Engström
SCANDINAVIAN SOUND
Founded by engineer Lars Engström and industrial designer Timo Engström in 2008, Engström is a small Swedish family company. We believe that music should be enjoyed through pure & natural sound. We think of our amplifiers as musical instruments, rather than tech gadgets.
Purity is what defines our sound. Research has shown that slight impurities in reproduced music – what scientists call 'grey sound' – irritate the mind and cause stress and fatigue. Using unbalanced circuits or less-than-linear amplification devices is where grey sound begins.
The best way to eliminate grey sound is to design a balanced circuit with a linear construction. All components are then carefully selected to support this linear process, like our silver-plated wiring and solder. We use zero negative feedback and distortion in our amplifiers, and listeners tell us there is an instinctive rightness to our sound.
ARNE - Named after a famous Swedish jazz musician and born out of a design process akin to a jazz band mentality, ARNE is a fully balanced 300B integrated stereo-amp. The outward design echoes the heritage of a typical integrated tube amp, but elevates it with our distinctive curves and clean surfaces. Four years of intensive R&D since its 2018 launch has seen it evolve into the ARNE Mk2 in production today. We offer a selection of the best 300B tubes on the market to complement its contemporary circuit design. It is available in a classic all-black or all-white finish, with a choice of clear or smoked glass. ARNE delivers a staggering 30wpc with grip, speed and dynamics not always associated with common 300B amplifiers. A thick aluminum chassis and adjustable feet (with ceramic balls inside) root the amplifier firmly to the supporting surface.
ERIC - Named after a great Swedish choir conductor, ERIC is our no-compromise statement power amplifier. Fully balanced and transformer-coupled, it was created to drive even the toughest loads. ERIC uses separate power supplies for input and output stages and DC filaments. While the original model launched in 2016 used rare and specially designed T-100 power output tubes, the urge for even more power and refinement could not be ignored. Further R&D led to 845 power output tubes, an evolution so electrifying it earned the title ENCORE. The sound digs deeper, spreads wider and peers farther into the Scandinavian soundscape. Weighing in at 65kg per monoblock, the ERIC ENCORE is a titan of the industry in both size and sound. The power tubes are 845. With a wide range from rare NOS-tubes, to new modern 845’s, making tube rolling part of the fun. Driver tubes are 6L6GC in triode connection. Gain tubes are EC8010 a frame grid tube with high gain and low inner resistance.
LARS - Named after our co-founder, LARS is our original and critically acclaimed power amplifier. It features the best components, materials and custom parts made in short series for optimum quality. Since its 2010 release, the LARS has undergone several notable evolutions to become the Mk3 it is today. Every wire, connector, capacitor, standoff and fastener has been updated to a better-sounding and more reliable option. While the inside has grown bigger and better, the outside has matured into a more subtle and refined appearance, now available with new ceramic coatings. For anyone seeking the spring of Scandinavian Sound and the origin of Engström, LARS is the source. LARS is configured as two expertly crafted monoblock amplifiers. Each amplifier contains best-in-class components and has two inputs, one balanced XLR and one unbalanced RCA connector. LARS is a fully balanced power amplifier that operates in class A with a linear construction throughout and zero negative feedback.
MONICA - Named after one of Sweden’s favorite singers, MONICA is a fully balanced and perfectly matching pre-amplifier for LARS, ERIC and even ARNE for an extra boost or desired bi-amping. Inside its simple design are best-in-class components and a lifetime of engineering experience. As the third chassis complementing the MONICA line-stage, M-Phono is the MM/MC phono-pre-amp. Integrated into the original MONICA pre-amplifier in 2014, it is now a standalone product allowing the phono and line-stage to reach their full potential. With six inputs for each channel (three balanced XLR and three unbalanced RCA connectors) and four outputs for each channel (two balanced XLR and two un-balanced RCA) MONICA works in harmony with your sound system. MONICA features a fully balanced line stage and no negative feedback is used in the creation of its pure, distinct sound.