Niles Audio Corporation SI-275 Amplifiers

Niles Audio Corporation SI-275 Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

Niles®' Systems Integration Amplifiers® are powerful tools that simplify and optimize complex custom multi-room installations. While traditional receivers and amplifiers work well in typical stereo and home theater systems, multi-room systems require an amplifier that does more than just drive speakers — these systems require an approach that offers greater flexibility and performance.

The SI-275 stereo amplifier gives you 75 high-current watts RMS per channel, which makes it ideal for use with outdoor speakers. It's also 4-ohm stable, so you can safely connect two pairs of 8-ohm speakers in parallel.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-2 of 2  
[Nov 06, 2011]
Mygaffer
AudioPhile

Now I am an example of that most unfortunate type of fellow, an audiophile on a budget. I actually got this amp for free from a customer of my computer repair business who was moving out of state and didn't want to ship this and some other audio equipment with him.
Well, I had been running a Marantz SR7400, a pretty good receiver in its own right. Well this amp is of course much better at driving my CSW Tower II speakers. Very low noise and harmonic distortion rating for this unit and it shows in the sound.
Basically I love this amp and hope to use it for years to come. They tend to hover around $550 but you can find them for less. If you have big and power hungry front mains then this amp will drive them no problem. If you are running a multi-room setup this is a great amp and if you want to run several sets of speakers, up to three, off of one amp this amp will do it.
This comes highly recommended from me.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 27, 2011]
linuxlund
AudioPhile

The good: This is a power amp with volume adjustment screws on the front for each channel. It has short circuit protection and a self-power-on option for when stuff hooked into it becomes active. I have not used that option. The unit is designed for long life and abuse. Traveling entertainers is probably the ideal fit. It will probably function well for 20-30 years. Up to three speakers of 8 ohm each can be hooked up to each channel output. 4 ohm speakers can be hooked up only one per channel. The amp is designed in the US and maybe made in the US as well. It can be played loud with no troubling distortion. The sound never becomes harsh, only soggy.

The bad: The sound is a bit dense and lacks inner detail. Not a spontaneous or happy sound. The sound is slightly dark in the treble region, and slightly bass-heavy, perhaps. A brooding sound quality. It's as if the attack is good but the roll off is too slow. The sound can be made better by turning down the volume screws 1/4 of the total maximum turn. This cripples the maximum output a bit but you will not be playing this amp at full volume in your living room anyway or you will suffer hearing loss. This way the amp has more power reserve which is used to pull out more inner detail from the music. The sound doesn't become less dense though. This power amp needs a really good preamp, one with a spacious, airy sound, yet super detailed. Many tube preamps will work well with this power amp. A good preamp is very expensive, unfortunately. If you already own an esoteric preamp you should buy this power amp in used condition. I don't recommend you buy this power amp used and then hope that you will find a used preamp that will make it sing. I am currently in that situation. Luckily my CD player is esoteric has a variable output. It is hooked up directly to this power amp. I build my own speakers, so there is no need to adjust bass and treble. They are built neutral from the start. I couldn't take any more detail loss from a medium-good preamp than is already the case without one. This may be the final solution for me. The tuner needs a preamp before I can hook it up though.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
2
Showing 1-2 of 2  

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