MEASUREMENTS
I measured the Quad Artera Solus using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1). I precondition amplifiers by running them at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. (One-third power results in the maximum dissipation in the output devices.) The Quad survived this demanding test, though the side mounted heatsinks were very hot, at 141.3°F (60.8°C). The front panel was cooler at 124°F (39.1°C).
Looking first at the Artera Solus’s performance as a preamplifier and headphone amplifier, both sets of outputs preserved absolute polarity, ie, were noninverting. With analog input signals, the maximum voltage gain at the headphone jacks was a modest 1.6dB, that at the preamplifier outputs was 1.02dB, balanced, and -5.6dB, unbalanced. The headphone output impedance was appropriately low, at 5.5 ohms at low and middle frequencies, dropping to 2.75 ohms at 20kHz. The preamplifier output impedances were 119 ohms, unbalanced,
