Integrated amplifiers — T+A PA 2000 R

The PA 2000 R is an integrated amplifier from the R series of T+A Elektroakustik. The German maker builds the R line around the PA 2000 R and PA 2500 R amplifiers, the MP 2000 R G3 and MP 2500 R G3 players, the R 2500 R receiver and the G 2000 R turntable. The low-profile case is offered in silver anodised, black anodised or brushed aluminium, and the front carries a large display with a VU meter and a menu-driven interface.

Key specs that matter

T+A rates the output per channel at 100 W into 8 ohm, 200 W into 4 ohm and 300 W into 2 ohm. Three balanced XLR inputs accept 500 mV to 8 V and three RCA line inputs accept 250 mV to 4 V. The preamplifier stage covers 0.5 Hz to 300 kHz, while the power section is rated from 1 Hz to 150 kHz. Signal to noise ratio is 105 dB unweighted and 109 dB A-weighted, and distortion stays below 0.001% in the preamplifier stage. Slew rate is 60 V per microsecond and damping factor exceeds 65. The unit is 8.2 cm high, 46 cm wide and 40 cm deep and weighs 10.5 kg.

Engineering and use context

T+A uses a double-mono layout that keeps the left and right channels apart. The input stages are discrete Class A circuits with hand-selected J-FET transistors and no operational amplifiers, and the intermediate section also runs in Class A. MOSFET drivers feed high-power bipolar output transistors, with galvanically isolated voltage and current gain sections and output stages that use very low negative feedback. The custom power supply has 60,000 microfarads of buffer capacitance, maximum consumption is 1000 W and standby draw is below 0.5 W. Sealed gold-contact relays switch the inputs, internal signal paths and loudspeaker outputs, and the parts list includes mica capacitors and low-inductance resistors. Bass and treble adjust from minus 6 to plus 8 dB per channel and can be bypassed, alongside balance and a switchable loudness circuit.

Pairing

One RCA input can be converted with an optional T+A phono module, covering moving magnet cartridges from 1 to 5 mV and moving coil types from 60 to 1000 microvolts. The two R2Link ports tie the amplifier into the R series players for shared control, a LAN port and an AMX or Crestron connector serve home automation, and a trigger input enables Surround Pass Through for use with a multichannel processor. A 50 ohm headphone socket on the front, an RCA pre-out at 75 ohm and two pairs of speaker terminals complete the connections, and an SRC 1 remote is supplied.

Alternatives

The T+A PA 2500 R is the second integrated amplifier of the same R series.