clean sound, detail, power, build quality

no front off and on switch (it's hard to find a weakness)

A friend suggested I try this amp as they are discontinued and being blown out at fire sale prices. I did and was amazed. I have listen to everyting and honesty can find no comparisons until you get to the very high end Krells etc. For my ears the most important elemet is listening at fairly high levels for and hour or so at a time. What I love about this amp is that there is no listening fatigue. It is smooth, clean, loaded with power and truly is the best "listening" amp I have ever owned. Read the reviews by others....we all agree. For Harmon Kardon to discontinue this amp is a shame. I would have paid a great deal more for this amp and I never plan on selling. I hope Kardon reconsiders. How often do you produce an amp with such reviews....at any price.
I do have a complaint. I bought this as new. It wasn't. Their were scratches on the face plate and a very noticable dent on one of the heat sinks. The dealer was unaware and offered to repalce it with one of the other two he had. They too were not knew. If you buy one of these amps it is probably not new no matter what you are told. Production was stopped in 1995 and these have been sitting around during a corporate buy out by Harmon Kardon. On the positive side, the amp sounds great regardless of its earlier life. Since I now plan to keep it forever, I just wish it were new with no blemishes. I want to emphasis that Jeff Sound also believed it to be new and has been absolutely great to work with. They even offered to drive out to my house to pick it up if I wasn't completely satified.
Well, I am more than satisified and consider myself to be one of the lucky few to come across this incredible piece of gear.

Similar Products Used:

parasound 3500

Seemingly limitless power: clean, detailed, non-fatiguing sound at any volume; exceptional build quality; ability to drive any speaker load

Lack of 5th channel for some, but not an issue for me.

I am SOOOOO glad I found one of the last remaining new models of the amp. This amp is THE ticket for someone who wants exceptional two-channel quality as a priority, but also wants an amp that will due full justice for movies. The current that this amp produces is frightening...over 150 amps peak according to my owner's manual!! Even the largest Parasound amps can't deliver that kind of current. To find this kind of current elsewhere, one has to look at offerings from Krell and even then you'll need their largest (and not to mention most expensive) models. I have no doubt that you could weld with this thing. It combines power and grace that I have rarely, if ever, encountered in a sub $5000 amp.

To give you an idea of just how capable this amplifier is, the manufacturer actually recommends running multiple large subwoofers, such as Citation's own 7.4 14" THX sub (which I now want to purchase in a big way) in parallel off of one of two bridgable sides. Tell me of another company that is so confident that they will RECOMMEND doing this? So, since there are 2 bridgable sides, 4 subs could easilly be run by this amp...with power to spare I assure you. Imagine the possibilities!

The amp is very flexible and can be run in 4,3, or 2 channel mode. With both sides bridged, its output is 2x450 into 8 ohms and God only knows what the output is into 4 or 2 ohms. All I know is that I'm not up to the distruction that is inevitable if I try the bridged mode with my Magnepan MMG's, which ar 4 ohms. In three channel mode, one can run a sub at 450 watts and still have 2x150 available for the front channels or rear channels. In normal 4x150 mode, this amp will drive my Maggies to never before heard of volumes for these speakers- peaking at nearly 105 db's.

The build quality is on par with companies like Krell and Levinson....thick, aluminum construction and elegant looks. I also like the way the Citation emblem on the front lights up in a light blue. Lets not forget that the unit weighs 90 pounds packed. Believe me, the UPS driver wasn't smiling when he delivered it. It comes double boxed and is well isolated inside the large, outer box.

Enough about the power and weight. How does it sound? In a word- refined. Even at volumes that approach movie theater levels, the soundstage never thins and compresses, the instruments never lose their individuality, and the dynamic peaks are never compressed. In fact, the more juice you ask this thing to produce, the better the sound gets. Leave this amp on if you buy it. Even when left on all of the time, you will likely find, as I did, that the sound will improve even a bit more after it's been fed a signal for 5 minutes or so. This amp absolutely loves to work.

I hesitated to write a review this soon as I am having a home-theater built in the 4th level of my home. Consequently, my system is currently set up in make-shift fashion in the basement with nothing but reflective surfaces...nothing but concrete and rafters. It is the absolute poorest room imaginable for acoustics. Yet, the 7.1 still sounds refined. I can't wait for the room to be finished and for my new Magenpan 1.6QR's to arrive. I will update my review at that time. Until then, BUY THIS AMP if you can find it. All things considered, it is the best sounding amp I've ever heard. At retail of $3000.00 its an absolute bargain. For the $1000.00 I paid for a new one (it was discontinued last year), it is the wonder I wasn't arrested for theft. Happy listening!!

