Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier + 6000CDT CD Transport

6000A

Overview

Integrated Amplifier

An amplifier remains the beating heart of any high-performance audio system, but in 2018 a truly versatile integrated amp needs to cover many bases – digital and analogue sources, wireless connectivity for portable devices, a phono stage to cater for vinyl playback, amplification for headphones as well as speakers… That’s a lot to pack in, whilst keeping performance high and the price tag affordable – and yet, that’s exactly what the 6000A delivers.

The Sound of Science

Outwardly, the 6000A bears strong resemblance to the 8300A with its rotary controls and large, central OLED display. Unlike its costlier, analogue-only sibling, it incorporates high-quality D/A conversion, enabling digital sources to be connected directly without an external DAC. It supplies four digital inputs, three line-level analogue inputs, an input for a turntable, wireless connectivity via Bluetooth and a dedicated headphone amp, in addition to its ability when driving loudspeakers.

Technology

Digital circuitry

Much effort has been made to ensure the 6000A’s digital circuitry delivers the level of quality one might expect of a high-performance standalone DAC. As ever, Audiolab has turned to the ES9018 Sabre32 Reference chip family to perform D/A conversion, utilising ESS Technology’s 32-bit HyperStream architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator to deliver ultra-low noise and high dynamic range.

Technology

Analogue circuitry

The 6000A’s discrete Class AB power amp stage delivers 50W per channel into eight ohms, with a maximum current delivery of 9 Amps into difficult loads. The output stage of the discrete power amp circuits uses a CFB (Complementary Feedback) topology, ensuring superior linearity and excellent thermal stability, as the idle current is kept independent of the temperature of the output transistors.
A substantial 200VA toroidal transformer, followed by 4x15000uF reservoir capacity (60000uF in total), helps the amp to maintain firm control of the music whilst enabling excellent dynamic range.

The preamp section is kept as simple as possible to maintain signal purity, with line input signals passing to a precision analogue volume stage. The latter covers the range from -80dB to +8dB in steps of 2dB and 1dB (step resolution increases with volume position). Much effort has gone into the physical layout of the 6000A’s circuitry, protecting the sensitive preamp section from noise interference.

6000CDT

Overview

The 6000CDT is a dedicated CD transport incorporating the same slot-loading mechanism as audiolab’s flagship CD player, the 8300CD. Extremely robust and reliable, it uses a read-ahead digital buffer to reduce disc-reading failures, able to play scratched and damaged CDs that are unreadable by conventional mechanisms.

The Sound of Science

The 6000CDT is the latest CD transport from audiolab. Using audiolab’s slot loading mechanism, the transport uses read-ahead digital buffering to reduce disc reading failures and deliver the highest level of digital signal extraction from a wide range of CDs, even capable of reading scratched and damaged CDs that are unreadable by conventional mechanisms. The onboard digital decoder utilises digital coax and optical outputs to deliver the maximum versatility.

The master clock is controlled by a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator, enabling the digital output from both coaxial and optical sockets to exhibit vanishingly low levels of jitter (digital distortion).

In addition, the coaxial output is fed from a differential line driver to ensure a flawless digital signal reaches the accompanying DAC – naturally, the 32-bit DAC section in the 6000A integrated amp is a superb sonic match.

By mounting the transport in its own, electromagnetically shielded enclosure, and including a dedicated power supply, the digital signal extraction from any CD is as accurate and precise as it is possible to achieve.

Specification

6000A Specifications

6000CDT Specifications