The Package

It seems that Travagan's shop is sticking to their gift type package. It certainly looks nice and definitely different than what I am are used to seeing. Both the mini speakers and the Green come in a very sturdy box all neatly laid out so that the components do not get damaged during transportation.


The speaker box is divided into two compartments so that the small speakers do not get damaged. The design of the speakers makes them a bit tricky to pack due to the fact that they have a pointy aluminum cone sticking out the front.


With every order that includes speakers you get a pair of free speaker cables. The cables are made from oxygen free copper and terminated in banana type plugs. The diameter is quite big compared to the cables that come with normal desktop audio systems.

Closer Examination

The design is colorful and inspiring, definitely not the usual dull looking speakers and control pods that you get with the more mainstream systems. The main attraction is of course the class A/B amp with an integrated DAC. The Green’s design is incredibly well executed, and it looks both unique and stylish. It blends in well with the rest of your desktop gadgets without being anonymous. The build quality is very thorough and the unit feels very durable.


From the front the amp looks very clean. There is a little joker on the front in the sense that the headphone out is a 1/8" mini jack and not the standard 1/4" jack that is normally used in headphone amp designs. The volume control is very smooth and is quite silent when you move it around. The volume control also doubles as the on / off switch. Surprisingly there is not a switch to turn off the speakers when you only want to use the headphone out, with the speaker jacks populated, or vice versa.


On the back of the amp there is an optical and coaxial S/PDIF out, right in the middle between the speaker outs. The only input on the Green, besides the 24V DC power, is the mini-USB.


The Green is very small for a desktop amp. On the picture above you can see it with an AA-battery at its side.


Looking at the amp from the side you can see a small "dragon" graphic. The cabinet has a semi textured paint job and feels rock solid.


Power is delivered to the amp either over the USB port (only headphone out powered) or via this 24V DC power supply, so portable operation is possible, however, it is a bit a hassle to carry around. It has quite long cables on both ends so it is easy to put it somewhere out of sight.


The mini speakers certainly look special. These pretty little things cost $100 a pop and are available in a lot of different colors. Their design is nothing radical just a normal boxed rectangular shape made of 10 mm MDF board. What is remarkable is the paint job. It is incredibly smooth and shiny. Aesthetically they are very pleasing, definitely worthy of the desk space they take up.


Even the terminals on the back of them are really well made, they feel solid so you will not have to worry about breaking anything while connecting cables.