Cinepro 1K2 SE Amplifiers

Cinepro 1K2 SE Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

375 watts

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-9 of 9  
[Oct 03, 2000]
ken kwan
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

clean, fast, detail sound

Weakness:

???

i have the 1k2, not the se version.

my front end are adcom 750 cd player and 750 preamp. i like the detail/analytical sound. the amp sounds 'fast' and amazingly 'clear' at low level. i compare to the proceed amp, and 1k2 simply wins in terms of resolution and again, speed. i listen to 99% symphonic and piano stuffs, i don't think the sound(piano tone) is sweet, but it is accurate. strings sound is gutsy ! not smoothed out.

support is also execellent. i have a defective balanced input module on 1 channel and they sent me a replacement right away.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 08, 1999]
Jeff
an Audio Enthusiast

I recently bought a Cinepro 1K2 amp and I am very pleased. It makes my NHT 2.5i speakers really sound great. I auditioned a Acurus A100 and this amp did little to impress me. The 1K2 fills the room with very clean and musical sound. I connected my amp, preamp and cd through DIY interconnects as detialed on BIG MATT's page. I give the amp 4 stars, as I've never heard the really expensive stuff and don't care if I do.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Sep 27, 2001]
Brad
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Effortless power, great soundstage, revealing.

Weakness:

None

Recently, my Yamaha M80 power amp failed after 17 years of faithful service. I borrowed the Cinepro from Quintessence Audio in Morton Grove (a friend owns Quintessence) after reading great press reports. I have now used it for about a month now. I was surprised to hear what I have been missing! This amp has great power and reveals every nuance in music and movies, probably attributed to the fact that it runs in pure Class A up to 25 wpc. Even though it operates in Class A most of the time, it runs cool. Needless to say, after listening for a while, I called Quintessence and purchased it.

I highly recommend Cinepro products. They are built to last and sound great.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha M-80, Rotel RB991

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 29, 2001]
Mike
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Clarity, Power, Looks

Weakness:

None that I have found

I have begun my trek into separates and I began by upgrading my speakers to Diva 6.1's, C3 and R3's. I then added a Bryston amp and then the Cinepro as these were the two I narrowed my choices to. The Bryston amp was great and I could also give it a 5. However, the Cinepro was more open and clear. The Bryston seemed a litle harsh on the upper notes but not so with the Cinepro. It sounds better and better each day. I may not have given the Bryston enough time and I really wanted to keep it with the 20 year warranty but again the Cinepro just gave me the open, clear soundstage that I was hoping for. Eric, the president of Cinepro provided great customer service as did James Tanner at Bryston. I would have been plesed with either of these amps but the Cinepro remains.

Similar Products Used:

Bryston 4B-ST

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 14, 1998]
GREG
an Audiophile

I have the chanc over the last three months to audition a hand full of amps from byrston aragon forte adcom nad rotel hafler parasound and now cinepro. I was very reluctant at first to try one of these amps I read all the stereo reviews on one of the cinepro amps the 600xse,they gave this amp very impressive ratings so I gave them a call and ordered one, so far I'm very impressed with what this amp can do so far,very detailed, and very accurate bass at low levels and at high levels this amp is built very well both external and internal cinepro uses audiophile parts in there amps kimber silver wire dale resistors wima capacitors faraday shieled transformers and motorola bi-poler outputs.they said every amp is hand built by one person from start to finish.for the price these amps are very hard to beat.I'm not being bias but I've learned alot on my search for a power amp.there is a lot of hipe by different manufactures on what there amps can do. I believe you pay mostly for the name on several amp manufactures. if you get a chance try one out they offer a 30 day money back gurantee. you can find them on the net www.cinepro.com

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Dec 18, 1998]
tomb
an Audio Enthusiast

I read about the Cinepro on the net and called them when I learne they are based in my home town. They offered to drop the amp off for a weekend listening test and I was quite excited, since I was in the market for a new amp. The staff was very friendly. My system consists of B&W805 speakers, Threshold FET9 preamp, Kenwood L07 monoblock amplifiers (circa 1983), B&O turntable, Marantz CD player and audioquest cables. I listen to a wide range of music, including Jazz, Folk, Blues, Vocals, and Classical.
On the positive side, the amp has good bass authority. On the negative side, I found that the amp did not sound as musical as other amps I have auditioned (including Pass, Carver Lightstar, Classe) or my existing Kenwood monoblocks (L07s). The amplifier also introduced a noticible amount of noise. With respect to build quality, the amp stopped working after a few hours of use. A rep came to my house and jiggled a bunch of wires to fix it. I suggested he give me another unit to try but he insisted that this one was fine.
As you can guess, I returned the amp. I am still not sure if this particular unit was bad (a distinct possibility) or if their other amps have similar characterstics.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 02, 1999]
Steve
an Audiophile

