American loudspeaker producer Klipsch has developed a multi-national loudspeaker conglomerate in the last couple of years, acquiring Danish loudspeaker producer Jamo and Canada-based Energy, Mirage and Athena.

 

Recently there has been a fire sale on Athena loudspeakers on the internet, prompting the Athena faithful to speculate about new lines being introduced soon. Now it appears that parent company Klipsch may be eliminating the line altogether. In a thread appearing on AVS Forum, Rob Landsberg who is Midwest Regional Sales Manager for Klipsch Group Americas, is quoted as stating in an email to a retailer:

Component maker B&K has quietly slipped three class D 2 channel amps onto their website, the B&K AV 30.2, the B&K AV 60.2 and the B&K AV 100.2.

 

The three amps all share the same form factor, a diminuitive 2.5"x5.44"x9.25". The 100 watt B&K AV 100.2 barely tips the scale, weighing in at a mere 7.5 pounds. The three amps' power rating is reflected in the designation: 30 watts for the AV 30.2, 60 watts for the AV 60.2 and 100 watts for the AV 100.2. All three amplifiers double-down at 4 ohms, making 60, 120 and 200 watts respectively. Peak current capacity is not what their class AB cousins enjoy, with the 100 watt B&K AV 100.2 rated at a low-ish 20 amps. No pricing on this trio of low power consumption class D amplifiers.

 

Class D. The herd is halfway there, with more and more manufacturers jumping on the low distortion/low power/low heat class D bandwagon. B&K has been making what is arguably the best dollar for dollar class AB amps for years, with their Reference 200 series capable of an awe inspiring 75 amp peak current capacity. That muscle comes with a price though, as the class AB B&K's are big, heavy and double as space heaters. Will we soon see a new line of multichannel class D amplifiers from B&K?

German loudspeaker producer Audio Physic has quietly updated their lineup, adding three new floorstanding loudspeakers.

 

The 39" tall Audio Physic Virgo V (pictured) is a 3 way design that will handle up to 180 watts and go as low as 32Hz. AV Receiver owners need not apply, as the 89dB Virgo V is a 4 ohm loudspeaker. The Virgo V features a handful of marketing-speak Audio Physic technology, but one in particular stands out and bears repeating. Cone tweeters used to be the standard, but as technology changed, were left by the roadside in favor of textile and metal domes. At first glance this tweeter appears to be a textile dome tweeter sunk into a smallish waveguide, but the dome is actually just a dust cover and what looked like a waveguide is the actual driver. The Audio Physic Hyper-Holographic Cone Tweeter utilizes a ceramic coated aluminum cone diaphragm with a textile dust cover. Audio Physic claims this design images like no driver is involved, and won't ring as age sets in like a textile dome will.  The slanted, round-backed and downward ported Audio Physic Virgo V features what appear to be opposing 7" side mounted woofers, a 6" midrange and a 1.25" tweeter. We'll go with that given their past designs and the lack of detail on the Audio Physic site.

 

Also new are the Audio Physic Yara II Superior and the $5000/pair Audio Physic Tempo VI. The Virgo V and Tempo VI are available in light maple, dark maple, rosenut, black ash, cherry and ebony finishes. The Yara II Superior offers the same finish options minus ebony and plus brushed aluminum. No other pricing details at this time.

 

Silverline Audio has updated their La Folia loudspeaker to the Silverline Audio La Folia II.

 

The 42.5" tall La Folia II is a 3 way rear ported loudspeaker. An Accuton 1.25" ceramic tweeter handles the top end, handing off to a 5" Eton Hexacone midrange at 3500Hz. Two 8" Eton Hexacone woofers fill out everything below 1800Hz. Curious crossover points, as generally you won't have your woofers reaching up so high. The sensitive 92dB La Folia II plumbs down to 28Hz, and is an easy amplifier load at 8 ohms. Power handling is rated at 7-1000 watts. Coupled with the high efficiency, you will be able to drive the La Folia II's with any amp, tube or solid state.

 

The Silverline Audio La Folia II sells for $12,000/pair, and is available only in Piano Carmine Tigerwood at this time.

Sherwood Newcastle has announced that their brand spanking new flagship AV receiver, the Sherwood Newcastle R-972, will be out in March.

 

The Sherwood Newcastle R-972 is a seven channel 100 watt AV receiver. The R-972 is an HDMI 1.3b compliant device, and will upconvert all incoming video to 1080p over it's HDMI output. The heavy lifting is done by a Silicon Optix Reon processor, and judging from past devices that have used this chip we know that the Reon upconverts better than just about any consumer solution going.  Onboard decoding of all advanced audio codecs is handled by a pair of Texas Instruments 32 bit DSPs. I believe the Sherwood Newcastle R-972 marks the first consumer device that implements the Trinnov Optimizer Digital Room Correction we saw at this year's CES. The Trinnov system is a room correction processor "that uses state-of-the-art acoustic analysis and digital filtering techniques to compensate for the acoustic defects of the room where the loudspeakers are located. It is designed for stereo and multichannel professional control rooms, as well as for high-end hi-fi and home theater installations.". -quote from the Trinnov website. Other features the R-972 boasts are dual mode (IR + RF) remote control, four HDMI inputs, 7 analog video inputs, RS-232, three zone functionality, and a USB port which will allow users to download before and after room optimization graphs for some visual evidence of what the Trinnov system did for their system's performance. No word yet on the DACs used in the R-972.

 

The Sherwood Newcastle R-972 is scheduled for a March release, and will list for $1799.95. The R-972 has an impressive feature set and will definitely be slated for audition. Sherwood, if you're reading this, sign me up for a pre/pro with these features.

TC Group. the Danish holding group that manages Tannoy Limited, has announced that they are merging with famous instrument maker Gibson Guitar.

 

Under the terms of the agreement TC Group CEO Anders Fauerskov will be named COO of the new Gibson Guitar Corporation and will remain based in Europe. Gibson Guitar's CEO Henry Juszkiewicz offered "This merger will revolutionize the music industry for many years to come. The synergy between the two companies will allow us an enormous advantage in the development of new audio technologies and brings together two of the world's most powerful brands."

 

Tannoy was founded in 1926 by Londoner Guy Fountain, and produces loudspeakers both in their facility in Scotland and in Southeast Asia. Famous for their dual concentric loudspeakers, Tannoy has been one of the cornerstones of audiophile loudspeakers for decades. Nashville-based Gibson Guitar has been around since 1894 and has given the world many classic guitar designs that are instantly recognizable whether you're a musician or not. They also produce just about every stringed instrument you can imagine.