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Model: | A250 |
Category: | Amplifier (SS) |
Suggested Retail Price: | $1,200 |
Description: | 250 wpc Stereo Amplifier |
Manufacturer URL: | Acurus |
Model Picture: | View |
Review by Andew Scott on October 14, 1999 at 22:42:35 IP Address: 216.101.182.229 |
Add Your Review for the A250 |
This amp is firmly in the budget high end territory. Acurus has the philosophy that good, discreet parts equates to good sound. The bipolar design has a gigantic low end oomph. The detail is such that if you use any cheap parts int the audio path, then you will hear the result. One criticisms is that the A250 treble can sound brittle.
I have heard properly broken in units on a variety of speakers low to high end. The only time the sound was less than exemplerary was when a cheap preamp, interconnect, or source was used. The amp is open, clean and has stunning attack on transients. Wheather powering dynamic, planar or horns it does not seem to run out of headroom in any application.
Vocals are crisp and natural, fine treble soundstaging is point source and open. Instruments are distinct and separate in their own space. I have owned an A250 now since 1994, and don't regret 1 second, nor do I wish I owned another amp. The A250 actually has a few qualities that sound better than the Aragon big brother. I feel that for modest, if any improvement over this amp, I'd have to spend 3 times as much for a Bryston for subtle, not great improvements. I have heard more expensive amps and differences take time to pick out: they aren't immediatly appearent.
Product Weakness: | None |
Product Strengths: | Bass, soundstage, detail, Treble, dynamics, headroom. |
Associated Equipment for this Review: | |
Amplifier: | A250 250wpc/8 ohms |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Acurus L10 |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Sony DVD/CD |
Speakers: | Klipsch RB5 |
Cables/Interconnects: | Monster pro |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Classic, Jazz, pop, Rock etc. |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 12 x 10 x 8 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | carpet, curtains, thick furniture |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | 5 years |
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Monster power station |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Your System (if other than home audition): | as above |
The Acurus L10/A250 was my first 'high-end' ss gear and I purchased it about the same time as you did. It was driving a B&W CDM1. No doubt the amp is well built and had more than enough power to drive the speakers. However, as you pointed out, the treble could sound brittle/bright and needed the right cables and front-end to 'tame' it. I had it only a short while and eventually sold it.If at all you think of upgrading in the future, try the amp with some tubed pre-amp. A used CJ PV10 is a good candidate. Or, you may want to try some tube integrated amps, like the Jolida.
Happy listening! and thanks for sharing your experience with the Acurus.
I listened to this amp in a home system with a Cal ICON Boss CD player, Aragon 18k preamp, and Maggie 3.3R's. The owner was selling it for a song and I was looking for a cheap powerhouse for my mother's system. Maybe this was just a bad match (burn-in was not a problem and the amp had been on for a day before audition), but the sound was grainy, terribly bright, and harsh. When I told the owner my opinion, he substituted his Sonograph 250 and the high frequency problem disappeared. As for the A250, he remarked: "At least it is a good bass amp". I ended up buying a used Hafler/Musical Concepts-modded DH200 for my mother. I have read that Acurus changed this amplifier during production and I certainly hope so. It is always possible that the amp I heard was malfunctioning (but it didn't clip or shut down). I recommend careful audition, especially for owners of speakers with ribbon tweeters.
They in fact did change the amp.
I read a review in the "Holier than thou" Stereophile and they had a fresh from the box unit, no break in and called it "brittle at times". It basically rated c/b just above the Adcom GFA-555.
With my current setup, I experiance NO brittleness. And unlike some snots in the high end industry, I actually can HEAR 20khz well! [Audiometric exams prove that]. I just hate it when some 60 year old guy tries to critique something in the upper treble when I doubt like hell he can hear it at all.
Anyway, I have no doubt that the amp would do better with a better pre-amp than the L-10. I think for the money [I paid $600] the L-10 does exceptionally well. Curious: I had not thought of a tube preamp because I had been stuck on mosfets being more accurate than tubes. I had lengthy discussion with tube vs S/S and I vowed that I will only use S/S from now on. Weather that is true or not is a heated debate. BUT: If I were to drop $2k on a Bryston pre amp, them I am sure I will get marginal improvements as I heard thr Bryston on a set of B&W 801's. Effortless, sure, but the speakers are $5000.
At the time that the Acurus showed up in the used ads, I had never read nor heard a review of the amp (I only joined the internet in the last year), and it was a forty mile drive down to Orange County, CA on a late Friday afternoon (traffic on the Santa Ana Fwy, ugh!), so I was intending to make my trip worthwhile. I really wanted to like that amp (the power and the price were right), but the sound I heard was not just Adcom bright/brittle, it was 1973 Japanese SS receiver bright/brittle. I think that even Julian Hirsch and Hans Fantel (and maybe even Norm Strong and mtry) would have heard the problem. After an hour of listening with all the CDs I brought I had given up.As for poor high frequency hearing, I stand exposed, as I can only hear continuous tones up to 14 kHz. The problem I was hearing sounded like it was in the 4-8 kHz region. I am generally fairly tolerant in this region, having lived with SS Krells powering Thiels for the last seven years when most of the AA members post that such a combo should make my ears bleed.
