Power, driving ability, natural sounding,

Harsh when driven around maximum.

This review is for the 9290 a much better amplifier then the P3000. The best amplifier that I encountered under $1000. Period. No doubt.

Similar Products Used:

MARANTZ PM 17 Mk2 AUDIO ANALOGUE Donizetti CREEK 5350 SE CAYIN TA 30 ISEM Xtasis 2 KORA 150 SB YBA Initial THULE IA60B SE CRIMSON CS 630 C EUPHYA 250 Alliance

The P3000 is a utility version of the more expensive Trans-Nova designs witha slightly simplified circuit path and a price of $500....What that ads up to is a very "tubey" but highly detailed and electrically quiet amp, with balanced
inputs, to boot! It's main failing, and a fatal flaw, at that, is a noisy power
transformer (mechanically so); that is also prone to overheating. In fact, the
case over the transformer gets hotter than the output heatsink area after
two hours of use. A four star sounding amp but with one star construction.

Have had other Haflers before but never had one with a buzzing power transformer.....returned it but the second sample was the same. It also gets worse as the amp heats up.....not a good sign....Hafler has a better reputation than to allow this.....

Simple,clean,quiet,no fan,chassis ground lift, great Warranty

No Rca jacks

Great amp which works with quite well my rather low end home setup. Infintity IL50 speakers, Adcom GFP710 preamp, Yamaha CDR-D651 CD player, Various turntables and cartridges.Also used in studio for various near field monitors. No problems with hum,(hmmmm), but suggest that you give this unit plenty of ventilation. If you are on a budget but want a solid no trouble amplifier I would suggest auditioning this unit.

Similar Products Used:

Large assortment of pro and consumer gear (tube and Solid state)

Overall great sound, very good bass, build quality

No RCA's,

This amp sounds wonderful, it produces music that is life like and tuneful. This highs are right on, the mids a just slightly laid back and the bass is great. My only gripe is it does not seem to have much power in reserve when really cranked up. I have driven it hard until it over heats and shuts off, but distortion from clipping is never present.

Also for the past year I have been looking for a new amp, one that has a bit more power, but I have not found one that could beat the sound and still justify the cost. To beat the sound you would have to spend upwards of 3K or more.

For all of it's short comings, this is one great amp, for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Acurus, Adcom

Versatility / compact / useful L.E.D.'s

Mechanicly loud / no RCA input for home use

I had been using 9180's for a couple of years and saught a change for slightly more power for some bigger spaekers. I was able to strike a wonderful deal trading my 9180's for the P3000's and was glad I did. Though the ones I have are noisy and run a bit warm, it does not interfere with the performance they deliver. Nicely detailed highs, smooth mids and good powerful bass. They have the power to rock down the house or delver delightfuly accurate details of more subtle listening. I just wish they had included RCA inputs to avoid use of adaptors...I wasn't about to reterminate my AQ emeralds or get new cables. I run two P3000's in mono and am more than pleased with the results i get as compared with my brothers similar sytem with the next larger model spaekers, the 9505's and a tad bigger room.

CAL Delta t'port
CAL Sigma II DAC
Audio Alchemy DLC preamp
Audio Alchemy PS-Two
(2) Hafler P3000's
Polk Audio SDA-1C's
AQ Digital Pro + .5m pr Emeralds + 1m pr Emeralds + 4ft pr Clear.
Various absorbtive devices under / on / in components.

Similar Products Used:

Hafler 9180's

I additioned the P3000 used at Audio Classics in Vestal a few weeks ago and purchased a 1999 version. This may be important because there is no hum or hiss as mentioned in the two previous reviews. I assume they have corrected that problem. I went to the store with a friend who was owns a Plinius Amp and wanted to try it against a Krell 100. We spent the morning going back and forth between the two and decided the Krell wasn't worth the several hundred he would have to put up to trade in the Plinius. They were very close, and very good.
That done, we moved on to my sitution of looking for my first (much cheaper) 2 channel, used. We auditioned the Hafler, a new Acurus A100 (that I was biased towards at the start), and a(signifigantly) more expensive Counterpoint SA20. We also played a Sherwood New Castle R-725 AV Receiver as that is what is being replaced. At the store, we continued using Joseph Audio RM7 speakers, a Macintosh Preamp, Accuphase CD player and Neutral Reference speaker cable.
The Hafler P3000 did very well. It remained warm and natural with plenty of strength. The Acurus was much mroe harsh and grainy, especially when pushed. The Sherwood was not in the same league. The Counterpoint did shine, closer to the morning's offerings than these, but it was still more than twice the price and cosmetically in tough shape.
I happily paid $400.00 for the Hafler. Unfortunately, on getting it home I discovered a problem with its balance (normally hot on the right channel, ice cold on the left.) After discusisons with Hafler techs and the wonderful Mike at Audio Classics, I exchanged it for and exact copy (the guy who traded them in apparently was using their mono switch) that I have been playing almost constantly for two week now without incident.
This amp more than drives my Maggies and seems to be a very nice match for them.
I give the amp four stars for sound minus one for the damaged unit.

Magnepan MMG Speakers
Hafler FG-P3000U Power Amplifier
Acurus L10 Preamplifier
SONY CDP-XE500 CD Player
Monster Power HT1000 Line Conditioner
MIT Terminator 6 Speaker Cable
XLO/VDO ER-5 Interconnects
Vibrapods under components

Strong clean power; decent imaging for amp of its price; tight bass.

slight 60 cycle hum if used with unbalanced inputs; no RCA inputs; a little dull in the midrange.

I actually bought this product for my home recording studio but put it in my audio system for 2 years because for lack of money to buy what I wanted.

Overall it has a real nice sound for the price. It is well balanced, not edgy or boomy. The bass is strong and well controlled. The imaging is sufficiently detailed but could use some more depth.

My main criticism is on my Paradigm Studio 100 v.2's I just got the midrange is a bit weak. These speakers have a very flat and uncolored sound so this amp isn't the best match for the speakers.

I do not recommend this amp for a home stereo system unless you use balanced inputs though. The 60 cycle hum is just loud enough to be noticable when no music is playing. With balanced inputs on my Mackie mixer it is dead quiet. I've had no problems with the unit itself humming or heating up as indicated by a few others.

System:
Rotel RC-972 preamp
CAL Icon CD player
Fried Beta & Subwoofer/Paradigm Studio 100 v.2
Transparent Music Wave 100 speaker cable

Excellent build quality for professional use.

Should be reduced to a 1ru or 1.5ru size if possible

I love this amp. Just purchased less than a month and I have to say it sounds just as good as their 9505. High detail in the high frequencies (but not anoying), perfect mid and very good low. This amp just makes you want to listen to the music very loud and does not make my ears fatique after many hours of careful listening.

As for the transformer hum, it is almost not noticeable. Maybe they finally fixed it.

I've audition this amp to the Sunfire and Adcom but after about 1 hour of listening to the Sunfire, I was somewhat tired of the mid and high frequencies. The Adcom 5802 was fine but it was too big and did not look very rugged for professional use.

I would recommend this and the 9505 to anyone who will spend many hours a day listening to music or just for home audio and theater use.

Another satisfied customer.

Similar Products Used:

Hafler 9505, Sunfire Cinema Grand, Adcom 5802.