Trinnov Altitude 32 A/V Preamplifier
As I wrote before in these pages, I have long been acquainted with French electronics manufacturer Trinnov. Years ago, at an Audio Engineering Society convention in New York, a Trinnov rep used a mastering console equipped with their processor to move, at will, the sounds of instruments around the 3D soundstage and left me thoroughly impressed. That was before my conversion from stereo to multichannel music listening, and before the blurring of borders between home theater and mainstream audio.
Subsequently, I reported on an AVR with a simplified version of Trinnov processing,1 and later still on a full-blown Trinnov MC Optimizer.2 The former was tantalizing but ultimately unsatisfying, while the latter was satisfying but too demanding, operationally and financially. But recently, Trinnov entered the home theater/domestic-audio market with their line of Altitude preamp-processors. These sit at the high end of such products in appearance, convenience, DSP potency—and price.
Earlier this year, I received for review the Trinnov Altitude 32—actually the Altitude 32-816, with optional 3D audio decoding package ($26,750), plus a Trinnov 3D microphone ($750). The “816” designation indicates 8-channel (actually 7.1) input capability, either digital or analog, as well as 16 channels of outputs; the optional 3D package enables Auro-3D, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X, along with their respective upmixers for legacy material: Auro-3D, Dolby Surround, and Neural:X.3 The Trinnov Altitude 32 is the most prodigious HT pre-pro that I have ever used. Aside from DSD support, I cannot think of a single facility or function that’s missing, including the option to go beyond the number of built-in channels by adding cards and an external box.
Getting up to altitude
In my earlier experience with the Trinnov MC Optimizer—in that instance, a standalone signal processor, although the name also applies to the suite of DSP software inside the Altitude 32 and other products—I had to rely on a phone and VPN connection with a Trinnov technician to get it going.
