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Home Theater => Audio => Amplifier => Topic started by: av_phile1 on Apr 14, 2004 at 05:38 PM
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Acurus 200X3 3-channel power amplifier
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid112/pc13c71f417dbbf8034c784a119b6e769/f9074a6f.jpg)
Starting out with the technical specs and those gathered from an email inquiry to Mondial designs, makers of the brand, here it is:
Power:
200 watts continuous into 8 ohms 20Hz to 20Khz at no more than 0.06% THD, 0.005% IM
300 watts continuous into 4 ohms 20Hz to 20Khz at no more than 0.03% THD
Power Consumption, all three channels driven at rated power: 1,200 watts
Quiescent Power Consumption, all three channels with no signal: 75 watts
Input sensitivity: 1.1 volts for full rated power
Input impedance: 20k ohms
Signal-to-noise (A-weighted): 110 db
Frequency Response:
20Hz - 20kHz +0/-0.1db
10Hz - 100kHz +0/-0.5db
1Hz – 130kHz +0/-1.0db
Channel Separation: 90db
Damping Factor at 8 ohms, 50 Hz: 500
Comments:
I bought this amp compelled to replace a defective Onkyo Integra whose main amps seem to work fine but whose preamp section is totally dead. I always had the suspicion different amps give differing sonic characters. But among well-designed amps, this shouldn't be very obvious. Hence, it came as a pleasant surprise to learn the Acurus is giving me more listening revelations and pleasures than I expected.
Amplifier circuit topologies, power reserves, feedback amount, damping factors, tolerance of parts, to mention some - all conspire to differentiate the linear responses of various amps when driving real reactive loads. I may not be able to say which is superior, but they do sound different. Between the amps of the TSV919THX Onkyo Integra flagship receiver of 1996 and the Acurus 200X3 amp of 1994 that I now have, the sonic differences are subtle but easily discernible.
Apart from a 3db- 4db increase in SPL for the same pre-amp volume setting, I notice a more distinct stereo separation and a more focused center imaging at the same listening levels. The improved separation manifests in a more expansive soundstage. The big bands behind Frank Sinatra, Buddy Greco and Michael Buble seem to be spread farther apart. At the same time, the center imaging gives the vocals a more precise position dead on. In most musical materials, shifting from phantom to 3-channel in prologic mode made absolutely no difference in localizing the center vocals. That's how well the center imaging is with the Acurus driving the MS914s. No change was made on the speaker placement.
The bass coming from my MS914 speakers seemed a bit more pronounced, better defined and deeper. It seems to drive the MS914 to depths I thought not possible with the older amp. I can only correlate this change to the improved damping factor (Onkyo only had 50) and a more linear and extended frequency response down to 1Hz.. Having deactivated the sub crossover function in the pre-amp, I soon found I needed no sub in most musical materials. Though a good sub does appear to extend the lows much farther down in some materials that have lows the MS can't reproduce anymore. I wasn't a strong believer in damping factor as a determinant in amplifier behaviour. But I guess with a damping factor 10 times what I used to know, the Acurus had a better control on the lows that made them even more prominent and musical.
It seems the burn-in needed for the Acurus revealed its improvements in the highs and mids as well as its dynamic abilities. Listening to some heavily orchestrated symphonies like Beethoven's 5th and 9th, the latter with full chorus and soloists, the lividness of the various musical textures seems to distinguish themselves with greater 3-dimensionality, detail and a lot less constraint and congestion at loud passages. While the MS speakers are revealing enough in the highs, matching it with the Acurus gives more body to what are revealed. The cymbals and church bells in Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture now has greater presence that seems to float above the complex orchestral harmonies. I could hear them ofcourse with the old amp, but it seems the new amp makes them a lot easier to hear. The strings similarly stand apart from the horns with greater differentiation.
I never thought a mere 2-way speaker system, however competent, could provide such a level of definition complex musical signals demand. What is more pleasing is the absence of any strain during loud transient passages for which I thought the MS was incapable of delivering without some difficulty. It turns out that an amp with a more generous power headroom and a more extended linearity are all that is needed to bring the MS914 to greater sonic heights. This confirms what many audiophiles say, you can never go wrong with more audio power. The more power, the more dynamic headroom. One doesn't need to listen at high volumes to benefit from a higher rated amp. It's the headroom that matters - allowing transient peaks that can go twice that of normal listening levels to pass without clipping contraints. I was probably driving the Onkyo so that there was little headroom for transients to pass without difficulty. But that was was my preferred listening level. The Acurus gave me a 3db headroom.
