British audio component manufacturer Audiolab, has announced a second-generation release of the popular 6000 series entry-level amplifier to MKII status. The 6000A MKII has integrated technology from the upmarket 7000A and 9000A amplifiers to deliver expanded performance and versatility at an affordable price.
For the past seven years, the 6000A’s balance of sonic attributes has ensured its popularity with critics and consumers alike, and the new MkII version is clearly cut from the same cloth. It takes everything the 6000A does so well, updates it and elevates it to the next level with enhanced clarity and focus.
In 2023, the 6000 Series was joined by two new ranges pitched at higher price points – the mid-tier 7000 Series and flagship 9000 Series. Both these ranges include amps built up from the 6000A’s essential template, upgrading the hardware to deliver enhanced specifications and performance. It is from these technical developments that the 6000A MKII now benefits, upgrading key components and elevating critical circuitry to re-affirm the 6000A’s status as the benchmark at its price.
Externally, the 6000A MkII appears identical to the original model – same chassis, same controls, same central OLED display. Under the lid is a different story; numerous upgrades have been applied, encompassing the DAC section, phono stage, transformer and power supply circuitry. Around the back, an HDMI ARC input has been added, a rare feature for a high-performance stereo amp, but one that consumer research shows is increasingly in demand.
Audiolab is designing their enhanced integrated amplifiers toward versatility and the changing needs of the user-base to include both digital and analogue sources, wireless connectivity for portable devices, a phono stage for playing vinyl, and amplification for headphones as well as speakers. What makes the original 6000A a modern hi-fi classic is the way it combines all these elements in an affordable package that is consistently strong across every parameter.
“Audiolab’s electronics design team has reviewed every element of the 6000A’s circuit design to elevate performance in a meaningful way” stated Audiolab’s Jan Ertner. “Whatever the connected source, be it analogue or digital, everything benefits from these improvements – more detail, more clarity, more focus.”
The 6000A MkII shares the 7000A’s Bluetooth module, an upgrade on the original 6000A’s Bluetooth offering. Bluetooth 5 compliance delivers improved range and speed, with support for multiple codecs including aptX HD.
For analogue sources there are three line-level RCA inputs, plus one for a turntable. Audiolab has improved the 6000A’s MM phono stage to deliver a high-definition, low-noise performance, with precise RIAA equalization and input filtering to ensure vinyl is treated with as much care as digital sources.
Ever since the M-DAC launched 14 years ago, Audiolab has been famed for the performance of its DAC circuitry. The M-DAC was one of the first consumer audio products in the world to incorporate ESS Technology’s groundbreaking Sabre32 Reference DAC chips, sharing its use of the ES9018 chip family with other Audiolab components including the first-generation 6000A.
The ES9018K2M used in the 6000A remains a high-quality DAC chip but is now 12 years old. Audiolab has switched up to a new-generation 32-bit Sabre chip for the 6000A MkII – the ES9038Q2M, the same chip used in the upmarket 7000A amp. This is accompanied by proprietary circuitry fed by a dedicated power supply, designed to make the most of ESS Technology’s HyperStream II architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator for ultra-low noise and high dynamic range.
Although always technically excellent, Sabre DAC chips are challenging to implement to maximum effect and must be integrated into a product’s circuit design with care to extract their full sonic potential. The post-DAC active filter is a critical element and Audiolab has developed a Class A circuit perfectly tailored to make the most of the ES9038 chip family; this was implemented in the 9000 and 7000 Series amps and the 6000A MkII now benefits too.
Five user-selectable digital filter settings (an increase on the original 6000A’s three) allow the listener to adjust the sound to suit the source – particularly useful given the variable quality of digital formats and streaming services. Whether connected via HDMI, S/PDIF or Bluetooth, every digital source benefits from the quality of the 6000A MkII’s DAC stage.
The original 6000A’s discrete Class AB amp circuitry has been widely praised for its balanced performance across all critical parameters at an affordable price. The 6000A MkII builds on the same design by upgrading the 200VA toroidal transformer and power supply circuitry.
The new transformer’s secondary windings deliver increased voltage, together with reduced impedance for better control of the power supply voltage. The transformer is followed by four 15,000uF reservoir capacitors (30,000uF capacitance per rail, 60,000uF in total) for the power amplifier’s supply. This helps the amp maintain firm control of the music whilst enabling excellent dynamic range.
Like its predecessor, the 6000A MkII’s main output stage uses a CFB (Complementary Feedback) design for superior linearity and thermal stability. The amp’s power rating remains the same at 50W per channel into 8 ohms, but the maximum current delivery into difficult loads has increased from 9A to 11A, helping to ensure the amp drives a wide range of speakers to high volume levels with ease.
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 -78dB 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 MkII’s circuitry, protecting the sensitive preamp section from noise interference. This, plus the use of independent low-noise power supplies for all critical stages, helps to deliver a performance that rivals significantly more expensive analogue amplifiers, even before taking the 6000A MkII’s impressive digital circuitry into account.
The 6000A MkII’s power supply circuitry is further enhanced by integrated filtering technology, another upgrade over the original 6000A. This removes RFI/EMI from the incoming mains supply, reducing differential-mode noise (exacerbated by cheap switch-mode power supplies in many home appliances) and common-mode noise (aggravated by airborne interference from phones, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). This sinks the noise floor further, imbuing even greater sonic focus and clarity.
As is traditional with Audiolab’s integrated amps, right back to the classic 8000A from 1982, the 6000A MkII offers three distinct operational modes which reflect its discrete internal architecture and enable it to adapt as its user’s requirements evolve. The primary mode is ‘Integrated’ – this combines the pre and power amp stages, for the connection of digital and analogue sources to the amp’s inputs and a pair of speakers to its binding posts.
‘Pre-Power Mode’ disconnects the pre and power amp stages. This allows the 6000A MkII to be used solely as a power amp – for example, connected to an AV processor in a home cinema system. It also enables additional signal processing to be added, by connecting the amp’s ‘preamp out’ socket to an external processor, then returning the processor’s output to the amp’s ‘power amp in’ socket.
Finally, ‘Pre Mode’ disables the power amp stage, turning the 6000A MkII into a standalone DAC/preamp. This enables external power amplification to be added, thus providing a possible upgrade path.
The Audiolab 6000A MkII will be available in Canada exclusively through Erikson Consumer in May, in a choice of silver or black, at a MAP price of CAD $1,599.