Quad Artera Pre Amplifier
First available in 1982 on the classic Quad 34 preamplifier, the Tilt control was created by Quad founder Peter Walker as an audiophile-quality answer to tone adjustment. He believed that in the real world, the ability to adjust tonal balance on an amplifier was useful to cater for different rooms and recordings, but that typical tone and EQ controls were clumsy and inadequate in their effect.
While conventional tone controls adjust bass or treble individually, the Tilt control adjusts both ends of the frequency spectrum together – either attenuating the bass and lifting the treble, or lifting the bass and attenuating the treble, in steps of 1dB. In effect, it rotates – or tilts – the audible frequency range on a 700Hz axis, adjusting the overall balance of the sound to make it ‘warmer’ or ‘cooler’ without affecting the apparent volume or ‘colouring’ the sound.
The Tilt control is unique to Quad and is a subtle, precise and consistent way to adjust sound to compensate for different recordings and the acoustic anomalies of different rooms. Though much acclaimed when it was introduced and still admired to this day, it hasn’t featured on a new Quad product for a decade – the Artera Pre is the perfect opportunity for its return.
The new Artera preamp ads further analogue bass filters to the Tilt function for additional sound tailoring, which may be useful for a variety of reasons. For example, optional bass lift (of +4.5dB around 60Hz) may be used to give smaller speakers a little more extension, while bass cut (-4.5dB shelf response) can help to deal with unwanted room resonances. These filters are engineered for precise and refined adjustment, and their effect is much more sophisticated than typical bass controls.
The Tilt and bass filters can be combined to create individual EQ profiles to assign to each source input. In this way, each input can be configured to suit the connected component, be it a turntable, a CD player, a tuner, a DAC or streamer, or any other playback device with an analogue output. Individual adjustment may also be made in real time, to suit whichever recording is being played.
The Artera Pre’s electronics design team was led by Jan Ertner, architect of many acclaimed audio components. His goal was to create a preamplifier that exemplifies state-of-the-art design, transparency of sound and fidelity to the source, whilst also providing those classic, expertly engineered sound tailoring options for an ideal balance between sonic purity and versatile control.
The circuitry is exceptionally well specified, including a low-noise toroidal transformer, numerous reservoir/smoothing capacitors and an impressive number of regulators. The power supply incorporates 11 regulated supply rails including multiple ultra-low-noise regulators, with extensive measures against contamination and cross-coupling. The core signal path is short and direct to preserve signal purity, and volume is adjusted in the analogue domain under microprocessor control.
Vinyl lovers and headphones users are well catered for with dedicated, high-quality circuitry. The Artera Pre’s low-noise, Class A phono stage is configurable for both MM and MC cartridges, while an integrated headphone amplifier features a discrete, Class A output stage with low output impedance to drive even the toughest of loads.
Four stereo RCA inputs are provided – three line-level and one phono – plus one balanced XLR. All inputs can run in direct mode if preferred, bypassing all other circuitry to provide the shortest possible signal path from input to output. Unlike many preamps with balanced inputs, the Artera Pre’s four-channel volume control enables the audio signal to remain fully balanced throughout.
Analogue Inputs: 3 x RCA (AUX1, 2 & 3), XLR, Phono MM/MC
Analogue Outputs: 1 x RCA (PRE OUT), 1 x RCA(AUX), 1 x XLR,1 x 6.35mm Headphone Jack
Gain (max.) , Volume = 100: +8dB (Line/XLR), +53.5dB (Phono MM), +73.5dB (Phono MC)
Input Sensitivity (Vol = 84, Vout = 0dBu): 775mV (Line/XLR), 4.1mV (Phono MM), 410uV (Phono MC)
Input Impedance: 10K (Line/XLR), 47K//100pF (Phono MM), 100R//1.7nF (Phono MC)
Max. Output Level (THD < 0.1%): 2.3Vrms (RCA), 4.6Vrms (XLR)
Input Headroom (THD < 0.1% , Vol = 50): 4.1Vrms (RCA), 8.2Vrms (XLR), 62mV (Phono MM) / 6.2mV (Phono MC) @ 1kHz
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz (± 0.2dB)
Total Harmonic Distortion: <0.002% (20Hz-20kHz)
S/N Ratio (Vout = 0dBu): >110dB(A) (Line/XLR), >80dB(A) (Phono MM), >76dB(A) (Phono MC)
Channel Separation: >100dB (10kHz)
Output Impedance: 120 Ohms (RCA), 100 Ohms (XLR)
Standby Consumption: <0.5W
AC Mains Supply Requirement(Factory set) 230V ~ 50-60Hz 115V ~ 50-60Hz 100V ~ 50-60Hz
Dimensions (W×D×H): 320 x 320 x 105mm
Net Weight: 7.8kg