Tight bass, richness and fullness, great transients

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Well, here's the story. I bought some B&W Natutilus 805 speakers and had one hell of a time finding the right mix of components to make things "sing". Grabbed this amp and the matching preamp and I just can't stop listening! Detail, not too much bass, great highs are just a few of the things that I love about it. It's heavy as hell and made to last and looks great on my Lovan rack. I'm sold.

Associated equipment:
Musical Fidleity A3 CD
A3CR preamp
Acurus P10 phono preamp
Rega 25 table
B&W Nautilus 805
Chang Lightspeed 9600
Cardas Cross internal bi-wire speaker cable
Cardas Cross Neutral Reference interconnects, Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway MK II interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Acurus, Rotel

Dynamic, Neutral and Musical!

None that I can find for the price.

Although the equipment is still new and not run in properly yet, but it is very good already. It's nice to know that it can only get better.

This thing is flat out a good amplifier. It is dynamic, quite, and neutral, neutral, NEUTRAL. I am not good at explaining the detail attributes that they possess such as deep bass etc .... BUT this amplifier just sounds very nice and musical. Music seems to flow in an unforce manner - beautifully effortless.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RB-1080, Electrocompaniet (cannot remember model), Rega (power amp - forgot the model).

Great Speed, neutral sound

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I am very happy with this amp. I had it for more that 6 months. I love this amp with classical and jazz. The dynamic range of this amp is excellent. You can hear the highs and lows in clsssical something some other amps have hard times. Some people complaint about lack of power. Well, my answer to that is get a second amp. This amp has an out to chain a second amp. This is great for bi-amping.

Stereophile made it class A, the only one in this class that is actually affordable.

I have it in my back room with the matching pre amp, sony SCD-333-ES and B&W CDNT7. I use Kimber cables all around

Similar Products Used:

McIntosh, Marantz,

Transparency, harmonic accuracy, soundstage, speed

None yet

Great amplifier. Especially with Maggie 1.6QR's. Also using A3cr pre-amp. The maggies have come to life. You can really appreciate the improvement Magneplanar has made with their current speakers using an amp like the A3cr. One response to Bob from Nashville. Read Stereophiles review, better yet go to Musical Fidelity's site and read the reviews along with data. % distortion is not necessarily releated to power. Besides, the human ear cannot hear under 1% distortion, a scientific fact. The higher percent distortion only means they used less local or global feedback which we know makes amps sound like transistor radios if too much is used. Check out the distortion rating on a Conrad Johnson, 1% and many other high performance amps. Many are high. Yet, they all achieve the power ratings claimed.

Similar Products Used:

Conrad Johnson MF2100

Dynamic, sounds RIGHT!!

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This product is very good value for money. The money was spent where it matters most i.e. on sound quality.
Forget the Saucy brands and get down to business.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RH 1090

Transparency, great sound stage, good bass, nice looking, small

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After about 40 hours of playing music, this amp is really a killer. That when the bass starts opening up. Transparency is always there right when I played it the first time. Great details. The amp is also very pretty, small compact but powerful. It is also very quiet. With Joule Electra LA100 tube pre-amp, I couldn't stop listening to many old CDs. The bass, the soundstage, the transparency, details, sweetness all show up to give me the sense that I own a very expensive system. Great product at very reasonable price.

Similar Products Used:

Krell KSA 100

This am is so sweet. Smooth and very detailed. Airy a little lean on the bass side but the bass that is there is punchy.

Freakishly huge speaker binding posts. May show the weakness of cheaper components.

First off Audio Advisor is great. You will never find a better mail order company. Friendly knowlegeable and a more than fair return policy. I have had the A3CR for about three months and it does take a long time to break in. I must not listen to enough music cause the sound is just now starting to bloom. It definately takes burn in time. Just pop in a different CD everyday before work and in no time it will be good to go. The binding posts fit nothing but bare wire or bannana plugs so chances are you will have to reterminate your cables. Amp did seem quiet and clear and as fast as a new vette. It will ruin you for other cheaper amps that is for sure.

Associated equipment.

Bang & Olufsen Beogram 2404 Turntable with MMC 4 cartridge
Onkyo Inegra P-304 Pre-amp
Marantz CD-67SE CD player used as transport only
Sony DVD S560D used only for 24/96K output
MSB Link DAC III bone stock
Musical Fidelity A3CR amp
Teac A4300-SX Reel to Reel
Paradigm Monitor 9's -weak link-

MAS silver interconnects, IXOS 4 conducter speaker cable bi-wired to the speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan, Onkyo Inegra, Older Sansui, Older realistic

Great control, clarity, without harshness. Build quality is amazing for the price

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I was going to go with a tube amp this time around..but my speakers suck juice....and went to www.upscaleaudio.com to see what was the latest. I did not know that Upscale Audio is now a dealer for Musical Fidelity, but that is a good thing as I have done business with them before and they have done well by me.

I asked to hear the amp on something revealimg so they used Avantgarde horn speakers and I was sold on the sound immediately.

The amp is perfect in my system, which is a pair of Dynaudio speakers and a choice of a BAT or an older ARC preamp (depending on my mood)

It is built better than the other amps I paid more than twice as much for. Get a look inside one if you can. The fit and finish is excellent. I could not be more pleased.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Research D400 Krell KSA250 and others over the years

Dynamics, Warmth, Price

Power

I like this amp, I think its one of the strongest links in my audio system. Any upgrades I perform come thru with discernable results. The AC3R is not a "powerfull" amp, but it will surprise you with its aggressive nature.

This is a very detailed amp, and is very revealing of produciton quality. I would not consider this amp very neutral, I feel it has a slightly warm quality which is very friendly.

You should check out the build quality of this amp, it looks and feels like amps in a much higher price range. I do have a few promblems with this amp but they are not substancial, ask me.

I think this amp is a bargain at the price, I was looking in the $3000 price range and I ended up with this amp. I am really happy with this amp, if you are considering spending more than 1500, or even less, you should try this amp out, its worth the the cost of shipping to audition.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Pass, McIntosh, Levinson

The sound is balanced and detail.

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This is truly a special amp. I wish they would have made this amp 15 years ago because i could have save my myself lots of money. In the last 3 months I had gone through four amps and was unhappy to the point I was going to get off what i call being on drugs. Buying and selling equipment. I was going to sell all my equipment. I was giving crack up. Then I read a article in Stereophile about this amp and how they compared it to amps costing up to 10.000. I thought to myself I may as well hit this crack for the last since they offered a money back guarantee. I went for it and Im still high off this amp. They built a class A amp for 1500.00 dollars. For the first time in my life Im happy with my audio equipment for the long term. I hope u will try this amp so that u can get off crack also, because crack does kill.

Similar Products Used:

Amp costing 5000.00 and up.