TAS QUAD Artera Review

Equipment Report (see Robert E. Greene’s re- sleek but very severe, with view of the 2812 ESL in TAS no color contrasts to offset 262). When Mobile Fidelity monolithic black or silver or last year added an equipment the softening touch of sub- distribution and importing tly rounded edges to chassis branch to its familiar record- edges and corners. This new ings operation, MoFi Distri- severity is clearly intended to bution became the offcial mirror the single-mindedness importers of Quad products. of purpose and function, es- Longtime readers of mine pecially as regards the Artera will know that I’ve owned Play. some variant of Peter Walk- er’s ESL-63 for over a quar- The Artera Stereo ter century, the 2805s my This 140-watt per channel reference since 2008; and for amplifer is the latest refne- several years now I’ve owned ment of Quad’s innovative, a 99 Series preamplifer and patented, award-winning 909 current-dumping power “current dumping,” a circuit amplifer (see my review in that uniquely uses a feed-for- TAS 203). ward error-correction circuit Quad’s two latest electron- whereby a very high quality ics initiate a new line called but low-power Class A “Artera” and consist in a amplifer draws upon a high- linestage/DAC/CD player er-power Class AB ampli- and a two-channel power fer when a lot of power is amplifer, which are named, needed. According to Quad’s respectively, “Play” and “Ste- thumbnail description, “The Quad Artera Play reo.” This elliptical laconism former emits a signal to com- conceals a statement of new pensate for errors between Linestage/DAC/CD direction, or at least intent, the input signal and the sig- for the company’s electron- nal feed to the loudspeak- Player and Stereo ics: requisite functionality ers, while the latter controls allied to simplicity of oper- the loudspeakers at all times Power Amplifer ation with an obvious nod and provides the current to to “lifestyle” thinking. To be generate the sound.” Several A New Twist on an Old Classic sure, harking all the way back Quad amplifers incorporat- to Peter Walker’s storied tube ed current dumping since Paul Seydor units in the early Fifties, long its introduction in the late before the concept ever oc- Seventies, culminating in the curred to some advertising 909, one of my personal ref- his has been a happy review to write. copywriter, lifestyle thinking erences since the late Nine- For the last two years or so Quad of England, has always infused Quad’s ties. The Stereo offers no one of the pioneering companies in the history home electronics: high visual more power than the 909 but T of home audio, has had effectively no American style, a compact, even dimin- is said to boast higher-quality distribution. An abortive arrangement with a Ca- utive footprint, yet far from parts, complete dual-mono nadian distributor for all of North America never worked out, minimalist when it came to operation (though the mas- with phones unanswered, messages unreturned, dealers unable features, including balance sive toroidal power supply to get product, all of which fueled rumors that Quad was going and tonal control, fltering, serves both channels), and under. When I fnally managed to get through to Quad itself, mode (i.e., stereo and mono). a chassis claimed to “resist” I was informed there was not only no foundation to these ru- All that was missing was a external vibration. The new mors, but the company was in fact prospering and had intro- remote handset, but then no- unit is slightly larger, with duced a number of new or revised products and product lines body had that in those days. switch-selectable inputs for What’s different with Artera balanced or single-ended is the styling: crisp, trim, and connection. One nice design 138 December 2016 the absolute sound Equipment Report Quad Artera Play Linestage/CD & Stereo Amplifer likely the result of phase shift the 909 because the 2805s Specs & Pricing caused by the relatively high beneft from a little extra Quad Artera “Play” CD x 12.6" bass cutoff), by no means un- juice in the lower midrange Player, DAC, and Line- Weight: 18 lbs. pleasing but hardly accurate, and upper bass. Moreover, stage Price: $2199 and it is this mild emphasis to my ears there’s a subtle, Type: Solid-state can make the midrange seem admittedly diffcult-to-defne DAC: ESS ES9018 32-bit Quad Artera “Stereo” a little recessed if your ears “organic” quality about the DAC Power Amplifer key upon the lower midrange 909, a characteristic which is Formats supported: USB Type: Solid-state, Class as the norm. These distinc- part and parcel of its benign input sampling: 44.1kHz, AB tions held whether I was tonal anomalies