Grundig's first product manager, Dr. Burkhardt Schwäbe was the driving force behind the Fine Arts Series. It was meant to demonstrate Grundig's expertise in the premium Hi-Fi segment. The Fine Arts Esoteric Line CD tube pre-amplifier was created in 1987. It's main design features are a complex power supply with toroidal transformer, electronically controlled DC voltage heating, double volume control (from ALPS) and four E83CC tubes from Siemens. Originally it was planned to use Telefunken ECC83s but those were unavailable at that moment. There are inputs for CD, Tuner, DAT/Tape and Aux (no Phono input) and can be used with a wide range of transistor or tube amplifier. The gold version has 24 carat gold-plated surfaces and there were built a total of 127 units. Dimensions: 310 x 124 (+11) x 220 mm.
Towards the end of the 1990s Dr. Burkhardt Schwäbe moved to Sennheiser and in 2004 he launched his own brand, Eternal Arts and more recently Eternal Masters (pre-recorded tapes and audiophile LP).
