Creek 4040 A: Super test of the compact DAC integrated amplifier at lowbeats.de

The online magazine lowbeats.de tests the extremely compact, only 21 cm wide, integrated amplifier with built-in D/A converter (and optionally available phono stage) Creek 4040 A in November 2025 and praises its “clean, emotionally driven, and unusually warm sound for a digital amp”:

“The Creek is more of a sprinter than a long-distance runner. It favors an agile, fast sound built on a tight bass. That makes Lorde’s fresh album, ‘Virgin’, the perfect match. ‘Man of the Year’ starts off like a predictable ballad, then brings in orchestral synthesizers – here, an amplifier must show inner tension, elegance, and power in under three minutes. The 4040 A also benefits from its converter quality, as we’re streaming from Qobuz in 24-bit and 44.1 kilohertz. First, we connected the Epos ES-7N. This is a dream team – everything flows, the stereo image is strong, Lorde is dead center. But she’s not smiling; everything is serious on her new album. The Creek also avoids false lightness – especially the presence of the upper bass notes marks it as a product of British tuning.

Who is Jess Gillam? Actually, a saxophonist with a new album on Decca. […] This is exactly where I want to hear how much inner calm a modern digital amp can achieve. It’s impressive. Broad arches, strong emotional cohesion – and repeatedly Jess Gillam’s long-breathed phrasing. The Brits would say: ‘Calm down.’ The Creek comes across as relaxed, with a tendency toward warmth – nothing like the cliché of a digital amp.

With ‘What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life’ by Michel Legrand, we are suddenly in the front row of a jazz club. The Creek 4040 A makes the double bass strings buzz. It shoots out like an arrow from a drawn bow – the piano feels its way into the room. With closed eyes, I would’ve guessed a pure Class A/B amplifier. Maybe even one with a tube stage under the hood. This physicality – fantastic. Each instrument appears with authentic ‘body dimensions’ – a double bass right there in the room, within reach – that’s top-tier reproduction.

On this point, it doesn’t exactly embarrass its comparison partner, but it once again makes us marvel at its qualities. The Cambridge Audio EXA100 has nominally more watts under the hood, but it doesn’t outdo the new Creek. It feels slightly more open, even more precise. To me, it’s clearly the more lovable amplifier. That’s a subjective view. But it’s in precisely this world that Michael Creek grew up – and still operates today.”