Quad Artera Play + CD Player DAC and Pre Amplifier - Black

Enjoy your music with the Quad Artera Play+, the latest version of Quad's excellent system for playing music via streaming, digital sources and CD. Improvements have been made to the power supply and DAC (which supports resultion upto 32bit/384kHz as well as DSD64/128/256 files via USB) and with additional features including aptX bluetooth and discrete headphone output. Just add speakers and power amplifier (the matching Artera Stereo is an excellent choice) or active speakers of suitable quality to match.

The Closest Approach

What sets QUAD Artera miles ahead of its competition is the marque’s approach to hi-fi design, the legendary ‘Closest Approach to the Original Sound'. QUAD’s company motto is the dictum behind the development of class-leading products that customers rely on. The result is whilst enjoying your music collection, recordings take on a startling realism, comparable to witnessing the original recording in the flesh.

Rooted While Looking to the Future

Creating an experience for the modern living room has been the primary focus of Artera Series. However, it wouldn't be QUAD without referencing a heritage of manufacturing audio equipment since 1936. The famous QUAD 405, although not QUAD’s first solid-state amplifier, was a game-changer and the first to demonstrate the patented 'current dumping' technology, which is also the basis of the fully updated drive technology of Artera Stereo. The technology results in an amplifier with Class A sound quality and yet with a huge and fully stable power output.

The QUAD Artera Series' styling incorporates a completely fresh design approach while still staying true to QUAD’s legendary tradition and functionality. With textured aluminium front panels, thick glass top and CNC routed heatsinks either side, the Artera's housing offers a beautiful yet rugged structure, which also deters any unwanted vibration interference. The front panel of the Artera Play is finished with an ultra-intuitive touch-sensitive control, with quick access to playing your prized music collection.

Made For First Class Speakers

From the transformer to the input terminals, each section of the Artera has been engineered from the ground up to ensure power, musicality and stability. The Artera Stereo produces 140 Watts RMS per channel – ample power for driving first-class loudspeakers, unfaltering even under high dynamic and transient conditions thanks to the patented Current Dumping technology. Special attention has also been paid to the newly developed balanced XLR inputs. The robust connections are yet another string to the Artera Stereo's bow, with an incomparable signal to noise ratio.

High Definition Playback

As you would expect, the Artera Play beautifully complements the sonic realism and power of Artera Stereo. Designed to be operated by even the least tech savvy user, Artera Play features a simple interface and ultra-sleek design, the inspiration of consultant designer Rodney Mead who is the man behind the Industrial Design of such QUAD classics as the 606. Behind the simply beautiful fascia lies a wealth of hidden technology that comprises a fully capable Digital/Analogue pre-amplifier that can handle ultra-high resolution playback up to 32bit/384kHz in addition to DSD64/128/256 files through the USB input. A new slot-loading CD mechanism buffers data read from the disc before feeding it asynchronously, for minimum jitter, to the powerful ESS9018 8 channel DAC chip.

What Is Current Dumping?

Artera Stereo incorporates QUAD's patented current dumping technology developed by QUAD's founder Peter Walker. One of the few truly innovative amplifier topologies, it is essentially a combination of two amplifiers that give the best of both Class A and Class B operation. The current dumping circuit consists of a very high quality class A low-power amp which provides the finesse of the music signal, while a high-power current dumping section provides the grip to keep the speakers under control. These two amplifier circuits are combined via a precision bridge network to perfectly impose the clarity and musicality of the class A output onto the power of the current dumper.