$1,039,100 ~ standard finish ~ high polish black or white polyester
$1,059,800 ~ premium finish ~ high polish veneer
$1,088,800 ~ premium finish ~ carbon fiber
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Includes
- extreme electronic crossover ~ Emperor DSP-X
- All metal parts finished in chrome as standard
$32,700 ~ 24K gold plating on metal parts
- Assembly & set-up by a German Physiks engineer service available. Price on request.
The story of our flagship model
The Gaudi Mk I was launched in 1996. It was designed to replicate as closely as possible the feel of a full-scale orchestra in the listener’s room, by being able to reproduce the wide frequency range, high sound levels and wide dynamic range that would be experienced during a live performance. Being an omnidirectional loudspeaker, it would also provide the immersive stereo image that is experienced in the concert hall.
To provide this level of performance required a loudspeaker that could move a lot of air. The Gaudi Mk I used four 4 titanium cone DDD drivers arranged in a vertical array on the front of the cabinet. These covered the frequency range from 180Hz to 21,100Hz. Eight 6-inch woofers and four 12-inch subwoofers took the frequency response down to 15Hz.
A custom analogue active crossover split the audio signal into three bands so that the drivers in each section of the loudspeaker could be driven by their own independent external power amplifier.
It was large and it was of course expensive, but for the demanding, suitably wealthy, and probably single audiophile, it offered a path to audio Nirvana.
The Gaudi Mk I impressed the reviewers at the top Japanese high-end audio magazine Stereo Sound so much, that in 1998 they gave it their prestigious Components of the Year Award.
In 2004 the Gaudi Mk II was launched. This offered the major upgrade of being available with the higher performance carbon fiber cone DDD drivers. These allowed the frequency response to be extended to 24,000Hz and also provided a better dynamic response.
In 2017, the Gaudi Mk II was retired as our Emperor loudspeaker, which was a development of the Gaudi, was offering a superior performance, especially at the lower end of the frequency range. Work then started on what would eventually become the Gaudi Mk III. This was a slow
process: partly because we were also working on a number of other projects and partly because of the long delivery time of prototype cabinets.
The next generation
In the autumn of 2025, the final design of the Gaudi Mk III was signed off and in January 2026 the first set was shipped to its new owner.
A complete Gaudi Mk III web page with images will be published shortly, but in the meantime, here is a brief overview.
Like the Gaudi Mk II, the Mk III uses a vertically orientated array of four carbon fiber DDD drivers. This is built as a freestanding module, independent of the bass cabinet. The use of four DDD drivers allows the production of very high sound levels and consequently a very wide dynamic range. Together with the immersive stereo image that the DDD driver is famous for, this helps to bring the listener even closer to the feeling of listening to a live music performance.
The DDD driver array covers the frequency range from 200Hz to 24kHz. As with all German Physiks loudspeakers, this very wide frequency range allows the crucial midrange region to be kept free from any discontinuities or other problems that a crossover point in this range might cause. This is a major difference between German Physiks loudspeakers and almost all other loudspeaker designs.
The bass system has been completely redesigned. It uses three vertically stacked independent cabinets. Two cabinets each house four 8-inch drivers for the sub-woofer section and third cabinets houses one 15-inch driver for the woofer section. The bass response of this system is significantly better controlled and better balanced than the previous version.
The Gaudi Mk III is an active 3-way design. Each section of the loudspeaker is driven directly by its own external power amplifier, so three channels of power amplification are required for each loudspeaker. This arrangement gives better control of the drivers, lower distortion, and higher efficiency. The customer is free to use the power amplifiers of their choice, provided that they meet the output power requirements and that they all have the same gain. Based on the extensive listening done during the development of the Gaudi Mk III, we can very strongly recommend our own Emperor stereo and mono power amplifiers.
To divide the preamplifier output into the frequency ranges required by each power amplifier, the Gaudi Mk III is shipped with our Emperor DSP-X crossover. This digital system enables the frequency characteristics of the crossover filters to be very accurately defined. The relative levels of the crossover’s output sections can be easily adjusted. This allows a degree of compensation for adverse room frequency characteristics.
The standard finishes are black or white high polish polyester. There are also some interesting options for customizing the finish and we will publish details of these later.
The Gaudi Mk III is available in three versions:
Gaudi Standard
Each channel uses one DDD driver section and one bass section.
Gaudi Maxx
This is the same as the Gaudi standard, but with one extra bass section.
Gaudi Ultimate
This is the same at the Gaudi Maxx, but with an infra-subwoofer.
It is possible to upgrade the Gaudi Mk III to higher specification versions by adding the extra bass and infra-sub sections required.