Orchard Audio Upgrades Starkrimson Ultra Stereo Amps with an Active RCA Input Option

Orchard Audio's 500W Starkrimson Ultra stereo amplifiers received a big upgrade. Revision 2.5 builds upon revision 2.0 by adding a built-in active RCA-to-XLR converter. This means the amplifiers can now be used with both single-ended (RCA) and balanced (XLR) sources. With this upgrade even when using the single-ended source the signal to the amplifier is fully balanced. An active RCA to XLR converter is also available from Orchard as a separate product.

Schiit Audio is promoting the 10-tube Folkvangr, its first limited-edition headphone amplifier. The first DC-coupled, output transformerless (OTL) and output capacitorless (OCL) headphone amp, Folkvangr also includes an 8X impedance multiplier to increase versatility with low-impedance headphones. Limited to a 250-piece run, the Folkvangr headphone amp is priced at $1799, including a full complement of input and output tubes.

Belgium manufacturer APEX introduced a new four-channel OEM amplifier module specifically designed for multi-way pro audio loudspeakers designs. The new Apex SMA-2 is capable of delivering up to 3000W on a single 4 Ohm channel and uses APEX’ unique GlidePath direct drive architecture, which is a proprietary Class-D technology where the DSP system is an integral part of the amplifier system, with a fully DC-coupled audio signal path.

Erno Borbely shares with us his all-FET audio amplifier design. Following the original introductory "JFETs The New Frontier" Part 1 and 2 articles published in Audio Electronics - which we also include in this online post - the follow-up article focuses on DC-coupled amps. This article was published in audioXpress, May 2002.