I've owned the supercharged version of this amp for about a month now. The 1K2SE has alot of extra stuff above the 1K2. Added oil filled caps,metal film resistors,internal Kimber silver wire, gold plated connectors. The supercharged version the 1K2SE/XC adds a larger power supply. This amp sounded great right out of the box but now that its broken in it is even better. It has power like I have not heard before. This amp puts out 465 watts per channel into my 6 ohm Aerial 8 speakers. But it also has 3.5 DB of headroom above that for peaks in the area of 1000 watts per side. I listen to mostly classical music at fairley moderate levels so this amp has the reserves to cover those realism adding transients. Due to its power it also operates nearly all the time in Class A mode. It has great clarity, air, and depth. I got involved with this amp through my company. I work as a sound engineer for a motion picture sound company in Hollywood. One of the maintainace engineers told me about this amp. Even though I assumed it was just a commercial theater amp that would be too noisy for home music use I had nothing to lose by trying as my company owned one so I took it home. That night I decided on this amp for my purchase when I compared a Classe 300 and the Cinepro. The Classe clearly had the most attractive faceplate but the Cinepro won in every other area,including price. I highly reccomend this amp to anyone shopping for a muscular,laid back solid state marvel. Did I mention the Classe was spitty in comparison ? This company offers a 30 day satisfaction gaurentee. If you don't like your amp send it back(They say they don't get any returns and I believe it)
This is the equipment I use :

Aerial Acoustic 8 speakers
Cinepro 1K2SE/XC power amp
Cary SLP94 preamp
Cal Audio Alpha/Delta CD
Micro Seiki DX1000 turntable
Cary Hi Def interconnects
DIY AES/EBU digital cable
10 year old (cheap) Monster Cable (set up as biwire)


OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Feb 09, 1999]
John
an Audio Enthusiast

I had read a lot of reviews about Cinepro and most seem to be of the opinion that they make great amps . I needed to go shopping for an amp so I arranged for Cinepro to send me a 1k2Se and a 3k6Se as I needed eight channels with my DC-1 and passive HSU subs .I prefer to test in stereo first so I used the 1k2Se with an old Fleetwood Mac disc I have thrashed .I had listened to many amps but I was shocked by the dramatic dynamics the 1k2Se has .Once I became used to the dynamics an the new toy mentality I started to experience a very large soundstage which seemed to open up the room .I was not expecting the depth of the phantom image which made me smile and enjoy one of my old time favorites all over again .
After about two weeks the sound got even smoother ( I guess it liked the hammering I gave it )and the top frequencies had this nice warm sound which made the 1k2Se very easy for those long hours of music I love .
Well the wife gave me hell because of the money thing but I was sold and on the 25th day I decided not to send it back for a refund and that was over 6 months ago and I would still not send it back even if I could .

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Aug 21, 2000]
Jim
Audiophile

Strength:

Powerful amp, good clean sound. A value for the power. Helpful staff to talk to at the company.

Weakness:

Slight low level hum. They may not have a dealer in your area.

Great amp for the money! I have the 1k2, not the more expensive SE. List is $1600, but I think they must have tremendously satisfied customers like me, because these are rarely for sale used. If you see one, grab it. Extra power for transients with 3.5db of headroom.Smooth, never harsh, with appropriate, not overbearing bass. Fairly transparent, and will show the strenghths/weaknesses of your system. I'd buy another one in a heart beat. Someone at the company told me that this amp was designed with Martin Logan Quest speakers as the reference. Electrosatic speakers can be very demanding, and this amp handles mine easily.

My system:

Martin Logan Quest speakers
Rotel RCD 971 cd player with HDCD
Classe' CP40 preamp
Cinepro 1k2 amplifier
Harmonic Technology Precision Link interconnects
Harmonic Technology Melody speaker cables

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Rotel, Parasound

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-9 of 9  

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