The CanEver Audio OLIMPICO Power Amp is a homage to the famous Teatro Olimpico, located in Vicenza, designed by the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, a pearl for design and listening experience.
The OLIMPICO Power Amp project is based on that of the LaScala Power Amp, marking the top in the CanEver Audio product line. But unlike the LaScala, which comes in two separate cabinets (power supply & amp circuit) the OLIMPICO comes in one single box.
While the LaSacla is able to deliver a maximum output power of 120W per channel in pure Class A, the OLIMPICO has been tailored to deliver 50W pure Class A “only”.
As many audiophile experience over time, the sound quality of an amp does not correlate with its output power. Sometimes the sound of a “small” amp combined with matching speakers is surprisingly good. Listening to some well designed SET amps or those based on the First Watt projects of Nelson Pass may be an example.
The CanEVER Audio OLIMPICO Power Amp is positioned right between those “flea powered” amps demanding really high efficient speakers to sound good and those mostly oversized amps delivering several hundreds of watts.
Delivering solid 50 Wrms in pure Class A, the CanEver Audio OLIMPICO Power Amp can drive any seriously designed speaker to its top level of performance.
The lines remain true to the original lines of its big brother - the CanEver Audio LaScala Power Amp - revisiting them with a more attractive flair. The character remains unique and unmistakable.
The OLIMPICO Power Amp was designed with the aim of creating a smart, simple and useful power amplifier to highlight the original concept of a "hybrid amplifier with as less stages as possible, no feedback loops and without any capacitor in the signal path".
The basic architecture of the OLIMPICO Power Amp, the output transformers, the interstage transformers and the tubes are the same as used inside its big brother the LaScala.
The first stage of the OLIMPICO is based on a TRIODE stage responsible for the whole voltage amplification followed by a current stage designed around only two power MOSFETs per channel. These stages are coupled by interstage transformers, so not a single capacitor touches the sound of the audio signal.
Everything is designed, inspired by the Canever Audio Leitmotif: The Natural Sound!
The two output transformers of the OLIMPICO Power Amp are specified up to a maximum power of 400 Watts. These transformers guaranty high linearity, wide bandwidth and naturally isolate the loudspeakers in case of fault.
Working at “only” 50Wrms pure Class A compared with the 400 W of reservoir power, the OLIPMPICO blends comfort with versatility and makes it perfect for relaxed everyday listening experience – but without ever compromising its technological spirit.
The CanEVER Audio OLIMPICO Power Amp is designed based on 25 years of experience. The result is an amplifier, which leaves no room for doubt about the performance it can deliver.
A special thanks to Matej Isak of Mono&Stereo ... he is reviewing the LA SCALA amplifier, looking to real features of the unit.
Here the review about LaScala Power amplifier.