Our hardest challenge to date was to improve on the legendary Thunder 3.1 CD player, so how do you go about improving what has been acclaimed as one of the best CD players in the world - well it has taken a long time, 4 years in fact and many different attempts, and rumours of 3.2 and 3.3 models in the offing but just as we were about to release, something would happen so we continued development. Some of our early efforts quite simply were just not good enough but with perseverance and just about every part now changed, we think we have done it, just take a listen and hear what we have achieved, we think it is yet another step forward.
So what have we actually done?
Well we have changed the chassis from steel to aluminium, the control panel and buttons have a more positive click feel, it now has a new top plate with illuminated badge holder, which is dim-able, the loader/reader is now a modified Philips with a full metal version available sometime next year, (at a premium) all new control system with new servo software, new mains filter design, new analogue and digital transformers, new grounding for the digital sections, a completely new digital engine including new master clock and anti jitter circuits, new caps throughout, new op-amps in the output section, gold plated PCB’s throughout. In fact about the only thing we have kept is the DAC itself along with the output filter which despite many attempts we could not better.
At first you may think that this CD player is just that, a stand alone CD player but a closer look will tell you that this is a very flexible and forward looking design. One of the main requests we had for the 3.1B was to have a digital input, like other manufacturers, however when we tried this there was a negative impact on sound quality which could not accept, no matter how hard we tried, the sound was always flattened. So we have taken our own path along which I am sure that others will follow.
The Thunder 6 may be up-graded via the use of the Whirlwind 6 PSU ( still in development). This supplies the analogue stages of the player, or the digital output stages when used as a transport, see below, with a completely clean supply. The huge affect on the overall sound staging and subtlety of dynamics simply needs to be heard to be believed.
The Thunder 6 can also be turned into a dedicated TRANSPORT via the use of a special output PCB that goes in place of the existing DAC board. It has a variety of digital outputs including AES/EBU, SPDIF and optical at either native 44.1kHz or up sampled to 96kHz or 192kHz and the ability to clock sync if required. When used in this mode with the upcoming Volcano 6 DAC and the Whirlwind 6 PSU a player of reference performance is achieved
If you are a lucky owner of a Thunder 3.1 you will also be pleased to lean that it can have a partial upgrade as we have retained some compatibility, the master clock/DAC/output PCB from the 6 will fit directly into the older 3.1 or more recent 3.1B with/without the balanced outputs depending upon the version, please contact us for more details.
PICTURES to follow soon!!
Specifications
Output - Balanced.........................................................................................4.4V RMS
Output - Single Ended ...................................................................................2.2V RMS
Signal to Noise ...............................................................................................-106dB
Distortion 1 KHz @ fulloutput.....................................................................<=0.0008%
DAC Type ..................................................................................Delta Sigma Bitstream
Bits/Sample Rate .....................................................................................24Bit/192kHz
Frequency response ...........................................................................2-20kHz+/-0.5dB
Case .................................................................................................3mm Aluminium
Mains Voltage ....................................................110V~120V/220V~240V AC switchable
Dimensions WxDxH(mm)............................................................................444x350x100
Weight (Packed) .................................................................................................13Kg
