News

Stick it in your wall: Polk Audio has introduced three new subwoofers aimed at the custom installation market. The $600 CSW88 is a sealed in-wall model featuring dual 8" long-throw, shallow-basket woofers mounted behind a metal pressure plate. Its enclosure is constructed from MDF with 1/8" aluminum panels. It is designed to fit within standard stud-wall construction, measuring 60" (H) by 13.5" (W) by 3.5" (D). Rather than a grille, the CSW utilizes a vent, which, not at all coincidentally, measures the same as a standard 10" by 4" heating vent. Inputs on the top and bottom of the enclosure simplify wiring.

The $400 CSW100 is a smaller design at 24.5" (H) by 14" (W) by 9" (D). It is designed to be used either for in-ceiling/in-floor installation or to be built into entertainment cabinets or custom audio furniture. The CSW100 puts a 10" woofer in an MDF bandpass-style enclosure utilizing Polk's High Velocity Compression Drive bandpass alignment and Power Port venting, producing "exceptional bass output unmatched by similarly sized built-in models," according to Polk's Paul DiComo. The CSW100 also uses a vent, this one measuring 9" by 16".

The $500 CSW200 is a direct radiating in-floor/in-ceiling design, employing a 10" driver in a 1.5 cubic foot slot-load vented MDF enclosure measuring 33" (H) by 13.75" (W) by 9.25" (D). Its 12" by 12" grille opening makes the CSW200 "best used in situations where ultimate performance is paramount and where small size and unobtrusive grille are not as critical," DiComo deadpanned.

Since all three subs are unpowered, Polk is also introducing the $700 Class-D SWA400 250W amplifier. The amp incorporates digital signal processing (DSP) to "adjust the amplifier's response to maximize the built-in subwoofers' performance" and can "easily power up to two woofers to rafter shaking levels."

The SWA400 accepts plug-in data cards (shipped with the CSW88, CSW100, and CSW200) that are pre-programmed to the equalization and infrasonic filter characteristics that best match the woofer being used. The amp's features include front-panel level and variable low-pass filter controls, protection circuitry, low-level and high-level inputs, double sets of outputs (for daisy-chain connection to additional amplifiers), a phase switch, and Auto On/Off.

The new subs and the SWA400 will be available in June.

FlatCap facelift: After an impressive five-year run, Naim has upgraded its FlatCap 2 power supply unit to the FlatCap 2x. Naim has long championed external (and upgradeable) power supplies, and the FlatCap 2x is an ultra-low-noise external PS that delivers "twice 24 volts DC to Naim preamplifiers, phono preamplifiers, and CD players."

Twice? Well, the FlatCap 2x is the only Naim power supply that can simultaneously power two Series 5 components, such as an NAC 112x and a CD5 or a Stageline.

According to Naim, the 2x's improvements are "subtle but significant. Dynamics are more even across the audio band, bass lines are more easily differentiated, and the system noise floor is reduced. Further performance improvements are noticeable when powering a preamplifier and CD player from the FlatCap 2x at the same time."

The FlatCap 2x transformer has two separate secondary windings in order to isolate each of the dual supplies from the other. It includes four low-noise regulators and a new, redesigned transformer with a higher VA rating, lower impedance, and higher peak current capability. Its chassis is stiffer and its heatsinks are also quite a bit larger.

The FlatCap 2x is $1050, which means the upgraded PS costs the same as the original.

Scottish chakras? Linn claims its new Chakra amplifiers "successfully combine the merits of two disparate amplifier designs, monolithic and bipolar." Actually, the company admits, the approach itself is not new, but Linn's execution of the transition from monolithic to bipolar operation apparently is.

Monolithic, or single-chip circuits, contain all of the audio circuitry on a single chip—which certainly represents the shortest signal path possible, making the circuits far less susceptible to interference and enabling higher speed operation than discrete circuits. Their Achilles heel, however, is that monolithic designs are inherently limited in output current delivery.

Linn's Chakra topology uses an array of large bipolar transistors to "boost" the signal of a single monolithic chip. When the output is less than a few amps, it comes exclusively from the monolithic device, "maximizing the speed and linear properties of this design," according to a Linn white paper. "At higher output currents, the bipolars provide the majority of the output current, leaving the monolithic to operate well within its capability and so be able to correct any error instantaneously. Even under extreme overload conditions, like a short circuit, the monolithic never delivers more than a fraction of its safe output, while separate circuitry protects the bipolars."

Linn claims this "virtually unlimited" current output delivery enables the Chakra design to produce "robust and powerful low-frequency response down to near DC." The new topology is also compact and efficient, which translates to smaller and cooler—always a plus.

There are eight models in the new Chakra range. The two stereo models are the 100Wpc C2100 ($2350) and the 200Wpc C2200 ($3650). There are two three-channel models: the 100Wpc C3100 ($2675) and the 200Wpc C3200 ($4475). The are two four-channel models: the 100Wpc C4100 ($3000) and the 200Wpc C4200 ($5300). There's also the five-channel 100Wpc C5100 ($3325) and the six-channel C6100 ($3650).

Chakra amplifiers will be available in late spring or early summer.