The Article

AUDIOLAB 9000Q/9000P PRE & POWER AMPS

15th January 2025

Audiolab’s 9000Q pre-amplifier and 9000P power amplifier provides an entry point into high-end audio but, asks Paul Rigby, are they a suitable upgrade for 9000A owners?

Well here’s a thing. I reviewed Audiolab’s 9000A integrated amplifier back in February, 2023. At £1,999, I thought it was pretty special. I haven’t changed my opinion, either.

Then this happens. Audiolab’s brand new, flagship stereo amplifier system. Out right now, check out the 9000Q pre-amplifier (£1,499) and the 9000P power amplifier (£1,099). Priced at £2,499, if you buy them together. So that’s £500 more than a stock 9000A integrated.

Questions then. If you are building a new HiFi system, is it worth looking at the new P and Q boxes. If you are upgrading from a basic amplifier, is it worth upgrading to the P and Q boxes? If you own and run an Audiolab 9000A integrated, is it worth upgrading to the P and Q boxes?

I hope to answer those questions here.

A few pointers then on the differences between the standard 9000A and the 9000Q pre-amp and 9000P power amplifier.

DIFFERENCES WITH 9000A

The Q includes the same basic user interface as the 9000A. What changes is the differential balanced audio circuitry. That’s more substantial than the preamp stage in the 9000A. I’m referring to the power supply circuits and toroidal transformer. Features-wise? Analogue tone controls have been added.

Inside the 9000Q pre-amp (and below)

The included DAC stage has been enhanced by improving the power supply. The MM phono amplifier has also been enhanced. There is RFI/EMI filtering technology now applied to all inputs to lower noise. Finally, the XLR Direct mode provides a fully balanced signal path from input to output.

For the power amplifier? The 9000P is based on the 9000A’s power amp stage. It has been enhanced though. Specifically, the power supply circuitry with the same specialised RFI/EMI filtering tech also included in the 9000Q. You can connect a source with its own volume control such as the 9000N network streamer directly to the power amp. Also, the addition of a bridged mono facility – combining two 9000Ps to deliver 300W into 8 ohms – provides a further upgrade path. I wasn’t able to test that bit, I’m afraid. Why? Because I think I’m the first person to review these boxes. I reckon I have an exclusive review here. And because of that? Both were in short supply.

Next? Merely separating an integrated amplifier’s facilities into two separate boxes and putting distance between the two will lower the noise floor.

ON TOUR

Skipping through the basic specs? The 9000Q pre-amp spans 444 x 90 x 328mm. On the front, on the far left, you will find a 4.3in IPS colour display. It allows you to select and/or change a host of features such as digital upsampling, tone controls, EQ filters, a VU meter and more.

Bluetooth 5.1 is included featuring codecs such as aptX, AAC, SBC, aptX HD and, praise the lord, LDAC. That is supported by the built-in ES9038PRO DAC supporting up to 768kHz PCM and DSD512.

Note the ESS DAC chip (centre)

On the front, to the right of the screen, you will also find a rotary volume knob and rotary source-and-feature select knob that incudes a push-in select feature. Oh and lets not forget the built-in headphone amplifier with a welcome 6.35mm socket. Praise to Audiolab for not making do with a 3.5mm socket.

9000Q pre-amp (front)

On the rear, you will find a USB Type B input, two coax, two opticals plus, in analogue, a stereo XLR, three single-ended RCA pairs plus a moving magnet phono amplifier built in.

9000Q pre-amp (back)

Outputs include a stereo XLR pair, two single ended pairs for a power amplifier and subwoofer plus triggers.

9000P power amp (front)

The power amplifier pushes out 100W over 8 Ohms, 300W – as I say – if in bridged mode (that is, if you hook up two 9000Ps to the pre-amplifier). This is a dual-mono design based on Class AB topology. It includes stereo pair XLR inputs, stereo single-ended RCA and trigger plus speaker outputs. The power amplifier spans the same size specs as the pre-amp. Inside you will find a large toroidal and mains filtering.

