It's a little trite, but "music in... music out". Very revealing: great recordings sound great, lousy ones sound lousy. Accurate; doesn't add anything that shouldn't be there. Looking forward to a 5350 power amp to bi-amp with.

None.

Made a tough decision to retire the NAD and never looked back. Considered Musical Fidelity A300. Time and price were right; no regrets. Solid reputation and proven performance. All I want is accuracy and I have it. Great phono stage. Stereophile was right on with this one. Impressive considering its size.

Using with: Rega Planet
Paradigm Reference Studio 20's
Alpha Sub 5
Audioquest speaker wire and interconnects
Nakamichi BX 100 Deck
Dual CS5000 TT

Similar Products Used:

NAD 3150 integrated bi-amp'd with NAD 2150 power for about 18 years. Still amazes me.

neutral

none

Very neutral, extremely transparent. Huge soundstage, drives any speakers with ease. Bought it with SE phono corrector - don't need more. Easily replaced my Black Box.
If you are looking for an amp in the sub-$3k price range - look not further, this is your guy.
Real bargain, sounds way better than anything I tried in this area (<3k).
Current system:
Pro-Ject 2.9 Wood with Benz Ruby
Arcam FMJ CD23
Mission 783

Similar Products Used:

Arcam FMJ A22

Tight accurate bass, a lot of detail, price, power, this amp has so much current it is crazy, it seperates the mushed together songs

What is a weakness? Not this amp but it does not have a bass control and othe switches to match your room. not a big deal because this amp is perfect

I have these speakers that require a minimum of a 100 watts they can handle about 500 watts at the most. I went to this store to look for seperats and I told the guy I was looking for around 300 watts and I told him my specifications for my speaker and he showed me the creek. He told me that it was rated at 90 watts but it will work good. I did not really believe him until i took it home and tried it out. I turned it up a little past 3/4 and my speakers were distorting not the amp. You can turn the amp up all the way and the amp wont crap out. I was blown away.

Similar Products Used:

krell, class'e cap-151

clean sound, detail, Dynamic, soundstage, lively, flexibily, price/value .... best buy

none so far (balance controle???)

it just sounded so clear, dinamic, with very wide soudstage, extremely, open, uncolored sound extremely sharp in detail with excellent drive capability, sounds great with all kind of music (i'm listeng mainly jazz, rock, blues, classic) and you could go on for hour, i had tried it with epos m15 loudspeaker and i must say felt like they were ment to be toghether, definetely a best buy for the money...

Similar Products Used:

rega mira, arcam diva 85, creek 4330se, nad others

small size, simplicity, cost

unacceptable attention to detail at factory

Decided to try the Creek as a possible match for Vandersteen or Meadowlark speakers - like the simplicity and size. Ordered from Audio Advisor (thought the 1 month trial would allow me to audition speakers at home without risk) and was very disappointed when it arrived. A nut and washer were loose inside the plastic which covered the amp; these were supposed to be attached inside the amp case (I assume) to hold it all together. A large screw on the bottom of the amp was loose, and the components were loose. Anyway, decided to try it as is, however, the left channel was inop. What I did hear didn't really impress me that much (to be honest I liked the right channel of my old Rotel receiver better) - but I obviously didn't give it a extensive evaluation. Audio Advisor customer service was excellent in handling the return. In summary the workmanship and attention to detail (headphone jack was also misaligned) was a fatal flaw and I had no interest in trying a replacement.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam, Rogue, Krell

huge soundstage,bass,detail at the $1500 price is a real bargain

hope creek make a bigger integrated

krell 300i is the worst, how it get class a rating from stereophile?
musical fidelity is good.
but the creek is one whole step up on the musical fidelity, stereophile is right this time.

my system: auido physic virgos and sony scd777es.
creek is rated 120 into 4omhs, it can drive the virgos to very loud volumn, but i wish creek come out a bigger version of the 5350se for the virgos.

highly recommended if you have a 90dbs and up speakers.

Similar Products Used:

krell 300i, musical fidelity a300, yamaha reciever

creek does not have a system remote but does use rc5 code so arcam remote work most important fuctions

the creek 5350se is a graet amp . it has lots of punch and can drive even large speakers with great pride,i hear that creek is bringing out a matching amp for bi amping ,tuner and a cd player . All the controle knobs feel solid connectors on back are firm and can take large interconnects ,the amp has a nice sound and a great feel

Similar Products Used:

arcam alpha 9

The music, the whole music, and nothing but the music, so help me god!

At this price, just shut up!

