Acurus may not be selling these out of a white van but they should be. What a miserable excuse for a major new product introduction. First, they pre-anounce the product in November - long before they were anywhere close to having it complete. Then after their loyal prospective customers anxiously await the delayed release they increase the price by $300. But wait - it gets better.
Then, when you finnally get the XXX-3, the best sound the comes of it is a continuous hissing sound. This may well the worst new audio product that
was ever released. Very poor planning, very poor public relations, very poor
execution and an even worse product. I think they're strategy is actually to sell
more of the ACT-1s by comparing them to the ACT-3. Pretty sharp - those guys at Acurus. I do have a new name suggestion. How about "Edsel"...

Upon receiving my Act III, I noticed that it was in a sturdy box with high quality styrofoam and a very good plastic wrap. After unpacking and connecting the long-awaited preamp/processor, I noticed that it also looked good and made neat clicking noises. This ends the good things I can say about the Act III. After listening, I now think that the Act III is an environmental hazard because of sound pollution and because the materials it is made from are not easily recyclable. It hisses! It hisses loudly and it hisses ALL THE TIME at all volumes (even 0). The hiss never goes away. You can hear the hiss through the music except at high volumes and then the sound is distorted. This hiss is not unique to me. I know of two others who have had the same experience. The DSP modes (admittedly not an audiophile function) were available only through the analog setting not the digital setting and were horrible with rumbling, flat sound and distortion. Mondial claims that there is nothing wrong with the Act III, that is is perfect. I believe that they rushed this substandard product to market and did not pay enough attention to quality control. I am not an audiophile and do not have the qualifications of the reviewers for Stereophile, Audio or Stereo Review. But I do appreciate and can recognize what I think is good quality sound reproduction and the Act III did not come close to my expectations. Also I have other very good companents to reproduce good quality sound: KEF Reference speakers, Acurus amplifiers and a Sony ES CD player. Moreover, I am the consumer, and so are you and it is our money, none of the manufacturers are giving these things away and we deserve far better quality and support than I received from the Act III.

Picked up an acuris Act3 to go with my Sunfire cinema grand. The sound was pretty good with good sound stage definition. However, there was an annoying hum coming from the unit which was picked up by the speakers and drove me nuts during soft passages of music or cinema. I tried the 3 prong converter power plug and replacing wires but it still persisted. I decided to take it back and am now waiting on a B&K preamp processor. I hope this one works out. I hate swapping all the wires.

I have been listening to the ACT-3 for about two weeks now. I have not had any of the problems with hum or hiss that are mentioned in other reviews. The unit sounds very good to excellent on all modes. Stereo mode has excellent imaging, dynamics, and soundstaging. The pre-amp is detailed but not bright. Bass is very good. The non-functioning speakers are quite.Prologic mode works well, much better than my previous receiver. The rear speakers are quite when off, and appropriate when on.
The unit auto-senses as advertised. Dolby images well. The volume is noticeably less when on dolby, almost 20db, but the unit produces adequate volume, and does not clip at the highest levels.
The remote is easy to learn and works all my equipment. Shortcomings are lack of re-equalization, somewhat inflexible speaker set-ups, lack of cross-over control, lack of video screen menus, only two S-video inputs and one output.
Yet, overall an excellent sounding pre-amp, and considerably less expensive than competition.

I wanted to post a follow up to my previous review. I decided to buy a Max1000+ power conditioner to see if it would eliminate the hum coming from my system and am happy to report that it does. Not a cheap solution at $295.00 but well worth the money. Acuris sent me an email regarding my first posting and offered to help me eliminate the problem. That in itself is worthy of note. The unit still does hiss a little but not audibly to my listening position so I now believe that I will probably hold on to the Acuris and not trade for the B&K ref20 which by the way I took home and had it promptly die on me after overheating to something I could fry eggs on. Thanks to Adam Gershon of Mondial for your concern.

I just got to listen to an ACT III that my friend got just last week afterwaiting a long time. I prefer to judge how things sound by listening first in
stereo. The ACT III sounds like an excellent d/a convertor combined with a
high end preamp. Depth and width are extremely good as is instrument
localization. Female voices were never harsh and the top end was quite open
and extended. The background noise level seemed typical for a high end preamp.
It never intruded on my enjoyment of the music and I definitely did enjoy
listening to music on the ACT3.
In Dolby Digital and Prologic, the sense of localization continued except it
was also able to do it from front to rear. Movies that tend to sound nasty,
like the terrible most recent Batman on disc - didn't drive me out of the room
even at loud levels.
The only problem with the ACTIII is that it belongs to my friend and not me.

I purchased the ACT3 at a local hi-end store with a pretty good discount and no waiting. The ACT3 basically is used to replace my Denon rcvr (which now retires to my bedroom). After taking sometime to learn the new remote and its setup. The unit performs flawlessly. In AC3 or Dolby Digital movies, the ACT3 stands out with incredible dynamic range. In DTS music (playing with Hell Freezes Over-Eagles CD), this one has topped everything I've musically ever listened to before in a sense of surround sound. In stereo mode, the soundstage and imaging are far better with my previous system. Overall, the ACT3 does what it's supposed to do which is deliver/decode superb sound for far less money in comparison with some other brands I was looking at the time such as Denon AVP-8000 and B&K pre/pro. Here is my rating:

I just picked up my Act-3 and was suprised to hear the hum everyone was talking about. According to the dealer Mondial has told them this is normal. I don't know what to do? $1,700 for a humming processor.
The unit also stays on even when the power is off. Some internal switch that stays live...

The dynamics are first rate and the channel separation is excellent. Don't know what to do about the hum??????

I have lived with this product for about a month now and love it. This is my first venture into the "high end," but shopping around has given me a better ear for sound. In my opinion, the ACT 3 performs very well for the money. There are better sounding processors and preamps around, but they cost substantially more. As for the problem with the hum, I too experienced this and found it to be directly related to my cable television connection. When the cable was connected to any component in my system (ie TV or VCR) there was an audible hum. When the connection was removed, the hum disappeared. I borrowed a MAGIC box from my dealer (another Mondial product which is not cheap at $100) to fix the hum. With this in my system, the hum has gone with the cable connected. I would like to watch TV and take advantage of television programs in surround, but $100 right now seems steep. However to some this may be reasonable. If disconnecting the cable from the system eliminates hum, my guess is the box would work for you. Overall I am happy with my purchase and recommend this product to anyone.

I haven't heard the ACT-3 yet but would like to say a couple of things.The ACT-1 I've been using for three years made me look forward to the
ACT-3 with great anticipation.
I will not...I REPEAT...will not buy another Acurus processor that hums
like my ACT-1 has hummed from the day I took it home.
From the info on this page it appears the ACT-3 hisses and hums.
Now I have nothing against Acurus. I own a RL-11 pre-amp(dead quiet);
an A-150(dead quiet); and a 100x3(dead quiet).
My dealer and Acurus both told me the hum was "baseline and normal".
Yeh, right...
These products shouldn't hum at this level and the manufacturer and dealer
shouldn't pretend that it is right and normal for them to do so!