2025 Solid-State Amplifier of the Year: Constellation Inspiration 2 Stereo

$16,500

The new Inspiration 2 Stereo power amplifier may be the “entry level” in Constellation’s line, but there’s nothing entry level about this amplifier, from sound quality to feature set to build-quality. The Inspiration 2 Stereo has preserved the outstanding transparency, resolution, and dimensionality that made the original so compelling, while greatly improving bottom-end performance and dynamic impact. This new model has also increased the power output of the original by 20%, now delivering 240Wpc into 8 ohms. Thanks to a new switch-mode power supply, the Inspiration 2 Stereo’s bass has been transformed. This amplifier has a muscular authority in the low end along with tremendous dynamic impact. But the most significant improvement is how it conveys music’s rhythmic flow in a way that is competitive with cost-no-object electronics. Along with the improvement in the bass, Constellation has managed to keep all those qualities that made the originals so special (and the company’s Reference Series RH’s electronics of choice for nearly 10 years)—resolution, transparency, speed without etch, and a wonderfully open, expansive, and deep soundstage that makes the speakers disappear. Bulletproof build-quality and lavish casework round out this superb amplifier (353)