Borderland MK IV,
Omnidirectional Loudspeaker

Reference Series

Award Winning Loudspeaker

Originally introduced in 1992, the Borderland was immediately successful in a number of key markets. Now in its Mk IV form, the Borderland remains our most popular loudspeaker. It combines our unique carbon fibre DDD driver with a downward firing 12–inch woofer and a sophisticated crossover network. Employing an extremely rigid octagonal cabinet, it sets impressively high standards for immersive stereo imaging, transparency and musicality.

Latest News

  • “The Borderland too did not disappoint me. What struck me first was the picture-book bass: cleanly transparent and immense-ly powerful. To quote Müller: “Closed box designs are simply superior.” I have no reason here to contradict him.”

    —Audiophile, March 2011

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  • “The Borderland has all those properties we’ve come to expect from German Physiks loudspeakers, but more so. There’s that outstanding imagery, which is not limited to one place in the room. There’s also that fine top-to-bottom coherence of sound, the extension and grace without an overtly ‘audiophile’ faux sound, and so on. But with the Borderland, this all comes together in the shape of a larger, more physically ‘in the room’ presentation that is as potent as it is beguiling”

    —HiFi Plus, issue 141

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  • “… the Borderland’s two-way design resulted in a seamless unity of presentation, where everything that was supposed to be there was there without added glamour or bling—a natural portrayal of the recording. Stereo separation just felt more correctly conveyed in 360 degree.”

    —The Absolute Sound, Issue 316

Your own seat at the concert

When you listen to the Borderland Mk IV it is easy to understand why it is our most popular loudspeaker. It creates an expansive and immersive, three-dimensional sound stage in the room that allows you to imagine you are listening to real musicians playing, rather than just listening to a very good recording. This is enhanced by its ability to create the sense space that you experience in the concert hall.

Coherence, dynamics and resolution

The Borderland’s the DDD driver covers the range from 190Hz to 24kHz, almost all that you hear, with just the very low-end filled in by the 12-inch woofer. This produces an exceptional top to bottom coherence which is essential to produce a convincing stereo image. It also allows the size of the instruments to be more accurately rendered. This is difficult to achieve when an instrument’s frequency range is split over several drivers and especially so when this split straddles the midrange, where our hearing is most acute.

With a moving mass of less than 3 grams, the DDD driver gives the Borderland an outstanding dynamic response. There is no sense of compression and the attack of the music’s transients sound convincingly real.

Another strong suit of the Borderland is its ability to resolve fine detail in the recording. This, together with the Borderland’s outstanding coherence, dynamics and resolution combine to produce a sound that is truly effortless.

Extended Bass with Low Distortion

The Borderland Mk IV uses a single 12-inch woofer of the same type used in our prestige Loreley Mk III model. This provides the Borderland Mk IV with a degree of bass extension normally associated with high quality component sub-woofers. Most impressive is that this is achieved with a cabinet of relatively modest dimensions, making this a loudspeaker that is easy to live with.

The bass driver is located at the bottom of the cabinet and works in a sealed enclosure. To provide a smoother bass response, the Borderland’s bass system uses a Helmholtz resonator. This consists of a small additional cavity located in the top of the cabinet, which is linked to the main bass enclosure by a small opening. By carefully selecting the resonator’s resonant frequency, unevenness in the bass response is avoided.

The revolutionary DDD driver

The heart of all German Physiks loudspeakers is our revolutionary DDD driver. This is an omnidirectional driver with an exceptionally wide frequency range. Despite its simple appearance, it is in reality extremely sophisticated.

It provides 8 important advantages to all German Physiks loudspeakers and this combination is what sets them apart from other loudspeakers.

DDD – Learn more

Easy to set-up and use

The DDD driver’s omnidirectional radiation pattern and wide frequency range make the Borderland MK IV less critical of its position in the room than conventional loudspeakers, so they are comparatively quick and easy to set up. Another advantage of being omnidirectional is that no toe-in adjustment is required, which further simplifies the set-up procedure.

The Borderland Mk IV will drive rooms up to 90 square metres (950 sq ft) in size, yet the footprint is a modest 404mm x 404mm (15.9” x 15.9”). It can also work well in smaller rooms.

Separate inputs are provided for the woofer and DDD driver crossover inputs, allowing single or bi-wire connection.

Jumpers on the loudspeaker’s rear panel allow the high frequency output level to be adjusted in 4 steps: -2dB, flat, +2dB and +4dB, enabling the user to easily compensate for the variations in the absorption of high frequencies that can occur due to different types of furnishings and room construction.

Low resonance cabinet design enhances transparency

Colouration caused by resonances in a loudspeaker cabinet, where the cabinet itself starts to radiate sound energy, can seriously degrade the sound quality by obscuring detail. To counter this, Borderland Mk IV, like the HRS-130, uses an octagonal cross-section cabinet. The panels on this cabinet are smaller and stiffer than those of an equivalent size square section cabinet would be. Critically placed internal bracing further increases rigidity.

A special damping material called Hawaphon® is applied to the inside of each panel. This adds mass to the panel to reduce the resonant frequency and its internal structure very effectively converts vibration energy into heat. Hawaphon® achieves a broadband attenuation of structure-borne sound of more than 50dB, which is a remarkably high figure.

To damp resonances of the air within the cabinet, the whole of the inside of the cabinet is lined with a thick layer of high-density felt.

Designed for a lifetime of listening pleasure

As you would expect from a German product, the quality of construction and reliability are first class. We use the same quality of parts in the Borderland as in our reference products, where we design for a minimum life expectancy of 25 years.

Meticulous care and attention are paid during manufacture. Prior to assembly all components and materials are subject to a rigorous inspection. We also carry out detailed inspections at each stage of the manufacturing process. We can afford to do this as we build our products by hand in small batches. After assembly, the performance of each loudspeaker is measured. It is then burnt-in for at least 12 hours and then measured again. Once the burn-in process is complete, each loudspeaker is given a final detailed physical inspection before being packed.

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Finish Options

German Physiks loudspeakers are available in a carefully curated range of finishes, allowing each model to be tailored to its environment.

Choose from beautifully crafted veneers, refined painted finishes or high gloss, or make a bold statement with high-polish polyester and high-polish carbon fibre for a truly contemporary aesthetic.

View Finish Options

Impedance 4 ohms
Frequency Response 28 – 24,000Hz
Power Handling Nominal 300W / Short term 600W
Amplification required Minimum 160W/4 ohms
Crossover frequency 190Hz
Crossover slopes
DDD section 12dB/octave electronic & 18dB/octave acoustic
Woofer section 12dB/octave electronic & 18dB/octave acoustic
High frequency adjustment -2dB, flat, +2dB and +4dB centred at 8,000Hz
Sensitivity 86.1dB for 1W at 1
Operating principle 2-way loudspeaker with 360° surround radiation using the German Physiks DDD driver
Input connectors 2 sets of WBT nextgen™ binding posts
Drivers 1 x carbon fibre DDD driver / 1 x 12-inch woofer
Recommended room size 15 - 90 square metres / 160 – 950 square feet
Finish View
Dimensions 404mm W x 1,229mm H x 404mm D (15.9" W x 48.4" H x 15.9" D)
Weight 54kg / 119lbs
Warranty 5 years

As part of our process of continually improving our products, we reserve the right to change specifications without notice

DDD Loudspeakers Models