
6000A
An amplifier remains the beating heart of any high-performance audio system, but in 2018 a truly versatile integrated amp needs to cover many bases – digital and analogue sources, wireless connectivity for portable devices, a phono stage to cater for vinyl playback, amplification for headphones as well as speakers… That’s a lot to pack in, whilst keeping performance high and the price tag affordable – and yet, that’s exactly what the 6000A delivers.
Mission QX-2 Book Shelf
Mission brings its 40 years of audio expertise to an all-new speaker range. The QX range has striking looks and impressive performance - offering amazing value in both hi-fi and AV set-ups. Advanced new designs and extensive, exacting listening tests have evolved a loudspeaker that offers exciting and dramatic performance, no matter what style of music or movies - you prefer. Five core hi-fi models - 2 bookshelf designs and 3 floor standing speakers - are joined in the Mission QX range by a dedicated centre speaker, two-way surround speaker and selection of subwoofers.
THE DESIGN CONCEPT
QX series was designed to marry advanced engineering with a highly attractive and unique design that lets the speakers fit perfectly into the modern home. The front panel appearance hints at the advanced technology inside the speakers whilst presenting an attractive face to the listener.
REVERSE GEOMETRY DRIVEN DESIGN
Mission QX series utilizes Mission’s classic IDG (Inverted Driver Geometry) driver format. By positioning the treble unit below the bass/midrange driver, the length of path is equalized so the sound waves coincide at the listener’s head height. This principle improves ‘time alignment’.
NEW “RING DOME” TREBLE UNIT
New ‘ring dome’ treble unit offers high levels of musical detail with low distortion - the usual dome cavitation effects are completely avoided
Dual ring radiator – Mission’s exclusive ‘ring dome’ utilizes a woven, textile material formed in a double ring arrangement. The combination of textile dome and multi-ring surround applied optimum stiffness to the maximum radiating area.
Twin rear cavity non-reflecting design – back pressure from the diaphragm is vented to a twin rear cavity, reducing resonance and maintaining a wide operating bandwidth.
SOUND WOOFERS
Bass drivers feature Mission DiaDrive system
Natural midrange quality with superb bass transient impact is provided by a seam-free curvilinear cone formulated from a mixture of soft pulp and acrylic fiber specially designed for midrange clarity and lucidity.
DiaDrive twin cone design:
Backing the curvilinear front cone is a stiff, conical support with increased area of contact with the voice coil for outstanding transient impact.
“comb-tooth trim”
The drive unit surround and fixing screws are cleverly concealed behind this unique trim design giving a highly technical look to the front face of the speaker.
The sound of science
Outwardly, the 6000A bears strong resemblance to the 8300A with its rotary controls and large, central OLED display. Unlike its costlier, analogue-only sibling, it incorporates high-quality D/A conversion, enabling digital sources to be connected directly without an external DAC. It supplies four digital inputs, three line-level analogue inputs, an input for a turntable, wireless connectivity via Bluetooth and a dedicated headphone amp, in addition to its ability when driving loudspeakers.
Digital circuitry
Much effort has been made to ensure the 6000A’s digital circuitry delivers the level of quality one might expect of a high-performance standalone DAC. As ever, Audiolab has turned to the ES9018 Sabre32 Reference chip family to perform D/A conversion, utilising ESS Technology’s 32-bit HyperStream architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator to deliver ultra-low noise and high dynamic range.
No company knows more about making the most of this technically excellent, but challenging, DAC technology than Audiolab. If the circuitry that surrounds the ES9018 is not of sufficient standard, the resulting sound can seem a little cold and hard; treat it right, however, and the level of musical expression that this chip digs from the digital signal is captivating. Audiolab’s original, universally acclaimed M-DAC was one of the first home audio components to incorporate an ES9018 chip back in 2011, and the company has been honing its implementation ever since.
