Constellation Audio Inspiration Series Pre-amp 1.0 Line stage (like new with factory box & remote) : also available separately Constellation Audio Centaur Stereo Amplifier (listed on Audiogon separately:

Serial number: 2000154102.
See: TAS Rave review by Robert Harley at: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/constellation-audio-inspiration-series-preamp-10-linestage-stereo-10-stereo-amplifier-and-mono-10-monoblock-amplifiers

Constellation followed that success with the Performance Series that included the $24,000 Virgo preamplifier and Centaur power amplifier ($24,000 stereo, $54,000 monoblocks). The Virgo and Centaur employed the same circuitry as the Altair and Hercules, but in less elaborate implementations. The Performance Series delivered a surprising degree of the Reference Series’ magic at a still high, but less-than-stratospheric price. The Virgo II and Centaur monoblocks sound so good that I’ve used them in my system for most of the past year driving the Magico Q7s.

Looking back now, I can see that the development of the Altair and Hercules wasn’t purely intended to sell $65,000 preamps and $140,000 power amps. Rather, Constellation wanted to create platforms for discovering optimum circuit topologies and to establish a performance benchmark. Once created, the reference-level products would inform more affordable implementations that would be accessible to a wider audience. In my view, the ultimate goal of the Altair and Hercules design project was the Inspiration Series reviewed here.

It sounds simple in theory, but creating a successful trickle-down model is easier said than done. It requires that the initial development effort produce components that are truly world-class—which is far from a given. Then the reference-level products must sell in sufficient numbers to sustain the company. Finally, the firm’s founders must possess long-term vision, not to mention adequate capitalization. But when it works, trickle-down engineering can bring to mid-priced products the essential DNA of cost-no-object components.

The three products in the Inspiration Series are the Preamp 1.0 linestage ($9000), Stereo 1.0 stereo power amplifier (200Wpc, $10,000), and Mono 1.0 monoblock power amplifiers (400W, $20,000 per pair). Although not budget-priced by any stretch, Constellation products at these prices represent quite a breakthrough. This is particularly true when you consider that the Inspiration Series uses exactly the same audio circuits designed for the Altair and Hercules. The $9000 Preamp 1.0’s schematic (and even the audio circuit-board layout) is identical to that of the $65,000 Altair (and to the Virgo). The Stereo 1.0 and Mono 1.0 amplifiers employ the identical topology as the Hercules, along with many of the same components, including the transistors in the input, driver, and output stages. The cost savings are realized with simpler implementations of the same fundamental platforms. The circuit design isn’t what’s expensive in an audio component (after the R&D has been amortized), so why not use the best topology at every price level? I don’t think I’ve encountered an example of trickle-down engineering in which the progeny hews as closely to the parent as it does here (see sidebar for details).

Even the Inspiration’s styling, build, and visual aesthetic come close to those of the Performance and Reference Series. I had the $24,000 Virgo II and $9000 Preamp 1.0 in my rack at the same time, and sometimes had to do a double-take to know which was which. A closer look, however, reveals some clever techniques for saving money on the casework without diluting the aesthetic.

 

The Preamp 1.0’s front panel, for example, is flat rather than sculpted, and the aluminum case is smooth instead of rippled. The same is true for the visual difference between the Centaur power amplifier and the Stereo 1.0. Yes, the Performance Series has a more upscale look, but if you didn’t see the Inspiration side-by-side with it, you could easily believe that the Inspiration preamp and amplifier carried Performance Series price tags.

I’m in the fortunate position of having had Reference, Performance, and now Inspiration electronics in my home for extended auditions. Although the Reference Series was returned a long time ago, I still have the Virgo II preamp and Centaur monoblocks on-hand for direct comparison with Inspiration. It’s been fascinating to hear how Constellation has taken that original groundbreaking design and translated it into products that cost a fraction of the originals. Consider that the Inspiration Stereo 1.0 is just 7% of the Hercules’ price. But how much of what made the Reference Series so special ended up in Inspiration?

Quite a bit, it turns out. For starters, the fundamental “Constellation sound” survives intact down the line. By “Constellation sound” I don’t mean a set of easily identifiable colorations. Rather, I’m referring to the brand’s most salient and salubrious sonic qualities. First among these is the extraordinary transparency—the impression of hearing back through the playback and recording chains to the original musical event. The Constellation electronics have so little opacity that it’s as though I could sense the air in the room in which the music was performed. The second defining character of Constellation electronics has been a treble presentation that’s unique among amplifiers, in my experience—exceedingly highly resolved yet exceedingly delicate and refined.

