Audiolab’s integrated amplifiers, side by side. Here is the 7000A between the 6000A MkII and the flagship 9000A, showing what your money buys at each step.

The 7000A sits in the middle of Audiolab’s integrated range, bridging the enormously successful 6000 series and the high-end 9000 series, and it takes the best of both. From the 9000A it inherits the post-DAC Class A filter stage and a more powerful output; from the 6000A it keeps the do-everything philosophy that made that amplifier a benchmark. It is a fully featured integrated with a Class AB power amplifier, an ESS Sabre DAC, a moving-magnet phono stage, a headphone amplifier and Bluetooth, so a streamer, a CD transport, a turntable and a pair of speakers are all it needs. It is the amplifier at the centre of three quite different systems.

Brief product overview

A Class AB integrated amplifier delivering 70 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 110 into 4, using Complementary Feedback output topology, a 250VA toroidal transformer and 60,000µF of reservoir capacitance for control and dynamics, with a maximum current of 11 amps. Digital conversion is by an ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC with a Class A post-DAC filter stage, supporting PCM to 32-bit/768kHz, DSD512 and full hardware MQA decoding. Connectivity runs to three analogue line inputs, a dedicated moving-magnet phono input, two coaxial and two optical digital inputs, an HDMI ARC input for a television, USB-B for a computer, and Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX. There are pre-out and power-amp-in sockets and three operating modes, integrated, pre and pre-power, plus a current-feedback headphone amplifier and a 2.8-inch colour IPS display with selectable VU meters. It is made to Audiolab’s established standard.

How it sounds

The 7000A is lively and engaging without losing focus on detail and musicality, with broadness, depth and rhythmic drive that make it easy to listen to across any source. The Class A post-DAC filter gives digital sources a refined, low-noise presentation, and the improved moving-magnet phono stage is a genuine benchmark for a built-in design, so vinyl is properly served rather than treated as an afterthought. The 70 watts, backed by a substantial power supply and 11-amp current delivery, give it confident control over real speakers in a normal room, a clear step up from the 6000A MkII in authority. It is an amplifier that does everything well, which is exactly the point of it.

What we’d partner it with

The Sonus faber Lumina II is a well-judged match: a compact two-way standmount with the Damped Apex Dome tweeter and a 150mm mid-woofer, whose warm, refined Italian voice suits the 7000A’s clean, detailed presentation, and whose 4-ohm load the amplifier’s 110 watts into 4 ohms drive comfortably. Good alternatives from brands we carry are stand-mounts from Dali, Wharfedale, Q Acoustics and Mission.

For streaming, the Audiolab 7000N Play is the natural partner, a network streamer from the same series that connects to the 7000A’s digital input, though it also has its own DAC if you prefer; it streams over your network and matches the amplifier visually. For CD, the Audiolab 7000CDT is a matching transport rather than a player, sending a clean digital signal into the 7000A’s DAC over coaxial or optical. For vinyl, the moving-magnet phono stage takes a turntable directly: the Pro-Ject Debut Pro B, with its one-piece carbon-aluminium tonearm and the moving-magnet Pick it PRO Balanced cartridge, connects straight in.

On cabling, use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If your budget is tighter, the 6000A MkII shares the same DAC chip and phono philosophy with less power for less money. If you want the flagship, the 9000A steps up in power, build and refinement. And if you run a low-output moving-coil cartridge, the phono stage is moving-magnet only, so an external moving-coil stage would be needed.

The 7000A runs cool and sits easily on a rack; set the operating mode to Integrated for normal use. For streaming, connect the 7000N Play by coaxial or optical to use the amplifier’s DAC, or by analogue to use the streamer’s own. For CD, connect the 7000CDT to a coaxial or optical input, since it is a transport with no DAC of its own. For vinyl, connect the Debut Pro B to the moving-magnet phono input and its earth to the ground terminal; its Pick it PRO Balanced runs single-ended into the standard phono input, which is fine. Connect a television to the HDMI ARC input if you want one. Place the Lumina II on solid stands away from the rear wall.