In its issue 1/26, published in early December 2025, the specialist magazine Stereo tests the Canor Virtus A3 integrated amplifier and praises it for its “passionate music reproduction”:
“Canor may not yet be very well known among German hi-fi enthusiasts. Nevertheless, this Slovak company, which has been building tube-based amplifiers since 1995, has gained a real fan base since its products became available in Germany through distributor IDC Klaassen in 2020.
The state-of-the-art production facilities are not only used for manufacturing Canor products but also for producing circuit boards and even entire devices for other brands. The company’s vertical integration goes well beyond assembling circuit boards and winding transformers. Their expertise extends to metalworking, including anodizing, and to quality control and tube matching using their proprietary measurement system ‘Aladdin’. If you’re unfamiliar with tube matching: it refers to testing and adjusting multiple tubes of the same type to ensure they have identical electrical characteristics.
Canor is equally meticulous in other components, always with sound quality and durability in mind. For example, Canor devices combine tubes with so-called SMD technology.
This helps to keep signal paths as short as possible and takes advantage of the reduced sensitivity to microphonic effects offered by components mounted directly on the circuit board. Furthermore, Canor has developed a special PCB milling technique intended to optimize the board layout. The aim is to combine the advantages of point-to-point wiring – often found in high-end tube devices and considered superior in terms of sound – with the highest possible consistency in manufacturing.”
[…]
The acoustic impressions were very intense. Not because it was hard for us to form a well-founded opinion, but because this amplifier increased the listening enjoyment with every passing minute. The Virtus A3 didn’t feel like an electronic device for music playback, but rather like a musician who knows his craft and breathes life into his work with full passion.
Devices using tubes are often said to have warmth or a certain sweetness in their sound. But that doesn’t apply here, as the sugary, icing-like coloration of some tube amps is completely absent. Yet, despite its tonal neutrality and a high degree of control over the entire frequency range of the speakers used, the A3 always conveys something more than just a sequence of notes. Several amplifiers we used for comparison couldn’t captivate us like the Canor did when listening to the excellently produced Shanghai Confidential by Donald Fagen. Pete Townshend also impressed with Give Blood, thanks to the irresistible punch with which the Slovak launched the sounds into the room. The spatial imaging was both wide and deep, excellently layered: every instrument and voice was in its place as we listened to Ramblin’ Boy by the Weavers or Bye Bye Blackbird by the Ray Brown Trio. Artificial reverb added in the studio could often be clearly distinguished from natural room reverb in many recordings.
What remains is a look back at weeks of intensely passionate musical reproduction, along with the insight – and urgent recommendation – that the Canor Virtus should definitely be given the fast lane on the A3.
Test result
Measurements: good (2.0)
Features: good (1.9)
Handling & operation: good (2.0)
Sound: emotionally gripping, tonally neutral, excellent speaker control – 86/100 points
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