CES 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.