海外ニュース速報 [World]
Signature speaker cable plays a big part in Chord Company history. It was our first shielded speaker cable and it led to the development of Epic, Carnival SilverScreen, Epic Reference and of course our flagship speaker cable, Chord Sarum.chord-signature-speake-cable–500px
Signature speaker cable has been part of the range since 2004 and has worked beautifully in so many systems – and now (thanks to the success of Sarum speaker cable), we’ve found ways to improve the Signature speaker cable.
Please welcome Signature Reference. So what’s changed? Well to put it succinctly – everything!
Size
The new Signature Reference is slightly smaller in diameter and quite a lot more flexible. If you thought Signature was a bit on the stiff side you should have seen the first prototype. I once sat and watched it begin to tip a substantial pair of bookshelf speakers off their stands!
Conductors
Signature Reference has 10 AWG multi-stranded conductors, like the earlier Signature. However, where the Signature conductors were oxygen free copper, the Signature Reference has silver-plated oxygen free copper conductors, bringing it into line with Epic Reference and Sarum.
Insulation
Insulation has also been changed. Signature Reference has PTFE insulation where the original Signature had polyethylene.
Shielding
Two changes here. The first is that a higher density braided shield has been applied to the Signature Reference. The second is that the spacing between the conductor and shield has been optimised to improve performance. The result of this is that the new Signature Reference is marginally smaller in diameter than the original Signature.
Outer Jacket
Both Signature and Signature Reference have PVC outer jackets. However, the new Signature Reference has a different density of PVC, which we use on several of our cables to help minimise mechanical noise.
Appearance
As standard, Signature Reference is fitted with our own custom-machined gold-plated banana plugs. These are produced in the UK to our specification and are plated with 24 karat gold. We can also fit gold-plated spade connectors and BFA Camcon connectors. Like Signature, Signature Reference is available in both red and black or all black. The choice is yours.
Custom made
Every set of Signature Reference is hand built by us. It can be ordered to any length (min 1.5m) you require.
Performance
We’re very pleased. There’s more than a hint of Sarum to the new Signature Reference. We’ve currently got a set running with a pair of seriously high end speakers in our dem room and it exhibits the same sort of control and definition that Sarum does. It’s extremely neutral and transparent enough to make the day to day changes easy to hear as it runs in. It’s a very worthy successor to our beloved Signature speaker cable.
海外ニュース速報 [World]
New tonearm: Thales EASY
Introducing their new tonearm: the Thales EASY, the Swiss company THALES TONARM expands its portfolio by producing a new model with a very high level of performance but also at a very competitive price. As expected, the inventor of the Thales tonearm (Micha Huber) has developed a tonearm with variable offset angle, based on a newly developed and highly innovative geometry.
The clever arrangement of six bearing points creates three null points for the horizontal tracking error, plus a zero point for the variable offset angle as well, which is a really novel for a tonearm design. This means the cartridge is guided along the ideal tracing line like that of a parallel tracking tonearm. This reduces side forces tremendously and is audible when listening to the EASY.
The EASY is a very compact and highly integrated design and provides a musical experience that was never possible at this price point before. The EASY was developed and manufactured based on Thales’s knowledge and expertise in producing their reference tonearm; the THALES SIMPLICITY, which has become the bench mark for more than 200 clients around the world.
Spindle to Pivot 230mm (EMT/Ortofon standard)
Effective length: 220mm
Effective mass: 10gm
Max. tracking error: ±0,4° (trad. 9“ tonearm: 2,2°)
Max. offset angle: ±12° (trad. 9“ tonearm: 23°)
Cartridge weight 5g – 20g
Output connection 5-pin-DIN (integrated)
プレスリリース
海外ニュース速報 [World]
PS Audio DirectStream DAC
2014年3月1日正式発表
$5,995
PerfectWave DACからのアップグレードも可能。
プレスリリース
February 27, 2014
PS Audio, manufacturer of fine audio equipment for over 40 years, is proud to introduce the revolutionary new DirectStream DAC.
DirectStream is the result of lead designer Ted Smith’s decade-long obsession with DSD, the first in a field of one: a DAC so radical that it will show how most other DACs on the market are…well, broken. How so?
