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The Sprout II is a tiny box with a MASSIVE feature list. As someone that recently moved to an apartment from a house I can appreciate any device that manages to pack so much in such a small space.  Recently going from home life to apartment life, the space saving aspect of the Sprout II is something that I loved right from the start.
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Simplicity reigns king here, which is something that I like very much. The face of the unit just has two metal knobs and the 3.5mm headphone output. No crazy lights, no toggles, not a single excessive button. The sturdy aluminum case is nicely accented by the real wood top, something that gives it just enough flair visually. You can power the unit on with the remote or by pushing in the volume knob.
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For most of my testing I used a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX's. I come from an audio engineering background and have used HD650's in heavy rotation for nearly a decade, so I am very familiar with the sound. I listened to a HEAP of vinyl on the Sprout II, and so far have been extremely pleased with the audio quality. Highs are clear and Mids are well defined. Bass is present but could be just a spell tighter. I was using my Pro-Ject Carbon Debut Esprit with an Ortofon Red MM cartridge. I should point out that the phono stage is just for MM cartridges and won't work for MC cartridges, though this is easily remedied by using a dedicated external phono preamp and plugging directly into the RCA inputs on the Sprout II.
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I've been more of a fan with how things like Mulatu Astatke, Elliott Smith, and Numero Group Eccentric Soul collections sound than things like Boris and Wolves in the Throne Room. The Sprout II just didn't sound quite as huge as the Valhalla 2, but at the same time the high end clarity was improved and thus better for Jazz and Classical offerings. The Optical input is also very handy, as it allowed me to connect my PC and XBOX. Even my old Tascam CC-222SLMKii has an optical output. The bluetooth feature is a fun convenience to have and was easy to connect to. My Nexus 6P and Shanling M2 had no problems connecting to the Sprout II via Bluetooth, and both sounded fine. I generally don't use wireless connections, but there are times when people are over and want to share a song with me and having a way for them to easily connect to my audio system is great.
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While none of the features perform quite as well as a lot of dedicated pieces of equipment in the same price range might, it manages to perform well to extremely well across the board. If I was going to build a modern, space conscious sound system, I'd be very comfortable using the Sprout II as the centerpiece. The flexibility paired with the outstanding performance of all of the features tested make this a very good value. 
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I'm going to keep tinkering and listening, so if anyone has any questions at all please feel free to ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability!
KJ741N
Nov 15, 2017
livingspeedbumpYour walls are glowing blue.
Sloblo
409
Nov 15, 2017
livingspeedbumpSame experience with my sprout 1 - jelly of the remote!!!
SlobloThe remote is so hefty I actually chuckled when I picked it up, absolutely was not expecting it to be such a solid hunk of metal.
Sloblo
409
Nov 18, 2017
livingspeedbumpRub it in >,>
Torsisgal
0
Nov 28, 2017
livingspeedbumpVery nice!
Basketcase1
0
Jan 8, 2018
livingspeedbumpI have a sprout now. Just found out about sprout 2. I know it's more powerful. What's the price on sprout 2? Any other huge changes?
Sloblo
409
Jan 9, 2018
Basketcase1just the remote far as I can tell.
Basketcase1
0
Jan 9, 2018
SlobloThanks. Any difference in sound at all?
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