T+A Elektroakustik Releases PDP 3000 HV SACD/CD Player/DAC

Bensenville, IL – October 6, 2014 – The T+A Elektroakustik PDP 3000 HV is the latest player in the company’s flagship HV series, and has been developed specifically to reproduce high-resolution audio data without any trace of compromise. The HV in the range designation stands for “High Voltage”, and the two-channel models in the HV series have been meticulously designed and crafted to cater to the highest demands of the most demanding audiophiles.

In 2003, T+A introduced a high-end line of reference-grade valve equipment, the T+A V series, which grew into a full range of sophisticated tube-based components incorporating the very latest circuit technology. During the development of the V series, the company engineers gained invaluable insight regarding the parameters of valves and their effect on overall sound quality. This knowledge and experience has been applied in the development of the T+A HV series to create a line of no-compromise models that represent the absolute pinnacle of solid-state audio product performance.

All the amplifiers of the HV series are driven at significantly higher voltages than are conventionally employed. This high-voltage technology is applied to the output stages and pre-amplifier stages alike, as well as in the power amplifiers, with the net result being an extremely linear characteristic curve with low distortion and a system offering tremendous dynamic capabilities.

The T+A engineering team has equipped the PDP 3000 HV with an excellent disc mechanism that reads CD and SACD media perfectly, and transfers the data to the PDP 3000 HV’s high-performance PCM and DSD converters. As this innovative converter concept is ideal for use with external sources, T+A has designed the PDP 3000 HV to also operate as a state-of-the-art DAC as well, equipping it with seven digital inputs.

The PDP 3000 HV case features an incredibly sophisticated, cost-no-object design, and similar to the other models in T+A’s HV series it is crafted out of solid aluminum and no ferromagnetic materials are used. Aluminum dividers separate five perfectly shielded sub-compartments which house the disc mechanism (with decoder board and digital inputs), the D/A converter (with analogue output stage), the analogue mains power supply, the digital mains power supply and – in the solid aluminum front panel – the control section with its ultra- bright screen and sensor buttons.

The heart of the PDP 3000 HV is a quadruple double-differential digital –to-analogue converter based on the outstanding converter employed in the T+A MP 3000 HV model. IN the PDP 3000 HV, the converter features a supplementary signal path for processing DSD signals. The signal passes through T+A’s innovative jitter-reduction stage, which receives the data from either the CD/SACD transport or any of the seven digital inputs before such is processed by the converter. The USB input is equipped with one of the latest USB interfaces, and is capable of reproducing PCM and DSD audio at the highest level of quality; DSD data is passed directly to the converter modules. The current/voltage transducers, which are downstream of the D/A converter, are critical to the sound quality. They are of fully discrete, channel-separate construction, and are equipped with the T+A HV technology, as are the analogue output stages.

The array of connections on the PDP 3000 back panel reflects the symmetrical construction of both the case and the overall circuit design. The analogue output stages pass their signals directly to the professional-grade XLR or RCA output sockets for PCM and DSD operation. Located below them – behind the lower compartment – are the digital input connections, the HV bus, the LAN socket and the separate sockets for the analogue and digital mains power supplies.

The PDP 3000 HV’s high-grade SACD mechanism is fully shielded and housed in a machined solid aluminum case in order to prevent any trace of interaction between the moving parts of the mechanism and the rest of the player. The transport mechanism is mounted on just two close-tolerance pushrods, which completely de-couple it from the massive outer case. This in turn prevents the transmission of external pressure waves, vibration or structural sound from the mounting surface to the electronics and disc mechanism. A high-torque synchronous motor moves the disc carrier block smoothly and quietly by means of a precision-made de-coupled spindle. The loading mechanism makes it easy to insert discs without damaging them; they are held in securely in place by an anti-resonance puck.

The T+A Elektroakustik PDP 3000 HV is crafted in Germany, and will begin shipping in the USA and Canada during October, 2014. The PDP 3000 HV will be priced at $20,000.00 and will make its North American debut at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, where Dynaudio North America will present it in a full HV System in Tower Suite 1122 at the Marriott Denver Tech Center.

The other models of the T+A HV Series include:

P 3000 HV pre-amplifier
A 3000 HV Stere/Mono Power Amplifier
PS 3000 HV Power Supply Upgrade
PA 3000 HV Integrated Amplifier
MP 3000 HV Multi-Source Streaming Client/DAC/Transport