and which, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, Output power: 140Wpc driving my 2805 ESLs or the frankly, constitute one of the 176.4kHz, 192kHz, and into 8 ohms, <1% THD newest iteration of Harbeth’s reasons I purchased it in the 384kHz; USB DSD: 64, distortion, 20Hz–20kHz 40.2 (review forthcoming), a frst place and continue to lis- 128, 256 Inputs: Balanced and magnifcent full-range three- ten to it regularly with great Analog inputs: 2 RCA unbalanced way monitor of rare accura- pleasure. inputs Dimensions: 12.6" x 6.2" cy. I must emphasize that Digital inputs: 2 optical x 13.3" Which amp is better? Ob- this is a purely subjective TosLink, 2 RCA Weight: 33 lbs. jectively, it should be obvious response, not a pronounce- Digital outputs: 1 optical Price: $2299 that the Stereo is because it’s ment about the quality of TosLink, 1 RCA fatter, more extended, more one amplifer vis-a-vis the Main outputs: 1 balanced MOFI DISTRIBUTION neutral—in other words, other. These characteristics and 1 unbalanced mofdistribution.com more accurate—indeed, a I’ve here singled about the Dimensions: 12.6" x 4.1" truly superb amplifer. Sub- 909 are not gross but clearly jectively the answer is a tad are artifacts, which the Quad less clear-cut. If I owned ESLs and Harbeths readily decision eliminates the canopy that extended over the 909’s dynamic speakers of moder- reveal. I’ve not heard every back chassis, which made hooking up some larger cables and ate to low effciency, like the amplifer Quad has made interconnects a bit of a challenge. new Harbeths, I’d go for the over its long history, but The most important change in the design, however, and the Stereo owing to its greater since I do have long famil- one that in my opinion accounts for most of the sonic differ- control at the bottom, which iarity with most of the high- ences between the Stereo and the 909 is the increased band- among other things allows ly regarded ones from every width of the former. The 909’s bass cut-off began around the overall presentation to be vintage, I have absolutely no 13Hz, while the Stereo’s remains fat to below 1Hz; at the top more dynamic as well. But for hesitation in pronouncing end, the 909 started dropping beyond 35kHz, while the Stereo my 2805 ESLs, I’d be happy the Artera Stereo by a good goes out beyond 70kHz, down 5dB at 100kHz (these fgures with either, though there is margin the fnest amplifer come from Paul Miller’s measurements in HiFi News). Top to something mighty pretty with the company has ever made bottom this translates into a more tonally neutral and extended presentation, notably at the bass end, which is cleaner, and better defned and controlled, at once more nimble yet also more powerful. Indeed, the Stereo can boast pretty substantial slam, crunch, and sustaining power. Try Kei Koito’s Bach organ recit- al on Claves or the bass drum detonations on the Mata/Dallas/ Delos Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances (far superior to the old audiophile favorite on Turnabout). Meanwhile, up top the Stereo is airier and more open without being in any way harsh or excessively etched or crisp, rather ex- ceptionally delicate and detailed in the best way, without hurling gobs of overly accentuated detail at you in the name of “reso- lution.” But neither is its neutrality at the expensive of a lively and engaging musicality, and it certainly passes the toe-tapping test. When it comes to the midrange, the Stereo also sounds more neutral and a little forward. But it appears forward only by comparison to the 909, and this is perfectly predictable behav- ior given the Stereo’s increased bandwidth. For one thing, the 909’s 13Hz cutoff makes for a warmer upper bass that leads to greater emphasis in the lower-midrange (this is more than 140 December 2016 the absolute sound Equipment Report Quad Artera Play Linestage/CD & Stereo Amplifer and unquestionably the most uncompromised implementation 8004 used alone. But I typi- reproduction depends upon of Walker’s current-dumping circuit. It’s a really superior design cally use the Marantz alone complex fltering, the correct in every way. only for SACDs; for Red values and application of Book its transport feeds a which affect the reproduc- The Artera Play Benchmark DAC1, a combi- tion. While I could readily As noted at the outset, past Quad preamplifers have included nation that to my ears sounds hear the differences among phonostages, balance and tone controls, and high and low fl- a bit more neutral than what the flters, it was impossi- ters. The Play discards all these in favor of an orientation that is I hear from Play.

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