Centaur II 500 is an unexpected but very happy result of our upgrade from the original Centaur to Centaur II. When they designed the upgrade, our “dream team” of the world’s finest audio engineers ended up with an amplifier they knew could deliver far more than its rated power, if only the power transformer could provide enough voltage. As an experiment, they installed one of the transformers from our Reference Series Hercules II into a Centaur II Stereo chassis. The experiment worked even better than they imagined, producing Centaur II 500: a stereo amplifier with the same power rating as two Centaur II monoblocks.
Centaur II 500 is an unexpected but very happy result of our upgrade from the original Centaur to Centaur II. When they designed the upgrade, our “dream team” of the world’s finest audio engineers ended up with an amplifier they knew could deliver far more than its rated power, if only the power transformer could provide enough voltage. As an experiment, they installed one of the transformers from our Reference Series Hercules II into a Centaur II Stereo chassis. The experiment worked even better than they imagined, producing Centaur II 500: a stereo amplifier with the same power rating as two Centaur II monoblocks.
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 ohm (1 kHz @ 0.05% THD+N)
1,000 watts per channel, 4 ohm (1 kHz @ 0.05% THD+N)
1,600 watts per channel, 2 ohm (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 @ up to 90% of rated power
Input impedance (direct): 100K Ω
Input impedance (balanced): 10K Ω
Input impedance (single-ended): 10K Ω
Output impedance: 0.05 ohm
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
