for the best possible vinyl reproduction. We incorporated a JFET input stage to lower noise and increase headroom. We designed a passive high-frequency RIAA circuit for extended and nuanced high-frequency response. These features culminate the very best of our 44 years’ experience with the phono stage.

High-resolution digital audio

Built inside Sprout is a highly sophisticated Digital To Analog Converter (DAC). Optimized to the cutting edge of digital playback, Sprout100 employs an ultra high-resolution ESS Sabre DAC (9016) with USB-B input that accepts resolutions up to PCM 384/24 and DSD128: bit-perfect playback for your high-rez computer audio, video, and gaming applications. An optical (toslink) input allows you to incorporate a TV or other modern digital device with your kick-ass new system. Bluetooth offers versatility, convenience, and one-touch access to a world of content.

Powerful amplifier

The original Sprout’s 50WPC into passive loudspeakers are incredible to hear. With this wattage the original Sprout urged The Absolute Sound to feel “astonished by the detail and richness of its presentation.” Customers agreed, and PS Audio toiled on. In pursuit of an effortless listener experience, the all-new Sprout100 doubles the output power of it’s predecessor. We incorporated bleeding-edge ICEpower amplifier technology to equip the instrument with 100WPC RMS (peaks of up to 135WPC). This increase in output wattage–apart from providing renewed efficiency, lowered distortion, and greater separation and detail–also serves to galvanize the sonic benefits of extended headroom. Sprout100 fundamentally enlivens the listener’s bookshelf or floorstanding loudspeakers to a revolutionary musical experience.

Selected for its musical virtues, Scott McGowan personally curated this Scandinavian-designed amplifier from among a dozen fine candidates before selecting it for Sprout100. Musical, powerful, never aggressive sounding, the amplifier within Sprout100 honors the music.

Stream right from your phone

Streaming music from a mobile device is common and expected among Sprout owners. That the sound quality of that streaming service is exceptionally good in Sprout is a testament to PS Audio’s engineering team’s decision to pass streaming services through Sprout’s internal upsampling ESS Saber 9016 high-resolution DAC.

Connect to anything

Upgraded from a pair of 3.5mm jacks, Sprout100’s analog inputs exhibit stereo RCA connections which serve to welcome legacy devices like classic video game consoles or an open-reel tape deck. If you so choose, preamp Sprout to your external amplifier.

Add a subwoofer

Sprout100 betters its predecessor with the introduction of a built-in subwoofer output (mono RCA, variable). Add all the rumble you want with the powered subwoofer of your choosing.

Discrete zero impedance headphone amp

Listening to music through a fine set of headphones is an experience many of us cannot be without and Sprout100 honors the music with one of the finest headphone amplifiers made. Conventional headphone amplifiers focus on lowering output impedance at the expense of temporal accuracy. To solve this problem, PS Audio engineered a new low-impedance Z feedback circuit to drive virtually any pair of headphones you can throw at it with perfect transient impulse response. Slew rate, the ability of an amplifier to reproduce transient musical information, is critical to the lifelike presentation of sound. The human ear reacts instantly to temporal shift. We rely on this sensitivity to realize our setting and the movements around us. Paying keen attention to phase shift and temporal accuracy, Sprout100’s headphone amp slews at an unheard-of 1,300-volts/microsecond–100 times faster than that of its predecessor–producing lucid spatial detail and acute tonal retrieval. The same Z Feedback topology that delivers stunning clarity also enables commanding noise immunity. Listen at low levels or high.

Remote control

Sprout100 keeps the positive feel of its two, machined, front panel controls while adding the convenience of a beautiful new remote control that comfortably fits in the palm of your hand.

Physical

Unit Weight: 

- 2.9 lbs [1.3 kg]

Unit Dimensions

- Width:   6.2", Height 1.9", Depth 8.2" (chassis only, not including knobs) or 9.2”

Shipping Weight: 

- 5lbs [2.2 kg]

Shipping Dimensions: 

- VWidth 10.5", Height 5", Depth 14"

Power requirements

Voltage Options: 

- 100-240 VAC, 50-60Hz, Auto-Detect

Power Consumption: 

- 280W Maximum

Mains Power Input: 

- IEC C14

Phono Audio Input

Connector: 

- 1 Stereo Pair, Phono RCA

Cartridge type: 

- Moving Magnet

Cartridge Output: 

- 3mV-10mV (5mV recommended)

Cartridge Loading: 

- 47KΩ (100pF)

EQ Type: 

- RIAA

Gain: 

- +40dB

S/N ratio: 

- >84dB A-weighted (analog output)

Analog Audio Inputs

Connector: 

- 1 Stereo Pair, Line Level RCA

Maximum Input level: 

- 2.1VRMS (+6.44dBV)

Input impedance: 

- 10KΩ

Analog Audio Output

Connector: 

- 1 Stereo Pair, Line Level RCA

Output level, maximum: 

- 3.0VRMS (+9.5dBV)

Output Max Gain (using Analog Inputs): 

- 8.45dB

S/N ratio: 

- >105dB (3VRMS ref)

THD (Analog): 

<0.01% (1VRMS, 1KHz)

S/PDIF Digital Input

Connector: 

- Optical (Toslink)

Format: 

- PCM (96KHz max), 24 bits

USB Input

Connector: 

- USB “B” Type

Format

- PCM (384KHz max), 24 bits, DSD64 (DoP), DSD128 (DoP)

Transfer mode

- Asynchronous

Bluetooth

Antenna: 

Built in

DAC: 

- Uses Sprout's built in asynchronous DAC over S/PDIF (ESS Sabre 9016 DAC)

Stereo Power Amplifier Output

- 8Ω loudspeakers connected: 

- 50 watts per channel, both channels driven

4Ω loudspeakers connected: 

- 100 watts per channel, both channels driven

THD (Speaker Output): 

- <0.01% (1W, 1KHz into 4Ω)

Frequency Response: 

- +/- 1dB (1VRMS out, 20Hz – 20Khz into 4-8Ω)

Signal to Noise: 

- >100dB at max power into 4Ω

Headphone Output

32Ω headphones connected: 

- 500mW

300Ω headphones connected: 

- 125mW

THD: 

- <0.01% (1KHz, 50mW into 32 Ω)

Signal to Noise: 

- >105dB at max power into 300Ω