9000P power amp (back)

More than all of that, though. I like the fact that designer Jan Ertner led the engineering team. As he did with the 9000A, the 6000A, the 9000CDT and 6000CDT CD transports. There is a conforting design consistency here that I like. Good for Audiolab for maintaining that. David McNeill, incidentally, was in charge of industrial design. As he was with the other 9000 series products I’ve just mentioned.

in bridged mode

So, how does it sound?

SOUND QUALITY

I picked on the 9000P power amplifier first. I wanted to challenge the 9000P. I wanted this box to reach. The usual comparison would be to grab any old, similarly-priced power amplifier and go from there which is fine but there are many such boxes on the market which means there’ll be lots of unanswered questions for the power amplifiers I don’t A-B test. Hence, if I did an A-B test here I might be asked, “Butt what about C, D, E, F, G and H?” Hence, that type of test can be limited.

Inside the 9000P power amplifier (and below)

Instead, I wanted to challenge the 9000P with a slightly different tech and design ethic. I wanted it to reach. To struggle. To strive.

Which is why I grabbed a pair of Valvet, Class A monoblocks. These may be older, classic designs from a company that is known today for its very high end designs but when the Valvet pairing was released, they were sold at a price point of £500-£600 more than the 9000P. The Valvets also run on Class A amplification. A distinctly pure and dynamic system. Also, the monoblocks would, in and of themselves, lower the noise floor. All of these elements would prove a challenge for the 9000P.

9000P vs VALVETS

I began with CD and the Thomas Dolby CD EP, Oceanea and the final track on that disc, To The Lifeboats. This song features acoustic and electric guitars, piano, bass, percussion, vocals and varying tempos from sparse singer-songwriter stylings to full-on rock.

During the test, I disabled the tone controls because I wanted to hear an unmodified sonic output from the 9000P. I then did a quick test of the filters, five in all. I quickly rejected the three filters based on the Fast Roll Off curves which sounded too edgy for me. That left the two Slow Roll Off filters: Linear and Minimum Phase. Out of the box, the former was the default selection. I preferred the latter, Minimum Phase, which was a little smoother. Not quite as etched as Linear.

9000Q pre-amp (and below)

As for basic sound? In noise terms? The Valvets had the edge but let me emphasise this. It was nothing more than an edge. Many users won’t even hear that difference. For an all-in-one power amplifier, the 9000P was remarkable in noise terms. This is a low-noise power amplifier that allows information to flow freely.

And as for that information? It was better focused than the Valvets, the imagery was just as good, bass was just different. Not better or worse. The Valvets had a harder bass smack but the 9000P provided a massy, heavy and I would say better integrated output. Upper mids and treble were also better formed on the 9000P with more insight. Cymbal taps, for example, were more delicate with longer reverb tails extending past anything the Valvet could offer.

In short? I was expecting the 9000P to make a good fist of it but fall short, overall. I didn’t think the 9000P would beat the Valvet on most sonic points.

9000Q vs MUSIC FIRST AUDIO

I wanted to test the 9000Q pre-amp in the same manner. So I grabbed a passive pre-amp from Music First as my reference. The MF Passive Magnetic Pre-amplifier was my first ever 10/10 rated product on this website. That’s how good it is. This is actually a harder test for the 9000Q than the power amp test because the Music First is priced around £2,500. Way more than the Q. So is this test even fair? Yes indeed. Again, I didn’t want to pick a random pre-amp of the same type, price and technology, I wanted to see how far I could push the Q against one of the greatest pre-amps of our time under £5,000. If the Q even gets half way toward the MF pre-amp, that will be remarkable, especially for the low price of the Q. Why? Because most don’t. Most don’t even get a quarter of the way.

So does the Music First pre-amp out perform the Audiolab? Yes it does. Of course it does. I expected that. But that’s not the point of this test.

What I hear on this test is that the 9000Q is on the right sonic path. To me, the Music First pre-amp is the end-point, £2.5k’s worth of perfection. What the £1,499 9000Q tells my ears is that the Audiolab design is on that same path.

