Integrated amplifiers — Matrix Audio MD-1P

The MD-1P from Matrix Audio is a music streamer and integrated amplifier in one chassis, built so that a complete system needs only the unit itself and a pair of passive speakers. It is the higher powered of two versions, sharing its case and feature set with the MD-1 but doubling the rated output and adding a second pair of speaker terminals and dual subwoofer outputs.

Key specs that matter

Rated power is 300 W per channel into 8 ohm. The speaker outputs have an impedance below 3 milliohm, and when both terminal pairs are connected for A/B use the load should stay between 4 and 16 ohm. Digital sources reach the DAC over coaxial and optical inputs at up to 24 bit and 192 kHz with DSD 2.8 MHz via DoP, HDMI ARC at up to 192 kHz, USB audio at up to 768 kHz PCM and native DSD up to 22.4 MHz, and Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX, aptX HD, AAC, SBC and LDAC. Analogue inputs are one XLR pair with 47 kOhm impedance accepting up to 8 V RMS, one RCA pair accepting up to 4 V RMS, and an MM phono stage with a low noise RIAA curve and 40 dB of gain. The case is 430 mm wide, 331 mm deep and 96 mm high, and the MD-1P weighs 7.6 kg.

Engineering and use context

Inside, a pair of femtosecond clocks drives the digital section, and a high speed FPGA runs Matrix Audio's own clock division and jitter reduction algorithms. Volume is handled by a digitally controlled preamp with 256 steps, running from -80 dB to +12 dB in 0.5 dB increments, plus 12 steps of channel balance. A variable preamp output delivers 0 to 2.2 V RMS with a quoted signal to noise ratio of 120 dB and THD+N below 0.0005 percent, and the subwoofer outputs use a 150 Hz cutoff with a trigger interface. For networking there is Gigabit Ethernet together with Wi-Fi 6 on 2.4 and 5 GHz. Roon Ready status is joined by support for Audirvana, AirPlay 2, Qobuz Connect, TIDAL Connect, Spotify Connect, UPnP/DLNA and QPlay. An M.2 NVMe slot takes a PCIe 3.0, 4.0 or 5.0 SSD whose library can be shared over SMB, and a USB 3.0 port supplies up to 5 V and 1 A. Power draw is below 5 W in standby, below 45 W at idle and below 1,250 W at maximum.

Pairing

Supported file types are MP3, WMA, WAV, AIF, AIFF, AAC, FLAC, OGG, APE, ALAC, M4A, DSF, DFF, CUE and ISO. A television connects through HDMI ARC, and an MM turntable can be wired directly to the phono stage. The box includes a power cable and an infrared remote.

Alternatives

The Matrix Audio MD-1 is the lower powered integrated sibling in this design, specified for 150 W per channel into 8 ohm and weighing 7.0 kg.