During the IFA 2014 in Berlin, Technics staged a comeback literally four years after their parent company Panasonic closed it down. Helmed by and featuring Michiko Ogawa, a well-known Jazz pianist in Japan who worked as an engineer for Technics starting in 1988, Technics held a private concert for a small press group, hitting home the notion that it was all about bringing the very best music listening experience possible. Once the musicians had cleared, two high-end audio systems took center stage, the small-but-potent Professional Series, and the size-and-cost-no-object Reference successions. Rather than release a suite of sound solutions, Technics had decided to put all of its eggs in two baskets … two very big, very expensive baskets.
We recently received a 700 lb shipment that incorporated two SB-R1 speakers, an SE-R1 power amplifier, and an SU-R1 Network Audio Control Player. The total system cost with interconnect cables and premium Kimber Moncale XL 15-ft speaker cables comes to price of about $60,000. That’s a pricey audio system package, but it buys you a whole lot of unbelievable sound, and bragging rights for years.(See the video at http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/technics-reference-class-r1-series-system-video-review/)
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