Circle Labs M 500 monoblock amplifiers

Description

Circle Labs M500

Reference hybrid power amplifier

El Circle Labs M500 represents the most ambitious vision of the Polish firm Circle Labs in the field of power amplification. It is not simply a powerful power amplifier; it is a hybrid architecture conceived to unite authority, refinement and a deeply natural musicality.

Its design combines the brand's accumulated expertise in amplifier development with proprietary circuitry created from scratch. The result is a power amplifier capable of working both in stereo mode like in fully balanced monoblock mode, offering versatility that is very unusual in a component of this level. In monoblock configuration, the M500 delivers 600 W at 8 Ω and even 1,200 W at 4 Ω, figures that enable these speakers to cope with the demands of challenging speaker enclosures, large rooms and systems where true dynamic range is essential.

At the heart of the M500 is a valve ECC88 / 6922 carefully selected, working in configuration SRPP. Circle Labs uses a deliberately simple and minimalist input stage, with a very short signal path and top-quality components, including a signal capacitor Mundorf Silver Gold Oil. This philosophy seeks to reduce losses and distortions, keeping the timbral richness and musical naturalness intact.

Technology Circle Power The design applied to the output stage brings the M500’s performance closer to the philosophy of single-ended amplifiers, whilst retaining the authority, current-delivery capability and bass control characteristic of a high-power amplifier. The result is a sound with body, detail, scale and a sense of absolute control over the speakers, without succumbing to the coldness or harshness that sometimes accompanies high-power amplifiers.

The internal design is dual mono, with separate power supply circuits for each channel, circuit DC blocker, toroidal transformers with a total power of 1,200 W and a filtering capacity of 880,000 μF. All of this contributes to a stable, quiet and powerful performance, capable of keeping the music under control even during the most complex passages.

The M500 is a power amplifier designed for those looking for something more than brute force. Its true value lies in how it delivers that power: with elegance, silence, harmonic density and a sense of ease that allows the music to flow effortlessly. It is an amplifier for very high-end systems, where every component must match the quality of the whole.

A benchmark power amplifier, designed to reveal the greatness of music without imposing its own character.

Key features

Type: hybrid power amplifier
Operation: stereo or balanced monoblock
Stereo power: up to 340 W / 4 Ω
Monoblock power: 600 W / 8 Ω and 1,200 W / 4 Ω
Inlet valve: ECC88 / 6922 in SRPP configuration
Signal capacitor: Mundorf Silver Gold Oil
Input transistors: Ultra-low-noise Burr-Brown J-FET
Power transistors: high-current Sanken bipolar transistors
Internal design: dual mono
Transformers: toroidal, 1,200 W in total
Filtration capacity: 880,000 μF
Frequency response: 2 Hz – 800 kHz (-3 dB)
Sensitivity: 0.85 V
Profit 35 dB, adjustable to 32 dB and 27 dB
Input impedance: 47 kΩ
Dimensions: 430 x 360 x 230 mm
Net weight: 31 kg
Shipping weight: 36 kg
Standby consumption: < 0.1 W
Ignition power consumption: 100 W
Maximum consumption: 1,400 W