Truly incredible sound quality and realism. Soundstage so real it's spine-tingling. Audiophile-grade.

Apparently a few immature reviewers here with chips on their shoulders have tried to trash the reputation of this fine product and the talented company which produced it by posting "one-star" reviews. This is simply absurd. These individuals are mean spirited and fail to understand the funtion and community sense (and responsibility) of a forum such as this.

The build quality and high-end sonic characteristics of the GTX-1 are indisputable, as far as I'm concerned, and believe me... I DO know audio equipment! Scroll down further and read some of the other Genuine (!) reviews to see what this pre-amp is really capable of and perhaps more importantly, look closely at what components it is being compared to (pre-amps in the $2,000 to $6,000 range!).

The fact that Golden Theater makes a pre-amp to compete in this arena for substantially less money says alot about their engineering skills and their goals as a company. Personally I respect and admire the fact that they are making true audiophile Class A components available at a price people can reasonably afford. I too have spoken with Chris at Solo Electronics a few times and have been impressed with his knowledge, integrity, and eagerness to help me and answer technical questions about the constuction and componentry of the GTX-1.

Do yourself a favor and listen to the GTX-1 and you will likely be astounded, especially in 2-channel stereo. I auditioned different units for months (listed above) before deciding on the GTX-1 and have never regretted it. It has truly unlocked the potential of the rest of my system and brought music and video to a new level of depth and realism. The soundstage is tremendous and so real that it sometimes gives you the chills. Instument placement in space is like nothing else I've ever heard, even at twice the price. Friends are blown away and comment on the sound quality all the time (especially Dolby Digital... wow!) and refer to watching movies in my home as being "better than in the theater" (I agree!).

Anyway, just some of my thoughts, which I meant to post sooner, but simply had to do it now, after seeing the "vandals" who have posted false and malicious reviews here. Just want to set the record straight.

Five stars is not high enough!

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire, EAD, Acurus, Lexicon, Parasound, Anthem

Sound quality,build,support,looks.

none

Sound quality in 2ch hard to beat at 2x price,HT on par or above similar priced units. The build quality is top notch. I have not experienced any of the glitches that others have found.I can replicate some of the supposed problems with improper setup without saving the settings.My use is 60% 2ch 40% HT.

Similar Products Used:

Lexicon DC-1,various receivers.

I have had the GTX-1 for one week And like most other reviewers have auditioned the Sony 9000 , ACT-3, EAD, B&K and sunfire Theater Grand processors.Comparativley speaking the GTX-1 sounds as good as the Sunfire close to the EAD and blows away the rest.
I believe mated with the proper interconnects this is a great sounding unit.
Price vs. performance this is the one.
2Ch Soundstage is deep and wide Low end articulaiton is outstanding highs are crystal clear.
Pro logic steering is clean and accurate. Overall soundstage is very rich.
Adequate speaker setup and Bass Managment.
Presently the only drawback is the speaker balancing for theater use.
Hopefully Solo Electronics will write new code to allow balancing adjustment via a test disk like Video essentials or Avia's Ovation set up disk.
Other than that this unit is very good.
I will post another review after further listining (AC3/DTS).
System
Parasound Amps 200X3
Phase Linear 200X2
Cardas Quad Link interconnects
Monster Spkr Cable
Marantz AC3 Modified Laserdisc
Panamax Power center.

Superior sound both stereo and HT. Incredible build quality
easy to set-up (every input option conceivable).

querky remote set-up, a bit confusing for DVD.

Amazing piece of equipment. About the as pure audio as I have ever heard. Picking up nuance on CDs that I have never heard before. Beautifully designed, easy to connect, and program. I my judgement superior to the Sunfire. On the Ht side simply wonderful. Congradulations to Solo!

