At the recent Munich High End Show, Mytek Audio featured the new Empire Stereo Monoblock GanFET Amplifiers. Designed to complement the flagship Empire Streamer DAC, the Monoblocks are housed in a beautifully sculpted half rack wide, 2U tall chassis milled from a single block of aluminum and can be setup as a stereo single amp or dual mono blocks.
The cutting-edge Class D GanFET technology uses Gallium Nitrade transistors that are up to 30 times fast than silicon MosFETs traditionally used in current Class D designs, where their slow speed is the main factor limiting the low-resolution detail. GanFET transistors bring this detail back out resulting in a substantially larger soundstage, and warm, tube like velvety top and midrange, while also providing tight grip of the bass response and transients. Mytek Tube is used as a visual effect to reflect the amp sonic qualities and has no electronic function. Each amp is shipped with an additional aluminum cover without the tube for the customers preferring a more minimal design.
The Stereo Monoblocks can operate as stereo 2 x 400 W / 4Ω /4Ω or 2 x 200 W / 8Ω, or in mono biamp mode, and in mono bridge mode at 800 W / 4Ω or 400 W /8Ω.
The amplifiers use a large 800 W toroidal power supply with automatic power line voltage detection circuit and robust protection circuitry, with firmware upgrades possible via USB.
Prices and availability
Each Stereo Monoblock is priced at $ 9,995 or 9 995 € (VAT Incl). Limited stock is available for worldwide shipments starting May 15th, 2024 as the production continues to ramp up.
Specifications
Output stage: GanFET transistors Class D at 768 kHz
Power: Stereo Mode – 2 x 400 W / 4Ω or 2 x 200 W / 8Ω
Power: Biamp Mod – 2 x 400 W / 4Ω or 2 x 200 W / 8Ω
Power: Bridge Mode – 800 W / 4Ω or 400 W / 8Ω
THD: 0.005% (average level)
Gain: 23 or 29 dB
Input: RCA or XLR
Input impedance: 10k Ohm
Output impedance: < 20m Ω
Bandwidth: 2 Hz – 70 kHz
Max current output: 100 Amps
Power supply: Linear Toroid 800 W, regulated for input stage
Line power: 100 – 240 VAC Auto
Dimensions: W x D x H = 8.5 x 14 x 3.5 inch = 216 x 355 x 89 mm
Weight: 30 lbs, 14 kg
Mytek Audio was founded in 1992 in New York City by the current President and Chief Designer, Michal Jurewicz. He began working at Manhattan’s famed Hit Factory recording studio in 1989 with the likes of Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Barbara Streisand, recording to analog tape. Here he learned the “ins and outs” of what great recording was supposed to sound like, and which equipment was necessary to achieve this. Famously, he repaired a room full of broken equalizers, amplifiers and compressors that were just too complex for the other technicians to handle. It was this reputation that landed him a job as Skyline Studios’ tech engineer. Skyline was the home of legendary music producer Nile Rogers and the preferred studio for the likes of Mariah Carey and James Taylor.
While at Skyline, Michal developed solutions to help improve the workflow and sound quality of the new digital systems. It was here that Mytek was born 1992. From the very beginning, artist and producers praised the sound quality of Mytek’s equipment. Soon almost every NYC recording studio had a “Mytek PrivateQ” headphone monitoring system and those using Mytek’s first analog-to-digital converters produced recordings that didn’t suffer from harsh sound that was typical of the digital recordings from the 1990’s.
Since then, Mytek has continuously innovated; from pioneering 18, 20, 24 and now 32-bit PCM recording to being part of the “DSD Super Audio CD Project” and then onto create first third party MQA DAC to today’s Mytek Streamer Line with built-in Roon Core. The new Class D GanFET technology, which in many ways has similar architecture and design challenges to DSD DACs is the next Mytek technology to complete the audio playback chain from the wifi to the speaker. The sound quality, user experience and beautiful functional industrial design are all at the heart of everything Mytek does.
