Constellation Performance Centaur II 500 Stereo Power Amplifier

Complete control of any speaker

With 500 watts per channel into 8 ohms, doubling to 1,000 watts per channel into 4 ohms, Centaur II 500 commands complete control of any speaker, allowing every speaker it is used with to achieve its best, most musical performance.
Of course, a few changes were necessary to achieve this extraordinary power. While the number of power supply storage capacitors is the same, the maximum voltage of each capacitor increases by 30 percent in Centaur II 500. We did this in order to handle the higher rail voltages necessary for the higher power rating, but it has the nice additional benefit of further increasing total energy storage.

A fully optimized design

One thing our dream team did not, fortunately, have to change is the size of the chassis. Centaur IIs overbuilt output stages and upgraded heat sinks easily handle the increased demands presented by the doubled power rating, so Centaur II 500 effectively delivers the power of two Centaur IIs from one Centaur II chassis.
The end result is a fully optimized design in which every component works in concert, with performance uncompromised by any other component?s limitations. Centaur II 500 effortlessly delivers the most extreme dynamic peaks, even when used with the world?s largest, most demanding speakers.

A perfect balance

Despite its elevated power rating, Centaur II 500 preserves all the detail and delicacy of our other amplifiersand indeed, all the detail and delicacy of the most revered single-ended amplifiers. This is because Centaur II 500 is a single-ended amplifier. Our unique Balanced Bridged topology combines numerous 125-watt single-ended amplifier modules in one amplifier, so it sounds like a small single-ended amp, yet its muscle matches or exceeds that of practically any audiophile amplifier (Hercules II excepted).

Centaur II 500?s incomparable output stage design and exceptionally robust power supply can reach their potential only when they receive an audio signal that is equally superb. This is why, for Centaur II 500s input stage, we used the same Line Stage Gain Module topology found in all of our preamps. The Line Stage Gain Module uses ultra-low-noise FETs and a unique servo circuit to maintain an essentially perfect balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal, even if the signal from the source device is not perfectly balanced.

If you use Centaur II 500 with any Constellation preamp, you can bypass the Line Stage Gain Module by using the amplifiers Direct input, which forms the Constellation Link. Because the preamp has its own Line Stage Gain Module, the one in the amp is not needed. Thus, it can be removed from the signal chain to increase overall system transparency to a degree conventional preamp/amplifier combinations cannot equal.

When Centaur II 500 is added to an audio system, compromise is removed. No matter what speakers are used, or what music is played, Centaur II 500 will always be up to the dynamic demands, while reproducing all the musicality and detail of the very finest high-resolution recordings.

Massive toroidal transformer

Centaur II 500 borrows one of the colossal power transformers used in the Reference Series Hercules II, our flagship amplifier. The transformers size allows it to deliver incredible peak output, while its toroidal design keeps its magnetic field well-confined.

500 watts per channel into 8 ohms

Centaur II 500?s huge transformer and increased supply capacitor voltage achieve output power of 500 watts per channel into 8 ohms, doubling to 1,000 watts into 4 ohms. Even 2-ohm loads are no problem for Centaur II 500. Whatever speakers you own, Centaur II 500 lets them give their best possible performance.

Double the power, same size

Because Centaur II?s output stages and heat sinks were so heavily overbuilt, our engineering ?dream team? was able to double the power for Centaur II 500 while keeping the chassis size the same.

Balanced Bridged output stage

Like all of our amplifiers, Centaur II 500 is built from multiple single-ended modules using only N-type output transistors. This unique approach delivers the ?best of both worlds?: all the finesse and delicacy of the finest small, single-ended amplifiers with the awesome power of the largest audiophile amplifiers. The fully balanced design, with separate circuits for the positive and negative halves of the signal, doubles the slew rate and broadens the frequency response, making Centaur II 500 ideal for reproducing DSD and high-sampling-rate PCM.

Line Stage Gain Module input stage

Maximum fidelity of all incoming signals, even unbalanced ones, is assured by Centaur II 500s Line Stage Gain Module input stage, the same circuit used in our preamps. The module?s unique servo design maintains a perfect balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal, preserving even the tiniest details in the music without distortion or coloration.

All-discrete, fully balanced audio circuitry

Centaur II 500?s circuitry is fully balanced from input to output, with separate circuits used for the positive and negative halves of the audio signal. Only discrete transistors and other components are used in the audio path; we do not compromise by passing the signal through integrated circuits.

Constellation Link balanced interface

Because our preamps already have Line Stage Gain Modules, Centaur II 500 allows you to bypass its Line Stage Gain Module using the amplifier?s Direct input, which forms the Constellation Link. By taking one gain stage out of the chain, audio transparency is elevated even further.

Inherently stable design

Our Balanced Bridged output stage design is inherently stable, so it does not require a Zobel output at its network to damp high-frequency energy, as many high-end power amps do. This means fewer components and a wider frequency response.

Specifications:

Inputs

• 2 XLR (1 for Constellation Link), 1 RCA, 3.5mm jack for 12V trigger, USB control jack

Outputs

• metal binding posts

Power output

• 500 watts per channel, 8? (1 kHz @ 0.05% THD+N)
• 1,000 watts per channel, 4? (1 kHz @ 0.05% THD+N)
• 1,600 watts per channel, 2? (1 kHz @ 0.05% THD+N)

Gain

• 14 dB (Constellation Direct), 26 dB (balanced & RCA)

Output noise

• <70 V, 500 kHz BW, -116 dB @ 250 watts

Damping factor (8Ω load)

• 160

THD+N

• <0.05% (1 kHz @ rated power)

Input impedance (balanced)

• 200 K

Input impedance (unbalanced)

• 100 K

Output impedance

• 0.05 

Weight

• 150 lbs / 68 kg

Dimensions (W x H x D)

• 18.75 x 11.5 x 24.25 in
• 476 x 292 x 616 mm