Altis Centauri Transport?

I read somewhere that the man behind Altis, Howard Mandel, past away last September. I think this explains why the website is gone. I used to own the CDT-1 made by Altis several years ago and I think it was one of the best transports I ever had. I met Howard then and he showed me his new Centauri which sounded and looked absolutely great. As much as I wanted to buy it, it was way too expensive for me.

Howard Mandel did pass away and a while back, the Altis website posted a message stating that the video products had been purchased by one company and the audio products, designs, trademarks were for sale. Based on this, I would say Altis audio is out of business. I owned the Reference DAC and considered the CDTIII. Great equipment; if you have a tech who you know could fix it in the off chance something goes wrong, I would consider the purchase. The Centauri is unique.

Howard was a good personal friend. If you are in need of service, I believe the engineering company that did some of his sub-assembly will do service. If you need information, please feel free to email me

Scott

sgrillo@execomm.net

I was seriously interested in his products, but before I could made a final decision I got the sad news...

Anyway, I heard his Centauri Transport is a fantastic unit, specially with his DAC.

I owned the Altis Centauri transport for about two years, pairing it with several DACs. It was an excellent transport, which I regret selling. Not as musical as a TL-1x, for example, but better resolution and tighter bass.

If you cannot swing a Pitracer, TL-0, Forsell, or Esoteric P-0, the Centauri is not a bad choice.

For those of you who own Altis products, I know that Jerry Ozment services the DACs. You can reach him at 203-966-1732.

I own a Centauri. It is a wonderful transport, and visually it truly is a work of art. There is also a nice upgrade. The Centauri uses a Philips CD-Pro drive. Philips has introduced a direct replacement, the CD-Pro2. It is fairly easy to make the change (no soldering necessary), and it really elevates the performance of the Centauri. Happy Listening.

Hello, I also have the Centauri transport and still can not find anything today that beats it. I was wondering how you would go about getting that Philips CD-Pro2 drive that you mentioned. Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Bill

All,

I'm Howard's brother and I must share that he would be delighted to hear your glowing comments regarding his prize invention -- the Centauri.

Regards,
Brian Mandel

Hello, Brian.

I was very sorry to learn that your brother Howard had passed away. He and Altis are still very highly regarded by the audio community and he is sorely missed.

I have just purchased an Altis Centauri transport on eBay from a seller in Germany (I am in the USA), and I am wondering if you could help me get an owner's manual if the seller does not have one.

My interest in the Centauri was piqued by an article in the premiere issue of Ultimate Audio, which I just happened to find in a stack of old magazines today, but that description/review does not include any technical specs, so I do not even know the dimensions of the unit. The Centauri is very hard to come by, so that when I saw the eBay listing, I pounced. The seller's description says the unit works and that it has a new transport mechanism installed.

It is such a beautiful example of 'industrial design', I just could not pass it up, but I do not even know the dimensions of the unit. For that reason and for many others, it would be helpful to have a manual (even a photocopy, if no printed/bound manual is available).

Thank you for your attention.