A MartinLogan wireless preamplifier that brings Apple AirPlay and DTS Play-Fi streaming to an existing hi-fi or AV system, with analogue and optical connections in and out plus ARC room correction.
Unison: streaming, connections and room correction
Unison is a compact unit, a little over 20 cm wide and deep, that sits ahead of an amplifier or a system already in use. It can do two jobs: add network playback to equipment that lacks it, or act as a preamplifier in its own right. Music arrives over dual-band Wi-Fi or a wired Ethernet link, and there is a stereo RCA analogue input and a Toslink optical input, each with a matching output; the controls are on the front panel and a 12 V trigger lets it switch on in step with the other components.
With DTS Play-Fi, music travels over the home Wi-Fi network at resolutions up to 24-bit/192 kHz from a PC or from Android, iOS and Kindle Fire devices, drawing on your own library or on subscription services. Because Play-Fi is open rather than proprietary, Unison can share a multiroom system with Play-Fi products from other makers. AirPlay sends audio straight from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or from a Mac or PC running iTunes. Works with Alexa certification also allows volume and playback to be handled by voice, through an Alexa device and the DTS Play-Fi skill.
One function that suits owners of traditional sources is rebroadcast: a signal coming in through the analogue or optical input can be passed on to the other Play-Fi devices on the network, so even the sound of a turntable can be heard in other rooms.
Calibration is handled by ARC, Anthem Room Correction. The supplied calibrated microphone measures how the speakers respond in the room, the internal DSP compares the result with a reference curve and adjusts the output to suit, reducing the room's influence on the low frequencies. With ARC Mobile the routine can also be run from an iOS device.
Specifications
- Type: wireless preamplifier with network streaming
- Streaming: Apple AirPlay and DTS Play-Fi (certified Works with Alexa)
- Wi-Fi: dual band 2.4 and 5 GHz, 802.11 g/n
- Wired network: Ethernet 10/100
- Audio inputs: stereo RCA analogue, Toslink optical digital
- Audio outputs: analogue and optical digital
- Rebroadcast: analogue or digital source to other Play-Fi devices
- Room correction: ARC (bass range) with calibrated microphone supplied
- Impedance: input above 10 kohms, output 300 ohms
- Trigger: 12 V
- Controls: on the front panel
- Power: 12 V DC, 0.75 A
- Size: 85 x 202 x 202 mm
- Weight: 0.7 kg
