Acurus versus Bryston, Classe, Etc.

In a thread I responded to several days ago, there was some discussion of surround amps. I made the point that I am using a Bryston 4B-ST for my main front speakers, which are used for "critical" listening. I am currently using an Adcom 5503 to drive the center channel and rear surround speakers and am very satisfied with its performance. I personally do not think that the surround amp needs to be a high-end unit, but it IS important to have adequate power for the center and rear speakers - say, 100 wpc or better. The other factor that may be relevant is to choose a surround amp that has roughly similar sound qualities to your main amp. The Acurus 200x3 is a very decent surround amp and will work fine for most listeners. There are better models available, such as the Bryston 5B-ST (130 wpc) and the Aragon. To state the obvious, audition the amp in your home if possible. There are a lot of variables at play with home theater sound, and your listening environment is near the top of the list.

Thanks for the info on Acurus. I will be using Magnepan MG3's for the front and MG1's for the rear.No center or sub yet. My entertainment priorities are (1) Vinyl-Linn LP12 (2)Home theater (3) CD's.Basement room W/carpet is 25 x 10 X 8.

I must agree with all of you, owning both an Acurus A250 and 200x3 for the home theater, and an Aragon 4004 Mk II in the bedroom, the Acurus is good, though slightly brighter, which to me is a plus in HT. Musically it does lack some. They will stay in my HT until I go to the full activ Linn set up....

Sean - you have expounded on what I was thinking but did not take the time to "pen". When it comes to HT vs 2 channel I think there are more opportunities to use the "budget lines" for HT where many of the suttle nuances of the music is lost to the fact that the center channel has most of the info and the fact that HT sound is usually played at a level to assimilate realistically live reproductions such as explosions, etc. I am in agreement that an Acurus amp will be a great amp for this application - powerfull and brings good control when playing dynamic signals. I still think that the Brystons, Classe would do a nicer job on 2 channel applications. Thanks for not jumping on my back....

Rgd, As an Acurus A200X3 owner, i will not jump all over you but agree. I use this amp strictly to drive my center channel and surrounds in my HT system. I did try it out in another system as a 2 channel amp. I was not impressed with it. It was not horrible or anything, but it just wasn't near as musical as most of the other amps that i have. For what i'm using it for, it works wonderfully. Keep in mind that this is Mondial's "budget" line and the other brands that you mentioned are more in the same league as their more expensive Aragon products. Sean >

IMHO, its lower in quality than those you have mentioned. Good product but not in the same league. Of course now all the Acurus owners will jump all over me.... Hey its just my opinion....