A Factory Tour of Audio Manufacturer German Physiks
Copper has an exchange program with selected magazines, where we share articles between publications. This one, a look at audio manufacturer German Physiks, is from The Listening Chair.
An Unassuming Beginning
Maintal is a small city that is located roughly 20 minutes west of Frankfurt, Germany. I recently made my way to a rather unassuming building in one of Maintal’s industrial neighborhoods. The building’s exterior had only a small sign stating little more than “German Physiks, High End Technology.” This was a rather modest indication that this is the home of some of the world’s most advanced loudspeakers and electronic components.
A Warm Welcome
After ringing the doorbell, I was cheerfully welcomed by Harald Knoll, the engineer who is responsible for the design of German Physiks’ speakers. After some small talk, we entered the company’s 540-square foot showroom, which is located on the building’s ground floor. Equipped with several comfortable chairs and stocked with numerous German Physiks speakers and components, the showroom is an inviting place to listen to music and audition the company's gear.
Waiting for me in the showroom was Holger Mueller, German Physiks’ Chief Executive Officer and high-level visionary. When I say that German Physiks is a small company, I am not exaggerating. Other than Knoll and Mueller, the company has only one other employee. While Knoll and that employee assemble and test the company's products, all three help with packing products for shipment and any other miscellaneous tasks.
A Striking Test System
This might be a good place to mention that all the German Physiks' speakers are omnidirectional. This type of speaker, which is relatively rare on the marketplace, radiates sound in a uniform 360-degree pattern.
One objective of an omnidirectional loudspeaker is to recreate a sound field like that which is found in a concert hall. There, most of the sound energy is reflected before it reaches the listener’s ears and you can perceive a stereo image whereever you sit in the room. The sonic images produced by omnidirectional speakers can often sound very three-dimensional without being overly sharp or pinpoint.
In the showroom, I witnessed the final testing of a German Physiks Emperor Mk II speaker ($268,400 to $337,000/pair; all prices USD) prior to its preparation for shipment to a customer. At about 6 feet 7 inches tall, 3 feet 4 inches wide, and nearly 940 pounds per channel in weight, the Emperor Mk II is physically imposing. Yet, as noted below, it will soon be only the company’s second largest speaker.
Each channel of German Physiks’ speakers contains one or more of its proprietary, ultra-wide-bandwidth DDD (Dicks Dipole Drivers) drivers. The Emperor Mk II contains four of them. It was Mueller who in 1985 joined forces with engineer and mathematician Peter Dicks to perfect this driver, which Dicks had already been working on. In 1992, the first speaker with this new driver launched under the German Physiks name.
The DDD driver is almost always supplemented by one or more dynamically driven bass drivers. The Emperor Mk II, for example, contains four six-inch bass drivers, and two 12-inch subwoofers per channel. The sole exception to the use of separate bass drivers is the company’s Unicorn Mk II speaker, which uses a single DDD driver speaker that covers the entire frequency range from 24 kHz down to 40 Hz.
In use with the Emperor Mk II speaker was an extremely impressive mix of German Physiks Emperor electronics. Featuring impeccably constructed casework, these were nothing short of gorgeous. There was an Emperor integrated amplifier ($48,800), whose preamp and power amp sections were split, with the output of the preamp section feeding an Emperor DSP-X digital active crossover ($31,500). The latter is designed to be used with the top five of the company’s speakers, thus allowing digital signal processing (DSP) that can tailor the speakers’ output to accommodate listening room conditions and/or the customer taste.
The high frequency output from the DSP-X crossover was feeding the integrated amp’s power amp section, which in turn was driving the Emperor's DDD drivers. The mid-frequency section output of the crossover was feeding a pair of Emperor monoblock power amplifiers ($78,600/pair), which in turn were feeding the Emperor Mk II’s bass drivers. The low-frequency output of the crossover was being sent to a second pair of Emperor mono power amplifiers, which in turn were feeding the Emperor Mk II’s subwoofers.
Finally, in the system were German Physiks PION N3 ZF power cables, $620 per meter. The system’s total retail cost was approximately $500,000.
An Emperor mono amplifier.