The back-story: In 1981, music was reproduced exclusively on analog-based turntables and tape decks. Although there are inherent limitations in their media, records and tape have benefitted from a century of development. Despite the very listenable music coming through those grooves, the audio world wanted more: greater dynamic range, lower noise, extended frequency response.
No wonder that when, in 1982, Sony and Philips announced they had achieved “Perfect Sound Forever”, music lovers around the world waited in eager anticipation of analog’s promise finally fulfilled.
The launch of the PCM-based Compact Disc would set in motion a 30-year war amongst Audiophiles, decimate the analog format, cover up subtle musical details for decades and turn the music and audio industries upside down –and not necessarily in a good way.
It might not have ever been a problem if Sony and Philips had waited another decade, and passed over the classic PCM delivery system. It turns out the processing of the CD and its higher-resolution siblings is fundamentally flawed, and has been from the beginning.
Most modern DACs are broken: music’s details have been more faithfully recorded than we ever suspected, and the cover-up of those recorded details has been with us for more than 30 years. Happily, the missing musical information is still buried deep within our audio libraries waiting to be revealed.
The problem is the PCM decoding process itself: whether a classic ladder-DAC or more modern multi-bit Sigma-Delta type, PCM processors universally mask some of the subtle cues in music, and no amount of upgrading, expenditure, tweaking or improvement can fix this fundamentally-flawed system.
In order to extract everything hidden in PCM recordings, a completely new processing method is needed.
An end to the 30-year PCM cover-up: PS Audio is proud to end the cover-up, and finally, with the revolutionary DirectStream DAC, reveal all the missing information buried within PCM-based digital recordings.
Put DSD into DirectStream, you get DSD. Put PCM into DirectStream, you get DSD.
DirectStream converts all digital inputs, including PCM, to pure 1-bit DSD, in an elegantly-simple path. In the process, the PCM feed becomes more linear, less edgy, and never-before-heard musical details are released from all digital audio recordings. Billions of CDs and high-resolution downloads worldwide will gain new life, and be saved from obsolescence — and recycling bins or landfills.
Its secret is in its simplicity: Take a look at this comparison diagram (click to enlarge): on the top is a block diagram of one of the best PCM-based processors in the world, the ESS Sabre DAC. Look at that cluttered, circuitous path then look at the pure simplicity of the DirectStream. The PCM processor’s tendency to mask music’s subtle details is largely due to its complex needs, multiple clocks, power supplies and limitations inherent in ICs.
It’;s not enough to just convert PCM to DSD: Converting PCM to DSD can be an easy exercise using any number of computer software programs or IC solutions. Converting PCM to DSD properly, and in such a way as to reveal missing details in the music, is a serious technical challenge.
DirectStream utilizes 66-bit fixed-point FIR filters, eliminates headroom issues common to PCM, flattens noise response in the 20-100kHz region, uses coefficients optimized for best sound rather than faster processing speed and optimizes hardware-specific operations not possible in software.
Method: Unlike other processors available today, DirectStream unifies all inputs (PCM or DSD) at 10 x DSD, then uses a true single-bit double-rate DSD core engine. True DSD core engines (compared to the standard multibit Sigma-Delta converters followed by random lower quality multibit converters) offer advantages in simplicity, linearity, and in analog-like overload characteristics that avoid PCM’s hard clipping potential and a PCM processor’s propensity to mask subtle details.
Construction: Instead of being based upon a packaged PCM-based DAC chip, with all of its inherent compromises and limitations, DirectStream utilizes an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). An FPGA is capable of dissipating large amounts of heat, enabling intensive levels of signal-processing that are impossible to achieve with an off-the-shelf chip.
Further information of lead designer Ted Smith’s seven-year journey leading to DirectStream, as well as complete details of DirectStream’s design and features, download the DirectStream White Paper. Videos of Ted’s discussions of his design process as well as the entire Gus Skinas interview can be found here.
PS Audio’s DirectStream is a totally new approach to processing digital signals. By means of its radical architecture and construction, it is able to offer state-of-the-art digital performance and previously masked musical details from all formats, at an affordable price. DirectStream will change viewpoints regarding ultimate sound-quality while simultaneously offering greater value than any contender for state-of-the-art.
PS Audio’s DirectStream isn’t just another new DAC. It’s a whole new process for decoding digital audio.
