Audiolab, a British audio component company founded in 1983, has announced the 9000N wireless audio streaming player, that will be available in August in both black and silver at a price of $4,499 CAD ($3,499 USD), exclusively through Erikson Consumer Home Division.
The 9000N includes several features that are unique to Audiolab such as being the first Lumin device to offer wireless playback, independent of ethernet connection. Additionally, the device includes the typical 4.3” colour screen that can be found in the rest of the Audiolab series, but the 9000N allows for full-colour album artwork, which can be expanded for a full artwork playback screen experience. The buttonless screen also offers a variety of options and settings for the user, including a VU meter in ‘analogue’ or ‘digital’ form that graphically represents real-time decibel levels for the left and right channels.
Audiolab states “the 9000N has been developed over the course of three years, utilizing innovative methods to provide an extremely stable and high-resolution digital music playback, both wirelessly and wired and a direction toward a more premium hi-fi solution, as well as a response to significant customer demand for a streaming device with an immaculate finish and solid build.”
The 9000N uses an ESS9038Pro DAC chipset integration, which is an eight-channel DAC chip that Audiolab has customized and represents the latest ESS Technology in the current Sabre range. This chip is accompanied by a new licensed circuit system designed to optimize its “HyperStream II” architecture and “Time Domain Jitter Eliminator” technology for improved dynamic range and ultra-low distortion.
The 9000N is Roon Ready and delivers full MQA decoding, meaning it requires no configuration for high-resolution streaming, simply connecting to ethernet or WiFi. The 9000N offers versatile connectivity, with a state-of-the-art digital-to-analogue signal conversion, allowing connection to any amplifier or secondary pre-amp system with analogue connections.