Goldmund’s Mimesis Statement is a three-chassis analog preamplifier designed around extensive isolation and symmetrical internal architecture. The system includes a central control unit with the preamplifier electronics and two external power supplies, and it costs $240,000 in the US before the additional source equipment, power amplifiers, speakers, and cables needed to complete a system.
A three-box preamplifier
The main chassis has buttons, dials, a display, and the preamplifier electronics. It accepts source equipment such as turntables and network streamers through a range of balanced and unbalanced inputs. The two other boxes are external power supplies, with one serving each channel of the stereo signal.
Goldmund says this extensive isolation, combined with a carefully arranged internal architecture featuring perfect symmetry, voltage-regulation stages, and optimized heat dissipation, helps guarantee signal integrity and consistent operating conditions in all situations.
Luxury components and specifications
The company has also given the preamplifier a design intended to match its technical ambitions. Its total harmonic distortion is specified at 0.0002 percent, a figure that is difficult to measure, while the three-piece chassis includes a mirrored-glass display, metal-coated controls, and Goldmund’s signature thin gold-line design.
In the US, the Goldmund Mimesis Statement analog preamplifier costs $240,000. That places it firmly in “pretty flashy European sports car” territory, although a preamplifier alone is not a complete audio system. The Mimesis Statement requires a music source, sends its output to a power amplifier, and ultimately drives a pair of speakers.
A $1.482 million system
Goldmund offers plenty of matching equipment. While I was listening to the Mimesis Statement, it was connected on one end to the company’s Eidos network streamer, which costs $27,000, and on the other to two Thelos 9800 power amplifiers. Each amplifier weighs about 800 pounds, delivers 1,560 watts per channel, and costs $500,000.
The amplified signal was then sent to a pair of Theia Passive four-way floorstanding speakers, priced at $215,000 for the pair. Together, the listed components bring the total system price to $1,482,000, before adding the cost of the cables. That is less a sports car and more a very nice apartment, probably with a balcony.
Source: www.wired.com