Audiolab 6000A Play - Just Add Speakers

The Audiolab 6000A Play, as its name suggests, takes the circuitry from the 6000A stereo amplifier and joins it with the streaming smarts of the 6000N Play, all in a single chassis.

Just like the recently announced Quad Artera Solus Play the 6000A Play's Wi-Fi networking is powered by DTS Play-Fi: an app-controlled platform enabling high-quality, whole-home wireless audio. This hands you hi-res music streaming chops up to 24-bit/192kHz thanks to its ES9018K2M DAC chip from the Sabre32 Reference family.

The free Play-Fi app is a gateway to a wealth of music services, including Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, HDtracks, TuneIn, iHeartRadio and SiriusXM. It will also slurp up your virtual music collection from any DLNA-compatible NAS drive or media server on the same home network.

Additionally, you can control your 6000A Play by talking to it, when its paired with any Amazon Alexa-equipped device.

As well as Play-Fi supporting a wide variety of file formats, you can switch to Play-Fi's Critical Listening Mode and enjoy hi-res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz over Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable. You can play directly from Spotify Connect, and via aptX Bluetooth, too.

However, the 6000A Play is not just all about streaming. Thanks to four stereo RCA inputs – three line-level and one MM phono input - and five digital inputs – a pair of optical and a couple of coaxial sockets - you can add CD players, turntables and more into the mix.

The 6000A Play also shares the Quad Artera Solus Play's Class AB power amp design to deliver 50W per channel into eight ohms, with a maximum current delivery of 9 Amps into difficult loads. The output stage 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 while 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).

The 6000A Play is available from late July in a choice of silver or black, at an RRP of £799. The original 6000A, without Wi-Fi/Ethernet network streaming, continues at £599.

For more information, visit Audiolab.