New Products

Trinnov Audio, the French designer and manufacturer of high-end A/V processors, has announced plans to ship a 16-channel power amplifier to go with its $18,000 Altitude¹⁶ surround processor, one of the most advanced home theater processors on the planet. Word of the amplifier coincides with the release of updates for the processor that add IMAX Enhanced playback capability and four additional output channels.

Designed in partnership with Class D amplifier specialist ICEpower, the new Amplitude¹⁶ is rated to deliver 16 x 200 watts of continuous power into 8 ohms or 400 watts per channel into a 4-ohm load. Initial shipments are set to begin in December at a price that has yet to be announced.

Essentially two eight-channel amplifiers on a single 3RU (rack unit) chassis, the Amplitude¹⁶ has dual power supplies — each of which requires its own 15-amp power inlet — and affords system builders the flexibility of bridging pairs of channels to boost power where higher output is required. Bridging two channels produces a single channel rated to deliver 800 watts into 8 ohms and more than 1,000 watts into 4 ohms.

The amplifier features a balanced analog input implemented through dual DB25 multi-pin connectors, which greatly simplifies wiring. Input sensitivity is optimized for use with Trinnov’s Altitude processors, which is said to improve signal-to-noise ratio by up to 8 dB.

The front-panel LED display indicates normal operation, channel clipping, protection status, and shows which channel pairs are operating in bridged mode. Trigger inputs and outputs are provided for powering up the amplifier and daisy-chaining it with other amplifiers.

“When we set out to create a new companion amplifier for Trinnov’s Altitude processors, we recognized that just another power amp would not do,” said Trinnov co-founder and CEO Arnaud Laborie. “It needed to be something special to carry the Trinnov name. Its unique versatility provides integrators and system designers with a great-sounding, powerful tool for optimizing dynamic power delivery by channel in a space-saving, cost and energy-efficient manner.”

Trinnov also announced the future availability of an optional Dante input board, which will make it possible to connect the new amplifier to an Altitude¹⁶ or Altitude³² processor via a network switch in addition to providing monitoring capability and, eventually, a Ravenna/AES67 compatibility mode (expected in 2022).

The Amplitude¹⁶ will be officially introduced at the Paris Audio Video Show that opens October 21st. For more information, visit trinnov.com.

Gaining Altitude
The Altitude processor enhancements will be available through a free software download due out in the coming days and applies to every Altitude that has been installed worldwide since 2015, according to Trinnov.

While implementing IMAX Enhanced playback capability is relatively straightforward through a software update, increasing the channel count presented a challenge that was solved by converting the Toslink output of the Altitude¹⁶ to the ADAT transport protocol used in professional applications. Doing so enables the four additional channels be transported at up to 96 kHz with the addition of an external ADAT/analog converter (not included). On the Altitude³² processor, the extra outputs are implemented via its AES/EBU outputs.

IMAX Enhanced playback is made possible through Trinnov’s Neural:X upmixing technology, which enables the maximum number of discrete channels available in the DTS:X Pro specification.

“We have always been committed to high spatial resolution and we are now taking the extra step to enable this benefit across a higher number of home theater installations by adding four extra discrete and acoustically optimized outputs,” Laborie said. “Among countless new possibilities, this update now allows Altitude¹⁶ owners to support the very popular 9.4.6 speaker layout and maximize low frequency and 3D sound performance with our fully integrated calibration suite.”