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    Meeting the Experts of Purifi in Munich

    Meeting the Purifi'sts: A quick report from DuckToller

     

     

    During final preparations for the Munich High End the audiophile universe has born a new star, Purifi ApS and audiophilestyle.com received an invitation to preview its pre-production units in a private setting close to the official expositions.  

     

     

    What is Purifi?

     

    This new star, Purifi ApS in Roskilde, Denmark, which in reality was founded as early as 2014 by Peter Lyngdorf, Lars Risbo and Bruno Putzeys, is a patent holding audio company that brought together some of the brightest minds (and patent holders) in the European audio industry with high hopes:


    "With a focus on developing and verifying accurate mathematical models to solve problems in analogue and digital sound reproduction, PURIFI aims to remove all technical limitations in the enjoyment of reproduced music." (1)


    The company is led by Co-owner Claus Neesgaard as CEO, and a team of highly talented, qualified and experienced professionals in CLASS D & transducer development. More about Purifi

     

     

    What Was Up?

     

    Purifi invited us to an apartment 10 uber-minutes away from the High End exposition for a private preview of its forthcoming products, the class D amplifier board 1ET400A, called "Eigentakt"  and the newly developed transducer PTT6-5W04-01A. The specific name "Eigentakt" is the type of German language that can't be found in the standard dictionaries. It translates in self-oscillating, which in turn exactly describes the characteristics of that very Class D amplifier. Or what DJ's are doing, especially the ones that use this name for their Techno releases .(2)

     

     

    Who Did We Meet?

     

    While Chris' agenda in Munich could not match the available time slot, I made my way to the premises alone and met with Claus, Lars and Bruno in particular, while all Purifi'sts were present in full manpower towards the end of that rendezvous.


    I felt somehow like that guy, who once had an assist for a first-half buzzer-beater, now meeting with The Claw and his NBA All Stars.

     

     

    Main Talking Points:


    Technical specifications , An extreme pool of exciting figures on key specs, like:


    THD+N <0.00017% (-116dB) @ 100W, 4Ω, 20-20kHz
    Dynamic Range  ~ 131dB(A)
    Efficiency  > 94%   for more specs please see here (PDF)

     

     

    About the correct use (mathematically and practically) of "feedback" in Class D

     

    In essence, Bruno P. explained, people have done experiments where they thought they increased feedback and then correctly found that the sound got worse. Reviewing those experiments reveals that in fact they did not increase feedback. So, distortion got worse and so indeed did sound. They heard right, but drew the wrong conclusion from the experiment.

     


    Why isn't it necessary to use an expensive Linear Power unit with this amplifier module?


    In short: The amplifier module is very insensitive to power supply noise. The effect of an LPS is negligible.



    How did the developer of the TACT module (Lars) and the designer of the nCore module (Bruno) got together in this partnership:


    Nothing short of a bromance, based on math and the love of music. Just ask Lars' wife.



    Who are the customers Purifi aims for:


    Audio companies searching licensing deals and the DIY audio segment. Purifi does not aim (at the moment) to compete with any of the companies that the various partners are involved in besides Purifi (my short list: Lyngdorf, Mola Mola, Grimm, Kii)

     

     

    The Setup:


    Mola Mola Tambaqui (networked DAC, approx. 7k Euro), the Red Box, sporting the new amplifier modules (price schedule tbd, said to be “competitive in serious quantities”) and a 2 way speaker system with a passive crossover (around 200 Euro in parts), containing the PTT6-5W04-01A long stroke driver (still to be determined, but expected to be “very competitive with other high end units”) and Mundorf AMT ribbon tweeters (appr. 500 Euro/pair).



    The Room:


    A non-treated apartment room, sofa in the sweet spot, fully balanced.

     

     

    purifi-bruno-lars-etc.jpg
    Lars on the right, Bruno on the left wearing the colorful shirt.

     


    Real Life Conditions:


    Construction noise from the next building, covered by a big blanket in front of the window.

     

     

    What's inside the  Red Box?

     

    According to the information I have received from Mr. Putzeys:

     

    1. I/O board (visible in the photo above in Bruno's hand, with one amp unit attached. He confirmed, "The I/O board is a very simple board we designed and built to make it easy to connect two 1ET400 amplifier boards to a stereo source and speakers. It is much simpler than the input buffer of the Kaluga. We supply the I/O board to clients who want to quickly test and audition the amplifiers. The same I/O board will also be supplied to hobbyists."
    2. 1ET400 boards and 1 SMPS (from another source, the Purifi SMPS is still in development) + cabling

     

     

    red-box-purifi.jpg

     

     

     

     

    Specs and Details:


    We have the most recent technical spec sheets from Purifi for the 1ET400 here & for the PTT6-5W04-01A here.

     

     

    How much will it cost?

     

    Both products are between technology readiness level 6 and 8, therefore pricing was not discussed during the meeting. Purifi verified to me its plans to make an announcement on the 1ET400A amplifier in Q3 this year.


    We know from the announcement from NAD that it will soon use these new amplifier modules, presumably for its Master series that has used the NC400 from Hypex. The M22 Stereo amplifier sells close to 3k USD and we have a fascinating quote from Bruno Putzeys, stating:

    Customers will find out that ultra high end amplifier performance doesn’t need to cost an "effing" 40 grand. That sort of number is completely unjustifiable for even the best imaginable amplifier, it’s got at least one digit too many.

     

    Until then, under reference to Bruno's quote and the 2019 pricing of the NAD m22 stereo amplifier using licensed nCore NC400 technology, the trickle down case is up to the interested reader.

     

     

    How does it sound?


    We listened to some of Bruno Putzeys' personal favorites: on the video snippet you will hear " Kokob / Mètché Dershé” (DR11) from the French ethio-jazz group Akalé Wubè, ethio stands for Ethiopian, not to be confused as one of my usual spelling faults!


