Canor Audio, located in Slovakia, has introduced the Virtus A3, a dual mono integrated amplifier equipped with both analog and digital inputs, along with an E88CC tube in each preamp stage. A notable highlight of the Virtus A3 is its 1.3-inch LCD touch screen, which the company describes as a significant advancement. Additionally, the front panel includes two distinct headphone jacks.
Canor Audio Virtus A3: fully dual mono built
Canor guarantees exceptional channel separation and minimal crosstalk. The designers assert that the Virtus A3 provides a pristine stereo experience with outstanding spatial clarity. The total independence of the circuits enhances audio quality, ensuring clarity and precision for each channel, which culminates in a deeply immersive and lifelike sound experience.
Canor Audio Virtus A3: power amplifier
The manufacturer indicates a power output of 100 watts per channel at eight ohms and 150 watts at four ohms. The power amplifier incorporates a tube-based balanced differential input stage utilizing an E88CC tube along with differential feedback paths, followed by a Class A Current Dumping output stage. In this design, a low-power Class A amplifier consistently manages the speaker load, while a high-power Class AB stage provides the necessary current for heavier loads. This innovative Current Dumping architecture guarantees that the low-power ultra-linear Class A stage maintains control over the speaker load, leveraging the robust power of the Class AB stage. Additionally, the Class AB stage effectively shields the sensitive Class A stage from complex speaker load currents. This configuration eliminates any transition between Class A and Class AB modes, delivering the advantages of exceptional Class A audio quality and signal linearity, while also minimizing power dissipation associated with Class AB operation.
The power amplifier incorporates differential feedback, which monitors the audio output signal at both the positive and negative speaker terminals to ensure optimal linearity. The selection of a tube input stage is based not only on the traditional benefits of tube sound but also on the fact that tubes are less prone to external RF interference. Such unwanted RF energy can cause intermodulation artifacts that are often found in loud, clear audio. The amplifier’s tube input stage is driven differentially from both analog and digital signal paths, achieving a typical distortion rate of 0.0002% at 1 Watt / 1 kHz, along with a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 16 bits at just 1 Watt.
Canor Audio Virtus A3: Analog signal path
The Virtus A3 is designed with a completely balanced symmetrical signal path, utilizing discrete circuitry without any integrated IC-based operational amplifiers in the direct signal route. Input selection is managed by premium relays that connect to symmetrical discrete Class A JFET zero-feedback buffers. The output from these buffers feeds into a differential analog step attenuator, ensuring accurate channel matching and optimal audio performance. This output is subsequently directed to the power amplifier. The design is entirely DC-coupled, employing DC servo technology to remove the necessity for acoustically harmful AC coupling capacitors in the direct signal path.
The Virtus A3 features a high-quality discrete phono stage that supports both MM and MC cartridges with a user-selectable set of settings. The settings can be selected by the user via the front panel interface.
Digital signal path
The USB input features galvanic isolation to eliminate ground loops that may arise from a typical noisy computer environment, protecting the sensitive audio system. This isolation process also involves re-synchronizing the USB signal to a local low phase noise reference clock, which helps minimize USB input jitter. Additionally, the USB input is equipped with RF filtering to limit the intrusion of external RF energy into the audio system. The integration of galvanic isolation, USB jitter reduction, and RF filtering ensures that the external USB signal is thoroughly refined before reaching the internal USB decoder circuitry of the Virtus A3.
The asynchronous USB input accommodates PCM audio data rates of up to 768kHz/32bit and supports native DSD up to DSD512. Beyond the USB input, the system also accepts optical, coaxial, and balanced AES-EBU inputs, all of which employ a digital PLL circuit to mitigate jitter in the incoming signals. For digital-to-analog conversion, dual ESS DACs are utilized, featuring discrete analog controllers for their essential DAC arrays.
Clock oscillators with low phase noise and vibration isolation serve as the primary timekeeping source for the ESS DAC chips. The ESS DAC array’s balanced analog output operates in current mode (I/V mode) to achieve optimal linearity, minimizing voltage coefficient modulation of the internal resistor array to decrease distortion.
The analog stage incorporates a distinctive JFET-based, fully symmetrical gain stage paired with high-current Class A output stages. This design employs straightforward second-order filtering with a unique topology that facilitates a passive first-order filter stage, effectively attenuating high-frequency RF energy from the ESS DAC array. This passive filter node is instrumental in mitigating high-frequency RF noise currents, which could lead to intermodulation in the sensitive analog active stages.
Specially developed, highly efficient cooling system
The sophisticated cooling system integrates heatpipe heatsinks with low-speed fans, a distinctive feature in audio amplifiers. This design effectively manages heat dissipation from the output stages, guaranteeing consistent performance even during heavy usage. Additionally, it keeps temperatures at an ideal level without producing noise. This innovative method enhances the device’s reliability and extends its lifespan.
Customers have the option to select either a black or silver model. The suggested retail price is slightly below $6,000.
