Let me start off with I have had and heard so many pieces of equipment from mid grade to my
My personal favorite Mcintosh but that's whole other topic
I have owned this amc for a few yrs now it is one of keepers compared it to many things and for some reason this thing does everything you could want from its smooth sound easy control layout works best with high eff speakers I love this with my Cornwallis awesome setup it's true that they can have problems with solder joints if you over heat them use an extra fan factory tubes are Siemens pick one up plug it in and enjoy you will be glad you did
Enjoy thanx rp

Sound stage.

Can be tempramental, and you must have a good technician who appreciates fine valve technology.

When I first bought this amp as a used unit it spent more time in the shop than in my home. A very frustrating start to valve amp ownership. Then I found a Vietnamese guy who said he could fix the problem for $200Aust. He did!!!!!! (Hiep Le Audio in Footscray Vic. He doesn't speak much English, but the guy is a genius in my books.) I am so happy with this heavy little amp that I went and bought a ne turntable just to hear some old vinyl. I run a pair of very old Mission 770's off this unit, and the sound is superb. I recently bought a Proton tuner via Aussie ebay and it too is getting a flogging. If you want to hear something great, grab a copy of the Skids Joy album and crank it up. This amp handles the bass with ease. The sound stage is the thing that really gets me though. It is so real. One word of advice, let it warm up. I turn mine on at least 20 minutes before I send a signal to it, and leave the amp in the open, as it does get hot. It also looks so cool, so show it off. People cannot believe that the little black box can deliver such accurate sound through such crappy looking old wooden boxes. I love it ..... now.

Price It's all there including tone controls (which can be bypassed) and a phono amp

None that I can tell - hell it's a 35w integrated tube amp with a phone stage for under $1k - how much do you want?

I have had this amp for several years now - the older version that has soldered in tubes. It has never failed me and I love the sound (I do cross out 80hz and below to a sub/amp so I cannot directly address low bass performance). I have compared it to a Cary stereo integrated amp - it was darn close.

Similar Products Used:

Cary integrated Steeo Tube Amp forget the model#)

Sound,

Reliability, Cable diameter too small for Heating of the valves

It took me one year to find an amplifier that was able to reproduce the sound the way I like it and still be affordable. I decided to buy an AMC CVT 3030 integrated amplifier with a MOS FET pre amp and a valve main amp. It is both an affordable and an incredibe sounding amplifier. Anyway, If you are looking for an easy to use and stable amp, this is definitely not the amplifier you should look for. It had to be repaired four times until my dealer replaced it with a new one. In January 2000 it had to be repaired again because the amplifier got so hot that the valves got loose! But that wasn't the last problem. The reason for the last repair of the amplifier was that the right channel simply faded away till nothing could be heard anymore. The right channel created no sound regadless of the selected input source. I realized that the valves on the right hand side of the amp did not glimm anymore. The preamplifier seemed to work. I phoned up my dealer and he told me that AMC has got an upgrade kit, that will cost about 300 €. That was too much and I phoned up Eclectic Audio the german distributor of AMC products. The owner told me that this is a known problem of the old AMC valve amplifiers. The cable that connects the power board with the heating of the valves simply was designed too small (as well as the connectors). I could see that the connector of the heating on the right side has got a brown color as if it has become extremely hot (in contrast to the connector for the left channel). He told me to try to connect it with a new cable with a diameter of at least 1.5mm. I tried it out and that solved the problem.
Result: A good sounding amp with excellent phone-input but
it is unstable. Expect to send him to your dealer
at least once a year.
Juergen Keil
http://www.juergenkeil.de

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-7730 and Yamaha DSP E-800

Oooh so smooth top end and mids, very good soundstage, natural un-forced sound

Tubes soldered to PCBs make it difficult to change the EL34 valves. Bass may sound slightly "bloomy" with some speakers

I have been pretty much a Transistor Amp ( NAD, ME, Acurus, McCormack, Audiolab, Harman Kardon )listener thus far and have ventured out at times to try and find a valve amp that suits the various styles of music I listen to ( ie. Strauss to Smokey Robinson to Sting ). The issue with me has always been that many full valve amps I can afford to demo/purchase offer great response in the mids up to the highs and great soundstage, but fails when it comes to producing a fast and tight bass notes. In comes the AMC CVT3030a, an amp I first read about in 1993 and partly designed by Malcolm Blockley ( designer of NAD 3020 amp ). I was fortunate enough to loan the AMC CVT3030a from my local dealer for a home trial and I tell you what I'm glad I did. This unit is not going back to the store. The MUSIC it produces is quite stunning and smooth. Sure you'll be able to find better sounding integrated amps out there, but nothing for this sort of money and sonic return. In the real world where some of us have a large rang of musical tastes we hardly justify having one amp for one style of music and another amp for other styles. The AMC being a hybrid valve integrated amp I believe addresses this issue extremely well. It's at home playing Diana Krall, Jennifer Wearnes, Chris Isaak, Tracy Chapman, Brian Setzer, Nova Menco, Strauss, M People or Dire Straits. I must admit that vocals, jazz and classical appears to be this amps strong point, but it serves up rock extremely well too. Have a listen to track 11 of Nova Menco's Flight to Paradise album or Jimmy Barne's rendition of Bob Marley's "Is this love" off his Soul Deeper album and you'll understand. The funny thing about this purchase is that the AMC was bought to equip my spare room upstairs for when I don't feel like cranking up my main stereo system ( pre/power combo with hybrid ribbon speakers )downstairs. The sound is so seductive that I'm finding that I'm spending more time listening to this system of late !!!! If you like the best of both worlds and can't justify the extra dollars, give this unit an audition.

