Constellation Audio 1.0 Mono Power Amplifier

Description

MY TAKE: Adopting a unique and brilliant approach, Constellation Audio assembled a team of some of the most respected names in the audio world to pool their talents and design a line of state of the art, industry-leading electronics. Luminaries including Peter Madnick, Bascom King, the late James Bongiorno, John Curl, and Demian Martin collaborated to create a range of products that not only sound amazing, but offer outstanding value. Very impressive gear! - Galen Carol

Incredible, concert-hall dynamics -

The Inspiration MONO 1.0 amplifier easily delivers 400 watts per channel into 8 ohms, doubling to 800 into 4 ohms. This is power enough to produce incredible, concert-hall dynamics with any speaker. Yet it is the size of a standard audio amplifier and weighs just 55 pounds. When you consider that the Centaur Monoblock weighs in at 103 pounds, and the Hercules II Monoblock at 220 pounds, the Inspiration’s ability to deliver incredible power from a modestly sized chassis is remarkable indeed.

A perfectly balanced signal -

Our Balanced Bridged design can achieve ideal performance only when it is fed a perfectly balanced signal in the first place. To this end, the Inspiration MONO 1.0’s input stage uses the same Line Stage Gain Module circuit found in all Constellation Audio products. This module uses servo circuits to ensure that both halves of an incoming signal are perfectly balanced, no matter what the source.

400 watts per channel into 8 ohms -

The Inspiration Monoblock not only delivers 400 watts into 8 ohms, it doubles that into 4 ohms — and at a low 0.2% total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N), not the 0.5% or 1% at which many other amps are rated. No matter what speaker you have or how loudly you want to play it, the Inspiration Monoblock can drive it with ease.

Our exclusive Balanced Bridged design -

All of our amplifiers employ our exclusive Balanced Bridged balanced design. Other solid-state amplifiers use half N-type and half P-type output transistors, so they can never achieve a perfect balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal. Our amplifiers use only N-type output transistors, so the audio signal is kept in ideal balance and even the subtlest microdynamics and detail are conveyed without alteration.

High-current power supply for maximum dynamics -

The Inspiration Monoblock uses a front-mounted, custom-wound toroidal transformer in conjunction with a capacitor bank totalling 240,000 microfarads of storage. This arrangement ensures that the supply can deliver ultra-smooth, completely stable continuous DC voltage as well as exceedingly high peak power for the most demanding musical transients.

Thick power supply shielding for cleaner audio performance -

To protect the sensitive audio circuits from electromagnetic interference produced by the Inspiration Monoblock’s massive power supply transformer, we shield the transformer in its own enclosure in the front of the amp using thick aluminum plates.

Line Stage Gain Module

We use this preamplification circuit in every Constellation Audio product because we think it’s the best one ever designed. The Line Stage Gain Module continuously monitors the balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal using a servo circuit, so noise, interference and flaws in upstream equipment cannot throw the signal out of balance.

Fully discrete circuitry -

To assure maximum performance, lowest noise and unrestrained dynamics, we use only discrete components — such as transistors, resistors and capacitors — in the Inspiration Monoblock’s amplification circuits. There are no ICs in the signal path.

Rear-mounted output stage for low output impedance -

To minimize the Inspiration Monoblock’s output impedance — and thus to maximize damping factor and achieve nearly instantaneous “stop on a dime” woofer performance — we moved the amp’s power supply to the front and the output stage to the rear, right next to the speaker cable binding posts.

Specifications -

Inputs: 1 Constellation Direct XLR, 1 standard balanced XLR, 1 unbalanced RCA
Outputs: metal binding posts
Power output: 400 watts, 8 ohm (1 kHz @ 0.2% THD+N), 800 watts, 4 ohm (1 kHz @ 0.2% THD+N)
Gain: 14dB Constellation Direct, 26 dB Balanced & RCA
Output noise: <70 ?V, 500 kHz BW, -116 dB @ 250 watts
Damping factor (8Ω load): 80
THD+N: <0.05%, 1 kHz @ up to 90% of rated power
Frequency response: 10 Hz to 80 kHz, +0/-0.5 dB
Signal-to-noise ratio: >-95 dB, A-weighted
Input impedance (direct): 100K Ω
Input impedance (balanced): 100K Ω
Input impedance (single-ended): 100K Ω
Output impedance: 0.1 ohm
Volume control resolution: 0.5dB from 0dB to -90 dBFS
Weight: 80 lbs / 36.3 kg
Dimensions (W x H x D): 17" x 8.5" x 19"
43.2cm x 21.6cm x 48.3cm