system :paradigm studio 100, marantz 67se, acurus A250, acurus act1. they sound good. i don't feel any bright on this system. A250 deserve 4 star. i tried marantz AV600 -----"class c" pre-amp, but i think acurus ACT1 ("no class")is far more better than this "class c" pre-amp.

I hate this amp. It's got speed and power and absolutely no musicality. When tube people talk about soulless transistor sound, this amp personifies what they're talking about. It's got no richness, no musicality, and, as far as I'm concerned, not enough in the way of redeeming virtues. It's "transparent" (read: thin) and "fast" (read: threadbare) and it has punch, all right, but the highs are hard, the midrange is anemic, and once you get over the fact that it has the power to drive certain speakers better than you might have heard them driven before, its virtues get old quickly. If I had to listen to this thing on a regular basis I think I'd throw the whole system out the window and restrict my listening to the car radio. Never mind a single-ended triode; I'd rather have a 25-wpc NAD or a Musical Fidelity A-2 than this.

I bought this product in january. I would have prefered a Bryston 4B ST, but it was outside of my budget. Regardless, this piece(A200) is accurate, the use of bipolar transisters ensures fast tracking and low heat. As far as I can tell the amp has very little audio signature, that is it amplifies the signal without colouration. For that it scores well. The bass extends deep, the mids are full, the highs crisp and not at all thin.
My only gripe with this piece is that at high levels, the amp gets harsh after extended play(20min or so). The result is the impression of excessive reflections, brightness. At first I placed blame on the room(hardwood floors) but it is in fact the amp. Granted the level I am refering to attracts the police rather quickly.

All in all a great amp for the price of admission. Though it is beat by amps at twice its price. Big surpise:)

Regis Poirier

Excellent Value

None at this price

I really like this amp, I have owned several SS amps over the years and can honestly say this is one of the better of the bunch, even the wife agrees.

Excellent Value.

Plenty of Power for large speakers with low impedance loads. No major flaws. Solid musical performance.

Very low end weight. Transparency.

I have owned this amp for over 3 years; it was purchased along with the companion RL-11 pre-amp. After replacing a Hafler pre and Adcom GFA-5400 amp, I immediately noticed a gain in low end weight (as doubling the power should) and an increase in high frequency energy. Clarity, rythem, and tone were improved a great deal from the previous combo (I blame the old pre-amp for most of this). Comparing the Acurus to the Adcom, I think they both sound similar to my ears, but I enjoyed the increase in power for the occasional indulgance (the protection circuit in the Adcom would come on a moderately high volumes and it sounded more congested when pushed hard).

Recently, I've upgraded my speakers to the highly rated PSB Stratus Goldi. The improvements over my old Boston T930's (now 10 years old) were as dramatic as my move to the Acurus equipment. These large loudspeakers can put out the bass at high volumes, but the midrange and high frequencies sound more open. Vocals sound excellent on well recorded discs.

While I'm very pleased with the overall sound of my system, I feel I am missing something in terms of clarity and sub 35hz base extension. Dealer demos have show me that the speaker is capable of more, so I am thinking an amp/preamp upgrade could be essential to get the last detail out of these speakers.

I have read reviews citing the bright character of this amp, but my experience does not reflect this. When I ran the outputs of my Marantz CC-65SE directly through the A250, the sound was truly brittle, bright and fatiguing. Running it through the RL-11, however, calmed down the high energy, and made the sound very listenable. I guess the RL-11 isn't all that "transparent", but it does wonders compared with the CD to Amp direct setup. Proper pre-amp mating will determine the sound character of this amp.

I have mentioned the lack of very low base energy compared with dealer demos, but I can't truly fault the amp until I've eliminated the many room problems I'm faced with.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the sound of this amp in my system, and until I have a dedicated listening room, I don't forsee replacing this piece for another.

Note: After playing some HDCD's through my recently purchased Toshiba SD-5700 DVD player, I did notice a stronger low end with better extension, so my issues may be with the Marantz and not with the Acurus. Cheap DVD players aren't as bad as I'd feard!

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFA-5400, old Sony receiver (no contest!)

Power, never runs out of steam. Handles all speakers with ease. Built for life-long use.

