Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Sprout is a great concept. About the size of a hard cover book, so, fits almost anywhere. Dead simple to set up. Just connect your inputs (even has a built-in pre-amp for a turntable) and a pair of speakers or headphones. Dial to the source currently playing, adjust the volume, and enjoy your tunes. The Bluetooth worked right away with no hitch with my Kindle Fire. Five stars so far. The designers evidently decided that any speakers connected would need a bass boost. The extra bass amplification begins at 60 Hz, peaks at 67 Hz and returns to nominal by about 300 Hz (all per Stereophile May 2015 review). There is no switch to select a flat response and little amplification power below 50 Hz (Sprout does have an analog output to connect a powered subwoofer). Anything in the midrange (vocals) or high frequencies sounds great. Anything with a definite bass line sounds like a boom box. One of my favorite cuts is Rebecca Pidgeon singing Spanish Harlem (Raven CD). The CD version has bass notes under her singing (sample it on Amazon). Playing on the Sprout, the bass was over emphasized and mushy. I tried plugging the bass port on my Kef LS50s (great 2-way book shelf speakers with 5 ¼”woofers), but the bass still did not sound great. The bass boost did not bother me much with music where the bass is more intermixed with mid-range notes. Follow-Up Review 11/20/18: PS Audio just released the Sprout100. It now includes a way to turn off the bass boost (not obvious; read the manual to learn how), plus it is more powerful than this model. I have not listened to the Sprout100, but you can read a review at stereophile.com or soundandvision.com