Hot Stuff
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday December 3, 2001
Before Team New Zealand wrested the America's Cup from Dennis Connor and the New York Yacht Club in 1997, few people outside New Zealand had any inkling of the high-level technology hiding beneath that long white cloud ... unless, that is, they were interested in high-end hi-fi equipment. When it comes to audio electronics, New Zealand looms large on the high-tech map, with amplifier manufacturers Perreaux and Plinius showing the way.
Perreaux started in 1974 as a specialist amplifier manufacturer and in 1979 became the first company in the world to release an integrated amplifier using metal-oxide semi-conductor field-effect transistors (mosfets). Its range now includes AM/FM tuners and CD players. Perreaux's latest offerings are the AVP1 Dolby Digital/DTS processor/preamplifier and a six-channel power amplifier, the 6160. The standard finish for these components is an interesting texture coat, but chrome is an option. There's also a "Classic" series that replaces each front panel with an aluminium moulding cast in the shape of a peanut. Models in this series can be chromed, anodised bright red or plated in 24-carat gold.
Perreaux's 6160 can be operated in several different configurations. If you use it as a six-channel amplifier, it delivers 160 watts per channel into eight-ohm loads and 225 watts per channel into four-ohm loads. By bridging the six channels down to just three, output power can be increased to 425 watts per channel. Like all Perreaux designs, the 6160's mosfet output stage operates in Class-A mode to 10 watts, and Class A/B thereafter. Designer Peter Perreaux prefers mosfets to their bipolar transistor counterparts. He says they sound warmer, sweeter and more realistic. Perreaux also does not like to use cooling fans in his designs, so despite the 6160's enormous heatsink fins, it runs very hot - so hot, the manual warns not to touch the fins while the amplifier is operating.
The AVP1 is a full-featured multi-channel Dolby Digital processor/decoder. Although it can be controlled from the front panel, the buttons are so ridiculously small and the legends so difficult to read that you'd be silly to try. Far better to use the 29-key remote control while watching the on-screen display on a TV.
Unlike most decoders, which use ordinary wiper-style resistors to control volume, the AVP1 has a resistor ladder that is quieter, with superior channel balance. It means the Perreaux can be used as a high-end preamplifier. Other features include solid-state input-source switching and a separate, fully regulated power supply for each of the different circuits inside the AVP1. It also benefits from not having an AM/FM tuner inside, so there's less radio frequency interference.
The star of the show is the magnificent 6160, which delivers far more power than any home-theatre set-up will ever need and has such low distortion that it would not be out of place in a high-end two-channel system. It would also be an excellent choice for multi-room hi-fi systems. The AVP1 tags along close behind in performance, but its front panel design and controls may turn out to be just a little too futuristic for some tastes, particularly in its "Classic" finery.
Infofile
Perreaux AVP1 Processor &
6160 Six-channel Power Amplifier
Price: $4995/$5995
Audio Marketing Pty Ltd,
64 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove, NSW 2066
9427 6755
info@audiomarketing.com.au
www.audiomarketing.com.au
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald