Pro-Ject’s compact integrated amplifiers, side by side. Here is the MaiA S3 alongside the Stereo Box E and its streaming capable sibiling MaiA Uni Box S3 and their specifications, showing what your money buys at each step.

MaiA stands for My Audiophile Integrated Amplifier, and the S3 is the third generation of an idea Pro-Ject has been refining since 2014: put an entire system’s worth of electronics into a chassis barely larger than a paperback. It is an integrated amplifier, a phono stage, a DAC, a Bluetooth receiver and a headphone amplifier at once, in all-aluminium casework designed to stack with the rest of the S3 range. It is not a powerful amplifier and it is not for a large room, but as the single box at the centre of a compact system it is remarkably complete.

Brief product overview

A compact Class D integrated amplifier of dual-mono design, delivering 23 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 40 watts into 4 ohms, with an analogue volume control using a motor-driven potentiometer rather than a digital chip. There are eight inputs in total: three RCA line inputs; a moving-magnet phono input based on Pro-Ject’s own Phono Box circuits, which also suits moving-iron and high-output moving-coil cartridges; two optical and one coaxial digital input feeding a Cirrus Logic CS4344 DAC handling up to 24-bit/192kHz; and Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD for wireless streaming at up to 24-bit/48kHz. Note there is no USB input. A variable RCA output allows a subwoofer or a separate power amplifier, and there is a 6.3mm headphone socket on the front. The amplifier runs from an external power supply, stays cool in use and draws only a few watts, and the aluminium casework measures 206mm wide and 55mm tall. It is made in Europe.

How it sounds

The MaiA S3’s most striking quality is how quiet it is: there is no hum and no residual hiss, even at high gain, and against that silence the amplifier sounds clean, composed and surprisingly analogue in character rather than thin or clinical as small Class D designs sometimes do. The onboard phono stage is a genuine strength, drawn from Pro-Ject’s standalone Phono Box designs, and vinyl is where the amplifier is at its most persuasive. The DAC is straightforward but perfectly good, handling television and disc sources cleanly. The honest limit is power: 23 watts into 8 ohms is enough for efficient speakers at sensible levels in a small or medium room, and it will not fill a large space or drive insensitive speakers hard. Within that brief it is very hard to fault for the money.

What we’d partner it with

For speakers, the MaiA S3 suits compact designs of reasonable sensitivity. We suggest the Elac Debut 3.0 DB63, a two-way bookshelf with a 6.5-inch aramid-fibre woofer and aluminium dome tweeter, 87dB sensitive with a 6-ohm load and front-ported so it tolerates a shelf or a wall behind it. It is worth being straight that Elac recommends 20 to 140 watts for the DB63, so the MaiA S3 sits at the bottom of that range: the pairing works well in a small or medium room at sensible levels, but a more powerful amplifier would give it more headroom. Good alternatives from brands we carry are compact stand-mounts from Wharfedale, Mission, Triangle and Pro-Ject’s own Speaker Box range.

For vinyl, we suggest the Pro-Ject T1 EVO Phono, which has its own switchable phono stage built into the turntable. That gives you a choice: use the turntable’s stage into one of the MaiA’s line inputs, or switch it off and use the amplifier’s phono input instead. Use one or the other, not both. A Rega Planar 1 or 2 partners equally well through the MaiA’s phono input.

For streaming, we suggest the Bluesound Node Nano, which runs the BluOS platform with Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, AirPlay 2 and internet radio, and carries an ESS Sabre DAC of its own. Like the turntable, it offers a choice of route: its RCA analogue output into a line input, using the Node’s converter, or its coaxial or optical output into the MaiA’s DAC.

On cabling, use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run, terminated at the 4mm banana sockets; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If your room is larger or your speakers less efficient, the MaiA DS3 offers far more power, 140 watts into 4 ohms, along with a moving-coil-capable phono stage and a USB input. If you want network streaming built into the amplifier, the MaiA S3 has Bluetooth only, so plan for a streamer alongside it. And if you run a low-output moving-coil cartridge, note the phono stage covers moving-magnet, moving-iron and high-output moving-coil types, so a low-output cartridge would need an external stage.

The MaiA S3 is small and runs cool, and its power supply is external, so keep the supply and its lead clear of the signal cables. For vinyl, decide which phono stage to use: either switch the T1 EVO Phono’s built-in stage on and connect it to a line input, or switch it off and connect the turntable to the MaiA’s phono input, remembering the earth lead. For streaming, connect the Node Nano by RCA to a line input to use its own converter, or by coaxial or optical to use the amplifier’s. Fit the supplied Bluetooth antenna if you intend to stream wirelessly. Place the Elac Debut 3.0 DB63 on stands or a shelf; its front port makes it forgiving of a wall behind. The variable output lets you add a subwoofer later.