The constructive concept of the Antipodes EX is the key to its sonic abilities. The 24 centimeter wide housing excels through order. You won't find a disturbing fan. The massive, extremely solid case is designed in such a way that sufficient ventilation is provided through openings in the bottom, lid and on the back as well as through appealingly styled cooling fins on the sides. So annoying fan noises surely won’t be the outcome of what the Antipodes sends out into the listening room. For high-grade music playback, the noise behaviour of the computer itself is a decisive factor. And, the mechanical construction as well is relevant to the sonic quality. There are manufacturers who separate complex power supplies in order to avoid interference with the device’s audio section. This, however, increases the risk of losses due to the length of the low-voltage power cable. With the Antipodes, the computer and converter section occupy their own massive compartment in the housing. In the remaining separate chamber, the supply of electricity is generated by elaborate means. So even the low-scatter transformer with its copper shield alone is a real eye-catcher.

From the New Zealand creatives I came to know the following (quotation translated, shortened and slightly changed): "Here an R-core transformer is involved, which is superior to the use of a toroidal core in conjunction with a digital component. The advantage of a toroidal transformer lies in its comparatively lowest external stray magnetic field. But it has the highest primary to secondary parasitic capacitance. High capacitance means that high-frequency EMI and RFI on the AC power line can move more easily from the primary to the secondary side, and can therefore load the power supply with high-frequency noise – really a very bad thing in the world of digital electronics. An EI transformer as an alternative can be designed with a split coil. Primary and secondary sections are quite distant from one another. Thus, the EI can have the lowest primary to secondary parasitic capacitance. However, the EI features a large external stray magnetic field, and by nature it will always interplay with a degree of vibration and hum that is large enough to be problematic in a demanding audio application. The R core is the happy medium. It as separates the primary coil on one side of the half toroid and the secondary coil on the other side, so that it has a much lower primary to secondary parasitic capacitance than a toroidal transformer and is therefore much more capable of blocking RFI and EMI on the AC line. The R-core transformer, that Antipodes Audio has opted for, features high-quality silicon steel core and copper shielding, and is wound with ultra-high purity copper wire. All parts are sourced from highly respected Japanese suppliers. The decision to use the R-core transformer was not only determined by measurement reasons, but also and ultimately by evaluation of its sonic properties". In addition, two gold-black Nichicon electrolytic capacitors with 15,000 picofarads each are located on the rectifier PCB.

I have never seen such an internal walled-up concept using a metal housing as with the Antipodes EX anywhere in this field. Altogether it features four separate chambers. The thick aluminum plates and struts with sockets for the connectors impress with their solidity. In the computer, a HDA Intel PCH ALC233 converts the signal from digital to analogue. This is merely the DAC incorporated in the Intel chipset on the motherboard trimmed for audio purposes, so basically this seems nothing special. But what emerges sonically is remarkable. The fact that the converter transforms the signal as free of jitter as possible is a matter of course for the New Zealander manufacturer. Mechanical solidity is part of the concept of their low-interference digital signal processing, as is the omission of plug-and-play functions. Because every circuit that remains ready for use is always active and disturbs the cleanliness of the digital audio signal processing. This is comparable, for example, to a car battery where keyless go or other radio signal receivers strain the system. To the greatest possible extent, the EX is designed to minimise the load on the computer.