So here we have it . . . a three move checkmate! “What do you mean? Is that even possible?” I hear you say! All will be explained forthwith.

In an attempt to be topical ,with the world chess championships just having taken place and frankly because I have an interest in playing the great game myself, I will attempt to use this chess metaphor in my Hi-Fi ramblings and not be too “en passant” in the process.

Having written several blogs on specific brands and models as well as my Facebook Vlog series “Great Pairings”, I thought that it might be wise to mix it up and take a look at even more components.

In no particular order, other than the “Source first” premise; Auralic Altair G2.1 into a Quad Artera stereo power amplifier followed by Proac Response DB1 speakers.

Our opening gambit - the Auralic Altair G2.1

Let’s start with the front end first. The Auralic Altair G2.1 is a fully featured source component, offering extreme flexibility for inputs as well as lots of inbuilt goodies as well.

Now if you are a chess player, you will know about openings, middle game and end game strategies. If you will excuse the metaphor, the Auralic Altair G2.1 demonstrates an abundance of opening options, with an excellent phono stage built-in, a wealth of of digital inputs and replay through an excellent built in DAC and a high quality preamp stage.

Some people would call the Auralic Altair G2.1 an “endgame” product, which is where the chess analogy falls a bit short really, given that there are no speakers involved at this stage, although one can certainly see audiophiles being happy enough with the sound quality to go no further up the audiophile tree than this, but more on sound quality later.

auralic altair g2.1 front panel - understated quality

Auralic altair g2.1 inputs/outputs - a plethora of choice

You can see the streamer input options above, with multiple inputs for network/hard drive playback, both balanced and unbalanced analogue line inputs, the usual digital coaxial and optical inputs and on the right, the preamp outputs to feed the power amp, which in this case was the Quad Artera stereo power amp…

Middle game authority - the Quad Artera stereo power amp

Continuing with my chess analogy, the middle game comes from the Quad Artera stereo power amplifier. The Quad 405 amplifier was world renowned and this is a modern update of that very same design, with an output of 140W per channel and the warm, mellifluous sound that continues the Quad heritage of high quality music reproduction.

I have spoken about the quality of the Quad Artera amp in combination with another Auralic product, the Altair G1, in an earlier Facebook vlog, which you can view Here.

Endgamers - The Proac Response DB1

For anyone else familiar with the glorious game of chess, these might be considered the knights in the range of Proac speakers. The Proac Response DB1 is a magnificent beast, here donning a beautiful walnut finish. These are a 2-way ported bookshelf design with an 8 ohm impedance and a recommended 20 - 100 Watts for driving amplification.

Here at Audio T in Brighton we are very fond of the Proac range of speakers, with everything from the foals in their range, the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures, to their stallion siblings, the D20R and DT8 floorstanders.

Checkmate . . . A Victorious sound

Worthy of the great chess players, Garry Kasparov or Magnus Carlsen, and providing a sound quality and synergy as rare as a three move checkmate, this threesome really jelled in our listening room.

So my initial listening was done with vinyl with a Linn LP12. Perhaps not the most usual means of playback for a system like this, especially with a digital streaming DAC/preamp like the Auralic Altair G2.1 that has so many inputs for modern music listening tastes. However, the phono input on the Altair G2.1 was a revelation, helped somewhat with a quality turntable like the Linn LP12 combination.

Gling-Glo with Bjork on vocals sounded magnificent. The level of detail and tonal quality on Kind of Blue by Miles Davis was mesmerising. In fact, the sound of this threesome of Auralic Altair G2.1, Quad Artera and Proac Response DB1’s, whilst listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s posthumous album, The Sky is Crying, was so captivating, I’d gone into a bit of a trance and failed to hear our front doorbell go a couple of times.

Moving onto the streamer section of the Altair G2.1 proved no less rewarding. My usual menu of the Oscar Peterson Trio album We Get Requests and Gerry Mulligan meets Ben Webster, provided a level of musical insight and clarity a cut above most of the competition and certainly worthy of the price increase between the Altair G1 and the Altair G2.1. Now bearing in mind the fact that the Altair G2.1 composes of a quality phono stage, headphone amp, separate streamer, DAC and preamp plus a reliable app to service its functionality, it seems a veritable bargain.

Post Game review

The three musketeers discussed; Auralic Altair G2.1, Quad Artera and Proac Response DB1’s should really include D’Artagnan as well, in the form of the Linn LP12, given its significant contribution to the sound via the Auralic’s phono input. This system proved to be a sonic “coup de gras”, providing great flexibility and fine synergy in its sonic prowess. This isn’t always a given in the hifi world and returning to my chess analogy, similar to many games of chess that I’ve played, where pieces just seem to get in the way of each other and the ensuing stalemate that arises, this is one of those rare occasions where this doesn’t happen, cutting through to the core of musical pleasure just like Magnus Carlsen would if he played chess against me.

A quick addendum to this will be that we’ve added the Proac Response DB1’s to our demo range of speakers, such was the enjoyment they provided during the course of our audition of this system.

Contact us if you have any questions or wish to demo any of the products mentioned.

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

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