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Bladelius "Grendel" amps

At the recent Singapore HiFi Show, I had the opportunity of listening to this Swedish amp, the Bladelius Grendel, driving the Marten Design "Coltrane" speakers. The sound was out of this world: completely grain free from top to bottom, it seemed to do everything perfectly: dynamics, air, transparency, slam, soundstaging, liquidity, the whole nine yards. Music just sounded so beautiful and lucid. Nothing else at the show even came close: Kharmas, Rockports, Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario, all paled in comparison.

The speakers, at US$50K or so, are totally beyond my reach, but the amp, at around US$8-9K seems tantalisingly tempting. My Krell FPB 300 now sounds grainy and mechanical by comparison.

Anyone had the opportunity to listen to this amp long term in a real world system?

Kind Regards
Mick
drbenway5725
4 responses Add your response
turnerbw
2 posts
 
Hello.
I have a chance to buy a Grendel amp (5 channel) for about 3000 euros, I have a question, what do you think about this amp for driving a pair of B&W 803D?

Thanks
hasse
230 posts
 
I´m driving my Magnepan 3.6´s with a Bladelius Grendel/Gondul 3 combo with great results.
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
i have not heard a Bladeius amp so far but just FYI, Michael Bladelius used to work for Nelson Pass back in the old days of Threshold! Some of the older Threshold amps are actually Bladelius amps.
jack667
3 posts
 
Hi Mick,

I have heard the Grendel at my dealer in the UK. It is a fantastic amp, although it was out of my price range at the time. I decided to go for the considerably cheaper Advantage (Bladelius) S101, which I couldn't be happier with, considering it was only $3000. The S101 is the BEST integrated I have heard under $4k.

Bladelius are a small company, perhaps better known for the Advantage range (which is still in production, even after the name change!)
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