Centaur/ stereo power amplifier

250 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 800 into 2 ohms Perfectly balanced bridged design for extraordinary fidelity The power of a large amplifier with the delicacy of single-ended designs Large heat sink and ample ventilation for efficient cooling and reliability Fully discrete circuitry with high-quality components and no analog audio ICs

The Centaur brings the revolutionary amplifiers. We built the best-sounding amplify the positive and negative halves amplification concepts pioneered in the 125-watt single-ended amplifier module of the incoming audio, resulting in an Hercules amplifier to a more modest we could, then combined several of imbalanced signal. The Centaur instead and practical form factor. Unlike any them to create a 250-watt-per-channel uses only N-type output transistors. other stereo amplifier ever created, it stereo design. Along with other circuit refinements, the produces immense power yet can also all-N-type design results in an essen- reproduce the same sonic delicacy and Perfectly balanced circuitry tially perfect signal balance—and the detail for which small single-ended highest fidelity ever achieved in a stereo amplifiers are revered. The Centaur uses the same balanced amplifier. bridged circuit topology found in the Why does the Centaur sound like a Hercules, our top-of-the-line Reference Such perfect balance in an amplifier single-ended amplifier? Because it is series monoblock amplifier. The fully benefits the listener only if the incom- a single-ended amplifier. Most high- complementary design uses separate ing signal is itself perfectly balanced. powered amps are built by bulking up amplifiers for the positive and negative To this end, the Centaur’s input stage smaller designs with more transistors. halves of the signal, thus ensuring the is the same Line Stage Gain Module Many audiophiles feel that with these lowest possible noise and the best pos- found in the Virgo preamp. Like the amps, finesse is lost as muscle is added. sible frequency response and slew rate. Centaur’s power stage, the Line Stage This is why Constellation Audio’s “dream Gain Module is fully complementary, team” of engineers built the Centaur in However, other complementary designs with separate circuit halves for the posi- a modular fashion from multiple smaller use different types of transistors to tive and negative halves of the signal.

(more...) circuits assure that any interference Simply the world’s most capable or influence from outside sources is stereo amp removed. By building the revolutionary technol- The high current this powerful source ogy from the massive Reference Series delivers allows the Centaur to drive Hercules monoblock into a practically any speaker, even the world’s finest sized stereo amplifier, we have created and most exotic full-range models. The something truly extraordinary. The Cen- 250-watt-per-channel rating at 8 ohms taur is the first stereo amplifier to meet doubles to 500 watts at 4 ohms. At the needs of any and every audiophile. 2 ohms, an impedance few speakers It has the delicacy of a single-ended By using hand-selected, low-noise FETs present because so few amplifiers can tube amp. It has the power of a state- and servo circuits, the Line Stage Gain handle it, the Centaur delivers a stag- of-the-art transistor amp. No speaker, Module brings any incoming signal into gering 800 watts per channel. no music, no volume level can challenge essentially perfect positive/negative it. When you power it up, it will always balance. Even when the amplifier is pushed to its deliver more than you expect—no matter limits, it remains stable and reliable. The what you expect. Thus, even if you use the Centaur with modular amplifier design is inherently another brand of preamp, the audio will stable; unlike many amplifiers, it does Constellation reserves the right to change be perfectly balanced. Customers who not need a Zobel network at the output designs, and / or specifications own Constellation Audio preamps may to damp high frequencies. use the Constellation Link interface to bypass the Centaur’s gain module. Thanks to the high thermal mass of the Centaur’s large aluminium heat sinks, Seemingly endless power and to the free air flow provided by the hundreds of large ventilation holes in Even the Centaur’s incomparable am- the sides of the chassis, the Centaur plification circuitry would achieve little runs cool, placing minimum stress on without a clean, abundant source of its output transistors and driver cir- power. This is why we have equipped cuits. Push it as hard as you like and the Centaur with a 1,600-watt, custom- it answers with impeccable fidelity no wound toroidal transformer that has matter how demanding the speakers, separate windings for the left and right the program material or the volume. channels. Each channel effectively has its own source of power, so high demands on one do not affect the other. Massive storage capacitors and fully regulated supplies for all line-level

SPECIFICATIONS Centaur Power Amplifier

Inputs ...... 2 XLR (1 for Constellation Link), 1 RCA Outputs ...... metal binding posts Power output per channel, 8Ω (1 kHz @ 1% THD+N)...... 250 watts Power output per channel, 4Ω (1 kHz @ 1% THD+N)...... 500 watts Power output per channel, 2Ω (1 kHz @1% THD+N)...... 800 watts Frequency response...... 10 Hz to 100 kHz,+/-0.5dB Gain...... 14 dB (Constellation Direct) 26dB (balanced & RCA) audio THD+N (1 kHz @ rated power)...... <0.05% Simply, Light Years Ahead. Output impedance...... 0.05 ohm Damping factor (re 8 ohm)...... 160 3533 Old Conejo Road Suite #107 Input impedance ...... 100K Ωunbalanced, 200K Ω balanced Newbury Park, CA 91320 Output noise...... <70 µV, 500 kHz BW, -116 dB @ 250 watts Weight...... 50 lbs / 22.7kg e: [email protected] Dimensions...... 11 x 17 x 20 in (hwd) 280 x 432 x 508 mm (hwd) w: www.constellationaudio.com