Technics unveiled its first Reference Class integrated amplifier, SU-R1000. The Reference Class products are developed in pursue of Technics’ insatiable desire to deliver ultimate sound quality to customers, and they offer premium musical experience the Technics brand is known for. The SE-R1, Technics’ first Reference Class stereo power amplifier introduced in 2014, featured many new and original digital technologies such as LAPC (Load Adaptive Phase Calibration) for realising ideal impulse response and JENO (Jitter Elimination and Noise-Shaping Optimisation) Engine for achieving high-quality, high-precision PWM signal conversion with minimum jitter. Boasting precise sound image and expansive sound ambience, the SE-R1 was received with open arms by the market and marked the dawn of the digital amplifier age. The SL-1000R turntable system released in 2018 fused digital control technology with traditional analogue technology at high levels. Combined with the overwhelmingly powerful torque and accurate and smooth rotation performance, this turntable realised unprecedented quietness and sound dynamism unattained by any conventional record player.
Armed with the achievements and evaluations accumulated in the Hi-Fi market since the rebirth of the Technics brand in 2014 and backed by the results of R&D aimed at improving sound quality focussing upon digital technology, Technics launches the SU-R1000 integrated amplifier, further evolving digital amps to new heights.
Most high-end audio amplifiers are analogue. Analogue amps boast a long history, and their sound quality improvement technologies, such as circuit systems and parts development, are regarded as having been fully established. Digital amps, on the other hand, still have great potential for further development since rapid technical advancements in recent years have enabled high-accuracy signal processing not possible with analogue systems. Given that today’s mainstream music sources are digital, such as CD and streaming platforms, digital signals should ideally be processed in the original digital format. Furthermore, devices such as AD converters are also advancing, allowing high-precision digital signal processing of analogue music sources.
Under such circumstances, Technics has been devoted to the development of digital amp technology since 2014. In creating the SU-R1000 Reference Class product, Technics took the following technical approaches.
Advancement of Digital Amp Technology
Technics has newly developed ADCT (Active Distortion Cancelling Technology), in addition to the proprietary technologies that maximise digital amps’ advantages, such as LAPC and JENO. The ADCT realises further enrichment of sound quality by eliminating distortion generated in the power stage by speaker’s counter electromotive force and power supply voltage drop.
Advancement of Power Supply
The new switching power supply system, Advanced Speed Silent Power Supply, has successfully improved the S/N ratio. Furthermore, four independent power supply units provided for different circuit blocks realise superb separation and dynamic sound reproduction. What’s more, the power devices incorporate low-resistance GaN (gallium nitride).
Technics’ New Proposal: Phono Input
There are still many analogue record enthusiasts, and they form an important market segment for Technics. The SU-R1000 is equipped with an Intelligent Phono EQ, which utilises digital technology to achieve accurate equaliser curve and delivers high sound quality by improving the crosstalk of the cartridge and enhancing the frequency characteristic determined by the matching of the cartridge and phono equaliser