Lindemann Woodnote COMBO Streaming Amplifier

The Woodnote name comes from Lindemann’s own image of a natural musical note or song, like that of a wild bird — and the COMBO sets out to reproduce exactly that with as little standing between the recording and the room as possible. Into a single aluminium enclosure of 207 x 250 x 62 mm, weighing just 1.7 kg, Lindemann fits a complete streaming system: a network player, a digital-to-analogue converter and a load-stable Class-A-D output stage delivering 2 x 50 watts into 4 ohms.

The converter resolves PCM up to 384 kHz / 24 bit and native DSD 256, timed by an ultra-low-jitter MEMS femto clock, with jitter suppression better than 60 dB and a dynamic range above 120 dB. Digital and analogue signal paths are separated completely, so the quiet backdrop the amplifier draws from is genuinely quiet. Sources arrive from almost anywhere: TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer, HighResAudio and Spotify Connect over the network; a UPnP/DLNA library; a hard drive, memory stick or CD-ROM drive on the USB host input; or Bluetooth. An HDMI eARC input brings a television into the same signal path, and a 6.35 mm headphone output serves headphones from 30 to 200 ohms.

Control runs from a fast app, with volume adjustable in 1 dB steps. What the COMBO gives back is the Woodnote intent — transparent, dynamic and detailed, yet never cold — from a component small enough to sit on a desk and complete enough to run a serious pair of loudspeakers, a headphone and the living-room television from a single mains lead.

• Power output: 2 x 50 W @ 4 Ohms, 2 x 30 W @ 8 Ohms, load-stable Class-A-D
• Converter: PCM to 384 kHz / 24 bit and native DSD 256; dynamic range > 120 dB; THD+N < 0.002%
• Clock: ultra-low-jitter MEMS femto clock; jitter suppression > 60 dB
• Inputs: two digital (RCA, TOS), LAN, USB host, HDMI eARC; Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2
• Streaming: TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer, HighResAudio, Spotify Connect; UPnP/DLNA
• Dimensions / weight: 207 x 250 x 62 mm / 1.7 kg