Similar Products Used:

Carver, Parasound, Anthem, Sunfire, Adcom, Krell

Stone quiet, sequential start up,good looks, no cooling fans, fatigue-free, attractive, killer sound reproduction, no handles.

No balanced inputs, cheesy binding posts, banana plugs can't be used on some versions.

I bought four of these monsters on ubid.com for $750 each. (I bi-amp and use Clark Tactile synthesisers, so I need 13 channels.) In my 30 years as an audiophile and 10 years as a videophile, this is my all-time best deal! These amps are superb. The build quality is back breaking (75 lbs each)with no handles, and heat sinks that aren't rounded at the corners (ouch!).

These are the most quiet amps I have ever owned! My Cinepro 3K6 always had an audible hum (58 db at the surface of my Carver ribbons) with the system on and no source playing. This bothered me big time. With the Citations I cannot hear anything and my dB meter reads ambient (53dB).

These amps yield very smooth and fatigue free reproduction. I didn't expect a big difernce from the Cinepro 3K6 (other than no fan noise). I was wrong! These guys are significantly more detailed and can seemingly match the Cinepro 3K6's headroom without bridging channels. They output 240w into a 4 ohm load.

I recently sold my Carver Al-III ribbons and their electronic crossovers by Rudi Blondia ( a superb product for Carver owners). I will soon receive four Newform R645's that I bought based on audiowreview.com feedback. I think these will yield tighter bass. The monopole nature of their ribbons should improve the Home Theater sonic signature. One thing is certain the Newforms won't hurt for power! These amps at $749 each deserve a value rating of 10 on a scale of 5. At retail I'd give em a 5 too!

Similar Products Used:

Cinepro 3K6, ATI 1505, numerous Carvers

Transparency, great top end, rock solid bass

I don't think so.

You want to talk about a diamond in the rough, having sold my beloved Aragon wanting a more musical amp... I opted for the Plinius SA-100MKIII a great all around amp but lacking the dynamics that I was looking for with my NHT 3.3's. Unfortunately the Plinius SA-250 was out of my range so I decided to jump on a Citation 7.1 for a great price from Ubid. The Citation far exceeded my expectations and then some.... It had all the qualities of my two previous amps which considering it's retail price makes it an absolute steal. The Citations good looks and flexability are just icing on the cake. Grab one if you can you won't be disappointed

Similar Products Used:

Adocm 5800, Aragon 8008BB, Plinius SA-100MKIII

Flexible, incredibly well built, great sounding, heavy

Hard to think of any, especially at the price I paid

I now own two Citation 7.1s and one 5.1 - see my similar review for the 5.1 under that category.

This is simply a great sounding amp with a TON of clean power. It's very neutral, and gets the bass right for H/T and music. This thing is well built and very detailed sounding. It reminds me of the Aragons and Brystons I've had - big, heavy, and apparently indistructable. It is bridgable and can be run as a 4, 3, or 2 channel amp. I've run it bridged into 2 channels powering some demanding (4 ohm or less) speakers with no problems (Aerials and Maggies). Never gets very warm, and never been close to hot when pushing a heavy load. This thing is a beast.

They 7.1 blows away the Classe CAV-150 I had previously, and is every bit as good as the Bryston at a fraction of the price. The Classe never came close in terms of low end power. I think the Citation is better than the Bryston for slam and equal for detail, but I never compared them side by side. I loved my Bryston and Aragon amps, but for the money I just had to get Citations.

I have never thought any product I've owned previously deserved a "5" rating, but this amp gets it. I simply have not heard anything, ever, for less than $5K that significantly beats it for H/T.

I noticed that some people below noted that the binding posts are capped off (meaning they can't take banana connectors). Those are just plugs inserted into the end of the posts. Simply get a jewlers screwdriver and gently pry out those plugs. You'll then have the common 5-way binding posts. Can't imagine why Citation capped these off on some amps, or why they didn't mention the removal of the plugs in the manual.

Similar Products Used:

Aragon 8008, Classe CAV-150, Bryston 8B, and a bunch of other lesser amps

Very impressive build quality, looks, totally silent, massive power reserves and very flexible. One fine piece of equipment.