Similar Products Used:

Previewed: Sunfire, Acurus, B&K, Classe

Looks and Finish

Stability and Operation

I was looking for a cheap way out of my upgrade from Pro-logic and I came across this unit.
Wow it looked good. I had a listen at our local dealer and I thought it sounded good and boy he did me a great deal on the price. I walked out thinking I had just got one of the best bargains in my audio buying history.
Got home and the wife was surprised when I told her about the price and gave her a look at my new toy.
I started hooking it up and thats when I found out why it was cheap.
It just refused to respond at times.I would have to switch the rear power switch on then off to get it to lock onto a digital input.When I started get it all sorted out I thought it was just my set-up that caused it to go haywire.
But that evening after I finished listening I shut it down and went to bed. The next morning I put a CD on and it just refused to lock on to the digital signal.
I tried everything. I went into the set-up menu and then I noticed all the settings had been changed ?

What was going on ? Was it me ?
I reset everything in the GTX and went to work.
When I came home and turned it on it would not turn on except when I turned the rear switch on and off again.
Thats when I packed it up and took it back.
The unit was a nightmare.
My dealer got a ear full over my frustration but he finally gave me my $1200 back which I put towards a B&K Ref20.
I had to pay a bit more but the B&K is running and sounding like a dream.
I would advise caution if you intend buying the GTX ,and please make sure the dealer allows you a full refund if you do.
This unit was a real lemon.

Similar Products Used:

EAD,Citation,B&K

Soundstaging. Clarity. Excellent build quality. Ample number of inputs.

As described in detail by other reviewers, there are several problems with version 1 of the unit.

Very clean sounding. The clarity and soundstaging rank among the best I've heard. The GTX-1 articulates musical subtlities with such clarity that I find myself relistening to CDs to hear layers that I had not heard before. HT equally as good, if not better in some cases. (Listen to Seven Bridges by the Eagles in DTS with quality full-size rears and you'll see/hear what I mean.)

It is because of this that I went back to the GTX-1 even after returning my first unit. Yes, I too experienced many of the problems mentioned by other reviewers, including problems with Sony remotes, freezing up, etc. But the other amps I demo'd in my price range (Accurus, Sunfire, BK and Angstrom) just did not sound as good (in my system). So, I tried again with an upgraded (v.2) unit, and viola`, no more problems. I am now a very happy listener. I would recommend that anyone seeking to purchase a preamp/pro under $3k give this unit a serious listen.

Easy setup/easy to use. Excellent 2-channel sound rivals high end music only preamps. True 24bit/96khz dacs if your dvd player can output it. Able to shut off display light.

None, if you upgrade to version 2!

This is an amazing preamp. My priority is 2 channel sound. Most HT preamps will do HT wonderfully but fail with 2 channel sound. I have auditioned many preamps, similar to what most people are looking at, but when I listed to the GTX1, it was the unit for me. Great HT but more importantly, wonderful 2 channel MUSIC. Not many others can offer both. Give it a serious listen.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, B&K, Acurus, Lexicon, EAD (great unit but not worth the extra $$)

great unit,until the output stopped working. cant get anyone to fix it without the schematics. can anyone help, im desperate

see above

best for the money that ive heard of but with no support , its awfull

Similar Products Used:

none

crystal clear with great sound staging

glitchy, remote control detection is spotty as well

HELP!

I am trying to obtain the Home Theater Master 8000 set up code for the GTX-1. Because the remote detection is spotting with my unit, I have had no success using the Auto Set Up mode on the remote unit.

Thanks in advance for you assistance.

With regard to a review...the unit was the best sounding for both stereo and 5.1/dts of any I reviewd in its price range. This is THE most important factor for me, so I am able to tolerate the little frustrations inherent with the unit and its software.

I have been using a Golden Theater GTX-1 for about a week now.I am sorry to say I am very dissapointed.When I hooked the unit up and turned on my projector(Dwin HDP-500/LD-5 line doubler)the picture was very dim and distorted. The blues and reds were overdriven.This was true on both the S-video and composite inputs.I checked the cables and connections and found no problem.I took the unit back to the dealer and he gave me another sample.He hooked it up to a Pioneer rear projector,and it looked fine.However,when I took the second unit home,I had the same problem.Putting my old preamp(Pioneer c-91)back in the system,gave me a great picture again.Maybe there is a compatability problem with the GTX-1 and Dwin equipment.This is too bad as the audio was excelent.At any rate, I WILL NOT BE BUYING THIS UNIT.