You know, people are really funny. They want to buy things and then they go to a dealer who sells what they want to buy and then some strange sensation overcomes them and they either talk themself into buying something they really don't want, or worse, the idiot "expert" salesman talks them into buying some obnoxious piece of crap. I visited a lot of stores in Toronto looking for a new integrated amp. I listened to a lot of bad products which were poorly set up and mismatched with other bad speakers and cd players through the wrong cables on the wrong furniture stands, etc., etc. I spoke to a lot of salesmen who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing, and were mostly deaf. They all told me how long they have worked in the business and yada yada yada, which only reinforced to me that I was in the wrong place. I became very frustrated because I am not, by nature, a "hardware" guy. I am in this for the music, point final! The gear they were showing me did not play music, it grated, it groaned, it farted, one amp even blew up in front of me while the "experienced expert" salesman hooked it up wrong. The more I looked and listened, the more convinced I was going back to my old system, which does not suit my current living situation, but I could make due. I was about to give up when I found this small store called Hi Fi Fo Fum, which I had never heard of. The owner, called Steve, is a no B.S., no hype, low key guy, who really knows his stuff. He showed me this new model from Creek, and it was love at first listen.

One of the great mitigating factors in choosing this amplifier was Steve's REAL expertise in setting up, matching, and positioning components which work properly and appropriately together, something I was not able to find in any of the other Toronto shops, not even close! What came out of the system as he played it was lively, fun, dynamic, and real. I very quickly forgot any of the makes and models, and started grooving to the music. Not only did Steve spend the time with me to correctly demonstrate the product, he offered to deliver it and set it up at my place at no extra charge. He said that he often finds alternative ways to site the products at the customer's home which heighten's the performance. The Creek 5350SE has more features and power than I need, but it plays music so incredibly well that specs and other "numbers" are irrelevant. I listened to NAD (where's the music?), Musical Fidelity (more expensive, better looking, worse sounding), and some other fine attempts at commercial amplifier design. None could even come close to the Creek. And you know what, a big part of it is the dealer. I know that Steve could go to any dealer's store in Toronto and make their systems sound better, but if the salemen I encountered at some of Toronto's most "famous" shops came to Hi Fi Fo Fum, they would have it screwed up in a heartbeat. They just don't know what they're doing.

Do yourself a favor, listen to this amp. Or probably any Creek amp, but do it at a dealership that understands system synergy, placement, cables, and music. Close your eyes when you are listening, don't look at the equipment (especially if the brand has expensive casework and bad engineering). I think this amp is too cheap for the performance it gives, especially when I compare it to some of the crap they tried to sell me at a higher price! I paid the asking price for this amp and got way more than I bargained for. Thanks Steve!

Similar Products Used:

Arcam, Bryston, YBA, Moon.

Dynamic, clean, accurate, wide soundstage, lively, value etc...

no balance control

Here's my story. My wife finally agreed to a serious upgrade of stereo gear and a budget of $3000. Cool huh?
With the help of the internet and particularily this site, I gained quite a bit of information about some very good equipment. Some I could afford and some I couldn't. In one audition I listen to the Joseph Audio RM22si. This is unbelievable speaker! But at $2500 I couldn't swing it and upgrade the amp, cd at the same time. Many times I had to remind myself that the goal here was to get a COMPLETE system not just one stellar piece.

With the help of a great dealer, I was able to build an excellent sounding system that just continues to impress me, my friends, wife and even my mother-in-law!

The heart of this system, the Creek 5350se.

I became interested in the Creek products by intially considering a preamp to go with amp. What stuck with me was the Creek's passive approach to music reproduction and simple style. Then I read Stereophile's reveiw of this amp.
Now I know a reveiw is a reveiw and no one should just go out and buy a piece of gear based on review, but enough stirring comments were made that I thought I should check it out.

Before auditioning the Creek, I did listen to the Bryston B60. This amp is very good and turned me in the direction of an intergrated amp versus seperates. Also, it made it clear to me that it's not the amount watts you have but the quality. It would have been nice to compare these two side by side but one only has so much time and it would have required working with two dealers.

The NAD 370 was originally my target amp. The amp has value written all over it. However, when compared to the Creek side by side, I immediately changed my mind. The music just comes alive with a clarity and snap that one truly has to hear for themselves. Now it simply not fair to compare these two because for twice the money there should be a difference. But, when building a system it became very clear to me that one should compare amps that will stretch their budget.

The Arcam A85 was compared as well. It is a fine amp. But I picked the Creek. Something about the Creek I liked better.

I finished my system with the Arcam CD72 and Monitor Audio
5i's. The MA 5i's were picked because I already had a Velodyne CT810 Sub. The 8is sounded great but after wire & interconnects I just flat out ran out of money. With a sub the 5i's sound fine.

Without question, if you are considering buying an amp the Creek 5350se should be on your short list.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam A85, Bryston B60, Nad 370