Paradigm-owned Anthem unveiled its upcoming Director, a statement version of the company’s popular AVM-20 pre/pro. Due out early next year, the $6,000 product shares an identical feature set with its baby brother, although the Director’s second Motorola 56-367 chip and increased flash memory capacity can potentially support more demanding future processing requirements. The primary improvements are in the Director’s sonic performance, thanks to upgraded low-noise op-amps, better capacitors, and AKM 24-bit 192kHz DACs (all digital signals are internally upsampled to 24-bit 192kHz before processing).

Anthem’s matching high-current Channel 5 power amplifier delivers guess how many channels at 325 wpc into 8 ohms (800 watts into 2 ohms). True to the company’s Sonic Frontiers audiophile lineage, the amp design boasts a “not measurable” S/N ratio (>196 dB), uses no fans (the frontal fins serve as specially designed heat sinks), takes the circuit breaker out of the signal path, and remains stable into a dead short. Two power cords require two dedicated 20 amp circuits. Target price for the Channel 5 is $5,000; a 2-channel version (wonder what they’ll call it?) will run $2,000.

Sunfire is now shipping its Theater Grand III pre-pro. Priced at $3,495, this latest incarnation includes a new all-digital implementation of designer Bob Carver’s Sonic Holography, which applies interaural crosstalk cancellation to the front left and right channels to extend the perceived boundaries of the soundstage and sharpen imaging. The TG III also performs Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, DTS-ES, DTS Neo:6, decoding, and provides a user-configurable all-speaker stereo that supports additional side-axis side speaker outputs in a potential 9.1 configuration. New to this model are separate DACs for independent second zone operation, including 2-channel downmixing from 5.1 sources. The unit also includes a stereo analog bypass signal path, built-in tuner and phono stage (rare in current pre-pros) and bundled Home TheaterMaster MX-500 remote.

Reportedly rescuing Eastech from its latest round of intractable problems with the unit was Sherbourn’s head designer Engne Tang, shown with co-founder Ron Fone beside Sherbourn’s version of the processor. Tang, Fone, and Atlantic Technology/Outlaw honcho Peter Tribeman are longtime friends with histories dating back to their days at Acoustic Research.

Shown here is one of Mr. Tang’s recent design achievements – and one he’s particularly proud of – the massive Sherbourn 7/2100 7-channel amplifier. Packing 7 monoblocks and 7 toroidal transformers, 7 heat sinks, and 56 Bi-polar/Mosfet transistors into a single chassis, each channel’s dedicated transformer delivers an identical 200 watts into 8 ohms (300 watts into 4 ohms). The rear panel sports XLR and RCA inputs and a low-voltage trigger function. The amplifier draws 20 amps, requiring dual power cords (Sherbourn provides them in different lengths to allow drawing from different circuits). Due by Thanksgiving, the 7/2100 will retail for $2,850. []