Analogue circuitry
The 6000A’s discrete Class AB power amp stage delivers 50W per channel into eight ohms, with a maximum current delivery of 9 Amps into difficult loads. The output stage of the discrete power amp circuits uses a CFB (Complementary Feedback) topology, ensuring superior linearity and excellent thermal stability, as the idle current is kept independent of the temperature of the output transistors.
A substantial 200VA toroidal transformer, followed by 4x15000uF reservoir capacity (60000uF in total), helps the amp to maintain firm control of the music whilst enabling excellent dynamic range.
The preamp section is kept as simple as possible to maintain signal purity, with line input signals passing to a precision analogue volume stage. The latter covers the range from -80dB to +8dB in steps of 2dB and 1dB (step resolution increases with volume position). Much effort has gone into the physical layout of the 6000A’s circuitry, protecting the sensitive preamp section from noise interference. This, plus the use of independent low-noise power supplies for critical stages, helps to deliver a performance that rivals significantly more expensive analogue amplifiers, even before taking the 6000A’s impressive digital circuitry into account.
Turntables and headphones
In recognition of the recent vinyl revival, Audiolab has included a phono stage for moving magnet phono cartridges – a high-quality, low-noise, JFET-based circuit with precise RIAA equalisation.
Similarly, an increasing number of people are using headphones for music listening, so Audiolab has incorporated a dedicated headphone amp with current-feedback circuitry. Its gain bandwidth and high slew rate ensure a dynamic, detailed and engaging performance with all manner of headphone types – more boxes ticked for this most integrated of integrated amplifiers.
Gain (max.) | +8dB (Line) +55dB (Phono MM) |
Input Sensitivity | 720mV (Line, Volume = 0dB) 3.1mV (Phono MM, Volume=0dB) |
Input Impedance | 10K (Line) 47K//100pF (Phono MM) |
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) | < 0.0004% (Line, 1KHz @ 2V, Volume=0 dB) |
Frequency Response | 20Hz-20kHz (+/-0.1dB) |
Output Voltage | 2.3V max. (Volume = 0dB) |
Output Impedance | 120 ohm |
Signal-to-Noise Ration (S/N) | > 110dB (Line, A-weighted) >76dB (Phono MM, A-weighted) |
DAC | |
D to A converter | ES9018K2M |
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) | < 0.0006% (1KHz @ 0dBFS) |
Output level (0dBFS, 1KHz) | 2.05V |
Max. Sampling Frequency | 192KHz |
Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) | > 112dB (A-weighted) |
Digital Filters | Fast Roll-off , Slow Roll-off , Minimum Phase |
Power Amplifier Section | |
Gain | +29dB |
Rated Max. Power Output |
2 X 50W (8 ohm, THD <1%) 2 X 75W (4 ohm, THD <1%) |
Frequency Response | 20Hz-20kHz (+/-0.3dB) |
Input Sensitivity | 720mV |
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) | <0.003% (1kHz @ 40W/8ohm) |
Signal-to-Noise ratio (S/N) | > 110dB (A-weighted) |
Max. Output Current | 9A |
Headphone Amplifier | |
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) | < 0.01% (1kHz, 50mW) |
Output Impedance | 2.35 ohm |
Load impedance | 20-600 ohm |
General | |
Standby Power Consumption | <0.5W |
Power Requirements | 240V ~ 50 - 60Hz 230V ~ 50 - 60Hz 115V ~ 50 - 60Hz 100V ~ 50 - 60Hz |
Dimensions (mm) (W x H x D) | 445 x 65.5 x 300 |
Weight | 7.8kg (Net) |
Speaker Type | Bookshelf |
Enclose Type | Bass reflex enclosure / 2-way speaker |
Driver | 165mm long fibre composite cone |
Tweeter | 38mm Textile Ring Dome dome |
Sensitivity | 88db |
Amplifier Requirements | 25-120W |
Peak SPL | 95dB |
Impedance | 8 Ohms nominal impedance 3.6 Ohms minimum impedance |
Frequency Response |
44Hz - 24kHz |
Crossover Frequency | 2.2kHz |
Dimension | 320 x 220 x 300+10mm |
Weight | 8.5kg |