Feature Article - "Czech
Hi-Fi: Part II" - July, 2000
Milan Cernohorsky - Editor, EUROPE
In Part I, I gave you a quick
overview of Czech Hi-Fi component manufacturers. Pavel
Dudek's DP Audio
was
the first company I took a close look at. His power amplifiers and preamps serve as a
referential set at many Czech and Moravian audition studios despite the
fact that the Czech market is abundant in foreign component
brands. This time, I would like to focus on some other Czech companies
that also have excellent build quality.
Ri
Audio
In 1966, the Pekra
company, a producer of active and passive
speaker switches took over the well-established brand Fox Audio. This was the
starting point for Ri Audio, a line of components that utilized both the experience with their original product line and
their own
research and development laboratory. The Ri Audio component line
comprises several types of phono preamps, active preamps,
a passive control unit, and two types of mono block amplifiers of high
performance quality. If nothing else, I must mention their pure
class A power amplifier, the MK-1,
the active preamp API,
and passive preamp PP1.
Their products offer characteristics well beyond the price category they fall into.
Au/Ra
Rational Audio
Au/Ra was founded in 1988 by a Czech Hi-Fi aficionado,
Mr. Jiri Janda. He was one of the founders of British NAD
and took part in launching the legendary 3020 integrated
amplifier. Much to everyone's loss, he passed away last summer. However,
he managed to set up a progressive business focused on customers
seeking high quality products at a reasonable price. At first,
most of
the company's output was being exported to Western
Europe. Among their products at that time were, for
instance, the Z1 amplifier and the G1
turntable. Nowadays, three lines form the backbone of the company: Exclusive, Classic, and Mini. The photo shown above
illustrates their Z7A power amplifier (part of their Exclusive line), very original in many details.
The company also produces several types of speaker
systems and cables. 1998 saw the beginning of the designing and
manufacturing process of the ABX
model, a system designed for non-biased component comparisons by means of blindfold testing.
At the same time, the development and manufacturing of the
components in the Exclusive line was getting started. Specifically, it was
the Accumulative
Power source for the A2Z amplifier and the D7A
precision volume regulator. Their G7E
turntable has received many accolades.
Speaker Systems
I dare say that Czech speaker manufacturers have developed
a firm position in the domestic market during the past few years and are successfully entering other European markets
thanks to the
sound characteristics and the quality of manufacturing
of their products. The Czech Republic has a long tradition of
speaker driver and complete speaker system production. It used to be a
major supplier for the whole of Eastern Europe and partly to Germany. After 1989, with the collapse of the
Communist regime,
several companies emerged that draw on and further
develop this tradition. I'd like to introduce to you, my trans-Atlantic
friends (trans-Pacific if you take the long way around), at least two of the companies
that form the
very top of the Czech market.
Shan
This currently very successful company was established
in 1993. In the course of the five following years, it climbed to its present prominent
position in the speaker system market. For most of its systems, it
uses high quality Danish Vifa drivers (the Aztec
line). For the top models (the Emotion line), it uses
Focal drivers. The tweeter features a titanium oxide (tioxide) foil membrane,
while the woofer has a Kevlar� fiber membrane hardened and
muted by a special plastic coating with fine Polyglas grains. Great attention
has also been paid to the crossovers and enclosures. The
crossovers use
polypropylene capacitors and air core inductors. All speakers have provisions
for bi-wiring. Enclosures are made of MDF and have significant cross bracing.
Polyester fiber is used for internal damping, and lacquered veneer is utilized
as the finish. The top models of Shan include floor standers, the Emotion
550, Emotion 520, and a rack system, the Emotion-500.
Xavian
An Italian designer, Robert
Barletta, living currently in Prague, and his team of collaborators, have set
a very high manufacturing quality standard. The company was
established in 1994. Their products are sought by audiophiles
worldwide, as well as purists who enjoy great sound along with top notch build
quality.
Xavian uses ScanSpeak and Peerless drivers. The manufacturing quality
of the enclosures has become an unchallenged rule
with Italian producers. Xavian offers two lines of products: Suona
and Xn.
Suona includes the rack system Primissima, two floor systems - Colona
and Grand Colona - and a home theater system called the Center. Their top line is represented by the XN products.
These include stand systems XN
125, 185, 250, 270 and Xavian's
flagship - the floor system XN
350. This last mentioned 3+1/2-way system premiered at the November Prague
Top Audio 1999
exhibition.
Xavian's products are truly first class and are
comparable with all top quality speaker systems around the world.
-
Milan Cernohorsky -
� Copyright 2000 Secrets of Home
Theater & High Fidelity
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