CES 2009

I'm Thor, The Thaid!

Wes Phillips  |  Jan 8, 2009

Another company new to me—another high-end integrated. Actually, I'm in favor of both. I think HE integrateds make a lot of sense and new blood is always good for the breed. Actually, Mike Bladelius is not a new name in audio, having designed for Threshold in the early 1990s, but Bladelius Design Group certainly seemed like a new kid on the block.

That kid is pretty accomplished, based on the 150Wpc Thor Mk.II ($3995). Clad in a hefty aluminum chassis and boasting a custom-wound 1800VA toroidal transformer (and 80,000µf of filter capacitance). The DC-coupled device employs 16 high-powered , beta-matched MOSFET output devices. Thor has seven RCA inputs and two XLR.

And it sounded ravishing driving a pair of Acoustic Energy's new Radience floorstanders. Tons o' detail, but with just the proper soupcon of musicality. The demo sold me on not just the Thor, but the AEs, as well.

COMMENTS
ukiro's picture
Submitted by ukiro (not verified) on January 9, 2009 - 2:24pm

Wait, this is a Thor MK III - is that what you're saying? I can find absolutely no info about this here in Bladelius' native Sweden, or even elsewhere on the web... and to be honest, the "thaid" headline is a bit difficult to decipher for someone like myself who doesn't speak English natively. Is it supposed to be a cartoon-esque lisp? I don't get it.

Wes Phillips's picture
Submitted by Wes Phillips (not verified) on January 13, 2009 - 8:53am

I didn't mean to be obscure. In the US, there is a well-known joke about the god of thunder and the punchline does indeed rely upon a lisp.

David's picture
Submitted by David (not verified) on January 25, 2009 - 1:21pm

Do you recall if there is a US distributor for the Thor?

christopher (norway)'s picture
Submitted by christopher (norway) (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 4:28pm

Hi there!Bladelius Thor is an amazing pre-amp!I use it on my B&W 805s. Open, wide and absolute fantastic sound!I dont think i've heard of any british or American distributors for it, but here is an Norwegian:www.resonans-web.no

X