I did not intend to start a flame war, just offer my honest observation of the sound of the amp in one system. Obviously, you are reporting exactly what you hear and I am glad that you were much more satisfied with your experience than myself or the guy in Orange County trying to get rid of his.
Could be. I am satified, and with the 500+ cd's and DVD's in my collection spanning most music types I have never experianced anything even remotely close to that.
I have high quality interconnects, speaker cables and so on. I find well done cd's are breathtaking in every aspect, and since 4-8khz can be a hot zone, it definately does not shriek. I'd say some of the biggest brittle sayers [so to speak] are tube amp types. Tube guys find the majority of SS sterile and harsh. Or if material or speakers are forward, then "AGGGG...it's killing me with harshness..!!!"
Or maybe after 5 years there was mellowing. Who knows, but I don't get aurally lasered by stridency.
I have to agree with the general concensus that the amp is rather bright. I used to have an A150 (which I believe it actually better than the A250 from the midbass and up; there's no substitution for the extra 100W for the bass). The Acurus line is a tad too bright in my opinion, altough this might be personal preference.I have heard the A250 with a PV10 about a year ago and the combination of the slightly rolled off Highs of the PV10 and the very good bass from the A250 was quite exceptional, especially considering the price.
Jan
The A250 uses mostly similar parts to th A150, ergo, there is no difference in sound with the exception of the A250 having more wattage for bass.
This comes directly from Mondial, and three dealers I talked to.
There is a predjudice against this amp, and over 5 years I have heard it in all type of applications.
On vandersteens, B&W,Signet and others it wasn't bright, it was smooth. Brightness to me would be like old Klipsch Heresy's and using a Kenwood super reciever with zip cord connecting the two. ARRRGGGG!
I firmly believe now for a variety of reasons, the power of suggestion that this amp is bright [started on the 1st model by Sterophile] has been exaggerated and fell into peoples minds as a fact they want to hear because they saw it it print.
If anything, I'd say forward, but bright in a brittle or harsh way it is not at all.
> > If anything, I'd say forward, but bright in a brittle or harsh way it is not at all. < <I'v heard a couple of A250s, and both were rather hard sounding. Though, my major complaint with the amp stemmed from its lack of dynamic swing rather than its somewhat nasty, and strident low-trebble.
Best Wishes,
Fear3000
There is no stridency in it's lower treble: that is only in your mind and predjudices. The hardness is more solidity, and the dynamics are the best in it's price range and beyond.
I'd bet you anything unless you spend $5,000 plus on your amp alone, I could find something harsh if I wanted to.
> > There is no stridency in it's lower treble: that is only in your mind and predjudices. < <You know what I'm thinking? That's a neat trick.
> > The hardness is more solidity, and the dynamics are the best in it's price range and beyond. < <
What have you compared it to?
> > I'd bet you anything unless you spend $5,000 plus on your amp alone, I could find something harsh if I wanted to. < <
I'm not sure I understand: if I were spending $5K for an amp you have not heard, how could *you* make any findings about it?
BTW, please understand that the word 'harsh' is relative, meaning the amp sounds 'harsh' when _compared_ to other amps. In addition, 'harsh' is not discriptive of the amp's tonal balance, but of rather severe lack of smoothness, which again is relative.
Best Wishes,
Fear3000
If you are happy with your Acurus, then fine. Enjoy the amp. For quite a few of us, our experience with it has been different, and what we are trying to do is share our own observations with it. You may or may not agree with our feedback, but that does not change things for us, nor for you. As I shared earlier, I owned both the L10/A250, and it just did not suit my taste. I found the amp fatiguing with CDs, but maybe for you it's different.Have you had a chance to audition the newer ss amps? You may find out that the newer integrateds (Audio Analogue Puccini, Audio Refinement Complete) may provide a more refined sound. Better still, audition some tubed integrateds. The Jolida 302 is a good start at less than $1k.
BTW, that's the amp (Jolida) that replaced my Acurus at half the price I paid for the Acurus. Well, the Jolida is now replaced with another tubed amp (Jadis), but for me there's no looking back at ss amps.
Enjoy the music, that's all that counts - whether it's ss or tubes
Cheers!
Ok, I have heard plenty. All I need for my sats is a stout [high current] 100-150 wpc.
I paid $1,000 for the Acurus, so you are saying that the Jolida is $500???
I am willing to audition this miracle device you mentioned. I will be open to the listening. I hope it just blows me away and you are right.
You see, even though I have not experianced the Acurus problems others have, [I think it's exaggerated] I am open enough to try something. ESPECIALLY since you mentioned it was less than the Acurus, and MUCH less than The Brystons I hold so near and dear, but can't come to grips with for $3,000.
I will report back. For now, I am off to Disneyland for free [no kidding, my roomates sister works there]. Do you suppose I can find Jolida products in L.A.? [but of course....]
The Jilida is an integrated amp so it replaces both your amp and preamp. I recall paying over $1.6k with the combo, and the Jolida was just aboyr $800. BTW, the Jolida Hybrids (100wpc) cost only about $550, and you may find this meeting your needs for more power....
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