Интегральные усилители — Audiolab 6000A Play

The 6000A Play from Audiolab joins the circuitry of the 6000A integrated amplifier with the DTS Play-Fi streaming board of the 6000N Play in one box. The result is a stereo power stage, an MM phono stage, a built-in DAC, a headphone amplifier and wireless streaming under a single lid. It went on sale in late July 2020 at a UK list price of GBP 799, with silver and black versions offered. The case is 445 mm wide, 80 mm tall and 330 mm deep and weighs 7.9 kg net.

Key specs that matter

Power output is 50 W into 8 ohms and 75 W into 4 ohms at under 1% THD, and the discrete Class AB output stage can deliver up to 9 A into difficult loads. Distortion at 40 W into 8 ohms and 1 kHz is below 0.003%, and the amplifier section covers 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.3 dB. Line input sensitivity is 720 mV. Analogue connections comprise three AUX inputs and a single MM phono socket with RIAA equalisation, and one RCA pre out lets a separate amplifier be connected later. Digital inputs are two coaxial and two Toslink optical. The DAC uses the ESS ES9018K2M chip, accepts sampling rates up to 192 kHz and delivers 2.05 V at 0 dBFS with THD under 0.0006% at 1 kHz. Owners can pick one of three digital filters, namely minimum phase, slow roll-off or fast roll-off.

Engineering and use context

The Play-Fi module connects over IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi or Ethernet and handles high resolution streams up to 24 bit and 96 kHz. Supported services include Amazon Music, Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer, Pandora, SiriusXM, Napster, iHeartRadio, KKBox, QQmusic, SoundMachine and internet radio. Spotify Connect and DLNA are supported as well, and Bluetooth reception with aptX and aptX Low Latency covers phones and tablets. Because Play-Fi is a multiroom platform, the amplifier can join other Play-Fi devices in the home. The headphone output has its own current-feedback amplifier, and volume is set by a digital controller. The mains supply is specified for either 220 to 240 V or 100 to 120 V at 50 to 60 Hz, and standby consumption is under 0.5 W.

Pairing

With its moderate power, bookshelf or compact floorstanding speakers of average sensitivity suit a room of about 20 m2. Any turntable using an MM cartridge plugs in without an outboard stage, the coaxial and optical sockets take a disc transport or television, and the pre out leaves room for more power later.

Alternatives

The Audiolab 6000A is the version of this integrated amplifier without the streaming module, with the same power rating and fitted with a 200VA toroidal transformer.