PS Audio Stellar Strata Integrated Amplifier w/ HiRes DAC + UPnP Streamer 

Here at Douglas HiFi we really like the Stellar Strata - it has an amazingly good DAC, a great sounding built in streamer and an amplifier that really delivers on sound quality. PS Audio have made another Stellar addition :) to their Stellar line up of products. All of this is housed in a slimline, high quality chassis.  Made in the USA.

PS Audio was founded in 1973 and shipped its first products in 1974 and is still considered to be one of the Bona Fide real HiFi company that achieves a high end performance at a reasonable price point.

The PS Audio Stellar Strata combines a state of the art analogue preamplifier, Digital to Analog Converter, 200 watt per channel stereo power amplifier, and high definition UPnP streaming services into one, slimline package.

Strata can stream high-resolution audio, or connect to any digital or analog source you wish. With its many digital and analog inputs, Strata is ready to rock!

All the features and functions you’d ever want in an analogue preamplifier and modern DAC are right here in Strata. A zero-loss, fully balanced, pure, analogue signal path combined with DAC features rarely found at any price level: pure DSD, asynchronous USB, Digital Lens technology, I²S to connect to our best transport, balanced throughout. Replace your preamplifier, your DAC, your power amplifier, and be stunned at the level of improvement when the full and rich tapestry of music surprises and delights your senses.

Marriage of Analogue and Digital for Musical Performance

Strata has 100% analog input switching so users can select what they listen to without ever leaving the analog domain. Strata’s variable gain amplifier solves the problem of signal degradation from additional circuitry to control volume. Together, these pure analog technologies honor the signals passed through them, whether they’re from Strata’s internal DAC, streaming module, or an external phono stage, nothing in the music is sacrificed or lost. Music’s preserved in all its rich glory.

Rich, powerful, analog headphone amplifier

For those into headphones (and who isn’t?), Strata offers an exceptional sounding and powerful analog headphone amplifier on the front panel. Strata will automatically mute its main outputs when a headphone is plugged in and the listener can enjoy all that’s great with a high-performance set of headphones. This is music reproduced at its finest.

PS Audio HiRes DAC section - built to sound Musical

The DAC inside Strata produces a seamless 3D soundstage from even normal CDs. Labored over by its chief architect, Bob Stadtherr, and hand-tuned and voiced by Darren Myers, the improvement in sound quality over other DACs can be a revelation. The Strata DAC accepts inputs from any digital source including I²S, USB, TOSLINK, or Strata’s internal high-definition streaming module and outputs directly through Strata’s powerful amplifier directly to your loudspeakers.

Used with PS Audio’s Connect mobile app, available for IOS or Android, or music server software like JRiver, Bit Perfect, Amarra or Pure Music, Strata becomes your entry into the world of high-end digital audio music, both PCM and DSD. Performance is superb at anywhere near the price and there are good reasons why.

Digital Lens inside

All digital input signals are taken into Strata in Native Mode without Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) and fed directly into a simplified FPGA known as a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), which discovers sample rate and format, re-clocks all incoming data, reduces jitter, waveshapes data output to the DAC chip, and utilizes high speed/low gate count logic to reduce propagation delay for faster throughput. This proprietary technology is called the Digital Lens.

The DAC chip itself is based around the acclaimed 32-bit ESS Sabre Hyperstream architecture, the output of which is passively filtered to reduce transient distortion.

Strata DAC’s output stage is a proprietary Class-A configuration, fully balanced and direct-coupled hybrid array with an extended bandwidth of 60 kHz.

Power built to drive real world Speakers

The power amplifier plays a critical role in more than just delivering enough power for your speakers. It is an essential component in preserving music’s nuanced details such as overtones from plucked instruments, subtle cues defining placement, depth, soundstage width, and transient decays.

The power amplifier inside Strata loses nothing. Engineer’s Bob Stadtherr and Darren Myers were obsessed with providing a power output stage that could handle any speaker connected to it while lavishing great attention on even the tiniest nuances in the music.

The 150 watt per channel power amplifier inside Strata captures the rich full-bodied essence of recorded music and presents it to your loudspeakers with authority and grace—with never a hint of glare or unnaturalness.