During my audition, I heard a selection of tracks from a variety of genres. Mueller even invited me to stream my own choice of music over this system, which I happily did. I was very impressed with the Emperor Mk II’s speaker’s exciting sound, large sonic images, low noise floor, and overall clarity. Even at a conversational volume setting, the sound was convincingly real. The system handled even the most demanding tracks with ease and absolute control. Even when I moved to very high volumes, nothing sounded compressed and there was no loss of musicality. Also, the sweet spot, which was surprisingly large, seemingly covered the entire room.
We Talked Speakers
After the audition, Knoll and Mueller provided me with a little insight into a few of the things that they say sets German Physiks apart from manufacturers of other speakers. Of course, we discussed the DDD driver, which Mueller stated is the only omnidirectional driver on the market with an extremely wide frequency response, in this case about 180 Hz to 22 kHz.
Knoll and Mueller stated that unlike most conventional drivers, the DDD driver operates practically as a point source, releasing sound in all directions much like a musical instrument or a singer’s voice. This, they stated, renders the speakers “invisible” within a room, creating the very large stereo imaging and wide sweet spot that I heard with the Emperor Mk II. In fact, they stated that the DDD driver eliminates the traditional circumscribed listening sweet spot which often confines the listener into a single chair.
Technological nerd topics aside, Knoll and Mueller stated that German Physiks speakers can be individually customized as far as color and veneer.
And Much More
Müller stated that German Physiks is scheduled to get a new, yet unnamed, flagship amplifier line. One of the models in this new line will deliver 3,500 watts per channel and will be kept cool by technology that’s already in use in the company’s current models. As with the company's speakers, the amplifiers will feature customizable aesthetics, with choices of polished and matte surfaces.
During our discussion, I also gained insight into future German Physiks products by viewing a variety of sketches and plans. These products included the upcoming flagship Gaudi Mk III speaker ($382,200 to $468,900/pair depending on finish). Anticipated to launch by the end of the year, it will be the company’s largest, most technologically advanced speaker. Not all German Physiks speakers all cost as much as a supercar, though. The company’s entry-level Unlimited Ultimate speaker, for example, retails for $16,400/pair.
Interestingly, during our discussion Mueller also shared that he also has some ideas for a line of German Physiks source components, including possibly a turntable. We then discussed several other topics, including the future of high-end music reproduction. Mueller stated that there will be more connective audio devices coming into the marketplace. He also noted that all-in-one components will play an increasingly important role in the low- to medium-end market segments.
Movin' On Up
Next, we moved to the building’s second floor, where the company’s offices and factory is located. The walls of Mueller’s office were covered with product design sketches. The factory rooms were clean and filled with specialized machines and tools.
It is in the factory rooms where the DDD drivers are manufactured. Among other things, the carbon fiber sheet for the driver’s diaphragms is cut, the drivers are assembled, and the finished units are set in their cages. The crossovers for most of the company's speakers are also built in-house.
The housing for the DDD drivers and the speakers’ bass cabinets are manufactured by a third party. The company will only divulge that this party is a highly skilled German cabinet maker. Upon being received from the vendor, the cabinets are internally lined at the German Physiks’ factory with Hawaphon, a sound-damping material from Switzerland. Also at the factory, a layer of felt is then applied over the Hawaphon. German Physiks states that other than a few strategically-placed dampeners, no further reinforcement or damping of the cabinets is needed.
Only the speakers’ DDD housings, bass cabinets, internal cabling, and input terminals are purchased from outside vendors. Out of necessity due to German Physiks’ size, the Emperor electronic components and the PION power cord are manufactured by third parties to German Physiks’ specifications and under its close supervision.
Final Thoughts
I left German Physiks very impressed. It may be small and unassuming, but its products are not. Clearly, the company is brimming with technical innovation, manufacturing skill, and the desire to move the art of music reproduction forward. I appreciated the great sound that I heard during my audition, as well as the welcoming and informative visit.
Header image: a German Physiks DDD driver being assembled.
This article originally appeared in the website The Listening Chair, www.thelisteningchair.net. Audio/video industry news, reviews, and feature stories are available on the site and on TLC’s social media ecosystem:
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