    The second track was "Seeya" from Canadian DJ Deadmau5 (DR8), a funky track, that allowed everyone in the room to show visible traces of PRAT to underline the quality of the reproduction. Played on augmented output levels due to the construction work noise from the next building, I felt the sound was extremely clear, crisp and neutral, and especially the excellent French Dub track was convincingly reproduced with this physical presence of vibes and notes, that usually divides good from mediocre systems. 

     

    I made a specific request to listen to the system on low volumes, that's my way to determine quality reproduction. Unfortunately, that attempt was precisely torpedoed by the drill hammer next door with no chance to reproduce, as we were already a quarter overdue. From what I heard, I can report it was nothing short of ok'ish under that circumstances.

    Without having a critical listening, I feel that there will be a great opportunity for manufacturers and DIY'ers to create excellent sounding amplifiers or active speakers. Oh, that was so easy to predict ...

     

     

     

     

     

     

    What comes next?

     


    We have arranged with Purifi that Audiophile Style will conduct a community-generated interview with Lars Risbo and Bruno Putzeys, about their products and the underlying technologies. This move allows them to precisely answer according to the interest of our users.


    Chris will announce this opportunity in the different threads, which have already started to discuss the newest developments in Class D.

     

    Edit: Please see this topic to post your questions for Bruno and Lars of Purifi! (-CC) 

     

     

     

     

     

    IMG_0194-2.jpg IMG_0195-2.jpg

     

    IMG_0196-2.jpg

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    (1) https://www.purifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-05-06_NAD-PURIFI_Cooperation_Agreement_PR.pdf

    (2) https://www.facebook.com/pg/eigentaktofficial/about/?ref=page_internal

     

     




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    Greta work Tom. Thanks for going to this event alone. I would have loved to be there, but I just couldn't make it.

     

    I look forward to the Purifi Q&A!

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    Devialet Expert Pro products have extremely low THD and about the same signal-to-noise ratio.  As to the other technical benefits of Purifi compared with Devialet, I'm not sure.  My point is this: are we simply talking about technical performance or SQ?  It's proven that some companies are really good at improving the technical performance envelope.  The real key for me is whether they are also improving SQ.  Thoughts?

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    Devialet has a topology which makes the filtering after the the class D stage unnecessary.

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    we have a fascinating quote from Bruno Putzeys, stating:
    
    “Customers will find out that ultra high end amplifier performance doesn’t need to cost an "effing" 40 grand. That sort of number is completely unjustifiable for even the best imaginable amplifier, it’s got at least one digit too many.” 

    This is some what confusing to read considering the price level of Mr. Putzeys's brand Mola Mola.

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    18 minutes ago, HQ-Sound said:
    
    we have a fascinating quote from Bruno Putzeys, stating:
    
    “Customers will find out that ultra high end amplifier performance doesn’t need to cost an "effing" 40 grand. That sort of number is completely unjustifiable for even the best imaginable amplifier, it’s got at least one digit too many.” 

    This is some what confusing to read considering the price level of Mr. Putzeys's brand Mola Mola.

    Sounds logical to me. The Mola Mola mono amps are less than half 40,000

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    3 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

    Sounds logical to me. The Mola Mola mono amps are less than half 40,000

     

    Mr. Putzeys's statement was reading "it’s got at least one digit too many.” which should mean   < 4,000

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    10 hours ago, HQ-Sound said:

    Mr. Putzeys's statement was reading "it’s got at least one digit too many.” which should mean   < 4,000 

     

    IIRC, Mola-Mola hasn't been involved in the price discussion.

    You have a certain bandwith between Mola-Mola and DIY NCore units if you want to make a point in one direction or the other.

    I've related the price discussion to the NAD m22, because NAD was the first manufacturer to announce the future use of the Purifi unit. En plus, you may expect a price between 3 and 4 k for a successor, which in turn put some more meat to quote. 

    IMHO, the most important words in that quote are "at least", which leaves some fantasy towards DIY and box manufacturers.

    Best, Tom

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    On 5/25/2019 at 9:59 AM, firedog said:

    My thought is that the principals of this company don't have a history of putting out products that don't perform. If Bruno says these are better than NCore, they probably are. The question then becomes one of price vs. performance. 

    Ncores are available for DIY and also have numerous brands marketing them in amps at all levels of the boards in the line and levels of cosmetics fit/finish. You can get some fantastic affordable NCore amps that are very good values in the audiophile world. But it took a two or three years for this to happen for those that don't want to DIY. We will see what happens with these. 

    Firedog, good points.  Thanks for sharing.

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    On 5/24/2019 at 1:27 PM, HQ-Sound said:

     

    Mr. Putzeys's statement was reading "it’s got at least one digit too many.” which should mean   < 4,000

     

    which is also near the price of the NAD they mentioned

     

    re SQ & increments of SQ per unit cost increment - it would be very interesting to do a blind comparison with the Benchmark amp

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    Just came across a hands on impression of a unit using this module - https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/purifi/.

     

    Unfortunately, I haven't the ability to translate the mellifluous prose 😉 - anyone care to digest this, and tell me whether it's thumbs up, or down?

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    It seems to me that the reviewer liked the PuriFi amp but thought it was bettered on some material by far more costly (4x) electronics. But on most material, the difference could be considered a matter of preference.

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    6 hours ago, Mike48 said:

    But on most material, the difference could be considered a matter of preference.

    On what material would the difference not be a matter of preference? 

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    On 1/22/2021 at 6:54 AM, Kal Rubinson said:

    On what material would the difference not be a matter of preference? 

    I agree with that perspective (i.e., preference on all material). Was trying to paraphrase the reviewer's conclusions, not express my own. Seems I botched it up.

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