Owners Manual

4826 Sterling Drive, Boulder, CO 80301 Introduction

PH: 720.406.8946 support@psaudio.com www.psaudio.com 15-083-01-1

Rev A

Introduction

Owner’s Reference Stellar Gain Cell DAC

iii

Thank you for your purchase of the PS Audio

Stellar Gain Cell DAC, a high-performance instrument combining the best of

two worlds: bit-perfect, high-resolution digital audio, with the purity and perfection of analog control and output.

The Stellar Gain Cell DAC (GCD) is rst and foremost a full function, standalone, high-resolution Digital to Analog Converter

(DAC). Couple that with its built-in class A, pure analog preamplier, and the beauty of the GCD as the center of a high-end

music system becomes clear.

Stellar earns its name when it comes to performance

The low jitter, high-performance DAC built into the GCD is the work of our chief engineer, Bob Stadtherr, inventor of PS

Audio’s core digital technology, the Digital Lens. Stadtherr has been designing and building high-end digital to analog

converters for more than a quarter century. Elements of his design innovations have been incorporated in many of the best

DACs on the market today. Stellar, his latest creation, is pure PS all the way: DSD, PCM, Digital Lens, passive analog ltering,

analog output stage.

Use the DAC in xed mode, or enjoy the added benets of analog control

At the heart of Stellar’s pure analog preamplier circuitry is the Gain Cell, invented by PS Audio’s founder, Paul McGowan.

The Gain Cell is a variable gain analog stage that removes the limitations inherent in volume controls of all kinds, including

potentiometers, stepped attentuators, light dependent resistors, etc. Instead of routing the pure musical signal through one of

these many devices to control output volume levels, the Gain Cell takes a dierent approach. The actual gain of the amplier

is varied, thus preserving all the musical nuances.

Your PS Audio Stellar GCD represents a major advancement in the art of recreating the musical event without breaking the

bank. The sense of being “there” at the original performance, hearing the warmth and immediacy of the live performance is

unmatched at anywhere near its price level. From the elegant physical appearance to its superb construction, your PS Audio

GCD will provide you with years of musical enjoyment and pleasure.

The Stellar series is a system designed to be used together for best benet - although each of the components within that

system can be used as standalone pieces.

We trust your new Stellar component will bring you many years of musical pleasure.