Hi-fi legend Quad’s new super-powerful, super-connected stereo amp could be all the amp you need for the rest of your life
- New Quad flagship amp launching alongside network streamer
- CD transport will join the range in 2026
- Available November 2025
Money no object
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English audiophile enabler Quad has announced a new flagship range of high-end audio electronics, the Platina Series, which it says deliver “hi-fi’s new gold standard”. And the first Platina Series model to be unveiled is the Quad Platina Integrated amplifier.
Quad is also launching a matching network player, the Platina Stream. And a CD transport will join them in 2026.
Quad says that the Platina Integrated is the “beating heart” of the new series, delivering effortless musicality and accuracy.
Quad Platina Integrated: key features and pricing
The Platina Integrated is a dual-mono Class AB design delivering 200W per channel into 8 ohms and 300W per channel into 4 ohms, enabling it to drive even the most demanding speakers.
That amplification is teamed with a “massive” ultra-low noise 630VA toroidal transformer designed specifically for this model and cascaded voltage regulators in both the analog and digital sections.
The analog volume control is microprocessor-controlled and features four separate channels to keep analog signals balanced all the way through from the XLR input to the DAC’s differential output, the preamp and volume stages and the XLR preamp output.
The digital stage is build around ESS’s Sabre ES9038PRO DAC with a Class A post-DAC filter and two ultra-precise master clocks to eliminate jitter. One clock is dedicated to the CD standard 44.1kHz sample rate and multiples; the other locks down sample rates based on 48kHz and its multiples.
The Platina Integrated supports PCM to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD to 22.5MHz (DSD512). Lower quality audio streams are upsampled to 352.8kHz/384kHz, and there’s a choice of five DAC reconstruction filters to tune the audio from digital sources.
As you’d expect, there’s an extensive selection of connectivity options here. There’s a USB-C port for hi-res audio plus two coaxial and two optical S/PDIF inputs, and there’s also HDMI ARC for TV integration – and that’s just the digital connections.
There are four stereo inputs – one balanced XLR, two line-level RCA and one turntable RCA with a newly designed phono stage. There are also RCA and balanced XLR pre-outs and a 6.35mm headphone socket.
The headphone output has its own dedicated headphone amp circuitry, which Quad says delivers superior sound to other integrated amps with greater clarity, wider bandwidth and superior transient response, making this not only an elite match for highly demanding options among the best stereo speakers, but also among the best wired headphones.
The Quad Platina Integrated will be available from November 2025 with a recommended price of £3,499 (about $4,700 / AU$7,239). Given the amount of tech happening in here, and the quality of it, that actually feels pretty reasonable…
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New Quad flagship amp launching alongside network streamer CD transport will join the range in 2026 Available November 2025 Money no object We love to give practical buying advice on the latest gadgets here at TechRadar. But sometimes what we love even more is to indulge in the most ridiculous,…
