The DAC is CS42518.
We want this to be a good quality but very affordable AVP. Technology changes too rapidly for AVP and why bother to upgrade the AVP if it is only a few hundred $ ? We are thinking of AVP 16 + 5 Ref 8 for < $4000.
Why bother buying those Denon, Yamaha etc when you can have one of the best amps in the world with a good AVP unless you want some exotic but rarely used features?
The AVP 16 is designed for audiophile with 8 channels preamp and that will take care of future format upgrade where your DVD can provide the 7.1 output. DVD players get better every year so why spend so much money on an AVP and for features that you rarely use?
AVP 16 doesn't use much power so a small and cheap linear power supply is enough. High quality SMPS is very expensive.
In future years, you can uprade the Ref 8, or you can throw away the AVP 16 and buy our be-all-and-end-all-mother-of-all AVP platform (target 2007). To call a product upgradable, it has to be easy to upgrade and won't cost arm and leg. And it should be very modular too. This is a challenge that we won't be able to solve for a while.
It will have a learning remote control but no RS232 for this unit.
We think a stack of monoblocks with AVP allows you to easily upgrade the amps or expand them for bi-amping etc. If you want to use Ref 8 to power your tweeter, you can actually request for a 70W version of Ref 8
That's the philosophy for high end but affordable system.
Hmm, may be we should come up with a vertical power strip that allows the stack of amps to be plugged and locked with the vertical strip. That will be cool.
So, AVP 16 is "disposable" and "compatible" with future DVD decoders because of the 8 channel preamp.
What else can you ask for ?