My back hates it. My neighbors don't like it much either.:)

I was initially loooking for a two channel but simply could not resist the value represented by these amps. I never auditioned it but based on the specs, price and photos I purchased this beast. It also came with the full five year warranty which was very reassuring.

This is one great sounding amp after five plus months of ownership. As it has been stated here, the backgroung is totally silent and accuate music reproduction effortlessly flows through the speakers. Instruments sound razor sharp and drums sound tight and fast. The 7.1 has tremendous low end grip on my Dynaudios which is without doubt doubt due to its impressive current output which is given at 130 amps in dual mono mode. This amp was definitely designed to drive low impedance speaker loads.

At volumes, the 7.1 simply places instruments deeper into my room without ever fatiguing the listener. The power deivery always seems effortless to me with this amp regardless of the music being listened to or how loud its played. The 7.1 in my view has no favorites as it is plays all music I have thrown at it with equal finesse and authority. It is amazing how loud one can play this amp but never feel the fatigue factor that all too often occurs with lesser components.

Build quality is superb compared to any other amp I have seen even at the MSRP of the 7.1 which was $2,800.00. The blue Citation light is a very nice touch and simply icing on a well decorated cake.

The 7.1 is well worth its MSRP of $2,800.00 in my view and an absolute steal and recent fire sale prices. At current prices which is no more than $1.50/watt @ 8 ohms, awarding five stars to the Citation is an absolute no brainer. Its rather amusing to me now that some folks pay $5.00/watt and more for competing components and still believe they received a bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity, Bryston (auditioned), Classe (aud), McCormack (aud), McIntosh (aud) Arcam (aud) and a few others.

There are products that exude quality right out of the box. The CITATION 7.1 four channel (4 X 150W, THX-certified) power amplifier is one of such rare products.
For those who do not know CITATION brand very well, I will begin telling it is
a MADRIGAL AUDIO LABORATORIES product (ie.synonym with high-end market). You can visit its Web site at: www.madrigal.com .

To put my commentaries into perspective, I shall say I can be defined as a die-
hard home theater fan and a classical music aficionado (B-flat clarinet concer- tos, in particular). Therefore, my claims on the CITATION 7.1 power amplifier, although mostly done in the context of home theater application, are issued
considering its use for pure music, too.

I auditioned a series of multichannel power amps (in the range from $2.3 per Watt up to about $9 per Watt) from ARAGON, ATI, PARASOUND, KRELL, BRYSTON, McCORMACK, McINTOSH and PROCEED prior deciding on the CITATION. Although I had decided beforehand to keep my budget below $5 per Watt, I auditioned expensive amplifiers -at almost $9 per Watt (KRELL, PROCEED)- just to "flavor" what the extra money could buy.

On the upper range, I concluded the PROCEED AMP5 (another MADRIGAL product) was the best multichannel amp (but only marginally better than the CITATION, to be sure. Departments in which the PROCEED outperformed the CITATION were perceived soundstage depth and high end "air"). However, I could not afford the PROCEED
at that time. Regarding the KRELL KAV-500, although I had read rave reviews on it, it did not impress me (I mean, for that kind of "green") and, besides, it operates too damn hot (I don't like that from the long-term reliability standpoint). To my ears, the PROCEED clearly outperfoms the KRELL.

On the lower to mid range (where my budget was aimed to), I found the ARAGON 8008X3 (3 X 200W, $4.4/W) to be the only worthy contender for the CITATION 7.1 ($4.7/W). Details (minor details, to be sure) that I didn't like about the ARAGON were: 1) Lacks imaging, 2)A glare that can be somewhat piercing (software-dependent), 3) Lacks midrange/mid-bass "punch" and 4) Transformer slight hum noise (the CITATION is absolutely silent in this regard). To be honest, the ARAGON slightly outperform the CITATION when playing in the nether regions (20 Hz or so). However, in the midrange "punch" department (where most of the action of movie soundtracks is), the CITATION is the clear winner. No contest! Regarding pure music playing, the CITATION can reproduce the "woodiness" of the sound of a B-flat clarinet in a way that the ARAGON cannot (being myself a veteran B-flat clarinet player, I can talk on this in a oppinionated way).