That’s the remarkable thing about the Q. The Q offers a sense of balance and neutrality. Music is so well integrated via the 9000Q. There is no lack of frequency discipline. Treble and the upper mids are packed with information. Bass weaves itself successfully into the mix instead of sounding tacked on with Blu-tack. The Music First provides lower noise, more clarity and space in the mids with more impact in the bass. Even so, for the price, the 9000Q actually over performs. It’s much closer to the Music Fidelity than it has any right to be. And that is plain scary. To me? This test is more significant and impressive than a bog-standard one-to-one with a single, same-priced competitor.

VS 9000A

The most important test, in practical terms, in monetary terms is this. Comparing the integrated 9000A amplifier with the most obvious upgrade for that model, the 9000Q and 9000P pre-amp and power boxes. That is, if you have a 9000A, the most obvious upgrade path is the P and Q combo. The P and Q basically separate the 9000A into two with added refinements and upgrades. The question is this, is the extra effort and money worth it and, if so, how?

9000P power amp (and below)

I played vinyl this time, the crooner Matt Dennis and the original pressing of his album Welcome Matt Dennis! and the song, You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.

Actually, in many ways. The 9000Q and 9000P provided a much larger soundstage than the 9000A. The sound from the P and Q is larger and grander. You really feel that you are present at an occasion when you hear the P and Q combo. In terms of the frequencies themselves? As wonderful as the 9000A is as an integrated priced at under £2k, the Q and P combo just push each further. That is, more fragility and delicacy around the treble, more information from the upper mids, a greater sense of weight and impact from the bass. All of these areas move up a couple of rungs on the sonic ladder.

In short? The 9000P and Q combo gives you a 9000A and them some. And then a more still. An upgrade really is a no brainer.

9000Q & 9000P BALANCED MODE

I then tested both boxes in balanced mode. I was most impressed with the sound output which lowered the noise floor and enhanced instrumental separation. That is, there was an appreciable space in between instrument now while bass was enhanced, stronger and meatier. Space and air around the upper mids was much improved too which meant that overall, clarity benefited. If I had the choice, I would play this boxed duo in balanced mode. That would be my default.

9000Q & 9000P FEATURES

Before I moved from vinyl I quickly checked out the internal phono amplifier with a Rega RP3 and the Matt Dennis LP and thought the phono amplifier was solid. Not amazing. Well, nearly all internal phono amplifiers are not amazing but it this example will provide enough performance for casual vinyl users while more dedicated vinyl fans can safely use it while saving up for an external model.

For headphone users? I plugged in my Sennheiser HD800s and listened to Thomas Dolby again. The sound was, in personality terms, very close to the speaker output from the Audiolab boxes played through that Sennhesier filter, of course. But it’s great to hear a sense of sonic consistency here. Many internal head amps I have heard on pre-amps or integrated amplifiers sound nothing like the host. Which is disconcerting. Audiolab have gotten the sonic direction of the headphone amplifier right, in this case.

I finally connected my Astel&Kearn Kann Alpha to the Audiolab pair via Bluetooth. I played Nick Drake’s Pink Moon at at 24bit/96kHz via LDAC which was very welcome indeed and it allowed the music to really fly. For Bluetooth, the sound output was impressive. The combination of the great source, codec and Audiolab boxes provides a sense of streaming quality.

CONCLUSION

Let me say this before I go any further. The 9000P and 9000Q go together so well. If you grab both and hook them together, they fit like a hand in a glove. Connecting these two boxes together and pushing music through the pair is a joy in terms of the listening experience. They are so compatible. Music is smooth to the ear and it moves in a serene manner. There are no bumps along the sonic road. Listening to the both the P and the Q is like listening to to a slow-moving river on a lazy sunny, summer afternoon. It is pure relaxation.

Yes, there is nothing stopping you mixing and matching components and both of these Audiolab boxes will work well with other brands but when you pair these Audiolab boxes together, it’s like two old friends getting together.

It’s just a joy to be in their company.

AUDIOLAB 9000Q PRE-AMPLIFIER & 9000P POWER AMPLIFIER

Prices:
9000Q preamplifier: £1,499
9000P power amplifier: £1,099
When purchased together: £2,499

Website: www.audiolab.co.uk

GOOD: features, balanced sound, balanced mode, smooth mids, weighty bass, low noise

BAD: nothing