Good soundstage, good dynamics, good power, LOW PRICE.

Fan noise

A good buy for the money I spent. I had purchased a used Rotel RB 985MKII a week before purchasing this amp and had the opportunity to compare the two amps side by side. Overall, the Rotel was slightly better, with tighter bass, but the differences were very minor without considering the Rotel retails for 4 times the price of the 2580. There are large sonic differences between the Harman Kardon AVR 65 that I replaced with this amp. Comparison of just the amp section of the AVR 65 to the 2580 opened up the soundstage and DRAMATICALLY cleaned up the bass. Hotel California from Hell Freezes Over (DTS) used to sound boomy and distorted as the drum entered, but the 2580 tightened that up. I have no problems with power from this amp, however, I am driving relatively efficient speakers (Energy eXL16's) and my room size is only approx. 14 x 18. My only complaint is the fan noise. I recently bought an audio cabinet with glass doors that helps quiet the sound, but I left the back off the cabinet for easier component installation. During quiet music or movie passages, the fan can still barely be heard. Wild West doesn't sell them anymore, but I have seen them occasionally on Ebay either under Proton or Legacy Luminance (just the Proton with an added label) for $ 250 to 275 new in box.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel Harman Kardon

Punchy power, clean sound

none as of yet

This review is for the legacy luminance version of this amplifier. 5 x 80w @ 8 ohms or 5 X 120w @ 4 ohms. Apparently, Proton made this amp OEM for legacy and simply put the legacy name on it. Seems identical to the proton model. Anyway, I purchased this amp on Ebay as a new unit directly from Proton. Seems that they are selling off some overstock. Anyway, I hooked it up with their matching 5.1 preamp/processor and it sounds great. I've watched a couple of movies on it and listened to a number of cd's. I don't know if you could find a better multi-channel amp for the money. Punchy, detailed sound is what you get from this amp. As long as I don't have reliability problems, I'll be completely happy.

Similar Products Used:

Mcintosh, Adcom, NAD

Design, power & can handle both 8/4/2ohm.. Very pricey and splendid sound. 43-53 ampere and 700watt.

The fan sound is very loud... 43-53 ampere and 700watt direct from your wall socket...its eating power..

This is a real piece of kit, good design and wery good build quality and i bought it on sale brand new.. But the most important of all is the power that this machine can deliver.. it will handle every speaker you give it with no problems...the sound is clear, deep and very punchy...For me it sound best with bright sounding speakers.. This is real power and no "rambo-watt" 5*135/206/263..8/4/2ohm...

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Pioneer, Sherwood, Yamaha and Marantz (good sound, but not so powerful)