Silent Angel Bremen SL1P
In general, there are two types of streamer product: the Times Square light show and the moonless night no show. The Silent Angel Bremen SL1P is firmly in the latter camp, easily one of the most inscrutably understated yet. A display-less, button-less metal slab you wouldn’t even know was switched on but for a pale blue light (green during some network set up procedures) that shines down from the front of its chassis, the only visuals on offer are from the VitOS Orbiter mobile app you download to your phone or tablet. I’ll say it now, the graphics and layout are not the slickest or most sophisticated you’ll ever see (as presented on my Samsung tablet, at least), but they are intuitive and informative displaying, for the benefit of anyone who likes to track such things, bit rate, sample rate, bit depth, and format types such as DSD, WAV, FLAC et al.
Indeed, the SL1P (P stands for Plus and denotes the addition of on-board decoding up to 192/24) seems to be at least as versatile and generously featured as any rival. The job sheet includes embedded MQA, Qobuz, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, DLNA and internet radio. The rear panel is well stocked too, outputs comprising balanced XLR, single-ended RCA, coaxial, optical, USB audio and ethernet wired connection as well as wi-fi.
With a mission to deliver better-than-CD digital sound quality via a range of streaming components and ancillaries, Chinese brand Silent Angel established its business in 2014. There’s a definite whiff of ‘unleash the power of digital music’ obsession in a streamer catalogue that includes word clocks, network switches, grounding systems, mains noise reduction systems and linear power supplies. Unlocking the possibility of the Bremen SL1P being a mere starting point in Silent Angel world for those who want streaming as a primary, audiophile-grade source. Sharing the company’s digitally focused enthusiasm, Sound Design Distribution is now offering the charms of the Silent Angel SL1P to UK customers for £799. Said to build on the success of the older B1 and B2 models, it is claimed to deliver ‘exceptional media processing, sound quality, and compatibility, combining affordability with seamless wi-fi streaming and decoding for wider access to immersive listening experiences’.
Display-less it may be, but there can be no doubting the quality of the SL1P’s build and finish. For something that costs under a grand, it’s a remarkably solid and well-engineered piece of kit that certainly feels more expensive than it is, sporting a galvanised steel chassis, a smooth (if featureless), wrap-around aluminium facia and a polished aluminium base cover.
Silent Angel is somewhat tight lipped about the provenance of what’s under the lid, save to say ‘advanced high-frequency filters’ are employed to combat noise and that the main board is powered by a six-core CPU to drive the optimised VitOS operating system. For efficient heat dissipation and long-term stability, both the main board and the SSD section are dressed with a thick copper layer while additional shielding further reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI). Although, once again, the brand and model of on-board DAC chip isn’t revealed, Silent Angel says the DAC board is housed within an aluminium enclosure, effectively separating analogue and digital circuits, to minimise power and digital circuit module noise. Finally, the SL1P design uses a custom ‘radar-grade’ switching power supply that offers the stable, low-noise performance ‘essential for pristine audio playback’. Though, presumably, not quite as essential as the numerous linear power supplies the company also offers.
Sound quality
As I mentioned previously, the VitOS Orbiter app isn’t going to win any awards for aesthetic transcendence, but in use it is clear, responsive and easy to navigate. Prettier is the app that controls my Primare Np5 mk2 transport which, buddied up with the resident Chord Hugo TT2 and, recent addition, Hugo M Scaler that take care of system decoding, comfortably outperforms any one box streaming DAC I’ve tried. Clearly not a fair contest.
At a more approachable twice the price, though, is Arcam’s £1,500 Radia ST25 streaming DAC bringing plenty of eye candy with its hi-res New York state of mind TFT display but also setting a very high sonic bar for the SL1P to reach for and so I’ve got one warming up in the wings. With its preamp functionality, albeit accessed via the app, the SL1P can be the hub of an active or powered speaker system but, for this review, power and volume requirements fall to a Leema Acoustics Tucana II Anniversary integrated amp driving a pair of passive Audiovector QR5 floorstanders.
For its own warm-up, the Silent Angel spends a few hours dispensing background music via Bluetooth while I get on with a few chores, then a spell of internet radio with Radio 4. It’s a comfortable, well-upholstered and surprisingly well-textured sound and particularly good with the spoken voice. This might be closer than I anticipated. Nevertheless, the Arcam draws a lofty reference line with an all but mesmerising 24/96 Qobuz stream of the piano and percussion-led Please Let Me Sleep from Emma-Jean Thackray’s deliciously strange and entirely self-penned and performed Weirdoalbum. Here, the ESS Sabre DAC armed Arcam’s fine transparency and resolving power renders the piano’s warm and woody timbre with real precision and, perhaps more impressive still, a sense of the instrument’s ‘setting’ suffused in a softly damped ambient acoustic.
A light but incisive touch also works wonders with an extraordinarily beautiful passage towards the end of the track where Thackray’s velvety vocal slowly merges with a solo trumpet to become a pure single tone which, in turn, dissolves and expands eerily into an entire horn section. Clever stuff immaculately handled. On replaying the cut via the SL1P, it loses some of the Arcam’s pristine quality and depth of insight, but the sound remains revealing and rich and, always more critical with slower tempo material, exhibits a firm hold on timing and rhythmic intricacies. Indeed, where the Silent Angel matches the Arcam is in the manner it allows the music to naturally ebb and flow with a fluency that’s easy to relax into and enjoy. If the SL1P isn’t quite as transparent and resolute as the Radia ST25, tonally it is a little rosier and more sumptuous. Nicely executed are the sense of space, finely graded palette of tonal colours and well-nourished but never oppressive or plodding bass. All of which bodes well for a zero-fatigue listening experience in the long run.
Conclusion
If you can live without the visual titillation of a facia display, there really is very little the Silent Angel Bremen SL1P can’t do to a high standard. It has a controlled and considered approach that doesn’t desperately seek to dazzle with a canon of sonic fireworks or, just as obvious, fiercely forensic interrogation, preferring to let the music make its own case, maybe with just a hint of inviting warmth. As is sometimes the case, less can be more and a presentation that isn’t tripping over itself to impress manages to impress all the more.