One final test I made was to use the Sheffiled "My Disc" test track on the signal-to-noise ability of the amp. Playing a track recorded at -70db from 0 reference, very close to near silence, I could still hear the recording a good 6 inches from the speakers. With my previous amp, I couldn't hear anything at -60db with my ears burried into the speakers.
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid112/pf39cf84450189b6b6f554325f9b79349/f9074a77.jpg)
A brief description of its constuction: The acurus amp is designed for purists who prefer the minimalist approach. The facade is as stark as it goes with only an oversized power switch on the leftmost side. Weighing a hefty 36 lbs, a good 10 pounds lighter than the Onkyo Integra receiver, its construction felt solid, though not as tank-like or as bullet-proof as a Bryston or a Perraux which can be twice as heavy for the same power rating.
Without any warranty, I opened it up to reveal a couple of can-sized capacitors each rated at 95 volts and 23,000 mfarads. There are six power transistors in each massive heat sink, two at the sides and one at the back, all indentical. The circuit boards are of glass-epoxy material and the connection to the inputs and speaker outputs are all hard-wired using heavy gauge wires. The usual multi-way banana terminals are used for the three speakers and the absence of balanced XLR input terminals betray this amp is not exactly a high-end product. The transformer is a huge torroid sitting smack in the middle. And without any magnetic shielding from a metal cover typical of most transformer implementation, I couldn't detect any audible hum or spurious noise at full power with no signal. This is one of the first criteria of good amplifer design: with ears literally burried into the speakers, and the pre-amp set to max volume with no signal, there was nothing but dead silence from the speakers.
With no speaker protection relays or stand-by circuits, turning the amp on and off made absolutely no sound whatsoever. My only trifling caveat is that the amp will continue to sound the source after turning it off, sputtering to death only as the last charge on those huge capacitors expire - a good 10 seconds at normal listening levels, longer at lower volumes. Otherwise, I am crossing my fingers it will survive a good 10 years before I upgrade to another. Hopefully by then, I'd be rich enough to get a pre-owned Theta Dreadnaught III, pressumably the one amp to beat the Acurus according to one reviewer. ;D
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*sigh* it's beautiful... :)
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Thanks [L]es for the compliment.
There are other more beautiful amps out there. The Bryston and Perraux amps displayed at Upscale are not only beautiful to behold but can lead to backaches if you lift them. ;D Am sure they sound gorgeous as well.
The Acurus actually looks rather stark and unimaginative. Very basic and simple. But there is also beauty in simplicity.
I failed to mention it's a Class A/B amp. Hardly ever getting warm to the touch at normal listening levels. It gets a bit hotter when driven at loud volumes continuously for the whole afternoon, but still can be touched without any surprises. My Onkyo couldn't and I had to position a small electric fan to cool it. They're both class A/B, the Onkyo just isn't rated to accept a resistive 4 ohm loads with cooler disposition. ;D
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hmm how much for the Perreaux amps ? and how much did you get your Acurus ? i'm looking to upgrade from my NAD C320 BEE.
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Pareng [L]es,
bro, you may want to also check out the Aragon power amps being sold in that store sa raon cor. sales st. from afar, saw the 4004 and 2002 models naka plasctic pa to protect them from dust i suppose. believe these are NOS units.
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I think i know that store in raon...however when i asked the store owner gave m e a quote of 50k for the 4004
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I think i know that store in raon...however when i asked the store owner gave m e a quote of 50k for the 4004
presyong ayaw yata ibenta bro ;D
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di naman siguro....baka lang makalusot hehe. the units are in pristine condition though :)
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Pareng [L]es,
bro, you may want to also check out the Aragon power amps being sold in that store sa raon cor. sales st. from afar, saw the 4004 and 2002 models naka plasctic pa to protect them from dust i suppose. believe these are NOS units.
Is it possible to get the name of the store. Currently, we are verifying old stock of ACURUS and ARAGON brands here in the Philippines, for consumer protection. Currently, Studio Systems is the distributor here in the Philippines of such product. Before the year end, such product will be displayed at one of our dealers.
Check-out our posting for "SALE" Acurus products.
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redkoji,
I dont recall the name of the store but its beside Ang Bros. Electonics store.
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Is it possible to get the name of the store. Currently, we are verifying old stock of ACURUS and ARAGON brands here in the Philippines, for consumer protection. Currently, Studio Systems is the distributor here in the Philippines of such product. Before the year end, such product will be displayed at one of our dealers.
