New High End Audio Wave Amplifiers

Filtered-Down tech is the BOMB!
Like the flappy-paddle gearboxes that appeared on Selespeed Alfas and Mercedes cars after the tech was started on the race track and can now be seen on all sorts of motors. Like the awesome sound of the Bowers & Wilkins CM Series loudspeakers. Not cheap but as good as stuff twice the price, partly down to the filtered-down technology of the amazing Nautilus tube-loaded tweeters developed for the £44,000 a pair snail shell speakers that have become such design icons.
Filtered-down means you get technology developed for expensive things, included into cheaper things.
Well, mad end amplifier makers Audio Wave, who up to now have only made cost-no-object close to bespoke products for the discerning and well heeled few, are now making amplifiers that you merely need to be well off rather than a lottery winner to own. And best of all, they look likely to have a big slice of talented amplifier circuitry designer Grant Hanan’s Research & Development effort invested in their insides.
Here’s what they wanted to let you know about the new product…
 
The new amp is called Aspire and is the first class A/B stereo amp that AudioWave have produced. As with all our amps they are hand-crafted.
The amps that have been released are the standard finish and the Special Edition.
Their chassis are made from 2mm Steel and the lids on the standard finish are made from 3mm Aluminum finished in a high quality black textured powder coat. The badge is made from stainless Steel and hand brushed and then laser etched.
The Aspire amps are all matched and allow three different ways of bridging the channels. A bridging module is needed to bridge the amplifier or amplifiers (no bridging module is required to parallel bridge the two channels together) and this will be released shortly. Each amp has an output to provide the bridging module with power and only one module is needed to bridge two amps together, which will cut install time costs.

The amp has been rated as follows: (average figures)
4 – 8 Ohm stable.
100 watts per chan @ 0.01% THD @14.4V @ 4 Ohms
187 watts per chan @ 0.1% THD @ 14.4V @ 4 Ohms
100 watts per chan @ 0.0042% THD @ 14.4V @ 8 Ohms
145 watts per chan @ 0.1% THD @ 14.4V @ 8 Ohms
Parallel bridge mode;
Rated @ 200 watts per chan @0.0091% THD @ 4 Ohms @14.4V
285 watts rms @ 0.1% THD
Using a bridge module the figures are,
300 watts + TBA
bridging two Aspires together in parallel and normal bridge mode (all four channels) will achieve;
an output of 1,000 watts @ 0.0112% THD and 1,400w @ 0.2% THD with into a 4 Ohm load.
Cross talk not less than 60db @ 1kHz
SNR not less than 100dbr (Typical 105 db) and on parallel bridge would be approx 111dbr
Dimensions: HWD 64 x 378 x 339mm
Weight: Just over 8Kg
Most of the resistors are 1% metal film, most of the caps are rated at 105 degrees Centigrade and all the preamps are Burr Brown .The gain control is the high-end Alps pot.
The Aspire has an LED display port that will show Thermal, Protect and Power and the display is sold as a separate item. (the same LED display that comes with the more expensive CR range.)
The amps have thermal protection and if triggered, will power down to idle mode. Then, when the temperature has decreased it will turn on the speaker outputs so that all the output devices are protected. Cut off is 80 degrees Centigrade.
In addition there is a fan module that can be purchased separately and will drive at least two 12 volt fans. The outputs are thermal-speed controlled.
The PCB is 3 Ounce double layer grade and is made in the UK. All the connectors, transformers, coils and chokes are also hand-crafted. The speaker and power connectors are brushed finish and are plated in 24Kt gold.
The Special Edition amp has a Steel and Acrylic lid and the PCB is printed with the Union flag. This print is very high quality and took a lot of work to get right – the overlap of the colours is no more than 5 thousands of an inch and is of course lit up internally with no less than 100 diffused white LEDs. Almost any nation’s flag-bearing PCB can be produced.
The RRP for the standard Aspire is £1,800.00 and a little more for the special edition (TBA). The amps will carry a six year warranty if fitted by an authorized Audio Wave dealer or one year if self fitted.
If you go onto the Audio Wave website http://www.audiowaveltd.com/ and look at the last page, at the bottom you will see a Facebook link, that’s the place for all the latest news etc.