Audiolab 6000 series with sierra RAAL towers - first impressions
I’ve been building myself a new 2 channel stereo system with the Sierra RAAL towers at the heart of it. Today, another piece of the puzzle arrived. The Audiolab 6000A integrated amp and 6000cdt transport. These components haven’t received much attention here in the US, so here are a few initial thoughts for anyone who is interested....
1) Opening the box, the audiolab 6000A is surprisingly heavy. The soft matte black finish looks nice and the 3 rotary dials are metal, well weighted and feel solid. Nothing about the look or feel says budget. They look nice, but that being said, there is zero flash to them. In my Pangea Vulcan audio rack, they have a presence similar to that of a toyota camry in a crowded parking lot. They do not draw attention to themselves, and I’m fine with that.
2) This is my first experience with an integrated amp that has a rotary dial that can change modes from a pure preamp (amp bypassed), to a pure power amp (preamp bypassed) to a full integrated. That is a really nice feature and I’m already planning to add an external amp just to give the sierra’s a bit more power to play with. The 6000A will make a nice preamp.
3) The built in class AB amp sounds very rich and well-balanced with 50w/75w into 8/4ohms. Within the first hour, I could start to hear the bottom end round out a bit and the highs start to mellow. The sound is detailed without being brittle and while i wouldn’t call it warm, it has a very appealing natural sound.
4) The 6000A uses an ESS Sabre 9018K2M and it sounds really good...much clearer and more engaging than the DAC in my older Onkyo AV receiver. I’m very pleased with what i’m getting from the transport and itunes streamed through the toslink port of an apple airport express. Unlike some other integrateds, it has 2 coax and 2 optical inputs which i appreciate. It also has 3 analog line inputs as well as a built in phono stage, but I’m using an external phono amp with my u-turn orbit. It also has 12v trigger ports.
5) The unit has 3 different digital filters and they really change the sound. Nothing subtle about the changes. There is a fast rolloff, a slow rolloff, and phase...which is supposed to be a more analog sound. I think I prefer either soft or phase...but that may change with time. The takeway is that they really effect the sound, so finding the one you like is key to how the unit will sound. It defaults to fast which I didn’t particularly care for. YMMV.
6) the basic OLED display does what it needs to, but not much more. I would like to see it display a few more characters...with the ability to rename the input or at least choose from a list of source names.
7) the 6000cdt transport sounds wonderful through the 6000A. The tray-less transport is smooth and fairly quiet. I despise a flimsy disc tray...so this works for me, but others may dislike it. I DO like that it has a memory buffer to help with reading problem discs....even though I haven’t run into any problems. Like the amp, it feels solid.
8) one standard remote controls the amp, the CD transport and their streamer box. The remote isn’t flashy, but it has a nice heft and the buttons are well damped with very little wiggle ( i don’t like wiggly, mushy buttons) and there is solid feedback when buttons are depressed. It’s nice to have a single remote to control them both. Each component comes with one, so I have a second remote to keep as a backup.
9) There is a rear jack for a dedicated bluetooth antenna (included) that can stream audio with the aptx codec. I haven’t gotten to play with this, and since i have an iphone that doesn’t support the codec natively, i might not get to. There is one USB port, but it’s just for firmware updates....which for me is fine, but others may feel differently.
So, with just a few hours of play time, I’m going to say that my initial impressions are very positive. I have a hard time believing that I got both pieces brand new for under $1500, and more importantly, i think the sound and character of the amp mates well with the Sierra Towers.
My only real complaint, if you can call it that, is that while 50W certainly drives the sierras decently, I don’t think it brings out everything these speakers can give. I’m planning to add an external amp in the 150-200w range to give the speakers a bit more power to snack on. The emotiva A-300 looks solid for the price. So does the outlaw M2200 or maybe a used Rotel. I can add an amp or the 6000N Play streamer and come out right at around $2K which I think is a really good value. Of course, time will tell. I will update you as I go along to see whether this good feeling lasts.
