Not so long ago, Panasonic owned a pretty nice segment of the "HiFi" market in the United States, and across the world under the moniker of Technics. Many a budding young audiophile in the 1970s and 80s lusted after Technics turntables, receivers, cassette decks, CD players, speakers and amplifiers. Well they say everything old is new again and Panasonic is giving that Technics brand a second life with a new suite of high-end audio gear. No, you won't see a new Technics branded turntable (at least not yet), but you will find a nice selection of high resolution audio-capable playback devices, speakers and amplifiers in two distinct systems.
Launched at the IFA Consumer Electronics Unlimited show in Berlin this week, the gear is segmented into Reference Class and Premium Class components, all built on the company's mission to help listeners reestablish an emotional connection with their favorite music. The Technics project is being led by Managing Director Michiko Ogawa, a popular jazz pianist in her native Japan who also happens to be a former Technics engineer.
"We grow up repeatedly discovering and being moved by new types of music. However, as we get older, we get distracted by all the things going on in our lives, and perhaps misplace the pure love of music, "said Ms. Ogawa. "Through the new Technics products, we are striving to offer listeners the feeling of 'rediscovering music,' by helping them to have such unique emotionally-engaging experience -- ones that we seem to have lost."
At Panasonic's press event at the IFA show in Berlin yesterday, Ms. Ogawa performed a beautiful piece on the piano then unveiled the new Technics audio systems, which are expected to begin shipping in Europe later this year. The component include:
The Reference-Class R1 Series (Expected price: 40,000 Euros)
The Premium-Class C700 Series (Expected price: 5,000 Euros with CD player; 4,000 Euros without)
Lead engineer Tetsuya Itani, who designed the first Technics CD player and led the development of Panasonic's Blu-ray player division for several years, discussed some of the more technical aspects of the new components' design as it impacts sound quality. Contributing to what they call the "Technics Definitive Sound" are three components:
Journalists were offered a sneak peak of the system as well as a brief audition, and though I wasn't familiar with the specific demo cuts they used, both systems sounded clean and richly detailed, with excellent imaging and nice dynamic range. I was particularly impressed with the Premium-Class C700 system which maintained similar performance and sonic characteristics to the Reference-Class R1 series at about one tenth of the price. I'm looking forward to checking these systems out in more detail as they become available.
The systems are expected to be available in the United States in 2015 but final pricing and availability details for the U.S. market have not yet been announced.
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