Усилители мощности моно — Aries Cerat lanus Geminae

The Ianus Geminae is a mono power amplifier of the Ianus series from Aries Cerat, launched in 2020 at EUR 110,000, with UK and US prices of GBP 110,000 and USD 170,000. Each channel uses two chassis, and the design combines a TriodeFet Circlotron output stage without an output transformer with a tube input stage, running fully in Class A.

Key specs that matter

It delivers 130 W into 8 ohms and 260 W into 4 ohms and remains stable into 1 ohm. Gain is 32 dB, switchable to 28, 24, 20, 16 or 12 dB through a transformer volume control. Damping factor is 200, bandwidth is 10 Hz to 60 kHz, and noise sits 100 dB below the reference level. The power supply uses two 800 VA transformers with double pi filter banks, idle bias is 12 A and adjustable by the user, and idle consumption is 380 to 600 W per channel. Without its plinth, each unit is 720 mm high, 400 mm wide and 610 mm deep and weighs 165 kg.

Engineering and use context

A Circlotron is a floating, self-balancing output circuit in which two output devices and two power supplies are arranged in a bridge, and in the Geminae it is driven through a transformer and uses TriodeFet devices. The output is OTL, so there is no output transformer between the amplifier and the loudspeaker. The input stage is a small transformer-coupled single-ended circuit with an E280F tube and tube-rectified supplies. There is no overall feedback, and the stages are AC-coupled with custom capacitors whose ESR is below 2 milliohms. Aries Cerat says its output impedance is a hundred times lower than that of single-ended designs, which is reflected in the high damping factor. The high idle bias keeps the output devices in Class A across the whole signal. With the user-adjustable bias, owners can set the operating point, and the idle draw varies with that setting.

Pairing

With its power reserve and low-impedance stability, the Geminae drives large, low-impedance loudspeakers that single-ended tube amplifiers cannot. The transformer volume control allows a DAC such as the Aries Cerat Ithaka to connect without a preamplifier. A stereo pair consists of four heavy chassis, which need strong floors and ventilation.

Alternatives

The Aries Cerat Ianus QuintEssence is the smaller Ianus mono amplifier, a single-stage TriodeFet design with 65 W and 95 kg per monoblock.