7^th January 2008

German Physiks Carbon Mk IV Launched

The German Physiks Carbon Mk IV was launched at the CES in Las Vegas in January.  The original Carbon was launched in 1997 and like the Borderland it is another long running German Physiks success story.  The Carbon Mk IV uses a new cabinet based on the Borderland Mk IV design. This is reinforced with layers of carbon fibre using techniques borrowed from the aircraft industry.  The result is a very rigid and inert structure that enables the Carbon Mk IV to further improve on the high standard of fine detail resolution achieved by the Borderland.  

Click here  to see the Carbon Mk IV page.

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7^th January 2008

German Physiks at the CES 2008 and The Show, Las Vegas, USA

We had a very successful time atthe 2008 CES in Las Vegas where we demonstrated our new Carbon Mk IV and PQS202 Mk II models in the Venetian Meeting Rooms.  We worked in cooperation with Signals SuperFi our US distributor. Signals’ President Chris Sommovigo provided a dream team for the rest of the system from the other lines he distributes.  Our analogue source was the much lusted after Criterion turntable from Continuum Labs in Australia, CD player and amplifiers were from Vitus Audio in Denmark and cabling was Chris’ own highly regarded Stereovox line.   

In addition to our main exhibit, German Physiks loudspeakers were used by Vitus Audio who had a pair of HRS 120s that were making very nice sounds in the Venetian Tower with their SS 010 25W integrated amplifier and over at The Show in the St Tropez another pair of HRS120s was being used by Audio Design and Marketing who were driving them with a pair of Berning Quadrature Z mono amplifiers.

The Venetian Meeting Rooms have a notoriously difficult acoustic and our room was no exception.  A quick visit to a hardware store yielded fifty feet of carpet, twenty feet of underlay, twenty 6 ft wooden batons and sundry tools that enabled us to construct an ad hoc, but very effective acoustic treatment.  This combined with some judicious system adjusting and a fair amount of sweat and stress resulted in a sound that although not perfect by our standards, attracted a lot of very positive comment. Here is just a sample:

Clement Perry of The Stereo Times commented, “Chris Sommovigo of Signals SuperFi,importers of Continuum, StereoVox, Vitus and German Physiks showed their collective best - in all black no less. Showing very good sound staging capabilities via the omni-directional way, was the German Physiks model PQS202 ($55,595 with full carbon fibre cabinet finish) and the Vitus mono SM101 amps ($65k!) were driven by its own SCD-010 CD player ($16,995) and SL100 line stage ($40k). My very own reference discs sounded quite nice with a very airy and open effect that appeared realistic despite the less than ideal acoustics.Always a fan of omni designs, and a personal long time admirer, I think the German Physiks are certainly one to keep an eye on”.

Dave Thomas also of The Stereo Times was equally generous in his praise, “After spending the better part of the first day over at T.H.E. Show, I was now itching to jump into the fray over at the Venetian big time…. My first stop was in the Signals Super–Firoom which is the North American distributor for German Physiks loudspeakers,Vitus Audio, and Continuum Audio Labs, and the global distributor for Dragon power cords and the Stereovox line of cables which are designed by Chris Sommovigo who also is the owner of Signals Super-Fi. They set the bar for all the upper echelon systems I would hear this week and I mean set it high.

Commenting on his experiences at The Show Dave Thomas wrote, “When it comes to component matching and system setup there are few people in the industry like Bruce Jacobs of Audio Design and Marketing. Jacobs put together two wonderfully musical systems….The main system featured the TW Acoustics Raven AC turntable ($10,000) with Triplanar arm and Dynavector X1 cartridge, and Tron Seven phonostage ($4,000). The electronics were the Exemplar Reference preamp ($12,000) and Berning Quadrature Z mono amps ($29,995/pr). The speakers were the German Physiks HRS 120 ($28,995/pr) and again, the cables used were the Stereovox Reference. Both of these systems were characterized by a musicality that was uncommon for show conditions and was easily the best sounding room at the St.Tropez.”

Our sincere thanks to our friends from Continuum Labs and Vitus and especially to Chris Sommovigo for helping to make the CES such a success for us.

Quotes from Clement Perry and Dave Thomas reproduced courtesy of The Stereo Times www.stereotimes.com.

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8^th February 2008

German Physiks Appoints Avantegarde Audio and Video as their distributor in Brazil

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Avantegarde Audio and Video as our distributor in Brazil.  Avantegarde Audio and Video boast a portfolio of extremely prestigious brands and we are very happy to be joining their company.

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15^th February 2008

German Physiks HRS 120 Receives Excellent Review in UltraAudio Magazine

Jeff Fritz senior editor of theUS online high-end audio magazine UltraAudio has written an excellent review ofthe HRS 120.  The version of theHRS 120 reviewed was fitted with a titanium cone DDD driver, but his comments will be broadly applicable to the version fitted with the higher performancecarbon fibre cone DDD driver. Below are a few of the review’s highlights. 

“The HRS120s imaged wonderfully. I heard a defined center image and performers that were easily identifiable within the soundstage—as long as the recording included such information.  One of my tests for imaging is Eva Cassidy’s cover of Buffy St. Marie’s “Tall Trees in Georgia,” from Live at Blues Alley [CD, Blix Street 10046]. Her spoken introduction of the song should be very precisely centered and properly scaled. When these things are accomplished, the recording sounds like the in-concert performance it actually was. The HRS 120s reproduced this track superbly.”

“They produced the most expansive, most three-dimensional soundstage I’ve yet heard in my room. The sound was melt-the-walls-away wide and deep. The result was that the speakers truly “disappeared” from the music, leaving behind only some of the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.  Live recordings with lots of natural ambience sounded very close to live. Nor was there any keep-your-head-in-a-vise issue of imaging: the HRS120s kept a stable image even when I listened a couple of feet or more off axis. These would make great speakers for a home theater in which a number of people sat side by side, all listening at once.“

“…the DDD seemed to reveal more information about vocalists. A good example was “I’ve Got You to See Me Through,” from Eleanor McEvoy’s Yola [CD, Market Square 113]. The piano’s tone was spot on, and McEvoy’s voice was natural, clear, and detailed.”

“….I loved listening to these speakers. And don’t let their small size fool you. A pair of HRS 120s could play plenty loud in my room and not sound strained. “

“…I recommend you seek out the German Physiks HRS 120 to audition…. You might just fall in love with them. If you do, I can just about guarantee that you’ll be the first on your block to have a set, and that your audiophile friends will gawk in amazement when they first hear them.“

Click here to see the full review.

Quotes courtesy of www.UltraAudio.com.

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20^thFebruary 2008

German Physiks Appoints Zemfira as their distributor in the CIS

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Zemfira as our distributor in Russia and the CIS.  Zemfira is one of the leading Russian high-end audio distributors and we are looking forward to a long and fruitful co-operation with them.

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