Besides their great sonics, the CITATION 7.1 power amp is an externally gorgeous piece of equipment: extremely robust but quite refined with its sculptured metal faceplate and soft-blue CITATION LEDs. For this o less money you can buy amps that are built as tanks...but that LOOK LIKE TANKS, TOO! At 75 pounds, however, the CITATION 7.1 is a truly charming monster!!! WAF not problem at all!!!
You can proudly display this gem in even the fanciest BELL O'GGETTI A/V furniture (just check it is robust enough). The picture of this amp at the MADRIGAL Web site looks great...but it loks even greater IN LIVE!

I can resume my oppinion on the CITATION power amp: IT IS A BEAUTY TO BEHOLD!!!

GIVE THE CITATION 7.1 power amp a good audition and you'll see!

I provided details on the rest of my home theater rig and interconnects in my review on the SONY DVD/CD player S7000.

(The 5-star rating I am giving here to the CITATION 7.1 is in the context of amps costing up to $5 per Watt).

Happy New Year for EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really love this amplifier. It has a nice warm sound with lots of depth.the bridgeability allows 450 x 2 or 450 x 1 and 150 x 2. This makes it great
for home theater applications. I love the fact that i have no regrets and i have
never second guessed my purchase. I like it as much, propably more than my krell
kav 250. Great looks and madrigal build quality. 5-12 volt input allows remote
power up via preamplifier. high current output takes care of any musical transients.Citation been around for a long time and for good reason!

I bought the citation 7.1 + 5.1 + and 7.0 Processor as a combo deal about 2 years ago....it was not until I added (by good luck- got a great deal) a set of B&W 801 S3s and the new Sony DVP-S7700 that I found what I had been looking for....these two items brought everything out.....I can now watch movies/play music on the Citations and see what they are capable of....Unfortunately my Processor is now dated by newer digital processing...The great thing is that I am in the process of doing a trade in w/ Madrigal to update my processor to the Proceed AVP....I have to compliment the company for giving me a fair trade in for my older processor....back to the amps....I can not say that I have heard the Krell, Mark Levinson, or Proceed amps...but I have heard these 2 amps by Citation....they are rock solid.....I would like to audition these other amps in my system to see what they are all about...but for now....even w/ my older processor I can say that my system moves me.....that is something that makes all my $$$ spent an investment....you can buy some forms of happiness

Remote turn-on, solid as a tank, seperate power supplies for each channel for absolutely no bleedthrough, oh yeah, it's GEORGEOUS!

I too have hooked this up as a secondary power source with an K/K AVR-75 as the Pre/Pro & center & surrounds power source.
I am not a purist and I like my tone controls because, let's face it, some recordings NEED it!
I ended up bi-amping my Tannoy S10 fronts with this amp and ET VOILA! I have one SWEET system for not alot of bucks.
I actually purchased two of these intending to obtain a 5.0 controller but when that fell through, I decided to pick up a SH-5000C for DTS decoding and keep my AVR-75 for multi-purpose duty. After all, it is one of the finest AVR units ever made, (read my review).
First thing, I had to turn down the bass & treble controls, closer to flat.
This is one CLEAN amp. NO source, volume CRANKED all the way!.... Not a peep.
I can also run the system louder than before, (without the amp) and it seems not as loud. No more bass transients. In fact, the response is so un-colored that there is literally zero fatigue at what should be virtually intolerable volume levels. For instance, I sat with my friend after initially hooking this baby up and as I watched the volume level go from - to + we just kind of looked at each other in amazement, you could not do this before without cupping your hands over your ears. As I turned to say something about this I found that although my lips were moving, he could not here a word I was saying. A testament to the fact that this was indeed an extremely high volume level as he was only a foot from me. I could not believe it, the Tannoys were at last doing what they were made to do. The head room is out of this world! We were literally "inside" the music! It became our environment and although we could not here one another, the sound was incredibly pleasing. Full, rich, REAL!
This is not a technically worded review, I know. I figure you can get those below and at madrigal's web site. I just wanted to share, as best I could, the experience of owning one of these.
I have tried the above listed amps and found that the Brystons, purveyors of much hype, didn't MOVE me. The Adcoms are less expensive but again, EXPERINCE is what I'm after, not cost(within reason).
Through my discount as a dealer, I got what I consider to be an awesome deal on this unit. If I would have payed the full $2,800 list price, I would still be just as happy.
The fact that you can get them for considerably less makes the whole thing just that much sweeter.
Well deserved perfect 5's all the way around.

Similar Products Used:

Bryston, Adcom