News

New Zealand's Perreaux Industries began creating audio products 30 years ago, starting with the GS 2002 integrated transistor amplifier in 1974, and landed in the US in 1980 with the PMF 2150 amplifier. Dozens of new audio products have been developed since then, many of them groundbreaking, and the latest designs are again available in the American market.

Sanibel Sound of Virginia recently announced it is now the exclusive distributor for the Perreaux line in the US. Sanibel's Steve Davis says his plan is "to offer the range through our well-established network of authorized resellers throughout the country. We will be introducing the line to our resellers and the public at the upcoming HE2004 in NY." Perreaux was previously distributed in the US by Audio Advisor.

Davis is no stranger to the brand, noting that he procured his first Perreaux product, a PMF 2150B power amplifier, 20 years ago. Perreaux will be offered to Sanibel's 50 dealers around the country and joins the company's other product lines including Piega, North Star, Fisch, Audio Tekne, and Aloia. Davis says that Sanibel is now in its seventh year of operation.

"Perreaux is very well known and is internationally recognized as a premier line of high-end electronics," says Davis. "We're absolutely thrilled to become its exclusive US distributor." Perreaux's Martin van Rooyen says that his company is pleased with the arrangement as well. "They're an extremely energetic and enthusiastic organization that will in time make significant impact with our products in the US high-end marketplace."

To help kick-start the new distribution arrangement, Perreaux says it will be unveiling three new "Silhouette" series products shortly. To date, the Silhouette line of "modules" includes the SXV1 mm/mc phono preamplifier and the SXH1 headphone amplifier. Joining those two products will be the SX25i 25W integrated amplifier ("the ultimate in simplicity"), sporting a single input and manual volume control, and the SXL1 unity gain line stage amplifier designed to operate between the output of a CD player and the input to a preamplifier or integrated amplifier.

Perreaux says the SXL1 presents a high input impedance to a CD player output, therefore not loading its output circuitry, which allows the player to "perform optimally." "The unity-gain amplification stage of the SXL1 utilizes a high current output, allowing interface to components with a low input impedance or long interconnect cables to be utilized without degrading the signal," says the company.

Of particular interest to audiophiles exploring the computer as an audio source component is the upcoming Silhouette Series SXD1 USB/DAC module. Perreaux says the SXD1 will feature upsampling to 192kHz at 24-bits using a Burr Brown DAC and separate regulated analog and digital power supplies. "The defining factor is decided by how you choose to store your music files on your computer's hard drive," says van Rooyan. "You will be able to plug the USB output from your computer into the input of the SXD1 and play straight off the hard disc drive via the SXD1 to the input of an integrated amplifier. Think about the possibilities!"

The new products should be available around June of this year.