01 Introduction. Editorial. Page 4 Made in Germany. Now and in the future. 02 Your best sound. Space meets structure and becomes emotion. How do we hear? An interview with the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Director of Sound and Creative Producer. Page 10 03 Your best design. A world of glass. Creation of the Loewe Reference’s spectacular contrast filter panel: a visit to the Berliner Glas factory. Page 24 Page 5 Sound highlights. Design highlights. Loewe’s history. From past to future: Smart Home Entertainment – since 1923. What gives the Loewe Reference its outstanding sound? What gives the Loewe Reference...

Loewe Reference. Contents. 04 Your best picture. “I want to see their souls” Click: photographer Werner Pawlok talks about creative crises and the art of chance. Page 34 05 Your best operation. Popcorn and the bathtub. One day, many scenes: live on the Loewe film set. Page 50 Picture highlights. What is the secret to the Loewe Reference’s crystalclear picture quality? Page 44 Operating highlights. What makes the Loewe Reference so user-friendly? Product details & technical information.

Editorial. Never Stop Beginning. There has been a lot of talk about new beginnings at Loewe recently. But in actual fact, the thrill of new beginnings has been a constant theme for the company – starting with its creation in 1923, founded by the brothers Dr. Siegmund and David Loewe as a radio engineering business in Berlin, and continuing to drive our development today. A recent example of this is the new Loewe Reference and its exceptionally high quality standards. In this magazine, we tell the story of its creation and bring its achievements vividly to life, through a selection of carefully...

Loewe. Editorial. / Made in Germany. “ ou can see, hear Y and feel our quality.” Innovation, precision and sustainability: for more than 90 years, Loewe has remained true to its promise of “Made in Germany”. And we will continue to do so in the future – with innovative and truly meaningful technologies, award-winning design and stringent quality standards. Smart Home Entertainment: Designed f

  Each individual contrast filter panel is inspected manually for defects.     2   The prototype for the new Loewe Reference was also built in the company’s in-house workshop.     All Loewe televisions are produced by hand in the company’s factory in Kronach.     4   The higher the quality of the components, the smoother the assembly process.     5   The glass edges of the contrast filter panel are checked carefully for even the tiniest cracks.    6   Always watching: the distinctive operating eye – Loewe’s signature – is added just before the final inspection. Loewe. Made in Germany. For more...

Perfect sound. Interview. Space meets structure and becomes emotion. An interview with Christoph Franke, Director of Sound and Creative Producer with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Acoustics is the study of sound and its­ dissemination. Quite straightforward so far, in theory at least. However, complexities immediately emerge as soon as we attempt to describe the perception and effect of sound, for example music. Voluminous, powerful, light, clear, muffled or precise ... it all becomes very subjective, as we each hear and perceive something different. So how can we define perfect sound? Does such...

3 Components Perfect sound – what does that mean for you? Christoph Franke: It’s a simple question, but it’s actually not that easy to answer. I would describe good sound as a successful balance of spatial experience, musical experience and emotional experience. These are the three components of good sound. First, I need to be able to truly feel the space I am in. Secondly, the musical experience must surpass the purely physical or acoustic realm and take you into its very structure. Clarity is an essential aspect, to allow you to discern and follow structures of scores, individual voices and...

Perfect sound. Interview. Tradition meets innovation. Or how an idea became a place. The seed of the idea for a “digital concert hall” was sown in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. The orchestra’s performance was being transmitted simultaneously to a video screen outside the concert hall. At the end of the concert, the musicians stepped outside to rapturous applause from an assembled 20,000 music enthusiasts. “We were overwhelmed by the experience, that was what started it all.” Even now, reliving the moment still brings a sparkle to the eyes of Olaf Maninger, Principal Cellist with the Berliner...

On the “Digital Concert Hall” website, it states that you aim to “convey an authentic concert hall experience”. What do you mean by this? In the context of our recordings, authenticity involves imagining an “ideal seat” and using this as the basis for the creation of an artificial listening situation that makes the listener at home feel as if he or she is there in the concert hall. Of course, the sound experience is different if you are actually sitting in the Philharmonie, that’s obvious. The aim of our recordings is to make the media barrier – the sound is conveyed to you through speakers rather...

Perfect sound. Interview. Does it enhance or detract from the appeal? There is no comparison between the live experience in the Philharmonie and the experience in front of a television or computer. Attending a concert feels completely different to sitting in front of your TV and following the cameras as they pan over the different instruments. We have also seen no evidence of any cannibalisation effect between the “Digital Concert Hall” and live concerts. Nobody has said, “That’s it, I don’t need to go concerts any more. I can listen to the Berliner Philharmoniker at home now”. There is room...