Featured in Bobby Palkovic's Merlin Display, his new favorite power source is this all tube integrated amplifier by ARS-SONUM called the Filarmonia - designed and built in Spain. The Filarmonía is a stereo integrated amplifier with 30 watts per channel at 8 ohms. Its output stage makes use of a pair of hand-matched E34L pentodes in Push-Pull configuration per channel. The E34L is a special version of the EL34/6CA7 tube. The drive and phase inversion stage uses a JAN5814-A (E82CC/6189/12AU7/ECC82) double triode, whilst the input section is driven by an E88CC (6922/ECC88/6DJ8) double triode. One of Filarmonía's most remarkable characteristics is the topology of its output stage, which does not use the typical ultra-lineal configuration, but a special screen-grid regulated pentode circuit with auto-regulated polarization matched for tolerances below 1%. The output transformers and the cathode resistors deserve special mention as they are matched within a 0.5% tolerance.

The power supply includes five sections, four of them stabilized independently for each channel and stage. The passive components within this section have been selected in an unusual way, they say. The Filarmonía sports professional quality filtering and decoupling caps of special series (Aerovox/BHC, Elna and Panasonic electrolytics and Wima and Philips MKP polypropylene film ones). The power resistors are selected at 1% tolerance. The driver and phase inversion stage uses tubes from professional series (JAN 5814A Philips) and low-noise, high-precision components, such as metal film resistors selected and pair-matched at 0.5% as well as special series film & foil top audiophile grade capacitors (Hovland Musicap). This may be the Merlin/Ars-Sonum connection since Bobby uses Hovlands in his Merlins.

The input stage is based on an exceptionally low noise JJ E88CC and metal film resistors from Vishay and Philips and an ALPS Blue Velvet volume potentiometer. The amplifier is built using both point-to-point wiring and a printed circuit board. The chassis is made of die cast steel, folded and soldered and then polished and chrome plated. The lathe-turned, hand-polished, solid aluminum control buttons are exclusively hand-crafted for Ars-Sonum. Finally, the new SE version utilizes high quality, pure copper Cardas speaker terminals. I didn’t see a remote control laying around. Bummer. But for $4,000, that might be easy to forgo.

This room was high on everyone's list for best value sound at show. The combination of  the Filarmonia with Bobby's Merlin VSM-MXe's was ultra musical and satisfying - even in a NYC hotel room.