The Unlimited Ultimate
The Unlimited Carbon
The Unlimited Ultimate is the entry level model in the German Physiks range and is the latest version of our popular Unlimited design. It uses one DDD driver and a downward firing 8-inch woofer. It is available in a luxurious high polish polyester finish in black, white, red or yellow. A special version finished in high polish carbon fiber called the Unlimited Carbon is also available.
When the Unlimited was introduced in 2011 it set a new standard for accuracy and neutrality. In the intervening years we have steadily improved the Unlimited’s performance to ensure that this position was maintained.
Less Is More
Both versions use exactly the same DDD driver as all our other models, including our Euro 250,000 flagship Gaudi, so will give the listener more than just a taste of the musical nirvana that our higher end models can provide. The Unlimited employs a single carbon fiber DDD driver mounted on top of a compact floor standing cabinet, with a downward firing 8-inch woofer mounted in the base. This provides the famous German Physiks trademark dynamics, transparency and musicality.
Stylishly Simple Design
As well as taking great care to make the Unlimited an exceptionally good sounding loudspeaker, we also went to great pains to make it an exceptionally good looking loudspeaker. The design is intended to be both elegant and simple, so that it blends into its surroundings rather than draws attention to itself. We want the listener’s attention to be concentrated entirely on the music. This ability to blend in is enhanced by its very small footprint – just 24 cm x 24 cm (9.5" x 9.5") – so it takes up a comparatively small space on the listening room floor. Despite its modest cabinet size, the Unlimited will work well in rooms of up to about 580 square feet (55 square meters).
Tuneful Bass
One of the first things that will strike you about the Unlimited is the excellent quality of the bass, especially considering the compact size of the cabinet. The bass is deep with real weight and measurements have shown that useful bass is produced well into the 20Hz region. Importantly, the bass is also clear, articulate and in time with the rest of the audio range. It is easy to follow the bass lines and drums have an authentic impact to their transients. The correct bass balance is maintained even when listening at low levels, so you can continue to enjoy your Unlimiteds when you might otherwise have to use headphones.
German Physiks’ Revolutionary DDD Driver
Like all German Physiks loudspeakers, the heart of the Unlimited is its carbon fibre DDD driver. In the Unlimited, this wide-bandwidth omnidirectional driver covers the range from 200Hz up to 24kHz. This extremely wide range is achieved by the use of pistonic, bending wave and modal radiation: most loudspeakers use drivers that are purely pistonic. The same quality of DDD driver is used on all German Physiks loudspeakers, from our entry level Unlimited, to our top of the range, $300,000 Gaudi Mk II. The DDD driver gives the same very important advantages to all German Physiks designs and is what sets them apart from the competition. These are:
1. Exceptionally coherent and natural sound: The extremely wide operating range of the DDD driver provides an exceptionally coherent and natural sound. This is very difficult to achieve when this frequency range is split over two or more different types of driver, which are in physically different positions on the cabinet.
This wide operating range also eliminates the crossover point in the mid-range that loudspeakers using conventional pistonic drivers must have. Our hearing is most sensitive in the mid-range and avoiding the level and phase errors that crossovers can create from this region further improves transparency.
2. Realistic stereo images more like you experience in the concert hall: When you listen to music in a concert hall, you are in an enveloping sound field where much of the sound is reflected off a surface before it reaches your ears. These reflections play an important part in the creation the stereo image that you perceive. Because the DDD driver is omnidirectional, it radiates all frequencies evenly around it and so creates a similar enveloping sound field in the listener’s room. This way the Unlimited is able to recreate a more natural rendition of the original stereo image. This has excellent depth and focus, but without the overly sharp image definition that some hi-fi loudspeakers produce and which you will rarely if ever hear at a live performance.
3. Stereo imaging enjoyable in almost all positions in the room: Conventional loudspeakers tend to produce stereo images that can only be best enjoyed from one position in the room, the “sweet-spot”, and then usually by only one person. Move away from the “sweet-spot” and both the stereo image and tonal balance become progressively degraded. This is because conventional pistonic drivers tend to concentrate their radiation into a beam that narrows with increasing frequency.
By contrast, the DDD driver’s omnidirectional radiation pattern enables Unlimited to produce excellent stereo images that can be enjoyed from a wide range of listening positions in the room, whilst also maintaining a more even tonal balance: much like you would experience at a live performance. This gives more flexibility in where you sit and allows several people to enjoy a good sound simultaneously, so you can share your music with others. Because you are not restricted to a small “sweet-spot” in order to hear the best sound, the Unlimited provides a more relaxed listening experience. This is especially noticeable when you listen for long periods.
