German Physiks comes to Dallas

Welcome to the March 2024 German Physiks newsletter.

This month we report on our US distributor’s room at the SouthWest Audio Fest in Dallas, Texas. This is the show’s first year and while it was a small show, it was well attended. From the various reports we have seen, visitors were very happy with what they saw and heard and with the venue. We are sure that this show will grow in future years.

Unicorn Mk II at the SouthWest Audio Fest

German Physiks Unicorn Mk II in satin walnut burl veneer

Earlier this month, our US distributor, Locrian Audio, demonstrated our Unicorn Mk II omnidirectional loudspeakers at the SouthWest Audio. The Unicorn is unique in our loudspeaker line-up in that it uses a single carbon fibre DDD driver to cover the entire audio range.

On all other German Physiks designs, the DDD driver is combined with a conventional bass system and crossed over at around 200Hz. This is because, in order for the DDD driver to work, it must have a surround that is significantly stiffer than that used in a conventional driver. The stiffness of the surround limits the DDD driver’s cone excursion and hence its low frequency output. On the Unicorn, the DDD driver is driven full-range and the radiation from the back of the driver is coupled to a horn system that allows the bass response to be extended down to 40Hz. A bass trap in the horn ensures that there is no peak in the frequency response caused by an overlap in the radiation from the horn and that directly radiated from the DDD driver. This horn system is responsible for the Unicorn’s “unique” look. We have found that any attempt to change its shape to improve the look compromises the loudspeaker’s performance. The single DDD driver in the Unicorn produces outstanding clarity and coherence, with a bass that is very agile and surprisingly well extended.

Visitors to the room were impressed by what they heard. Here are just two comments:

“I went into this room and the sound was astounding. Music oozing from every corner in the room.”

“My brother and I attended this show and we both agreed that this was the absolute best sounding room. We both have very different systems, his Magnepan and subs, mine vintage Ohm speakers, so the fact that we both agreed on it says a lot.”

Reviewers were also impressed:

“The horn loading of the driver along with the omnidirectional nature of the speaker cone allowed the sound in this room to be excellent in all seating positions. That's often one weakness that is difficult to eliminate in rooms with more directional speakers. But here, one could sit and listen without fatigue for a very long time. I loved this room!”

Michael G. Harkins, Enjoy the Music

“Some fresh, high-quality products making their U.S. show debuts—not to mention the excellent sound quality that was achieved—made this system a fun one to audition.”

Mark Henninger, Stereophile

Stereophile shot a very nice video of the system which you can view by clicking the button below. It features Basile Theodoropoulos, owner of Locrian Audio introducing the system, followed 8 minutes of music. The sound quality on this video is very good and we recommend that you listen with good headphones.

This video has attracted a lot of attention, so far receiving 4,500 views. This is more than twice the number of views received by any of the other videos they shot at the show and it is also their best performing video in the last 12 months. We would like to think that this was entirely due to the Unicorn, but we must give credit to the excellent system we were partnered with.

Customers in the US who wish to audition the Unicorn are invited to contact Basile at Locrian Audio to arrange an appointment to visit his showroom, where they can also hear a wide range of other German Physiks loudspeakers. He may be contacted by phone on (469) 438 1761, or by email at info@locrian-audio.com.

Visit the Locrian Audio web site

Visit the Unicorn Mk II web page

The loudspeaker that almost never was

Originally the Unicorn was not intended to become a commercial product. It was designed as an in-house exercise to see if it was possible to build a loudspeaker that used a single German Physiks DDD driver driven full-range. It would have remained an in-house curiosity were it not for a chance conversation between Holger Mueller, the owner of German Physiks and the US reviewer Dan Sweeney in 1997.

Sweeney, who was unaware of the Unicorn’s existence, asked if such a loudspeaker could be built. Mueller described the experimental design and Sweeny asked when this would go into production.  Mueller said never, as he thought its unconventional look would make it too difficult to sell. Sweeney then asked if Mueller would send plans for the design, so that he could have cabinets made in the US. These were sent, but due to their complexity, Sweeney was unable to find a cabinet maker willing to take on the job.  Eventually Mueller agreed to make a custom set of the loudspeakers and brought them to the showroom of the then US distributor. There they were auditioned by a local high-end audio dealer who liked them so much that he ordered a set on the spot.  Shortly afterwards, the Japanese distributor got to hear about this demonstration and they ordered a set.   This prompted Mueller to add the design to the German Physiks loudspeaker line-up and thus the appropriately named German Physiks Unicorn Mk I was born. 

Over a number of years, further work was done on the design, resulting in the Unicorn Mk II. The main changes were an improved bass response and a revised cabinet with a forward-facing horn mouth that made it easier to position the loudspeaker in the room.

As the Unicorn Mk I was selling steadily, mostly in Japan, the updated version was not put into production, but was used in the factory as a reference for transparency against which other designs were judged.

In 1999, a Japanese audio reviewer, the late Okihiko Sugano, was visiting the German Physiks factory, when he heard the Unicorn Mk II.   He was already very familiar with the Unicorn Mk I, but after hearing the improvement that the Mk II offered, he strongly advised German Physiks to put it into production.  At that time, Mr. Sugano was the top reviewer for Stereo Sound, the most influential high-end audio magazine in Japan.  It also had a significant readership in several other Far East countries, so his strong suggestion was not to be ignored.

Initially the Unicorn Mk II was fitted with the same titanium DDD driver used on the Mk I.  With this, the frequency response was flat between 55Hz and 21.5kHz.  With the current carbon fibre DDD driver, the response limits have been significantly expanded and it is now flat between 40Hz and 24kHz.

The full story of the development the German Physiks Unicorn may be read in our Newsletter number 48.

A detailed explanation of the how the Unicorn Mk II works may be found in our Newsletter number 5.

Special thanks to …

We would like to extend special thanks to our old friend Mike Broughton of The Audiophile Source. We have worked with Mike at many shows in the last 20 plus years and his exceptional system set-up skills have been crucial to the success of these shows. Not only is he very good at what he does, he is also very quick, which is very useful at a show when time is limited.

This time Mike provided invaluable help with the pre-show planning and his expert system set-up skills were a major factor in the excellent sound produced by the system. He also brought along a lot of great music.

If you are an exhibitor at a US show in need of an old-hand to to help with planning and room set-up, or an audiophile who wants to have their system fine tuned, we highly recommend that you get in touch with Mike. Mike can be emailed at m_broughton@mac.com.

In the pipeline

News items coming in the near future include:

• Another award for the Borderland Mk IV

• A video review of the Borderland Mk IV