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I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that we are in a New Golden Age of Audio...

Posted by John Marks on November 20, 2024 at 13:17:01

Maybe there are stars in my eyes, but the more I poke around and learn about new products and gather data... I am beyond tempted to say that although we act like we are not aware of it, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that we are in a New Golden Age of Audio...

Why?

Here's the "Elevator Answer"

"Innovation has been substantially improving the Price-Performance ratio, and at progressively lower price tiers."

A prime example: NAD's M33 Master Series do-it-all electronic component is based upon Purifi's famous Eigentakt amplifier board, and all you need to do is add loudspeakers and cables and you have a system up and running. It also has Dirac Room Correction, and a Moving Magnet phono stage, all for $4999.

So, let me try to list all the developments that I think support my view.

1) Thin-Ply Carbon (and, Metamodal Thin-Ply Carbon) materials for woofer cones and tweeter domes. No question, these are game-changers. And, you can get the bulk materials from Oxeon's Composite Sound division, or buy OEM drivers from SB Satori or SEAS.

2) Purifi's "Neutral Surround" radical reworking of woofer surround form and function is another game-changer. However, at the time of writing this, AFAIK they were not licensing that technology out. A SEAS TPCD 6-inch woofer-mid with a Purifi surround, I think would be amazing.

3) Hypex and Purifi switching-mode amp boards. These have driven down the cost of audio excellence faster and farther than any recent development I can think of. VTV and other (no offense meant) "Packagers" provide the enclosures and power supplies and assembly labor, and deliver very classy sound at very fair prices. NAD, which, I believe is a corporate cousin of Purifi, uses Purifi's Eigentakt board in its TOTL one-box solution.

4) GaN (Gallium Nitride) FET amp modules. Not a week seems to go by without the announcement or review of a new GaN-based amplifier. Again, companies like Orchard are re-writing the rules that Krell and Mark Levinson and Perreaux and Plinius and everybody else were laboring under back in the 1980s and 1990s.

5) DIRAC Room Correction. If it's good enough for John Atkinson, it's good enough for the people I give advice to!

6) Danville Signal's Outboard DSP hardware. Their 2/8 DSP Processor has two balanced line-level Inputs, for Right and Left, and four balanced line Outputs per channel. Which means that you can execute the Crossover Function of a 3-way or 4-way loudspeaker in the Digital Domain. If your speaker design is a two-way, they offer a 2-in, 4-out model.

If I were starting all over again, I'd be tempted to pick up some speakers either with TPCD woofers or Purifi woofers, and a Hypex or Purifi or GaN-based integrated amplifier or one-box, and also DIRAC Room Correction.

If anyone can think of any other Game-Changing technologies or products, please leave a comment about them.

BTW, the image above is of a very classy integrated amp from Hi-Fi Rose, which is a GaN design. 250 Watts per Channel, for $2995. Back in the 1980s and 1990s and 2000s, how much did you have to pay to get 250Wpc? Then, please take that answer, and adjust for inflation.

I used to say back in the 1980s through 2000s that an "Entry-Level" Serious, Nearly Full-Range High End Audio system was going to cost about $15,000.

I now think that you can do better, for less money; perhaps even down to $10,000 of today's dollars.

BTW, If I had to pick a pair of loudspeakers aat or under $5000/pr., the first I'd audition would be Philharmonic Audio's non-Home-Theater Tower.

ciao,

john

• https://futureaudiophile.com/hifi-rose-ra280-integrated-ampl   (Open in New Window)

Edits: 11/21/24

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