Check-out our posting for "SALE" Acurus products.
Good news for me. Great products from such a customer friendly distributor. Definite upgrade path from NAD amps.
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I think i know that store in raon...however when i asked the store owner gave m e a quote of 50k for the 4004
I think the Aragon 4004 is just a few years newer than the Acurus A series and should be well below the $1000 pricepoint. I think the newer Aragons are in the $5000 + range. I haven't been to that shop in Raon, but if the store can give the unit for less than 40K, I would take it. The internet list price for a pre-owned 4004 in near-mint condition is $650.
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Is it possible to get the name of the store. Currently, we are verifying old stock of ACURUS and ARAGON brands here in the Philippines, for consumer protection. Currently, Studio Systems is the distributor here in the Philippines of such product. Before the year end, such product will be displayed at one of our dealers.
Check-out our posting for "SALE" Acurus products.
Fifth Ave still has an Aragon and Acurus line stage preamps which I am dreaming of getting. I just got their last 2-ch Acurus amp A250 last Friday.
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seems you're on a roll av_phile1. you're amplification is basically set...just watch your electric bill hehehe. congrats on your purchase O0
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seems you're on a roll av_phile1. you're amplification is basically set...just watch your electric bill hehehe. congrats on your purchase O0
Thanks John. Yup, my latest electric bill is already up by 500 bucks. Though I am not sure if that's more due to the aircon or the 200x3 which is almost a month old.
And yes, my multi-channel amp set-up is complete. My room can't accommodate another pair of speakers for a 6.1 or 7.1 channel config. 5.1 is tops for me.
I was actually looking for a lower power amp to drive the rears and was eyeing the Rotel RB03. I was also eyeing on the NAD C272 150 watts/ch amp. But I ended up with a more powerful A250.
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Fifth Ave still has an Aragon and Acurus line stage preamps which I am dreaming of getting. I just got their last 2-ch Acurus amp A250 last Friday.
Yeah, saw you there testing your new amp with 904. Congrats.
By the way, why is the left channel sounds weaker than the right channel?
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Yeah, saw you there testing your new amp with 904. Congrats.
By the way, why is the left channel sounds weaker than the right channel?
You were there pala ha, naughty you ;D I noticed some curious shoppers, you're one of them na pala. Sorry I didn't recognize you from our last wharfedale transaction. Halos one year na rin yun ano?
Correction, it was the right channel that I thought was weaker. I was a bit uncomfortable noticing some unbalance when I had it tested with their mighty 502 floorstanders. So I asked the salesguy to connect a 904 which was closest to my 914. Good thing the apparent imbalance disappeared.
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ON SALE ACURUS LINE
1 pc. A200x5....for P60,000. Regular price P75,000
3 pcs. A125X5 ....for P52,000. Regular price P65,000
Call for further details
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That's a good 20% off ;D I hope the Acurus tribe increases O0
But first, more members should be convinced to go separates.
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avPhile,
Wow congrats sa power amp mo ganda ganda!! O0 O0
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hmm how much for the Perreaux amps ? and how much did you get your Acurus ? i'm looking to upgrade from my NAD C320 BEE.
The entry level Perraux 2-channel amp, 50 watts per channel of pure Class 'A', is about 80T. The pricing for the latest Acurus models are indicated by Redkoji above. But the models I got preceded the current generation, are of unsold inventory and hence, i enjoyed some hefty discounts even at card price.
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avPhile,
Wow congrats sa power amp mo ganda ganda!! O0 O0
Thanks Francine & Hans. Not exactly my first choice, but the dscounts I got were just too good to pass for such good amps.
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Acurus A250 internals, just for comparison with the first
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid113/p93af9f6817c0360d2dc855369c729c11/f8ef2b1c.jpg)
The 2 amps together, minus the optional footings to conserve shelf space.
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid113/pf0ba1af3f379f6d229a1efc145e6f340/f8ef2b11.jpg)
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NOW WE MADE THE OFFER FOR ACURUS POWER AMPS BETTER...IF NOT THE BEST
GET IT AT 20% WITH 0% INTEREST AT CITBANK AND HSBC CARD.....
THIS OFFER IS UNTIL MAY 08, 2004 ONLY....
GUYS HURRY-UP DON'T LET THIS OPPURTUNITY PASS AWAY........
(post edited by PinoyDVD Admin due to oversized text)
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The entry level Perraux 2-channel amp, 50 watts per channel of pure Class 'A', is about 80T. The pricing for the latest Acurus models are indicated by Redkoji above. But the models I got preceded the current generation, are of unsold inventory and hence, i enjoyed some hefty discounts even at card price.