My system -

Integrated Amplifier - AMC CVT3030a
Speakers - Dynaudio Audience 40
CD Player - Sony XA-5ES
Interconnects - Tara Labs Prism CD
Speaker Cable - QED Qudos Silver Anniversary

Similar Products Used:

Contan ( full valve ), Jolida 202 ( full valve ), Thule, Denon PMA 1500

Was with friend in Charleston, SC waiting for her to exit an antique fleamarket and going beserk after 2 hours of meandering... Wandered into a little shop with one listening room. Noticed the little AMC 3030a hooked up to some EPOS ES11 speakers with a lowly Marantz CD46 player.
Let me say this, I was really bowled over by the quality of sound coming from this little combo! What a great little amp! Makes an excellent combination with the EPOS speakers (have yet to hear the ES12).

The sound was very natural and no great sins, especially considering the price. One hears the words "palpable presence " thrown around in the audiophile press. Well, this little amp does a more than credible job in this regard and offers the musical event as relaxing yet foot tapping experience. I sat around for a good hour listening to the thing.

If you are in the market for a relatively inexpensive integrated amp I advise you to give this a listen!

This is a follow-up to my comments concerning the AMC CVT3030a. Although I do love this little amplifier (it is definitly an over achiever SEE COMMENTS BELOW)I do believe it is important to know one rather significant drawback to this design. The EL34 power tubes used in this amp are soldered directly to daughterboards so to change the tubes, you will have to send the amp back to the dealer or the factory depending. I have heard that these tubes in this amp are biased to provide extrememly long tube life but this IS still a potential problem.
The inability for the customer to simply swap the tubes via tube sockets can cause problems if the dealer closes shop or if something happens to AMC. On a more positive note, I have not heard of any problems with this yet.

All that aside, it is one fine little amp. But those interested in that price range should also consider the Jolida and Golden Tube integrateds for comparable sonics.

kh

I purchased one of these integrated amps used for my bedroom system and was not pleased at all with the quality of sound. The bass was lifeless and flabby and the overall sound is very syrupy sounding, even for tubes! Pace is slow and soundstage is flat.....overall I would not even think of purchasing one of these units. Not to mention that there was much feedback and this is all after I replaced the unit's tubes!I now have a Jolida 302A that replaced the AMC and let me tell you.... it is like night and day. The Jolida is much more musical and realistic. If you are in the market for a tubed integrated amp in this price range look no further than the products from Jolida.

Overall I think the AMC is only worth one star. You might want to take a listen to one if you can just to see how much better the Jolida is.

Enjoy,
-Donn

warm tube sound,detailed middle range, with full ability to reproduce the female vocal.

fat bass, noisy equipment

have to say that it's a successful vavle amp being built to match the ratio of price and quality.
but change the tube is the only way to be, if u really wanna appreciate the oraginal design. it doesn't cost much, but so efficient.

The AMC is an amplifier which is intended to provide high quality soundat an affordable price.

It delivers just 2x30 W RMS but operates in pure Class A (yes, you have
read well) with 4 valves in its output stage. The input stage is made of
high voltage MOSFET transistors, thus we may classified it as an hybrid
solid-state/valve amp.

It provides 5 inputs(including one MM) and a tape loop. Direct mode (by-
passing the tone controls) and gold plated connectors (including the
speakers plugs). The valves are fan cooled, with low noise coming from
them.

Its main drawbacks are: medium quality knobs and buttons, slightly noisy
at very small levels, and no remote control.

It sounds wonderful, detailed and warm. Despite its low signal to noise
ratio I cant find any objections to its sound.

It is better recommended with high sensivity speakers in small to medium
rooms. I rather listen to modern music with it, instead of more demanding
classical pieces.

Equipment:
AMC CVT3030 Amplifier
Kef Coda 9 floorstanders loudspeakers.
Sony CDP-X333-ES CD player.
Program: George Michael, GLoria Stefan, Linda Rondstand, Stevie Wonder,
Caribbean and Latin Music, Bach (english suites), Mozart, Vivalvi and
Orff's Carmina Burana.

In short: Highly recommended.