Price/performance.

Soundstage, power.

Mine is the original Puccini without remote, several years old. Some say this amp never sounds harsh, that is untrue. With bright speakers like Proac 1SC, I would like to have a much more mellow amp than Puccini is. Despite of that, it is a good buy. I guess it just needs more sensitive and neutral speakers than proacs.

Similar Products Used:

Copland 501, Audio Innovations 500

Sounds tube-like without it's weeknesses with a comfort of a solid state amp,looks good,well build,value

None

My is a Puccini "R".Baught as ex-demo unit(for aprox 700 euro) from dealer who have offered me a home trial.I was little sceptic,because some reviewers recommended it only for classical and jazz music.My musical taste runs from rock of 60's,70's to jazz, and to some "softer" jazzy drum 'n'bass things.(Led Zep.,Jethro,Doors,T.Waits,Miles,Coltrane,Art Ensemble of Chicago,Jarrett,lots of ECM records,LTJ Bukem,Big Bud etc.) What can I say:I was so impressed that i have baught the demo unit:it serve ALL my music extremly well,it's sounds full blooded open and warm,lush as a tube amp.It does not have that animal drive from others,instead it shows you what's inside the music with an "aura", only to be find at gears which cost you 3-5 times more !With every other amp.which i have tryed,the rock music from 60-70's sounded thin and vague , but not with the puccini R!Jazz sound very involving and "real" with an extemly "rightness", it's very"musical".Detailed ,refined without becoming bright or harsh whatever you throw on it.It will take the "digital edginess" from your cd collection ,and as it's name suggests:it is audio , ANALOGUE !!!! It's a real amp for a real man's world ! If You are in a hunt for a good int.amp.,with an affordable price,put this "wolf in a sheep cloth" on your shortlist!From me it's a clear 5 star and BEST BUY ! System:Marantz cd6000se JM Lab Chorus 715 Puccini "R" Straight Wire Rhapsody int. Monster Z 1 LS cable

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cyrus 3/psx-r,magnum ia 120,magnum ia 170,rotel RA 985(my worse ever owned amp.in 30 years!),primare a 20 ,luxman L 410,marantz 6010se,MF X-A1,MF A1,cyrus 1, cyrus 2 and many more...the list will be too long!

The sound, it makes music you can listen to for hours on end, but still has more than acceptable insight into the source material.

40 watts @ 8 ohms may be a problem for some speakers, but my speakers like to be pushed around by tubes so it is not a problem here.

I'm reviewing the Puccini Remote, which is reputed to have more current than the standard non-remote model. I bought it as a demo. from Alan at Audiowaves, an authorized dealer, (www.audiowaves@aol.com) Alan was a pleasure to deal with. Now on to the business at hand. I have made the journey from solid state to tubes, and the difference in sound was worth the extra "Care & feeding" tubes require. However I used to think it would be so great if I could find the musical sound of tubes in a solid state amp. Well guess what boys & girls, the Audio Analogue Puccini is the answer to my question. I know tubes, and the Puccini comes real close while offering better bass control. It has a remote which I did not have with my tube integrateds, and I love the "Stand by" feature wherein the amp does not shut off but disconnects from the speakers until you turn up the sound, and it is ready to play music w/o a long warm up period. It has a phono section which is a real plus. G-d I really like this amp.

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I've been in this insane hobby for almost 42 yrs. It would be easier to list what I have not owned.

Build Sound Value

power cable

Sure all we work hard for the money, but will it worths? If you buy this beatifull piece of electronics ,you will say it worths. I had my cd player for repair a week playing my cd´s from a playstation and the beatifull sound from the puccini still was there. Allways warm , but perfectly shaped to the source. The perfect slave for the money. Beatifull to look and to ear. Try it with a good source , I have the A A Paganini feeding mine.Pump up the volume.You can ear it loud for hours. Thats not for every kind of amplifier. To much solid state based electronics creep me shortly when they play loud. Puccini doesn´t. Im not a classical music fan. Massive Attack "Protection",Nightmares On Wax "Smokers delight", Beck´s "Sea Change" , Beatles " Abbey Road" etc.. are beatifull to listen with the Puccini. , burn it for 100 hours and listen to it. Beatifull. Why not? Buy a pair of Castle Acoustics Conway 3 and enter my world , choose the cables for me. Buy it Bye

sto a segnalare l'eccellente prodotto AUDIO ANALOGUE PUCCINI: suono caldo, dolce, dettagliato, perfetto su tutti e tre gli spettri audio. Vero BEST BUY, prezzo eccellente per la qualità che ha... un ottimo prodotto Italiano

Mids, treble and smooth bass, excellent soundstage.

none that I can think of

Great amplifier with a superb built quality. Classy sound especially suitable for Jazz, vocals especially female, instumental and classical music. Thinking of upgrading my pair of bookshelf speakers JBL pro which are about 12 years old. Using monster cables to connect the speakers. Inspite this entry level setup the amplifier sounds great.Sounds just like a tube, going to buy a pair of electrostatics for this amp. Heard it on a pair, sounds a zillion dollars.

