Sound, build quality, looks.

Has 1 transformer. Dual transformers would be a step up, but that would cost more too.

Very nice two channel amp. I'm using it with an Acurus A200x5 for a 7.1 system. There's not much else I can say! It does the job in a very understated way. Always have enough power, never runs hot, doesn't add anything to the sound, very well built, I expect to have it in my system for a long time.

Similar Products Used:

Aragon, Nakamichi (Threshold), Adcom

Excellent overall sound quality for the price. Smooth, detailed and non-fatiguing. Bass response is excellent-weel defined and controlled not bloated. Outstanding build quality/craftsmanship at this price. Better sounding and more accurate than anything else that I have listened to in this price range. Does not add or take away from what is present in recordings, good one sound great-bad recordings are reproduced the way they truly are. Amps "disappear" leaving only what is upstream.

Can get a little bright when driven hard, as almost all solid state products do. Out of business, unfortunately. Lack of snob/curb appeal, not a problem for me. I tend to let the equipment speak for itself on its own merits.

First, I am sorry to learn that Acurus is now defunct. Klipsch bought Mondial(Aragon/Acurus) and dropped Acurus to concentrate on Aragon. I hope that they don't ruin the company. I have two A200s used as monoblocks. They are smooth, detailed, neutral and image well. Bass is well defined and controlled. Mids are reproduced correctly without overweigting them. Highs are nicely extended without becoming "silvery". I strongly reccomend their products, they are bargains and mine were NIB, probably a few still left out there.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Rotel, NAD, Carver other various mid-fi products.

Build Quality
Construction quality; power

None

Just purchased this unit and have broken it in over the last 3 weeks. What I've noticed about this amp is this: it sounds very natural, it images well, it never runs hot, it handles very dramatic musical passages and it is built exceptionally well.

I tested the amp side by side with Adcom (including the much touted 5802), Parasound and NAD. The quality that continued to come across was this amps naturalness. By natural, I mean that the amp does not over color any particular sounds.

The rest of my system is as follows:

Amp: Acurus A200
Pre-Amp: Acurus RL-11
CD: Cambridge Audio D500
Speakers: B&W Signature 7SE

Similar Products Used:

Adcom; Parasound; NAD

Here is my system;Marantz CD-67se --> Topaz --> Acurus RL11 --> Kimber Hero --> Acurus A200 --> NHT Supertwo.
Well, this Amp definitely has power. Probably best bang for the buck at this price range. very clean.. match well with the RL11. Over all I am very satisfy with this system.. This amp makes me think of upgrading my speaker to something around NHT 2.9 just to match its potential.

This amp is clean and seems to be distorton free. I love a slightly rolled off sound, as I listen to alot of classic rock albums. It images well in my system with a fairly deep soundstage and, depending on the recording, I can sometimes clearly pinpoint instruments in the stage. Bass is solid, mids clear, highs sweet, not "too crispy". I get a decent amount of detail, but not too much analytical type sound. Not fatiguing at all.

I'd love to hear very, very accurate soundstaging and imaging, but I find this type of presentation fatiguing and way too sharp for my ears. So this amp fits my needs.

You've seem my comments. This amp makes me very happy. I can listen to it for hours. My previous system, lots more money ( Adcom monoblocks with a high end Rotel preamp) sucked compared to set up I have now. I consider the sound accurate, sweet for transistor, fairly accurate, and most of all, distortion free. I heartily recommend this amp. If this is a "budget" Arcam, what does the good stuff sound like?

Similar Products Used:

Several Adcoms, NAD, B&W, Rotel.

quite open

Too bright, too hard in mid and treble.

I had compare these amp to musical fidelity and i found it not as sweet, warm and good image as musical fidelity. I auditioned it with kef reference speaker. the treble and mid (vocal)is too HARD AND BRIGHT. Even detail not in the seem level of musical fidelity.

Similar Products Used:

musical fidelity xa-200

Quality Of Construction, Wonderful Customer Service direct from The Manufacture

NONE

Have had this product for almost a year now and I am very pleased with this amp. It sounds very neutral sounding with no particular coloratation. I am driving a pair Magnepan 1.6QR and this amp just makes them sing. The depth and the separtion in just incredible. Alot of people say that this amp is very dark sounding and I wish I knew what they were driving for speakers because I have tried many different speakers that friends have brought over we have all decided that this amp brings the best out of any speaker. This amp is very tight in the low end and very neutral sounding in the upper end. The only way I can describe it any better is like a set of hands carefully touching each note gently and not striking it hard. I have some older Carver amps that I have had for many years that have done extremely good service to me. But when I purchased the Maggies it was very appearant that the Carvers couldn't keep the bass section of the Maggies under control. They sounded very sloppy and so did the high end it almost sounded strident. My dealer were I purchased the speakers let me try a Classe' amp which also had less power but costed twice as much and there was very little if any difference that I could tell for twice the price. I also tried Parasoound amp what a joke my old Carver amps sounded better. This amp is extremely rated low for specs in the power range. I have on occasion pushed the MAggies to there limit and this amp never gets hot at all nor does it start to give up the ghost very easily. I'm sure like anything else its may just be a good match for the speakers. I sure couldn't justify in my budget spending 3k on amp that really dindt sound that much better I think you have to say were does this stop. I think Mondial design company has a very excellent product for the dollar.

