In the latest of our ongoing series of interviews with the people behind the brands, Hifi Pig talks to Daniela Manger, the CEO & owner of Manger Products.
Read all the Behind the Brands interviews.
Krell have announced today that their S-550i integrated amp will be shipping this week!
The Krell S-550i builds on the success of the S-300i integrated amplifier and delivers 275 watts of stereo output. The S-550i is outfitted with balanced and single-ended inputs, iPod dock, and Theater Throughput™ mode. For custom integration applications, 12 volt triggers, RS-232 connectivity and rack mount ears are included. Operational parameters can be customized via the menu system that is accessible from the front panel or the included brushed Aluminum remote control.
The preamplifier section features circuit concepts from Krell’s flagship Phantom preamplifier. Direct coupled circuitry eliminates capacitors from the signal path and a custom-machined level control adjusts volume. Discrete circuitry, in a balanced topology, is afforded its own power supply regulation. All signal gain is realized using surface mount technology featuring proprietary current mirrors. Negative feedback is not used anywhere in the preamplifier. Open-loop distortion is typically less than 0.003%. The volume control is realized with a balanced resistor ladder – bandwidth and transient response of the preamp circuitry are virtually unaffected by the volume setting.
The S-550i packs 1,750 watt transformer and 68,000μF of capacitance into a 5″ high chassis. This power supply feeds classic Krell circuitry throughout the topology using only discrete circuitry. That is, the S-550i doubles its power output when a speaker’s impedance is halved. For the S-550i, the results are 275 watts into 8 Ohms and 550 watts into 4 ohms.
Daniela Manger is the CEO & owner of Manger Products. She has involved in Hi-Fi, electronics engineering & Pro-Audio markets almost since she was born due to family interests. Based on their unique Manger MSW/Sound Transducer their current portfolio includes Reference Active Monitor (MSMc1) & its floorstanding version (MSMs1), plus other accessories which help to evaluate the musical results in both the Hi-End & Professional markets. More »
34 years. That’s how long Bad Religion has been a functioning entity! Occupying a genre not known for cultivating longevity in its participants, they’ve endured line-up changes, fluctuations in popularity and label changes and are (deservedly) absolute icons of punk rock.
However to use sporting parlance, you’re only as good as your last game… so how does True North come across in the current unpredictable musical landscape? More »
Luxury high end audio manufacturer Gryphon Audio Designs of Denmark is celebrating the launch of their greatest 
loudspeaker achievement yet, the four-tower Gryphon Pendragon.
Conceived to be partnered with the Gryphon Pandora preamplifier and Mephisto (stereo) or Mephisto Solo (monoblock) power amplifiers, the three-way Gryphon Pendragon system employs a bass tower (eight 8” bass drivers per channel driven by a custom-designed 1000 Watt Gryphon Class A/B power amp) and an open baffle mounted with a two meter long dipolar planar magnetic thin-film ribbon (covering the 200 Hz – 18 kHz with no crossover in its operating range) alongside a vertical array of four dipolar Air Motion Transformer super-tweeters, specified to beyond 32 kHz.
Gryphon founder and CEO Flemming E. Rasmussen elaborates, “We had committed considerable resources over the past decades to solving the many inherent problems of crossover networks, but it has always been in the back of our minds that eliminating a problem altogether is a far more elegant solution. By coming up with a single, broadband drive unit with ideal sound reproduction and mechanical behaviour across more than seven octaves, Gryphon Pendragon eliminates crossover components in the critical mid frequency range, preserving spectral and temporal integrity.”
Price is €150 000.
THIEL Audio, the lexington based high-end loudspeaker manufacturer, has announced that consumer electronics 
senior executive Bob Brown has been appointed to the company’s board of directors and will take over as interim COO effective immediately. Brown, recently named to CEDIA’s board of directors, brings a rich legacy and successful track record in the performance audio category to THIEL as the former President and CEO of Lenbrook America, which distributed NAD Electronics and PSB Speakers. Brown was also President and COO of Tivoli Audio and currently serves as the international sales manager for ZVOX Audio.
Brown’s role with THIEL will be to provide the company’s new ownership with a complete analysis of the existing operation, including manufacturing, domestic and international sales as well as marketing. “THIEL is a brand with a very rich history and my goal will be to provide the guidance and market awareness necessary to maximize opportunities going forward,” Brown stated. “It’s important that as we adapt THIEL’s domestic and international sales processes as well as its product development direction to contemporary business ideals, but that we do so very mindful of the brand’s legacy. This ownership group seems acutely aware of this necessity and appreciative of the pitfalls that have characterized other investor-led high-end audio acquisitions.” added Brown.
It’s that time of year again and around comes what many in the high-end audio community feel is the “must go to” hifi 
show in the calender. I’m talking of course about the Munich High-End Exhibition 2013 which takes place 9th May – 12th May, 2013 – with the Thursday being trade visitors day.
