A staple of the Australian audio industry for 21 years, Redgum Audio is one of our icons in Hi-Fi. But in a market full of DAC's, streaming audio devices and wireless connectivity, what does Redgum Audio have to offer the market?

Enter the 'Redgum Black', Signature Series Amplifier project. With a complete ground-up design of their amplifier, incorporating micro-processors and some intelligent features, Redgum are hoping to offset the initial production costs via crowd-sourcing and the Indiegogo platform.

For those not well versed with this latest trend, crowd-sourcing involves pitching your idea to the masses based on a concept and idea, or even better a working prototype (as is the case with Redgum), and offering perks, or a discounted price for your early pledge.

Redgum Audio are aiming to raise $45,000 over 60 days to cover costs and get the project off the ground. As at June 2nd, the launch date, no pledges have been put forward. The small outlay or investment of $788 will see a “RGi35ENR” amplifier hit your hands in September if the project goes ahead. While we think that's a pretty good outlay for a 2 x 65w RMS (8 Ohms) high-tech amp that may become a piece of history, technical specifications are a little light-on.

According to the Indiegogo project page, Redgum need to find the first 500 pieces of the heat-sink casting and related metal work for the initial production run. This purpose built foundation for the Black Signature Series requires a minimum order of 500 pieces, equating to just over 3400kgs of aluminium, so it's no wonder they'd like to confirm sales before committing to raw materials.

The upside of the project, is that if funding is not reached, apparently the Black Signature Series will go ahead (albeit at higher prices one would expect) and pledgers won't lose their coin.

For more information visit the Redgum Audio Black Signature Series Project. And for what's it's worth, yes we made a contribution to the project.

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