Audia Flight FLS9 Integrated Amplifier

StereoNET heard a crisp, open, clean and detailed sound, with virtually absent hiss or hum even through highly efficient speakers. The Ear similarly praised its transparent, naturally balanced presentation and detailed but easy-going treble, while HiFi News heard it unearth layers within dense recordings.

The FLS9 is widely praised for balancing warmth, richness and smoothness with convincing neutrality. HiFi News called it warm but not cloying, resolved but not clinical, while hifitest.de found it emotionally involving and neutral yet especially beautiful; several reviewers also noted sweet, non-fatiguing treble and expressive vocals.

Its power, speed and control are repeatedly singled out. Reviewers report firm, authoritative bass, excellent timing, fast clean transients, and the ability to play loudly without audible compression or loss of composure; hifitest.de also found its current delivery especially persuasive with low-impedance speakers.

The FLS9 earns repeated praise for stable separation, wide staging and sharply defined instrumental placement. HiFi News heard pinpoint detail across a wide stage, and The Ear described an image detached from the loudspeakers with convincing height and depth, though The Absolute Sound found depth and distance somewhat more compact than its reference amplifiers.

Reviewers describe a substantial, refined and exceptionally solid amplifier, with a 25.5kg chassis, brushed aluminium casework and a hand-built Italian finish. StereoNET called it massively built and bomb-proof, while multiple reviews highlight the large transformer, extensive capacitor bank, robust cooling and carefully executed internal layout.

The standard analogue provision is generous, with three RCA and two XLR inputs, balanced and unbalanced pre-outs, and a record output. Modular DAC and MM/MC phono boards add substantial flexibility, with the digital board supplying USB, AES/EBU, optical and coaxial inputs; reviewers also praised the useful headphone output, although one wished for BNC S/PDIF and found cycling through DAC filters cumbersome.

At roughly £5,950 in base form, and substantially more with optional boards, the FLS9 faces serious competition. Even so, reviewers generally consider its performance, modularity and connectivity persuasive: The Absolute Sound called it a strong value proposition, while Pursuit Perfect System felt it justified its higher cost, albeit with a clear recommendation to audition against rivals.