Release: The PS Audio’s DirectStream DAC will be announced March 1, 2014. Shipments to dealers and distributors will begin in April, 2014. A limited number of units are available for review at the present time.
MSRP: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price is $5995 in the United States. Pricing in overseas markets will vary.
Upgrades: PS Audio provides an aggressive upgrade program for all PerfectWave DAC owners to convert their existing units to the new DirectStream standard.
About PS Audio: Founded by Paul McGowan and Stan Warren in 1973, PS Audio has a long history of offering innovative designs at affordable prices. PS has been an industry-leader in the fields of power-regeneration, phono preamplifiers, DACs and transports. PS Audio’s administration, engineering and manufacturing facilities are all located in Boulder, Colorado, and all core products are fully made in the USA.
海外ニュース速報 [World]
The pinnacle of the legendary twenty series, the twenty.26 features the same traits as its siblings – finesse, delicacy and musicality – but with an added ability to convey huge dynamic impact and the sheer scale of a musical performance, it can engulf the largest room. This exceptional, well thought out design will excel with a vast array of amplification due to its ease of drive and well-tempered balance, and its transparency ensures that users improving other elements of their signal path will appreciate the full benefit of their upgrades. This is a model that takes every musical style in its stride, and delivers the greatest level of overall clarity of any of the twenty series, or indeed of any speaker in this class.
Available Finishes: Walnut, Amarone, Diamond Black, Oak
Crossover Frequency: 380Hz & 3.8kHz
Dimensions: H 1062mm 41.8” (+25mm spikes) x W 190mm 7.5” x D 439mm 17.3” (+16mm grille)
Drive Units: LF PMC twenty series, lightweight doped 7”/177mm cone with cast alloy chassis, MF PMC 50mm twenty series dome mid-range, HF PMC/SEAS®, 27mm twenty series, SONOLEX™ Soft dome, Ferrofluid cooled
Effective ATL™ Length: 3.3m 11ft
Frequency Response: 27Hz – 25kHz
Impedance: 8 Ohm
Input Connectors: 3 pairs 4mm sockets (Tri-amp or Tri-wire)
Recommended Amp Power: 50 – 300W
Sensitivity: 86dB 1W 1m
Weight: 22.5kg 49 lbs
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683 3-way vented-box system（トールボーイ型） $1,650 per pair
684 2-way vented-box system（トールボーイ型） $1,150 per pair
685 2-way vented-box system（ブックシェルフ型） $700 per pair
686 2-way vented-box system（ブックシェルフ型） $550 per pair
HTM61 3-way vented-box system（センター型） $750
HTM62 2-way vented-box system（センター型） $450
DS3 2-way closed-box selectable dipole/monopole surround system
ASW610XP Active closed-box subwoofer system
ASW610 Active closed-box subwoofer system
ASW608 Active closed-box subwoofer system
Bringing high-end sound quality within the reach of more people than ever before, Bowers & Wilkins existing 600 Series of hi-fi and home cinema speakers has won a host of awards for its mix of value and performance. Now, six new speakers radically revamp the entire range and dramatically improve every element of its design. The resulting range – versatile, discreetly stylish and able to compete against far more expensive rivals – sets an all-new standard for affordable loudspeakers.
This remarkable breakthrough has been achieved with the careful application of both established and all-new technologies. The new 600 Series utilises tried-and-tested Bowers & Wilkins engineering solutions from other ranges – Double Dome Tweeters derived from the CM10 speaker, Anti-Resonance Plugs for mid/bass drive units and, of course, Bowers & Wilkins iconic Kevlar® cones. Added to these proven technologies are new advances developed specifically for the new 600 Series, including new Dual Layer aluminium bass drivers and new tweeter decoupling technology.
The Decoupled Double Dome tweeter is a major technological advance, and comprises two separate aluminium domes, the second with its centre portion cut out and glued to the rear face of the first dome to create a remarkable blend of lightness and rigidity. In the new 600 Series, the entire tweeter assembly is further decoupled, being physically separated from the cabinet by a cushioning gel ring. The resulting Decoupled Double Dome tweeter has stunning clarity and tonal purity plus outstanding imaging and dispersion. Together, the result is a step change in capability for affordable loudspeaker design, one that propels the new 600 Series firmly to the top of its class.using the cutting-edge technologies and class-leading design for which Bowers & Wilkins is renowned.
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