Auszug aus "TWBAS 2009: The Arrival"

And it begins . . .

The participants

Behold, based in Germany, and Laufer Teknik, based in New York, New York.

Ralf Ballmann of Germany’s Behold and Sam Laufer of Behold’s US distributor, Laufer Teknik, have sent the Behold BPA768 power amplifier ($50,000) and APU768 preamplifier-processor ($58,000, as configured). (All prices in US dollars.)

My overwhelmingly positive experiences with Behold go back several years. I travel annually to Munich, Germany, to cover the High End Show for the SoundStage! Network, and one of the highlights of those trips always seems to be the Behold demonstration. Over the years, in fact, Doug Schneider and I have awarded Behold a number of Standout Demo and Showstopper awards. Their room is always worth hearing.

Engineer Ralf Ballmann of Behold seems to grasp the melding of digital and analog audio as has no other engineer I’ve met. In fact, Behold claims a number of "world firsts" for their cutting-edge electronic designs, many of these involving the marriage of digital to analog technologies. For instance, Behold lists the BPA768 amplifier as featuring "Digital control of the output-stage idle currents making it a true class-A amplifier with class-AB power consumption. The D/A converter is directly located in the analog output section of the amplifier . . . [and it] uses eight D/A converters phase and time shifted to play back the analog signal for each audio channel. [The BPA768] uses a motor-control DSP to compute all the parameters and coefficients of a switch-mode power supply including the power factor correction (PFC), generating the best possible built-in power conditioner."

The APU768 preamplifier-processor has a similar number of impressive characteristics, being a "fully digital preamplifier with two separate audio bus systems at a handling capability of up to 16 audio channels at 192kHz/24-bit sampling rates and 768kHz/24-bit stereo." Clearly, the APU768 and BPA768 are not your run-of-the-mill preamp and power amp.

A significant feature of the modular APU768 that I felt was a necessity for "TWBAS" 2009 was its room-correction option (which adds $15,000 to the base price of $30,000; please see Laufer Teknik for pricing of individual modules), implemented by Ballmann and the software developer, fellow German Jürgen Scheuring, of loudspeaker manufacturer Ascendo. If true high fidelity is the goal of "TWBAS" 2009 -- and it is! -- being able to make minor yet audibly significant adjustments in frequency response is mandatory. And last, the APU768 will accept a digital signal at full 24-bit/192kHz -- a needed specification for the signals delivered by the music-server front end. The Beholds are the most technically advanced electronics I know of, and a perfect match for "TWBAS" 2009.