Altair II Preamplifier
Product Reviews:
Sound Quality
Consider Altair II a collaborative effort. It began with the original Altair, created by Constellation Audio's "dream team" of the world's best audio engineers and industrial designers. Our engineers then refined these original concepts using feedback from our dealers and customers. The result is a product with a more user-friendly interface, yet that retains the same sound quality as the original Altair, acclaimed by a leading audio magazine as setting a new standard "in virtually every sonic and musical criterion."
Precision and Dynamics
With its innovative circuitry and incomparable build quality, Altair II achieves something no other preamp can: the musicality of classic tube preamps with precision and dynamics matched by no other solid-state preamp. Only upon hearing the Altair II can one appreciate the musical experience it delivers.
Line Stage Gain Module
We build the Line Stage Gain Module's balanced circuit from two mirror-imaged amplifiers, one for the positive half of the signal and the other for the negative half. Through the use of hand-matched, ultra-low-noise FETs and servo circuits, our engineers have achieved an essentially perfect balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal.
Fully Balanced Circuitry
Because the Line Stage Gain Module's circuit is fully complementary, comprising two identical circuits, it automatically cancels incoming noise and interference while increasing slew rate and frequency response. As a result, Altair II achieves an extraordinary 200-kilohertz bandwidth.
Specifications:
- Incomparable mechanical isolation
- Nearly impermeable shielding
- Machined solid aluminum chassis
- Constellation Direct balanced interface
- Triple-transformer power supply
- Optically controlled resistors for volume control
- Simple, elegant remote control
- User-friendly front touchscreen
- Home theatre bypass mode