“Control” Freaks Alert: Magnificata WORLD PREMIÈRE
Audio Control Freaks will relish the “Insight for Sore Ears!” that awaits them in Melbourne at the 2016 Australian HiFi & AV Show (October 21-23, Suite 309).
REDGUM’s biggest ever Pre-Power, the Magnificata is a Signature Series System purpose-built for low(er) impedance speaker loads … try >900W into 2Ω delivering a 2000W Transient … making it much more than just a RGM300ENR Monoblock System on steroids.
Thank goodness Audio still allows the use of “performance enhancing” drugs so Control wins the day across the board! Then add in that REDGUM hallmark of tightness in the bass, which is even gruntier due to a threefold increase in the Damping Factor. This is all thanks to a tripling of the number of MOSFETs as well as the resultant number of paths heading on out from an even higher current transformer. Touches of sonic bling are lost to sight with all Input connectors hand-wired with OCC single strand, solid core Silver wiring.
Outwardly, its 3 chassis, all now with SignWave heat sinks, form an imposing stack with each adorned by a unique panel of Red Gum wood. Too much attention to detail only at eye level? Don’t let this muscular aura distract you. At ear level, be rendered almost speechless by its Stunning! sound. Fortunately, one word will remain with you to utter – “Magnificata!”.
No amp is an island so in a support role, the REDGUM DAC5 will be pumping the Magnificata with the inspiration while our REGNANS Floorstanders will be responsible for its full expression. And if a sleeker footprint is preferred, a Black Signature Series RGi35ENR amplifier, fuelled by a REDGUM DAC2, will be steering our MANNA Standmounts. A solid workout at all levels of “Insight for Sore Ears!”.
As you have guessed, such athleticism hasn’t come out of nowhere. REDGUM’s first big passive Pre-Power system started life as the RGM300 (300WPC) at the end of 1993 but, aside from Special Orders, it was a little camera-shy until being officially listed in 1998.
By 2004, the U.S. market was wanting a “bigger than big” * amplifier from REDGUM so the Signature Series of amplifiers were added to the range. The RGM300 remained as designed while the Signature Series RGM300ENR System became its turbo-charged version.
* The conversation between REDGUM’s designer and their U.S. Distributor went like this:
Distributor -”I finally fell asleep at 4am listening to your top system.
I’ve never heard anything like it! You should make something better!”
Designer, laughing – “Er, … listen carefully to what you just said!”
From 2004, the RGM300 and the RGM300ENR (400WPC) remained REDGUM’s biggest Pre-Power systems, and like all Monoblock systems in the range, were designed with a focus on accommodating 8 ohm speakers loads … which is not to say they are limited to this, being stable down to loads of less than ONE ohm since the very first design!
Given this inherent stability regardless of load, why was this amplifier’s design changed 20+ years on? Well, speakers that have been purpose-designed for ultra-low impedances were clearly here to stay so a purpose-built REDGUM amplifier to suit them made good electronic sense.
This decision also made it a good time to modify the rear panel of the Passive Pre-Amp to accommodate the placement of larger connectors. This involved a re-working of the size of the panel such that the larger chassis (as used on the power channels) became necessary for all three units rather than just the two. Now with each presenting their solid Red Gum wood panels floating above SignWave heat sinks, having a stack of three chassis is as imposing as the sound.
REDGUM’s Twenty-first Birthday celebration commenced in late 2014. At the same time, the range of amplifiers offered was also restructured and to reflect this, the model names changed. Original Integrated model numbers and designs were cloned by the Black Series, while all original wood-fronted Signature Series models took new Eucalyptus names (so paralleling REDGUM’s speaker model names) along with an update to their specifications.
Suffice it to say that the RGM300ENR System design has fully morphed into this new, low impedance version, the Magnificata, which takes its name from yet another grand Eucalyptus tree.