If you have any questions, I’m happy to try answering them
Re: Audiolab 6000 series with sierra RAAL towers - first impressions
Quote:
Originally Posted by
drandall
I’ve been building myself a new 2 channel stereo system with the Sierra RAAL towers at the heart of it. Today, another piece of the puzzle arrived. The Audiolab 6000A integrated amp and 6000cdt transport. These components haven’t received much attention here in the US, so here are a few initial thoughts for anyone who is interested....
1) Opening the box, the audiolab 6000A is surprisingly heavy. The soft matte black finish looks nice and the 3 rotary dials are metal, well weighted and feel solid. Nothing about the look or feel says budget. They look nice, but that being said, there is zero flash to them. In my Pangea Vulcan audio rack, they have a presence similar to that of a toyota camry in a crowded parking lot. They do not draw attention to themselves, and I’m fine with that.
2) This is my first experience with an integrated amp that has a rotary dial that can change modes from a pure preamp (amp bypassed), to a pure power amp (preamp bypassed) to a full integrated. That is a really nice feature and I’m already planning to add an external amp just to give the sierra’s a bit more power to play with. The 6000A will make a nice preamp.
3) The built in class AB amp sounds very rich and well-balanced with 50w/75w into 8/4ohms. Within the first hour, I could start to hear the bottom end round out a bit and the highs start to mellow. The sound is detailed without being brittle and while i wouldn’t call it warm, it has a very appealing natural sound.
4) The 6000A uses an ESS Sabre 9018K2M and it sounds really good...much clearer and more engaging than the DAC in my older Onkyo AV receiver. I’m very pleased with what i’m getting from the transport and itunes streamed through the toslink port of an apple airport express. Unlike some other integrateds, it has 2 coax and 2 optical inputs which i appreciate. It also has 3 analog line inputs as well as a built in phono stage, but I’m using an external phono amp with my u-turn orbit. It also has 12v trigger ports.
5) The unit has 3 different digital filters and they really change the sound. Nothing subtle about the changes. There is a fast rolloff, a slow rolloff, and phase...which is supposed to be a more analog sound. I think I prefer either soft or phase...but that may change with time. The takeway is that they really effect the sound, so finding the one you like is key to how the unit will sound. It defaults to fast which I didn’t particularly care for. YMMV.
6) the basic OLED display does what it needs to, but not much more. I would like to see it display a few more characters...with the ability to rename the input or at least choose from a list of source names.
7) the 6000cdt transport sounds wonderful through the 6000A. The tray-less transport is smooth and fairly quiet. I despise a flimsy disc tray...so this works for me, but others may dislike it. I DO like that it has a memory buffer to help with reading problem discs....even though I haven’t run into any problems. Like the amp, it feels solid.
8) one standard remote controls the amp, the CD transport and their streamer box. The remote isn’t flashy, but it has a nice heft and the buttons are well damped with very little wiggle ( i don’t like wiggly, mushy buttons) and there is solid feedback when buttons are depressed. It’s nice to have a single remote to control them both. Each component comes with one, so I have a second remote to keep as a backup.
9) There is a rear jack for a dedicated bluetooth antenna (included) that can stream audio with the aptx codec. I haven’t gotten to play with this, and since i have an iphone that doesn’t support the codec natively, i might not get to. There is one USB port, but it’s just for firmware updates....which for me is fine, but others may feel differently.
So, with just a few hours of play time, I’m going to say that my initial impressions are very positive. I have a hard time believing that I got both pieces brand new for under $1500, and more importantly, i think the sound and character of the amp mates well with the Sierra Towers.
My only real complaint, if you can call it that, is that while 50W certainly drives the sierras decently, I don’t think it brings out everything these speakers can give. I’m planning to add an external amp in the 150-200w range to give the speakers a bit more power to snack on. The emotiva A-300 looks solid for the price. So does the outlaw M2200 or maybe a used Rotel. I can add an amp or the 6000N Play streamer and come out right at around $2K which I think is a really good value. Of course, time will tell. I will update you as I go along to see whether this good feeling lasts.
If you have any questions, I’m happy to try answering them
Thanks for the feedback!
Re: Audiolab 6000 series with sierra RAAL towers - first impressions
The emotiva A-300 is great with my S-2 ex. and you cant beat the price.
