Предусилители — Chord ULTIMA PRE 2

The ULTIMA PRE 2 is an eight-input line preamplifier from the ULTIMA range of Chord Electronics, handmade in the UK and intended as the hub of a high-fidelity system. It was announced on 10 February 2020, shown first at the Bristol Hifi Show that month and priced at GBP 12,500, taking over from the CPA 5000 and joining the ULTIMA 2 and ULTIMA 3 mono power amplifiers presented in 2019. Chord states that it aims to leave the incoming waveform unaltered, and it quotes a noise floor of minus 130 dB for the design. Its solid aluminium chassis is offered in Jett Black or Argent Silver, and Chord covers the unit for five years.

Key specs that matter

Frequency response spans 10 Hz to 200 kHz within plus or minus 3 dB, and total harmonic distortion is 0.002% across 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Chord lists minus 116 dB signal to noise for all inputs, with channel separation of 100 dB. Input impedance is 100 kOhm and output impedance is 100 ohm. The inputs accept up to 10 V RMS, and the output can swing to 17 V RMS. Power draw is 30 W, with an auto-switching supply that takes 80 V to 250 V AC. Without legs the case is 420 mm wide, 355 mm deep and 133 mm high, rising to 480 mm wide and 173 mm high with legs fitted, and the weight is 18 kg.

Engineering and use context

Chord derived the switch-mode supply from aerospace technology and pairs it with carefully shielded, ultra-low-noise solid-state circuitry. The bolt-less fascia is a 28 mm thick front panel of aircraft-grade aluminium, and settings are stored by a microprocessor so they survive power-down. Each of the eight inputs can be selected on its own and gain-matched through six steps of x0.5, x1, x1.5, x2, x2.5 and x3, which lets the owner align the output voltage of every connected source. The box contains a metal infrared remote, a quickstart guide, safety instructions, a 10 A mains cable and two AAA batteries. Optional Integra legs, finished in Nickel as well as the two body colours, and black acrylic side blocks are available as upgrades.

Pairing

Sources connect through four stereo XLR balanced inputs and four stereo RCA unbalanced inputs, plus a fully balanced AV bypass input. The main stereo output is available on XLR or RCA, so it can feed one stereo power amplifier or two mono units. Two unattenuated RCA outputs feed a recorder, and three 12 V trigger outputs switch on connected equipment from one button press.

Alternatives

Chord also offers the ULTIMA PRE 3 preamplifier within the same ULTIMA family.