This combination of transparency and resolution without etch that defines the brand was readily apparent in all three Inspiration products. I have so much experience with Constellation that there was no mistaking the Inspiration’s crystalline transparency and openness for anything else. This see-through quality didn’t just allow me to hear instruments in the back of the hall or deep into a multitrack mix; it also conveyed an impression of immediacy, of the air in which the instruments exist being “charged” with the life and vitality of the hall or studio. Many otherwise excellent electronics overlay the presentation with a kind of electronic haze that dilutes this impression of “aliveness,” but the Preamp 1.0 and both Inspiration power amplifiers produced a sound that made me feel as though I were in the presence of the original music-makers. This quality goes a long way toward promoting deep immersion in the music.

The Inspiration’s resolution was far beyond what I expected at this price. The treble, in particular, had that unmistakable delicacy and inner detail that most electronics smear. Think brushes on snares, hi-hat, tambourine, and other percussion instruments with very fine micro-dynamic structures. Many electronics are resolving, but not in the same way as Constellation’s products are. What makes this brand special is the subtlety and refinement with which treble detail is presented. This isn’t detail for the sake of detail, but rather an understated sophistication that provides all the cues that make instruments sound lifelike. Consequently, the top end is silky smooth and perfectly integrated into the musical fabric without any metallic edge. The Virgo and Centaur are, not unexpectedly, smoother in the top end than the Inspiration electronics, but that doesn’t take anything away from the Inspiration’s achievement.

There’s another Constellation quality that the Inspiration preamp and amp embody, and that’s a lack of tonal and spatial homogenization. Even compared with mega-buck amplifiers, the Inspiration is superb at defining individual instruments within an ensemble. The Inspiration’s ability to differentiate tonal color, even among the individual brass and woodwind instruments in a big band playing unison phrases, is up there with the best amplifiers I’ve heard. Speaking of tone color, the Inspiration comes very close to maintaining the richness and saturation I’ve heard in the Performance and Reference Series. The Preamp 1.0, however, doesn’t have quite the textural density and timbral warmth of the Virgo II. Timbres are more richly portrayed through the Virgo II—more “meat on the bone.” The Preamp 1.0 is a little leaner by contrast with less apparent density in the lower mids. Nonetheless, we’re talking about reference-level tonal quality in the Virgo II, a level to which the Preamp 1.0 comes very close. In fact, the Inspiration’s tonal beauty may be unprecedented at this price.

Incidentally, I found the “preamp bypass test” a useful tool in hearing exactly how each preamplifier affected the signal passing through it. I first drove the Stereo 1.0 with the output from the Berkeley Alpha DAC Reference with no preamp in the signal path. I then inserted into the signal path the Virgo II set at unity gain (the input level was the same as the output level). I repeated this comparison, this time with the Preamp 1.0 in the signal path. The bypass test allows you to compare the preamplifier under evaluation with no preamplifier.

Soundstaging is outstanding for a preamplifier and amplifier of any price. Inspiration has a huge, open, and airy presentation that easily makes the loudspeakers disappear. Soundstage dimensionality is also sensational, and among the best of the amplifiers I’ve heard. Just like its antecedents, the Inspiration excels at portraying the bloom around instrumental outlines. The Virgo II and Centaur monoblocks are a touch wider and deeper, but this essential characteristic remains intact.

There’s one area in which the Inspiration power amplifiers depart from the sound of the original Reference Series and of the Centaur amplifiers—the bass performance. In my previous reviews of Reference and Performance I’ve noted that both tend toward a more polite, rather than visceral, bottom end. In my Reference Series review I wrote that the bass “favored articulation and pitch definition rather than weight and warmth.” In my Centaur review I noted: “The Centaur’s bottom end is full and satisfying, but not the last word in weight and heft.” You bought Constellation for qualities other than bottom-end slam.

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An essence of our earlier work.

It's remarkable how much of the technology from the Altair II and Performance series Virgo II preamplifiers is preserved in the Inspiration PREAMP 1.0. The core audio circuits are the same. The power supply retains its triple-transformer design. The dual mono design is there, too. The chassis is built from CNC-machined aluminum slabs, crafted in the same metal shop that builds the enclosures for the Reference and Performance series components.

We like to say the Inspiration PREAMP 1.0 is distilled, not diluted. It embodies the essence of our earlier work while retaining the subjective musicality and objective performance that won so much acclaim for our previous preamps.