This year the Exhibition is in top form and enjoying an unstoppable boom in bookings. The two main exhibition halls are occupied as usual by international exhibitors alongside all the well-known recording providers, the technology stage for interesting talks and young start-up companies. There will also be one or two surprises in store which Hifi Pig will report in due course.
New for Munich High-end 2013 are specially created and newly developed demonstration cabins featuring in Hall No. 3 and No. 4. These demonstration cabins have been optimised for sound reproduction, are specifically intended for demonstrating music and unsurprisingly many of these demonstration cabins have already been booked. As the event organiser of the High End exhibition in Munich, the High End Society has used demonstration cabins for many years which were qualitatively superior to standard designs usually found at normal trade fairs for consumer electronics but these year they promise to be even better.
The High End Society is offering exhibitors three completely new acoustically-optimised demonstration cabins designed in collaboration with sound experts after many meetings. Due to the sturdy walls and the corner absorbers already fitted at the factory, as well as an acoustically Treated (Odenwald) ceiling, the new demonstration cabins from the High End Society produce good audio values even when empty, which can be enhanced to an excellent level by only minimal additional acoustic measures.
Why not take a look at our full coverage of Munich High End 2013 and other hifi shows.
Bryston, LTD has announced that award-winning studio designer Carl Tatz has selected the Bryston 4BSST² stereo 
amplifier to power the control room monitors in a studio designed for multi-Grammy®-winning engineer Bob Bullock. “I brought the first Bryston 4B to the Nashville studio scene in the ’80s. It has since become the world standard for pro studio amplification. When budget permits, I always spec Bryston for its effortless performance, high resolution sweet top and unmatched low-end muscle,” reported Carl Tatz.
The 4B is the most popular of the Squared Series amplifier and delivers 300 watts into 8 Ohms or 500 watts into 4 Ohms (900W into 8 Ohms (Bridged Mono). The 4BSST² features balanced and unbalanced inputs, selectable gain (23 or 29dB) all in a convection-cooled fully aluminum chassis requiring no noisy cooling fans. All Squared Series 
amplifiers from Bryston are available with silver or black faceplate (3U + .55”) and in 17-inch width (without handles) or 19-inch (with handles). A rack-mountable Pro Edition is available in black. “Bryston first unveiled the 4B amplifier back in 1976. The 4B, (and all its successors up to the 4BSST²), have been adopted as the among the most popular studio reference amplifiers of all time. We are excited that both a respected designer and an esteemed engineer chose Bryston for this pioneering project.” Chris Russell, CEO of Bryston, LTD.
Aurorasounds’ is a high-end audio company from Yokohama, Japan. Designer and director Shinobu Karaki has 28 years 
experience working for Texas Instruments Japan Inc and is also a passionate musician, music teacher and an audiophile.
Aurorasounds’ latest development is a phono-stage called VIDA (Vinyl Disk Amplifier). The two box VIDA uses an LCR network for RIAA equalisation via Lundahl transformers combined with old-world craftsmanship offering “outstanding performance” and fully adjustable loading for both moving coil and moving magnet phono cartridges. The phonostage has no capacitors in its signal path and comes as standard with RCA inputs/outputs which can be upgraded to XLR connectors.
The VIDA also features a stereo/mono switch, a built in cartridge demagnetizer and a rumble filter.
Price is £3199.95
KEF has added a Linear White and Rosewood finish to its Q Series speaker range. The Q Series uses the Uni-Q driver 
array and bass drivers which help deliver an “extremely detailed and spacious sound image even from the smallest models”.
There are nine models, including three floorstanders, two bookshelf speakers, two fully specified and timbre-matched centre channels, dipole surrounds and a powerful 200-Watt subwoofer in the the Q Series loudspeakers representing a wide choice of options for either serious two-channel or home cinema applications
US audio cable manufacturer, DH Labs has announced the latest in their range of loudspeaker cables, the Deity 
Speaker Cable. The cable has been designed to be used in high-end audio systems and the company claims it delivers “the most accurate and uncoloured signal transmission possible, along with extraordinary harmonics and tonal balance”.
The Deity loudspeaker cable is said to be built to “exact tolerances and is hand terminated by skilled craftsmen”.
The cable is made up of 12 individually insulated pure silver conductors (20 awg) in an interleaved helical array encompassing two silver-coated Continuous Crystal conductors (14 awg).
DH Labs proprietary Air-PTFE dielectric is tape wrapped around each conductor and the company say this offers the lowest dielectric loss of any commercially available cable.
Made in the USA the Deity cable is available with either silver spades or bananas.
6ft lengths are $4900, 8ft lengths are $5900, 10ft lengths $6900 and 12ft lengths $7900. Available now.
