Totem Acoustic from Montreal, Canada, just launched its first Kickstarter campaign to fund production of the first series of its new ARC amplifier. Since Totem is known primarily in the HiFi technology scene for its speakers, the ARC represents a new adventure into the realm of amplifiers.

The ARC is not just another HiFi amplifier the company say, but possibly the first in line of a new generation of digital amplifiers. Totem likes to call it “The next generation of digital amps” adding “This amplifier allows all digital music to be played on a HiFi system with the sound quality of any large sound system”.

The ARC allows Bluetooth audio wireless streaming from any digital device directly to almost any 8-ohm speaker system. Small and easy to use, all that is needed is a pair of speakers and the ARC. With the integrated Bluetooth audio wireless connection, the ARC works autonomously with a set of speakers and a smart phone. It can also be hooked up to a computer via USB. The ARC will thus act as a USB audio device, but will switch automatically to Bluetooth Audio if it is connected to a smart phone.

“Today most of the music we listen to is digital; it’s on our phones, our laptops or streamed from the web. But there is gap, a missing link, when it comes to listening to our online music library or internet streaming music on a good HiFi system. As music passionate, we know that high-end quality is absolutely irreplaceable when it comes to a great listening experience and immersive sound. That’s why we created the ARC,” explains Gabriel Bull, Director of Technology at Totem Acoustic.

“All you need is a set of nice speakers and the ARC. Done. Now go ahead and play your music collection from your computer, smart phone, or any internet radio streaming on your existing HiFi setup or run out and get yourself some nice sounding speakers,” says Robert Valtierra, Research and Development Engineer in the field of Electronics and Embedded Systems and inventor of the ARC.

Being the size of a book, it can be placed anywhere. The ARC has no buttons or knobs; it turns on automatically when you connect to it. With a total power of 120W, it runs at high efficiency thereby providing large amounts of audio output power while requiring very little space and without need for heat sinking.

The ARC is a fully-integrated amplifier system. Amplification is provided by the latest in Class-D amplifier technology. It is designed using digital inputs: USB Audio 2.0 and Bluetooth aptX Audio. The USB audio connection delivers 24-bit resolution and sampling rates up to 192 kHz. The Bluetooth connection can provide a “CD-quality” connection via aptX.

Although the ARC performs on its own initiative, it is possible to customize sound with the free and optional ARC App.

Suggested retail price: $350 US