Artora - revolutionary scandinavian Hi-Fi products with a futuristic twist*

[Baron Von Talbot]

Finally something different.
Beside sthe looks and reduced concept the amp offers Bluetooth connection, i.e you can keep the Mac away from the Stereo and without any adapters or cables access the files on your iTunes or listen to Internet Radio.

Sound quality is said to be about as good as say the LINN Majik-I, Vincent MK 23 8 MKII,Moon i3.4 or REGA Elicit
Tge amp costs 2.500 Euro, the CD Player the same .
If you buy a set you get the remote for free.

I am sure this is not what the typical gear head wants, but your wife will hug you and I am excited. The BT option make this amp one I have to add t my check out list .
http://artora.com/
Christian Bo design paired with expert audio experience.
Took them 3 years to come up with this brand new set-up for the 20ies in the 2100's !

3 colors, white, black and my favorite a bronze brown chrome finish, very pleasing to the eye...
Seen mich better photos in Decembers STEREO magazine
ooüs fpimd a PDF of that revie with inside fotos of both units and the data and ratings.

http://www.cardas.eu/infomaterial/artora/test/test_artora_stereo_1210.pdf

Very solid, great LED's, fine golden contachts,

A pity you can't see the fat totoids and the high quality inside those players, built like a tanl in full metal, but looks fragile.
2 reviews so far both were very pleasantly surprised by the inoovative design it's easy handling (up to 12 different BT items can beoperated and for the iPd there is an extra small BT antenna, not the usual dock.
Combined with a B&W 805 D it delivered a large stage with very inviting musical and rhythmical qualities, same with a TriangleGenesis floorstander. Voices were especially natural.
No cheap gadgets. weighs 7 Kilos and is not bigger than an external HD.
Banana plis only
Still I doubt many in here will leave a positive remark, I like great sound and a clear reduced look, you can add a turn table and be set..

[Lonson]

Interesting stuff Baron. A phono stage as well? Thanks for sharing.

[ROLO46]

Banana plugs only ?????
Class D amps
I pod/pad/ looks
Peter Walker would love it
Wire with gain
40 yrs too late.

[Baron Von Talbot]

No phono stage, maybe later on they might add a Phono-Pre.

Yeah Banana Plugs only makes sense, these components are so tiny that horse shoes or bare wire would be visible from front view. Keep in mind how tiny this amp is.
CLASS D, even Audio Research and NAD offer these amp types, they have a few big advantages, Class A esp and A/B generate too much heat, so the small chassis would be impossible, due to the heat sinks .
But what is really impressive are the two fat torois and the 2 pairs of large pots (strict double mono) to store energy.
I actually am a fan of the D type sound, if engineered properly. Takes away the harshness of the typical lossy B design, waste of energy poor efficiency and the typical harshness that often comes from this massive heat/loos of A and poor juice of valves.
These switch mode amps are not digital , as the D implies and gives them a bad name among audiophiles, actually they are as analog as A or A/B amps and add a nice smoothness reminding a bit of tubey glow if done right.
After all the performance must prove if a unit is good or not, not the type of amp engineering you choose.
Okay this place is very conservative and favors 70ies and 60ies MAC tube amps, which is fine with me; but I am always open for new ways and if an amp looks this different and is said to sound as good as others at this price range plus Blue Tooth I would love to hear it..
Maybe we will see reviews in the US/UK press and see them on this years audio shows. Not sure if they have a US import by now. In germany it is taurus.de.