4. Exceptional dynamics: The DDD driver’s very low moving mass provides an excellent impulse response, allowing it to recreate both the attack of the music and resolve low level detail very accurately. The resultant transparency is maintained even on complex high-level passages. For example, cymbals have an authentic initial smash and the ebb and flow of the subtle overtones that follow is clear and unmasked. This ability is essential in order to faithfully reproduce the delicate nuances of a performance and make it sound like music, rather than just good hi-fi. Once you have become accustomed to the more natural presentation provided by our DDD driver, it can be difficult to go back to listening to a conventional design. This is something we often hear from our customers and it has also been commented on in reviews.
5. Accurate portrayal of musical instruments’ tonal characteristics: The DDD driver is phase linear across its operating range, ensuring that the tonal character of each musical instrument is reproduced with great accuracy. This together with the excellent dynamic response enables the Unlimited to reproduce percussion with startling reality. Voices have a clarity and purity that can be breath taking, with all the elements that comprise the vocal sound correctly located in space and with no undue emphasis. The hardness you often hear with conventional tweeters is eliminated and you get a greater sense of hearing a live musician rather than a recorded one.
More information on the DDD driver, its development and advantages may be found on the Technology page of the German Physiks web site at http://bit.ly/1jLZekr.
Low Resonance Cabinet Design Enhances Transparency
Coloration caused by resonances in a loudspeaker cabinet, where the cabinet itself starts to radiate sound energy, can seriously degrade the sound quality by obscuring detail. To prevent this, the Unlimited’s cabinets are constructed from heavy panels of MDF, with internal re-enforcements fitted at critical points.
As a further anti-resonance measure, a special damping material called Hawaphon® is applied to the inside of each panel. This adds mass to the panel to reduce the resonant frequency and its special internal structure very effectively converts vibration energy into heat. Hawaphon® achieves a broadband attenuation of structure-borne sound of more than 50dB: a remarkably high figure.
Finally, to damp resonances of the air within the cabinet, the whole of the inside of the cabinet is
lined with a thick layer of high-density felt.
Designed for a Lifetime of Listening Pleasure
As you would expect from a German product, the quality of construction and reliability are first class. We use the same quality of parts in the Unlimited as in our reference products, where we design for a minimum life expectancy of 25 years. For this reason we have selected highly corrosion resistant V4 grade stainless steel for the DDD driver support pillars, terminal mounting plates and all the screws.
WBT nextgen™ binding posts are used to provide an excellent connection between the loudspeaker cable and the loudspeaker.
Meticulous care and attention is paid during the manufacture of the Unlimited. Prior to assembly all components and materials are subject to a rigorous inspection. We also carry out detailed inspections at each stage of the manufacturing process. We can afford to do this as we build our products by hand in small batches. After assembly the performance of each loudspeaker is measured. Then it is burnt in for at least 12 hours and measured again. Once the burn process is complete each loudspeaker is given a final detailed physical inspection before being packed.
For product images and the latest version of the user manual, please follow this link to the German Physiks Download Page.
Reviews: Here are the most recent Unlimited Reviews: For more reviews please click here.
“More than ever, you owe it to yourself to try the German Physiks sound. It could be all you ever need.”
Alan Sircom
May 2016, HiFi +, UK
“… what is spectacular is the sheer size of the sound, and the wonderfully accurate way that instruments are placed within the soundstage. There is very little sense that music is coming from the Unlimited at all; it’s just there like a part of the furniture, and suddenly when you put some music on the room comes to life.”
David Price
June 2015, Hi-Fi Choice, UK
“… with the Unlimited Mk ll I could sit anywhere I wanted, and actually got a more natural and easier-to-listen-to musical experience. Listening to vocals was particularly pleasurable from wherever I sat or walked. The singers were in the room with me.”
Janine Elliot
May 2015, Hi Fi Pig, UK
Unlimited Specifications
Impedance
4 ohms
Frequency Response
32– 24,000Hz
Power Handling
Nominal 110W
Short Term 170W
Amplification Required
Minimum 90W/4 ohms
Crossover Frequency
200Hz
Crossover Slopes
DDD Section 6dB/octave electronic & 18dB/octave acoustic
Woofer Section 18dB/octave electronic & 18dB/octave acoustic
Sensitivity
88dB for 1W at 1m
Operating Principle
2-way loudspeaker with 360° surround radiation
using the German Physiks DDD driver
Input Connectors
1 set of WBT nextgen™ binding posts
Drivers
1 x carbon fiber DDD driver
1 x 8-inch woofer
Recommended Room Size
106 – 580 square feet/10 – 55 square meters
Finish – Unlimited Ultimate
High polish polyester black, white, red or yellow
Finish – Unlimited Carbon
Carbon fiber
Dimensions
240 mm W x 1050 mm H x 240 mm D
9.5” W x 41.3” H x 9.5” D
Weight
28.9kg / 63.7lbs
Warranty
5 years
As part of our process of continually improving our products, we reserve the right to change specifications without
notice.