I THINK THE SEPARATION OF INSTRUMENT PLAYBACK WHEN LISTEN TO MUSIC IS THE STRONGEST BUY POINT

WELL THE VOCAL COULD NOT PRODUCE A GOOD DEPTH BUT THE MID RANGE IS THERE

I HAD BEEN USING THE INTERGRATED AMP FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS AND I STILL LOVE IT , THE BASS IS SOFT AND THE VOCAL IS WARM AND CAN COMPARE TO A ENTRY LEVEL TUBE AMP, WHEN LISTEN TO SOUND TRACK AND MUSIC , IT GIVE A VERY DETAIL SEPARATION AND TRANSPARECY . AT THIS PRICE IT IS A STEAL THE BEST PART OF THE THIS AMP IS IT STILL HANDLE WELL EVEN YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO AUDIOPHILE CD , OF COURSE IT IS VERY OBVIOUS WHEN A GOOD RECORDING CD IS PLAY BACK ,MY SOURCE COME FROM A CEC INTERGRATED CD PLAYER AND IT DRIVE A PAIR OF AUSTRALIAN AXIS LS38 SPEAKER PERFECTLY WELL. TARALAB RSC INTER CONNECT AND MUSIC METER CABLE SPEAKER GIVE A DECENT HOOKED UP FOR THE SYSTEM .THE SYSTEM COST ABOUT 3000 AND I SHOULD SAY IS A GOOD ENTRY LEVEL SYSTEM

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AUDIO INNOVATION ( THE ALTO ) ANTIQUE SOUND LAB TUBE INTERGRATED AMP

Simplicity, quality components, that finish...and a sound to die for

No pre-out for future power amp upgrade, only one set of speaker bindings

As another reviewer has said, there are more detailed amps around (the X-A1 is a good example) but they sacrifice that thing called musicality, tending to be a little glassy with CDs (which most people would use these days!)

I've taken months deciding what to go for...this is quite simply the best for me. If you like vocal, instrumental, ambient, electronica, check this amp out...and it can still rock!

I bought from O'Brien Hi-Fi at Raynes Park, Wimbledon...service is out of this world.

Oh, and remote control is added to amps because people will pay for it...it does *nothing* for sound quality (and, if you'll get up to change your music, you can get up to change the volume, you lazy sods you)

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Musical Fidelity X-A1, Sonneteer Campion, Creek 5250, Myryad MI120, Magnum IA170

warm, rich and detailed amplifier, and above all - musicality

few watts more will be good

After a few years, I can say that this is an extraordinary musical integrated amplifier, tonally warm, with rich texture and detail, that does'nt come at expense of the whole musical picture. The "tube-like" character is guaranteed, especially with female vocals (just listen Eillen Farell's liquid interpretation of "Stormy Weather" on Reference Recordings disk). It is also a very transparent amp, and you can sense the music is just breathing, with very wide and deep soundstage.
It is not particulary fast, so not suited for overprocessed jungle, garage and acid music. It sounds best with jazz, acoustic and classical music, and can please with pop.
In this case, you get a great bite of so-called High-End sound for the Low-End money.

Associated equipment:

Harman Kardon HD 740 CD transport
MSB LinkDAC II D/A converter
Mission 773E speakers
FFRC (DIY) speaker cables
VanDenHul 102 MkIII interconnects
FAST Audio Bicoax digital coaxial cable

politeness, soundstage, warmth, richness and looks

low output, low on features, speaker terminals only accept thin wires, lack of "slam".

A very lovely amp.
It has a laid back balance and a very smooth and pleasant sound, no matter what you throw at it.
despite it`s polite behaviour the puccini is detailed and accurate.
The soundstage is very deep and believeable, creating a lovely sonic 'picture'.
I compared this one to NAD C370 cause they cost the same in my stupid country. listening to puccini for a while and switching to NAD revealed that the latter is simply unlistenable. so are many cold, sterile and harsh amps.
this amp should be partnered with a detailed and even harsh equipment - it does wonders with my overly agressive Q35`s.

Similar Products Used:

competing amps: NAD C370, Primare A10, marantz pm66-KI signature, marantz pm6010ose
speakers: kef Q35, proac supertablettes
CD: marantz cd6000ose