Bought two of these new almost 15 years ago but have only used these for the past two. Good home theater amps while they worked, but like many other people have found....these are unreliable. Mine blew fuses and the bias drifted quite a bit. Didn't have time to fix it myself so had a service tech check it out. The parts he pulled from this amp are poor quality to say the least. Looks like Acurus decided to place the bulk of the cost into building an oversized chassis.

I eventually replaced all the power supply caps with longer life/high heat specifications as well as 20 resistors. The repair cost me a total of $200 for two amps.

Not the most transparent amp, but if you need a 3 channel this can save you some space and money. The Acurus 2 channel A200/A250 amps sound worlds better and have less distortion if you only need 2 channels. Of course this would only apply to the used amps. The current Acurus products are an entirely different beast.

I bought this new right near the time Acurus was restructuring its business. Build quality was ok but I never really liked the aggressive Acurus sound. Not very balanced at all. What is unforgivable in a hifi amp is crosstalk between the 3 chanels. Plus it runs hotter than I would like. This isn't particular to my unit either. I have a two channel Acurus with the same problems. Also the original transistors are no longer made e.g. EXPENSIVE! But maybe thats nit picking. I was able to find replacement transistor for $25 which were of higher quality and better sonically. Z

I've owned 4 of these over the years, more for the value and 3 channels than sound quality. It's good for limited space and HT setups, but terrible on most music.

The a250 two channel amp sounds better and is more stable than the a200x3. I probably wouldn't buy another one unless it was under $150. These things always need servicing.

Sound: what goes in is what comes out. If you put in garbage expect a heavily amplified dose of garbage out.

Power LED blinks on and off.

I upgraded to this unit in the hopes of balancing out the power to all five speakers and gaining the ability to run the surround speakers in full mode. This unit does a marvelous job of controlling whatever speaker load you throw at it. The sound is great for the money and even though the company was absorbed by Klipsch, the technicians still stand behind this product. The killer is that it play with the most subtle delicacy, then wake the city block with no strain.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 2400THX, Acurus A250

Built like a tank, endless amount of power.

Way too bright,high pitched sounds at louder levels were painful,even with older bass-reflex type speakers.

Borrowed this from Simply Stereo, Hoffman Estates, Il. These guys are great, thanks again! Tons of power and great build quality, but very bright.When listening to brass instruments the sound was harsh and fatiguing.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Denon, Jolida tube.

Power galore!! Great highs and awsome mid base!

NADA

I use this am along with the A200 for the rears...It sounds awsome! I have vandersteen's for my fronts and they sound great with movies and music. I had the Acurus 125x5 and traded that in for the A200 and A200x3. Great move on my part! I was blown away right away. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Carver, PSE, Acurus A125x5

Awsome power, clarity of sound and great looking too!

none that I am aware of thus far.

After an exausting search for an Amplifier to power my front and center channels I came to the decision that the Acurus A200 would be the best Amp for my system.I tried the Golden Theater 5 channel Amplifier, Marantz 5 Channel,Sony,Adcom, Rotel and Carver.This has been in my system for over 6 months and i love it! I want the A200 to compliment the A200x3 that I have but I guess so does everyone else, because when there is one on E-Bay it goes quikly.
This Amp is built rock solid and has given me no problems whatsoever.I was using a carver Amp for the rear but kept blowing fuses and it finally blew! I replaced the Carver with a PS Audio 200c that is great sounding but I still prefer the Acurus sound.If you have an opportunity the pick up an Acurus product I highly recommend doing so, It's a great entry level product and trouble free.

Similar Products Used:

Carver 1.0 Two channel Amplifier, PS Audio 200c Amplifier

Power, sound, build quality, customer support

I thought the older 200x3 had better looks! The heat fins can be kind of sharp.

I have 2 A200x3 amps for a 6.1 (THX EX/DTS-ES) compatible set up.

I never, ever needed more power than these amps provide. In fact, Audio Magazine (R.I.P.) reviewed the older 200x3 amp in 1995. They got 315W into 8 ohms, and 515W into 4 ohms, per channel (constant AC line voltage). And the A200x3 is said by Acurus to have 20% higher output into small ohmage loads! A-200-x3 indeed!

Great customer support by Mondial Designs. (I used to have 200x3's, and had problems with the power switch LED burning out. The fix was free o' charge.)

As far as sound quality: sterile, cold, forward, revealing. If you want a "straight wire with gain", this is it. No color added whatsoever.

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi, Adcom

Clarity of Sound, Defintion of Sound Field, Ability to Drive Variable Loads, Dynamic Range (Power and Frequency Response).

These amplifiers are the best value out there next to the Aragons (also by Mondial Designs). There was not enough of a difference for me to step up to the Aragons for my ear/system. The Krells were not worth the extra investment at this point. I was looking for something that could drive my Martin Logans. The Acurus' have a great sound. The sound floor is very clean even without much AC power filtration. I cannot say enough about these amps. They have great dynamic power capability and "punch". They do this without adding to the souces material. Even the earlier verson of the 200x3 sounds great. Make sure you have enough AC power for these and their performance will blow you away.

5 out of 5 in this class.
Unless you have a Krell budget (or if you do not need to waste money).

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Krell, Sunfire, Aragon, ATI.

Unbelievable Power!, Build Quality, Excellent sound staging, Unparalleled dynamic punch...

Gee, it is kind of heavy....

This is the only Home Theater Amp I auditioned that would adequately drive my Magnepan based system without strain. Even high current products from Adcom and Rotel lacked the necessary Oomph to reproduce the dynamics of a movie. Many of the others came close to matching the Acurus on less demanding music sources, but none matched the dynamics and explosive power on special effects on DVD movies. The Adcom 200w (I think it was a GFA 5200) clipped far too easy on my system, no guts... Maggies have never been known to be the most dynamic sounding speakers, but with the Acurus, they have the snap of a cone speaker without the harshness. The amp is a slight bit forward in its presentation, but not grainy. The power reserves of this beast are amazing! For $1350, you could do a lot worse. This product is a must have for inefficient or demanding speaker systems.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Hafler, NAD, Rotel