Could go a tad deeper with a bit more level. Could also be sweeter / warmer - sounding. this must be related to price.

I bought this one sh. Sound is overall good, but if you dont need this amount of power, buy something smaller with better sound qualities. The sound is clean, clear and detailed, but comparision will tell you that there is more hidden on your CD's. Soundstaging is OK, but heard better other places. It does not give me the 3D feeling, if you know what I mean. Bass is well controlled, and is able to give you that thumping in the chest. I could perhaps wish some more thumping (more level) and perhaps a bit deeper bass (seems to have a slight roll-off under 40 hz). This will depend on your speakers. My Infinitys told me there is no warmth here, and you might get tired of listening after 30 - 40 minutes. My opinion is that the A 250 is an accurate amp, maybe too accurate and too controlled. Nothing for the tube-people, in other words. Where will it fit in? If you're in it for a HT-amp for your big front-speakers, then go for it. If you're in the market for some sensible partners to your Sonus Fabers - don't even think about it. If your speakers are woolly and sounds muffled, maybe this one could help. If your system is already bright, look elsewhere. I know others have partnered A 250 with eg. Snell K or M, with very adequate results. Also sweedish gear like QLN 612, and Infinity Sigma (?) represents good partners for this amp. Competitors: Rotel 991, sounds warmer, better bass, same price. NAD 218thx, better bass, but rather dull midrange, same price.

Similar Products Used:

Electrocompaniet 4,5 , Doxa 06 sign., NAD AV 917, Rotel RC 990, all preamps, Doxa 70 SE power amp.

The A250 is somewhat deceptive, at first it has power, detail & speed. Very nice. But after a while you start to notice that the treble is sharp and pronuonced, it lacks shading in the midrange and that bass is not as deep as you first thought. The midrange took some time for me to hear that things was really missing. It´s a bit digital - all or nothing, and most competitors do the midrange better.
Sony XA5 CD, Accurus L10 preamp, Aliante 1 speakers, Flatline blue heaven all over.

Both Accurus now sold.

I bought the Acuras A-250 a year ago and I must say for the money it willput all other amps AWAY !!! I have listened to most amps out there in the
market and only amps costing alot more will sound a bit better. I bought
the aragon 8008 dual mono amp and yes it does sound smoother more refined
and deeper bass but it also cost twice as much.Another amp that sounds great are the McCormack, I believe the 200 watt amplifier that I heard in Ny but it
allso cost twice as much if not more.This amp deserves a 5 considering the
price, sound, and POWER it gives you.

The continuing music means that the amplifier has substantial reserve power stored in its capacitors. It has nothing to do with the length of the signal path. If it had to do with the length of the signal path a 5 second period would mean a signal path of tens of thousands of miles. You might want to read some books on basic electronics and electrical design of amplifiers. By the way this is certainly not exclusive to Acurus amps. All high quality amps will do this.
This is an excellent amplifier. It is an outstanding value and is very muscial. The control on the bass is quite good. The mids are full and rich. The highs are sweet and detailed.

The Acurus A-200 amplifier. This thing looks killer. The control it has over speaker loads is pretty amazing. Tight tight tight.


BUT: it is so tight that it ends up sounding constipated. To get this power rating and super low distortion at this price, they had to run the signal through so many gain stages and other compensating devices that the sound comes out pretty unmusical. Notice that the signal keeps playing fifteen seconds or more after you turn the amp off...pretty cool, but that means: many many electronics in the path.



So: tight, wide soundstage (but not 'deep' or dimensional) and good at tracking lots of the signal. The result is, in an absolute sense, unmusical.



And this is with a (modified Counterpoint) tube preamp, EAD cd player, and Cardas cables...about as musical as you can get with non-esoteric gear. With even the most musical, uncompressed recordings, the sound comes out pretty electronic. I suspect, but I'm not sure, that even with a c-j reference triode preamp it would sound quite electronic with acoustic recordings.



Other notes: very cheesy speaker binding posts.



But you can't have it all for $999, alas. For control of speaker loads, a 4. For reproduction of already-compressed recordings, a 3. For musicality with acoustic and voice, a 2. For looks and macho value, a 5. Finally, for lowest common denominator, (i.e., the dollar) value, a 4.



And that's a fact, jack.