Custom-designed binding posts.

Of course, the Inspiration PREAMP 1.0's most important characteristic is its sound, which in every way lives up to the reputation established by the Altair II and Virgo II. The slightest subtleties in every musical performance come through unaltered. No conventional balanced-topology preamplifier can equal the detail retrieval, delicacy and musicality the Inspiration PREAMP 1.0 effortlessly achieves. The gear disappears, and all that's left is you and your music.

Triple-transformer power supply

The design of the power supply in the Inspiration borrows heavily from the Altair II and Virgo II. We chose R-core transformers to power the audio circuits because of their inherently low noise and low radiated magnetic energy -- and because they worked so well in our previous designs. There are separate R-core transformers for left and right channels. A conventional EI transformer powers the control circuits, so the sensitive audio circuits are well-isolated from the noise of the control circuits.

Line Stage Gain Module

We use our Line Stage Gain Module circuit in all Constellation Audio products, from the Inspiration series to the Reference series. This unique topology uses servo circuits to achieve an essentially perfect balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal. The result is, simply, a more lifelike sound, one free of the colorations that conventionally designed balanced preamp circuits can impart.

Fully balanced audio circuitry

Like our more costly preamps, the Inspiration line stage employs fully complementary balanced circuitry, in which the signal is amplified by two identical, mirror-imaged preamp circuits, one for the positive half of the signal, one for the negative half. This arrangement cancels interference while doubling the slew rate, yielding an impressive 100-kilohertz frequency response.

Double-supported chassis joints to minimize vibration

The thick, machined aluminum panels that make up the Inspiration Line Stage's chassis are assembled using a unique combination of steel buttresses and a CNC-machined joinery system somewhat like the tongue-in-groove structure found in fine woodwork. The result is a chassis far stiffer and less prone to vibration than in most preamps in this price range.

Mechanically isolated circuit boards

To prevent microphonics and other vibration-induced distortions in the Inspiration Line Stage's sensitive audio circuits, we isolate the circuit boards from the main chassis using a pliable material. All connections from the power supply are made through cables that float freely between the power supply and the main preamp board, so they can't be affected by external disturbances and so they won't carry vibration from the power supply into the preamp circuits.

Home theater bypass mode

For those who don't want to sacrifice sound quality, yet want to enjoy two-channel music and home theater surround sound in the same system, the Inspiration Line Stage offers a home theater bypass mode. One of its inputs can be configured to receive the left and right channel signals from a surround-sound processor. In stereo, the signal passes only through the Inspiration line stage and the connected amp, so two-channel performance is completely unaffected by the home theater equipment.

Constellation Direct interface

Like the Altair II and Virgo II preamps, the Inspiration Line Stage features the Constellation Direct interface. This interface routes the high-level, perfectly balanced audio signal from the preamp's Line Gain Stage Module straight into the voltage gain stage of a Constellation Audio amplifier. It bypasses the amplifier's own Line Gain Stage Module, removing one amplification stage from the signal chain and achieving even greater musicality in the process.

Machined aluminum remote

Because the Inspiration line stage's elegant chassis comes from the same machine shop that builds our Reference and Performance series products, we simply couldn't use a generic remote. Thus, the Inspiration line stage's remote, like all of our others, is made from machined aluminum and has a suitably gratifying heft and feel.

Full dual mono construction

The Inspiration line stage's left and right audio channels have their own isolated, separate power supplies, each channel with its own low-noise R-core transformer. The preamp circuits and even the input and output jacks are arranged with the left channel components on the left side and the right-channel components on the right side. This arrangement delivers extraordinary channel separation, resulting in spectacular imaging and soundstaging.

Inputs 3 XLR stereo, 3 RCA stereo,

USB (for control)

Outputs 2 XLR stereo, 2 RCA stereo,

12-volt trigger

THD+N <0.001%, 20 Hz - 20 kHz @ 2V out <0.1%, 20 Hz - 20 kHz @ 10V out

Frequency response 10 Hz to 100 kHz, +/- 0.5 dB

Signal-to-noise ratio >-105 dB,

A-weighted Input impedance (balanced) 20K ohm

Input impedance (single-ended) 10K ohm

Output impedance < 50 ohm

Volume control resolution 0.5dB from 0dB to -90 dBFS

Weight 25 lbs / 11.3 kg

Dimensions (W x H x D) 17 inches x 15 inches x 5.5 inches 43.2cm x 38.1cm x 14cm

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       Weinhart Design, Inc.
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