I owned a Muse Model 100 for 2 months. I bought it used after it had come back to the original owner with factory upgrades. I received the amp with the factory paper-work confirming the upgrades. After the rave reviews I figured how can I miss, this amp is a sure thing. Wrong! I never had an amp that was so hard, opaque, 2 dimensional, and steely-aggressive in the highs. It took a supreme effort to listen to any music for more than 15 minutes with this amp. Listening fatigue was quick. When I had asked the owner who sold it to me why he was selling it, he said he preferred an old Phase Linear 400. I should have listened to him. I ended up trading it to a guy for a 240wpc Sumo Andromeda II. In a later conversation he confirmed each of my findings with this amp. He felt that it sounded like the early 1960's transistor amps with gobs of negative feedback that " drove spikes into your ears". My findings were so much at odds with the reviews on this amp that I kept wondering if maybe I just got a sample that was not representative of the normal production run. But I know what I heard, and it was consistent with all forms of music, and with different preamps and cables. I would like to hear another one and hope that I just got one that was defective (or atypical of production runs) factory tweaking or not. It seems unfair of me to give this amp a poor rating due to my experience with just one Model 100 when so many qualified reviewers heard something totally different with their review units. I would suggest listening to one in your system before buying. I am assuming I had a defective unit.

This amplifier in my system (PSB stratus silvers, Sony XA3ES cd player)ROCKS! Well, not rocks, but it has a huge soundstage, and is very smooth!
It's not "blow you away" sounding, like my old Bryston 2b-lp, it doens't have bass "kick" but plays it like it is. It's detailed but not sharp. It's very clean, in my opinion, more so than my old conrad johnson MV45a1. At first, it sounded less warm, less musical than the CJ, but after listening for a few minutes, it became apparent that the Muse 100 is a lot better than the CJ MV45a1. Just wish I had bought this amp instead of borrowing it for a week. The sound of the Muse is lush, like it comes all over the place, and very clean, kind of reminds me of tube triodes in some ways.

I have been the proud owner of a pair of Muse 175 monoblocks for about eight months now. I am very pleased. The pair handles any music I throw at them with strong control and split-second dynamics. The bass runs very deep and the soundstage the two produce is excellent. I bought the pair used, and got a great deal from my dealer (Tim Harrison of Audio Art). The pair is drivinga pair of new Vandersteen 3A loudspeakers and the combination is devastating. I am particularly impressed -- along with the above-mentioned sonic qualities -- with the solidity of the build of these units. I can recommend them to any listener who wants a good, relatively inexpensive set of monoblocks tha will get you very close to the music. By the way, Muse and its engineers seem very committed to the accurate reproduction of music. I am appreciative.

high current, doubles to 200 watts into 4 ohms, very stable power. Liquid and coherent from top to bottom. Bass unexagerated. High frquency is silky with air. Nice soundstage and fantastic imaging. Although a professional gear it is value for money and doesnt budge to costlier amps.

Careful matching needed. Interfacing a must. Dont just connect anything regardless of rave reviews.

This will really make you feel good considering the performance to price ratio. The build quality is exceptional and for as long as you know what sound characteristic pleases you, you could achieve it with careful matching and/or understanding of the sonic signature of your other components.
With its stable power rating, it will drive any load. I've tried it with B&W's , Dynaudios, and Sonus Fabers and I all liked them. I settled of course with the Contour 1.8 MKII simply because it produced the sound(music) I like.
I envy those who could really afford high-end stuff but to those who just want audiophile grade home music and aere prudent spenders I suggest Muse l00 partnered with a speaker which is coherent. You could even drive the amp with a CD with a decent variable output directly with out a pre. Imagine the savings that you could use to buy quality XRCD's and high resolution 24/192 players.

Take your time too on acquiring interconnects. It doesn't neccesarily have to be from the same manufacturers. Again, if it sounds right then it is right. Don't be a sucker on high valued, well perceived reviews please.

Don't take my word for it. Audition and experiment and check out the real high end stuff and see if it could convince you to shell out big bucks. You might have a great sound but a cost you cant even swallow. Anyways, you could always flaunt it to your friends. Good luck on your quest of sonic nirvana. Hopefully you maintain a balance life and banki account too.

Similar Products Used:

SF power2, AR D115

It is a very dynamic and precise amp. high current, doubles to 200 watts into 4 ohms, very stable power

none

The muse model one hundred brings the best out of evry speaker. I am using it on a pair of Dali grand, they demands a mutch stronge amp then Muse 100, but you can't notes it.

Similar Products Used:

Electrocompaniet AW-100, denon 2700

Soundqality

The muse 100 is the best amp i know.The build quality is exceptional and for as long as you know what sound characteristic pleases you, you could achieve it with careful matching and/or understanding of the sonic signature of your other components. The MUSE is clean, airy, throws out a big soundastage and is impeccable with vocals.