As the most recent addition to Audiolab’s acclaimed range-topping 9000 series, the 9000N network player needed to be something special, especially as the £2499 price-tag pitched it against some impressive rivals. It’s no surprise, then, that the company’s designers and engineers took a fresh look at the way the new model was put together, making it just as high-end as the partnering 9000A amplifier and 9000CD disc-player.

Audiolab’s other streamers have been based around the Play-Fi platform developed by DTS, of which I’m hardly a big fan. To be charitable, I’d say that, with a big name like that behind it, it must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but having used it in several implementations, it has always struck me as illustrating the lack of need to reinvent the wheel, offering as it does few obvious advantages.

This latest model is based on a platform from Hong Kong-based Pixel Magic, the parent company of network player manufacturer Lumin. However, there’s no overt declaration of this link: rather Audiolab says that the 9000N ‘had to be worthy of flagship status and working with a new technology partner was central to achieving this aim.’

Such an approach makes a lot of sense, leaving the Audiolab team to put all its efforts into optimising the audio side of the product, and also means that ‘as the capabilities of this world-leading streaming platform continue to evolve, so too will the 9000N thanks to free over-the-air updates.’ What’s more, my past experience of Lumin products have left me with no doubts that this is an extremely well-developed and fine-performing platform, and also happens to be extremely simple to operate and a delight to navigate.

The Audiolab itself retains the sleek styling of the rest of the range, and as a long-time user of the brand, right back to the original 8000A and pre/power amplifiers, the 9000 series is, to date, the most harmonious realisation of the revival of the brand. Whether in black or silver, the 9000N looks as stylish as it is solidly built, its display is big enough, colourful and crisp, and its minimal controls are well-weighted and operate smoothly. And that last aspect isn’t something you can say for all high-end products – some of which put sound first but fall down on control feel – but it adds greatly to the pleasure of ownership.

It turns out that the combination of Audiolab’s engineering and its chosen streaming platform partner is a very harmonious one: it gives the 9000 much more wide-ranging capability than the company’s lower-priced models, both in terms of the services it can access and also the file-formats it can handle. In fact, it’s safe to say that just about any music you want to play, the Audiolab will do it, from MP3s all the way up to multiples of the DSD format, with the option of upsampling PCM streams to DXD’s 352.8kHz or 384kHz. That should cover the user for just about any format currently on offer.

Control of the 9000N is possible via the remote handset provided, or using the Roon or Plex media-management systems, while the Lumin-based Audiolab control app, for Android or iOS, gives direct access to streaming services including Qobuz and Tidal, as well as Apple AirPlay 2 (but no Bluetooth or Chromecast), Spotify, TuneIn internet radio and of course files stored on UPnP servers on the home networks. USB storage can also be plugged straight into the unit for playback from local storage, and there’s also a USB-Type B port for the connection of a computer, allowing the 9000N to act as a DAC.

An interesting twist here is that the Audiolab offers the choice of networking via cabled Ethernet or Wi-Fi – nothing unusual there in the network audio world, but notable because Lumin’s own products only operate with a wired connection, so this may be an interesting option for those liking the way Lumin operates – which is extremely smoothly, by the way – but unable or unwilling to run a cable from their router to the hi-fi.

As with the streaming provision, the digital technology here is firmly in the ‘tried and tested’ camp, the 9000N using ESS’s flagship Sabre ES9038PRO, along with proprietary circuitry to make the most of the DAC’s HyperStream II architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator technology, and an Audiolab-designed analogue filter downstream of the conversion. The company has extensive experience of the Sabre converters, which also appear across the Audiolab range of digital products. A choice of six digital filter settings is available – the default is a fast roll-off type, while the others will be a matter for the listener’s taste – while the player uses a proprietary Audiolab master clock, and has a separate power feed for the DAC section, all in the cause of optimal performance.

Meanwhile the processing for the entire player runs on a Quad Arm Cortex-A53 core MCU, which offers advantages such as artwork caching to deliver fast loading to the colour display. That screen can also be set to display the output level in figures or as a meter, or can be dimmed or turnedoff completely.

The 9000N outputs audio via RCA phono sockets or balanced XLRs, with the choice of fixed level or volume adjustment via the front-panel control, the latter allowing the player to be used straight into a power amplifier or active speakers. There’s also a built-in balance control, and the unit can also output via digital optical or coaxial connections.

PERFORMANCE

At £2499, the Audiolab 9000N isn’t exactly the most affordable network player on the market, but it is an exceptionally transparent and involving performer, and more than a match for some high-end rivals at considerably higher prices. In fact, it could be argued that the beauty of this player is that it does nothing to the music – but that’s a very good thing, meaning that any overt character detected is either in the recording or being added by the system components downstream of the player.

Having been somewhat underwhelmed by Audiolab’s previous network music offerings, it’s hard not to feel that the 9000N is the player the company should have made all along: whether with the finest detail of a solo instrument or the complexity of an orchestral or choral work, this player is the epitome of that hi-fi ideal of an open window on the music. The Pappano/LSO recording of Mendelssohn’s Elijah sounds both dramatic and finely delineated, with all the performers, instrumental and vocal, having superb character and textures. Even better, there’s that ‘liveness’ in the recording, enhancing the sense of attending a performance, not just hearing a series of files.

There’s a rich ripeness to the bass here when the recording demands, but it’s completely controlled and never overblown, meshing seamlessly with the midband, which then flows smoothly into the treble. In fact, it’s inappropriately divisive to consider these elements of the sound in this way, given the ability of the 9000N to deliver the music as a whole, essentially disappearing from the sonic experience.

That’s especially apparent in the Astor Piazzolla/Kronos Quartet ‘Five Tango Sensations’ set, a wonderfully tight and crisp recording, but it also serves well the Chandos release of Britten’s piano and violin concertos, with Howard Shelley and Tasmin Little, and the BBC Philharmonic under Edward Gardner, the combination of seemingly limitless power and finesse proving truly enticing.

Without a doubt, the Audiolab 9000N is a major achievement on many levels, from the fit and finish to the breathtaking sound on offer. And in an age where very expensive network hardware is becoming more common place, it might even be considered something of a bargain.