Similar Products Used:

Carver M500t Carver M400T, Acurus A100, Classe'

Powerful,Clean,Tight Bass, and built like a rock. I dont own this amp but heard it many times hooked up to Paradigm Studio 80'.Not as full body like the Aragons but not far away either. The Aragon has a smoother high and a more powerful bass,but also costs more.There are not many amps in this price range that can deliver like the Acurus can. Highly recomended, also customer care and Tech. support is A+ at Mondial, The Techs realy know there stuff and are very helpful if needed. You probably wont ever need to talk to them because Mondial products are built to last you out.I just hope they keep there prices Low !

Aragon 8008BB
Acurus A250
Sony TAE9000ES
Sony DVP7700
D.H lab Cable
Paradigm Studio 80'
Paradigm cc450

high power and headroom, solid and well built

sparse documentation; would not turn down more headroom

The Mondial Acurus A200 power amplifier is a heavy (32 lbm), solidly constructed, and — from all my observations — bullet-proof amp. The brushed black front panel is elegant in its simplicity. The side panels contain large cooling fins which seem to be very effective. The rear panel is nicely constructed with plated connectors for good long-term noncorroding connections. The speaker output terminals are particularly convenient in that they accept spade lugs, bare wires, or banana plugs. The A200 is specified to deliver 200 W rms per channel into 8 ohms with 3 dB of headroom (400 W transient peaks). The amp lists at $1100, but I purchased it from www.onecall.com for $670 delivered. The Mondial warranty is limited two-year. The accompanying documentation is a bit sparse: a single folded card giving a few specs and a few suggestions for operation. A schematic diagram would be of interest to most users. There is a bit more information on line at www.mondialdesigns.com.

To qualify my sonic observations, I must say that I am not a golden-eared audiophile, and, in fact, must admit to having tinnitus (ear ringing). That said, I am still intolerant of audible distortion or otherwise spurious noise in my music (mostly classical). Accordingly, I have never regarded LPs or most pre-recorded cassettes as high fidelity media but generally unworthy of even modest audiophile equipment. I am generally sympathetic to the former Stereo Review’s contention that it is difficult for most listeners to distinguish (in a double blind test) between two reasonably good amplifiers, and even more difficult to convincingly select the better sounding amp. My speaker wire is no. 16 lamp cord based on (again) double blind tests which convincingly demonstrated that it was audibly indistinguishable from the higher priced specialty wiring. I tend to be tough grader, so the 4 I give the Acurus is intended as a definite compliment. I'm not sure what would get a 5, maybe a McIntosh or a Mark Levinson.

My new A200 replaced a NAD 2200 (1986), which is comparable in power output (the NAD is 100 W rms + 6 dB headroom). I had been enduring intermittent channel breakup from the NAD and had it repaired several times. The A200 is driven by the pre-amp section of a Marantz 1120 integrated amplifier (1973). My primary speakers are two Klipsch Fortes (1994). My signal sources are an Empire Troubador turntable (1973), a Sony CDP-XA1ES CD player (1995), a Teac X-300R open reel tape deck (1984), and a Sony TC-KA1ES cassette deck (1996).

I have been using the A200 since late Aug. 2001 (3 months), averaging about 40 hours per week. I won’t attempt to verbally characterize the sound of the A200 except to comment that it delivers excellent power levels without coloring the sound, to the extent that I am able to discern. It will amplify classical music with large transients without audible evidence of clipping. The 1812 Overture on Telarc sounds excellent, though probably no amplifier in existence can reproduce the canon shots without clipping, at least at the volumes at which I tend to listen (my wife says it’s much too loud, but I’ve never actually broken anything and the police have never come). When I first acquired the A200, I did some comparative listening with the NAD (when I could get it to work). I would judge the sound comparable. The NAD 2200 received excellent reviews in its day; today, of course, nobody tests or critically reviews high fidelity equipment. We dearly need another Hirsch-Houck Laboratories.

There is one initial experience I should comment on. When I first replaced the NAD with the A200, I was chagrined to find that a loud ground loop buzz had appeared in my system. I traced the ground loop to the TV cable coming in through a VCR connected to the pre-amp. I eliminated it with a ground loop isolator from Radio Shack. Apparently, the NAD, which is not a conventional common ground amplifier, naturally broke the ground loop for me, whereas the common ground A200 did not. This is not a deficiency in the A200.

I can easily recommend the A200 to anyone who craves listening to music at a volume setting that allows one to discern detail at low volume and enjoy the thrill of thunderous transients. There is a minimum volume level below which the fidelity and detail of a good recording is just not apparent, but at or above that volume the transients become really loud, totally enveloping the committed listener. If this describes your listening goals, then too much power is not enough! But the A200 is a really good start.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 2200

Clean, accurate, powerful and built like a truck

My system consist of

Acurus 200
Acurus L10 Pre
Acurus P10 Pho
Spica TC 50
JBL Sub
Adcom CD (the original one)
AR tt with various cartridges
Good but not silly interconnects

My listening room is 20'x20' with a cathedral ceiling.

I love this system. I know for a fact that this amplifier really defines the overall sound. It is tight and warm. It has a wide and deep soundstage. It matches well with my TC-30's. They are small but love the juice this amp is able to put out. Fills the room with music without coming close to clipping.

Side note. This system is in my family room. We use it for the audio source for our television. It is on all the time. All the time! It doesn't get shut off ever. I think it will out live me. I plan on adding one of the Acurus 3 channel amps and a good (but not silly) decoder for what I believe will be a world class home theatre system

Similar Products Used:

Caver, Adcom and GAS (still have a Son of Ampzilla1)