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PS Audio Stellar M12000 Mono Amplifier – New Hybrid Power Bolide

PS Audio calls the new PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier an exceptional hybrid amplifier. Darren Meyers uses a completely newly developed concept and combined a tube input stage with a Class D power amplifier to achieve the finest sound with impressive performance.


It was a project that was initially nothing more than a dream of Darren Meyers, developer at the US-American high-end hi-fi company PS Audio. His declared goal was to create a power amplifier that knew no bounds or sound-damaging compression, even in the loudest musical passages, but at the same time had the potential to work out even the finest nuances accurately. Demands that normally don’t fit together, at least not if you rely on conventional solutions. That’s why PS Audio has taken a completely new approach in developing the new PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier.

The new PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier combines two amplifier technologies, i.e. it is called a hybrid amplifier. While the input section uses tubes to reproduce the finest nuances and a special sound character, the MOSFET output stage in Class D delivers pure power, no less than 1,200 watts to loudspeaker systems with an impedance of 4 ohms.

The input stage is called Zero-loss Vacuum Tube Input Stage by the manufacturer, but specifically relies on a tube of type 12AU7 with separate power supply. This achieves the desired soft, detailed sound, even creating a kind of sound signature. The actual amplification, as already described, is provided by a MOSFET Balanced Output Stage in Class D, whereby all the advantages of this technology are to be fully exploited. With comparatively efficient operation and thus low waste heat, it is possible to generate a full 600 watts even with loudspeaker systems with an impedance of 8 ohms. If, on the other hand, the loudspeaker systems have an impedance of only 4 ohms, a remarkable 1,200 watts are available, whereby the manufacturer relies here on the so-called ICE Edge Technology and emphasises the enormous reserves that result. In addition, the output stage is stable down to 2 Ohms.

The new PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier is thus intended to ensure a performance with the finest details across the entire frequency range, so that an absolutely correct representation of the sound stage is guaranteed, thanks to the enormous dynamic reserves at any level. The PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier is also perfectly suited to any speaker, even those that can be complex and difficult to control.

The PS Audio Stellar M12000 Mono Amplifier provides not only an unbalanced RCA input but also a balanced XLR connector, which is almost a matter of course in this class. Trigger connections for control in a device network with other solutions, above all of course a preamplifier, are also available on the rear of the PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier. For the connection of the loudspeaker systems one trusts in particularly high-quality screw terminals made of copper, whose surface has been refined with nickel for best conductivity and durability.

The front of the PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier is free of any control elements and presents itself in the typical design of the PS Audio Stellar Series. Like all other solutions of this product line, the new PS Audio Stellar M12000 Mono Amplifier is available in silver or black.

The new PS Audio Stellar M12000 Mono Amplifier measures 43.18 cm in width, 9.5 cm in height, and 30.48 cm in depth. It is impressive that this true performance monster, and we mean this in the best sense of the word, weighs no more than 13.15 kg.

The new PS Audio Stellar M12000 Mono Amplifier should be available in specialist shops these days, according to the sales department. The recommended retail price is stated at € 7,400.

Getting to the point

In order to combine the finest sound and enormous power reserves, the new PS Audio Stellar M12000 mono amplifier combines two amplifier technologies, i.e. it is called a so-called hybrid amplifier. While the input section uses tubes to reproduce the finest nuances and a special sound character, the MOSFET output stage in Class D delivers pure power, no less than 1,200 watts to loudspeaker systems with an impedance of 4 ohms.

Manufacturer:PS Audio
Distribution:Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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