UPDATE AUGUST 2003 - New Technology Ribbon Loudspeakers for Superb Home Theater and HiFi Stereo

Ribbon Loudspeakers by Newform Research.

WHAT'S NEW

BACK 1 2 3 NEXT

Newform Research Update - Aug 2003

If you ever managed to secure a really heavy duty set of audiophile cables to the back of the Panasonic, the resultant torque might flip the tiny package on its side or back or even hold it suspended in the air. Maybe this will result in a whole new market segment - “Digital Amp Clamps”. To put the kidding aside for a second, the XR45 is very well put together inside and out but the high end clues of heft and overbuilding simply are not there.

Panasonic has not ignored sound quality in the XR45. I know many listening tests were done during its development. In fact, the XR45 is an upgraded version of the XR25 (probably $100 less) which has similar specs. The XR45 benefits from higher quality components and capacitors etc. Great sound is no accident but it is not the driving force behind the development of the product. Efficiency, packaging and cost were larger drivers.

The XR45 may signal a turning point in the life of high end audio but it is not a magnificent product to be coveted for decades. Like virtually all digital products, it is an appliance and soon something better and even less charismatic will come out. The engineering and development (not to mention cost) behind the XR45 are truly astonishing and easily eclipse the work of the creators of many of the great audiophile classic components.

But development here was done by teams inside huge corporations and the result is something that cannot be shown off, fondled or even understood by most of us. It’s only joy is in the using. Its only task is to get out of the way of the music and this it does as well as virtually any audio component out there. Digital may deliver the goods but the romance of technically driven aesthetics will be dying a quick death. Such is progress as art is displaced by science.

Note that Panasonic is selling a 220V version of the XR45 in Europe but a version for Asia has yet to be confirmed.

Behringer DSP Crossover

Arriving within 3 weeks of the XR45 was the Behringer DCX 2496 digital crossover. It is incredibly flexible and powerful crossover and the other necessary component to make the digital chain complete.

The 2496 is a digital package as well, compact and light but stuffed with capability. It’s a 3 way stereo crossover (we use it as a 2 way stereo so there is room for a sub crossover capability). Amazing crossover flexibility, 6 to 48 dB slopes, Butterworth, Bessel or Linkwitz-Riley filter types, 1 to 180 degree phase control with a fair amount of EQ capability plus many other features.

As a loudspeaker designer with 30 years of crossover component lead twisting and alligator clip jumping, using a real time crossover by just dialling in the values, slopes and alignments plus some equalization from the listening seat while the music is playing is joy itself.

With the price of digital amps and the cost and capability of digital crossovers, passive crossovers are now history for the serious tweaker.

The Whole System.

Added together the XR45 and the Behringer are a killer combination both in terms of performance and value. As shipped, the system is plug and play. If you have to install the external crossover terminal plates, setup will probably take 2 hours. If your system already has direct wired drivers count on 15 minutes as we ship both components fully configured with all of the cables and interconnects.

So the package consists of:

- Panasonic XR45 6 channel receiver (we make use of 4 channels)
- Behringer DCX2496 digital crossover
- All interconnects including an interconnect to the coax output of your CD or DVD player (SP/DIF or Toslink won’t work, your CD/DVD player must have coax or else you’ll have to use the analog outputs)
- biamp Analysis Plus speaker cables
- external crossover terminal plates

System cost

- with the R645s $3210US delivered
- if you have the R645s or R630s, $993US delivered

Strong Points

Freed from coils and resistors in the circuits, the 645s ScanSpeak midbasses can dig very deep with great authority. A subwoofer for music in any room under 400 square feet is almost certainly not needed

Dynamics. Note the capital “D”. 105 watts, 75 watts, spec it as you like, the jump and the power is there in spades for virtually any room and perceptible clipping is not a factor at any sane listening level.

Classic digital amp sound source resolution and rock solid soundstaging. Detail and transparency with a foundation of bottom end openness, reach and pitch definition. It is all there and it’s musical.

Digital amps, nine pounds. Is it necessary to mention this is the green solution? If you own tube amps, this could save you $30/month in electricity. Make the brownouts more amber: Go digital.

Weak Points

You will start to pick apart your music’s production quality from cut to cut. Great cuts are an absolute joy. Mediocre cuts are, “well, if they loved their music so much, why didn’t they do a better job of producing it” - kind of response. Poor cuts aren’t punishing but the difference is striking. Personally, I’ve actually found many ‘60s rock cuts to be more enjoyable although there are a few bars in 2 certain cuts which are grating. You will seek out for good material. The background noises in the music are fascinating.

There is only ONE INPUT to the Behringer at the moment. We are working on a small switchbox but right now if you use more than one source, you have to drive the Behringer from either a preamp or processor/receiver or plug in and out for the source you want to use.

Future Directions

What is next? That is anyones guess but there will almost certainly be a lot of options. Internal crossovers in the Panasonic to replace the Behringer or perhaps a Behringer with room correction built in? Increasingly sophisticated room correction is now on some lower end Yamaha receivers. Dedicated, higher end digital amp packages from leaders like Spectron. Panasonic has a definite lead here and they can basically hit the targets they want to while smaller companies will struggle to turn their visions into reality. The question is, what is Panasonic’s vision? They are certainly in a position to change the face of audio in the home if they choose to do so.

There are a number of parallels with the progress of video front projectors. It is now possible to get a really good front projector for under $1000 (Infocus X1 and possibly several others). There are better front projectors out there but they cost a great deal more. But the main point is, the X1 is good enough and cheap enough to allow people to switch from tubes and rear projectors into the front projector configuration. Once there, they can await the virtually guaranteed rapid price reductions and performance increases and upgrade when they see fit, easily selling and replacing their existing unit.

With digital amps and DSP crossovers, the same plug and play future awaits. Prices may or may not go down but performance and features (room correction etc.) can only improve. A ready market (over ebay, audiogon or videogon) exists for used amps and crossovers so cost recovery should be pretty good on an already very small investment. To put this in perspective, try selling your 65" rear projector TV.

There are 3 or 4 major players in the digital amp business. Competition will be intense and development will be rapid. At the risk of beating the comparison with front projectors to death, the Texas Instruments DLP engine is the leading player in that market but other technologies are certainly pushing TI and making a real horse race of it in different market segments.

The major digital audio companies seem to have different market focuses and are coming out of the gate roughly at the same time. The resultant variety of products and the pace of development should make for an extremely interesting next few years.

BACK 1 2 3 NEXT

Text Size

Email: ribbons@newformresearch.com Tel: 705.835.9000