Gee, I've heard this amp on a couple of occassions, only briefly with I don't remember what attached, and left on every occasion thinking good solid state value, but I couldn't live with the chalky, dry top end. To each his own.
Review: Acurus A-100 Amplifier
Category: Amplifiers
I bought this along with the Acurus RL-11 to provide a superior amp over a NAD 3155 to drive the B&W DM 605 s2, a big, ballsy speaker. When I went to my dealer, he suggested a parasound amp. I listened, and liked it, but it didn't blow me away, the top end exhibiting the fatiguing SS hash of many mid-price amps. So, he put in the Acurus, and my SS angst was alleviated. The Acurus is indeed SS, but for some reason, it seems to be very neutral and revealing without getting excessively grainy up top- quite a feat for a 100WPC SS amp I paid $450 for. I am an excessive tweaker, and every tweak is clearly revealed through this amp. It runs cool, is spartan in appearance, and is fairly light- indicating that instead of tons of heatsinks and a heavy chassis, Acurus decided to use a cooler running design and use higher quality internals, rather than heavy bias into class A with the necessary and costly increased chassis size and heatsinks. The lack of grain is really where this amp impresses me. Of course, a grainy source sounds that way, but a good source is nicely rendered with great clarity and no listening fatigue. It hasn't had any trouble with the difficult load of the B&Ws, and does very well at low levels, at which I usually listen. I've been very happy with this amp, and can't recommend it highly enough to those looking for an SS amp in the price and power range.
Associated gear
B&W DM 605 s2
Acurus RL-11
Bottlehead Foreplay
EAD DSP-1000 DAC
Toshiba SD-3109 DVD
Similar products
Parasound similar wattage amp
I bought this along with the Acurus RL-11 to provide a superior amp over a NAD 3155 to drive the B&W DM 605 s2, a big, ballsy speaker. When I went to my dealer, he suggested a parasound amp. I listened, and liked it, but it didn't blow me away, the top end exhibiting the fatiguing SS hash of many mid-price amps. So, he put in the Acurus, and my SS angst was alleviated. The Acurus is indeed SS, but for some reason, it seems to be very neutral and revealing without getting excessively grainy up top- quite a feat for a 100WPC SS amp I paid $450 for. I am an excessive tweaker, and every tweak is clearly revealed through this amp. It runs cool, is spartan in appearance, and is fairly light- indicating that instead of tons of heatsinks and a heavy chassis, Acurus decided to use a cooler running design and use higher quality internals, rather than heavy bias into class A with the necessary and costly increased chassis size and heatsinks. The lack of grain is really where this amp impresses me. Of course, a grainy source sounds that way, but a good source is nicely rendered with great clarity and no listening fatigue. It hasn't had any trouble with the difficult load of the B&Ws, and does very well at low levels, at which I usually listen. I've been very happy with this amp, and can't recommend it highly enough to those looking for an SS amp in the price and power range.
Associated gear
B&W DM 605 s2
Acurus RL-11
Bottlehead Foreplay
EAD DSP-1000 DAC
Toshiba SD-3109 DVD
Similar products
Parasound similar wattage amp
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