It's true - I'm a sucker for high-end audio products that (1) are exotic or unique, (2) sound fantastic, and (3) offer tremendous bang for the buck. Which is why Venus Hi-Fi will start carrying Rauna/Opus 3 turntables and tonearms in January of 2005. These Swedish analog products are absolutely top-notch, which should come as no surprise given Opus 3's reputation and expertise as a producer of reference-quality 180g LPs.

Here is a photo of the Rauna/Opus 3 Continuo turntable with the Cantus linear tracking tonearm:

http://www.sounddecisions.com.sg/images/continuo2.jpg

And to read a recent review of the Continuo turntable, click here (http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/opus3_e.html).

Happy listening!

Ah Professor- after reading that article when it was printed I tried to find an Opus to check out. Glad it is now available, look forward to your impressions of it- may be a fit for me (if it ain't too ugly :) )

Brian, quanto costa? The article says 1200 euro (I believe a Euro is equal to a $ right?) but how much do you anticipate selling them for?

A Euro is around $1.31 now, plus shipping from Sweden has to add something.

Or not :)

The U.S. pricing of this line is still being worked out. Obviously, a number of factors will be in play here, including (1) anticipated currency exchange rates (the Bush administration has favored weakening the U.S. dollar in the hopes of boosting exports), (2) overseas shipping costs, and (3) establishing a Stateside warranty service operation. Rest assured, though, that the domestic pricing will fall within "bargain territory" given the performance of these products...

Well, after a couple of false starts, it looks like the Rauna turntable and tonearm will FINALLY be getting their official North American debut in early March of 2007. And it's about time, sez I, as these are truly exceptional products! You can bet your ass that I'll be all over this line once it's available here. I mean, how can you go wrong? This is the very rig that Bo Hansson designed for producing his highly-acclaimed series of Opus 3 LPs...

Brian, quanto costa? The article says 1200 euro (I believe a Euro is equal to a $ right?) but how much do you anticipate selling them for?

Actually, that was a typo - the price should have been 1200 British Pounds (in fact, the correct pricing is given later in the article). This translates to about U.S. $2300, which is the anticipated retail price of the Continuo/Cantus combo in 2007.

I should have mentioned: The photo included in the opening post of this thread is of the Reference Granite version of the Continuo, which will cost a couple of hundred dollars extra. Here are photos of the "standard" Continuo in blue...

http://www.rauna.com/slides/bilder/Continuoblue.jpg

...and in red.

http://www.rauna.com/slides/bilder/contin_red.jpg

Personally, I think that the red version looks the coolest! :smoke:

Brian - you've got a lot of nerve being in East Lansing and featuring that "maize and blue" turntable! :nono: :D

Brian - you've got a lot of nerve being in East Lansing and featuring that "maize and blue" turntable! :nono: :D

Perhaps, but I AM a Wolverine - I got my undergrad degree at U of M! :thmbsp: