The huge pc board for the mains supply uses a power factor correction, as is compulsory in the EU for large switching power supplies. This is to reduce the grid load, induced by power supply interferences, on other loads and to provide a more constant and almost infinitely efficient electricity supply on the secondary side. The no less than seven power amps are run as »Ultra Fast Power Devices« (UFPD) in class-D mode and, due to their extremely high efficiency, they don’t need a sophisticated cooling system, because they send almost the entire energy to the speakers instead of dissipating it in the form of heat like classic class-A/B colleagues do. This relieves the mighty multi-channel power amp of the heatsinks and simply helps to save electricity as well. For years the UFDP power amps have proven themselves in the hifi and high-end amplifiers from Sweden as a musical and powerful sounding drive, which has completely done away with the horror of past time class-D circuits.

Reduction to the essential

The controls on the A30.7’s front panel almost seem to be overly thrifty. They didn’t even think of a power switch or a stand-by button. And why should they? The powerhouse can be activated either by a switched voltage via the supplied control cable or integrated into room controls using the RS-232 interface. For a safe shutdown there is a main breaker at the mains inlet. The seven inputs are individually switchable from RCA to XLR by classic toggle switches and the wiring can therefore be mixed in a flexible way. The robust speaker terminals are arranged in pairs horizontally side by side, all lateral drilled holes are aligned vertically to perfection – thus all cables can be plugged in easily without fiddling or mutual obstructions. All terminals are securely insulated by transparent plastic, thereby limiting the maximum outside diameter for cable lugs.

At a crucial point the SP33 processor/preamp is fitted with future-proof slide-in modules, which allows coming upgrades to new standards. Maybe the most important module is the video board with its five HDMI inputs and two outputs. It is state-of-the-art and can handle resolutions up to Full HD and 3D. Ultra HD, which is not yet fully established as standard (although already offered with certain restrictions by many AV amps), will remain reserved for later versions of the video module. However, on the audio side the HDMI board can handle all all current signals from PCM to all Dolby and DTS codecs with a maximum sampling rate of 192 kilohertz. And because the video board comes from DVDO, it offers an ample range of top-level de-interlacing, filtering and scaling options. The simultaneous operation of a Sony beamer and an LG TV in the test cinema also prooved to be stressless. Analogue video connections are no longer found on the Primare.

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