The model of Acurus we are mentioning here are pure Class "A" also...the actual retail price of 125X5 is US$1,600...so thats already a great savings
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I know their SRPs on the net. Even the preceding models before Klipsch bought Acurus and Aragon were still retailing at half that. So when I got a good price from 5th, I just grabbed them.
Are your absolutely sure the new ones are Class 'A'? When I tested the new A125X5 at Spectra mated to a Klipsch 8 ohm speakers for a good 15 minutes, they were still cool to the touch at the end. A real class 'A' amp would have turned hot even 5 minutes into operation.
Also, I'd hate to own an amp consuming 1,200 watts of electricity to be class 'A' That's like having a 1 horsepower aircon eating the same amount of electricity even when idle. :o
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I know their SRPs on the net. Even the preceding models before Klipsch bought Acurus and Aragon were still retailing at half that. So when I got a good price from 5th, I just grabbed them.
Are your absolutely sure the new ones are Class 'A'? When I tested the new A125X5 at Spectra mated to a Klipsch 8 ohm speakers for a good 15 minutes, they were still cool to the touch at the end. A real class 'A' amp would have turned hot even 5 minutes into operation.
Also, I'd hate to own an amp consuming 1,200 watts of electricity to be class 'A' That's like having a 1 horsepower aircon eating the same amount of electricity even when idle. :o
Thanks for the info regarding the price on the net..however thats the best price we could give.
As to the class A classification, Klipsch regards Acurus as a class A amps due to "Time delay" operation...heat factor is not part of the consideration...Moreover, theres a difference in our classification since we don't have Class A/B just simply class B....
Thanks for your support in our products and wish you further enjoyment in using you Acurus
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Thanks for your clarification Redkoji. My Acurus amps don't carry warranties but I certainly hope I can rely on your shop to service them properly if and when I need them.
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We believe that can be arranged...
By the way Guys, we will be starting to offer new ARAGON series, thru special orders only. I hope our top management approved the purchase of one demo unit for us to use.
The Aragon will be SOLD directly from us thus our price is lower by 15% over the US Standard Retail price.
If there are any interested just click the link below and select ARAGON menu.
www.klipsch.com
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Redkoji,
It would be interesting to see locally the older $4,000 5-channel Aragon 8008X5 amp before Klipsch bought the brand. More than 2 ft deep, this is a real show stopper at 105lbs and 2,500 watts of electric power consumption, max, delivering 200 wpc into 8 ohms and 400wpc into 4, will all channels driven at full bandwidth. I think there'd be a market here for preowned Aragon staff.
(http://www.audioholics.com/images/avhardware/preprocessing/aragon_soundstage3.jpg)
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In as much as I would love to bringing in pre-owned ARAGON units....hirap mag source. All the old models na brand new was already sold out last 2002....even the old "STAGE ONE" walang natira.
Un-officially...the only thing I knew regarding the changes is the design of the ARAGON are its "Exterior" and the "THX" certification...since the specs...are all the same
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The changes may be cosmetic. But I am sure the prices would be horrific. ;D
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I'm still testing the market for the new line....The best I can do for now for pre-ordered ARAGON will be less 20%
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Thanks Redkoji. But 20% off a 300T amp is still horrific by any standards, right? ;D But a preowned one which I think is selling for less than $1.5T online is more accessible.
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Well....I guess it is practical to direct individual buyers....
But comparing ARAGON to other Brand New Sunfire or ATi or Anthem or B&K or Proceed...it would be a nice buy.....
By the way...the AMP we are selling are less than US$1.5T
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That's good to hear. Are these Aragon?
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There are ARAGON price at US$1.5K this model is the 2002 while its stereo line-level pre amp is also at that price...This are US retail price...and for direct buyers...I'm giving 20% discount...however mga 60-75 working days delivery
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I just want to ask if this is a good deal for the price. I passed by a thrift shop and is offering an Acurus A250 Power Amp with L10 pre-amp combo for Php35K and may tawad pa daw according to the attendant.
thanks
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^ Tawad ka pa sir kung kaya, that same combo was sold in one of the shops at mcs (toyz for the audio boyz) for 25k. But its a good price na rin as long as its in good condition. I was able to test that combo with 86db celestions and they were driven without any problems.
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OK. They were actually NOS and they have about three sets on stock with the others still in boxes pa.
thanks.
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Thats a great deal then if NOS, care to pm the thrift store? :)