Argon Audio SA2

The Argon Audio SA2 is a streaming amplifier from the Danish brand Argon Audio: amplifier, DAC and network streamer in one compact box, ready for a pair of speakers.

Argon’s position in the market is value rather than prestige. The company sells direct through a small number of retailers and puts the money into the parts that affect the sound rather than into the casework.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It shows up in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can assign it to a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

It is not an accessory you switch on or set the volume of from the Home app. Power, input selection and volume stay with the unit, its remote and its own app.

Before you buy

This is the class of product that replaces a whole rack for someone starting out or downsizing. Compare it against the cost of a separate amplifier and streamer before assuming separates are better at this price: at the affordable end, one well-executed box often beats two compromised ones.

Argon also makes the Forte A4, A5 and A55 active speakers, which do the same job with the amplifier inside the speaker.

Specifications