The AMC is magical! Inside is a genie with 4 tubes that grants all your audio wishes! No mores sitting around trying to analyze the music thinking you could add this and that to it You have the pleasure of doing what audiophiles rarely get to do-enjoy the music! Try to buy one with the removable tubes so you can experiment rolling other tubes. This baby has a soundstage that extends beyond the speakers that is deep and rich with detail. It excels with stringed instruments and vocals. You can hear the decay in the strings and you can feel the emotion in the voices, especially female. The bass is taunt and deep with detail and dimension. Voices appear out of dead quiet background and are absolutely smooth! High end is sweet and makes a true presentation. I have had more amps than allowed by the laws of greediness and this one by far been one of my favorites with the Jeff Rowland 5 being on the same list. If opportunity avails itself you won't be disappointed. Plug it in and let it warm for a couple of hours, that makes the genie happy and he will churn out sweet music for you.

Ihave had AMC 2030 tube amplifier and 1030 tube pre-amp for over 15years and when all is working right there is no better system for the money that I know of. Over the last 7 years I have had my components serviced by AMC's authorized service company, Retrodaze Audio run by Brent Hite. I can testify that I received uncommon service from this most knowledgeable owner. Brent has taken my calls at all hours and always listens well to my concerns or issues and responds with a wealth of knowledge about tubes and circuitry and audio equipment in general. There is no one I feel more confident in repairing or upgrading my AMC equipment. In fact after a recent upgrade of my 2030 amplifier, I hear more powerfully the music from my system and with more clean lines than ever before. It is fortunate that owners of AMC equipment have so uncommon a service and repair person and company to go to as one has with Brent Hite and his Retrodaze Audio company.

Inexpensive EL34 versus mt KT88 and 300B.
Quiet operation and quiet circuitry.
Very good balance of relaxed & harmonic tube rhythm with SS clarity & extention.
Excellent value.

- Possibly the hybrid design - sound very good but I'd love to hear a mod with full tube input, tube rectifier.
- No biasing meters, easy testpoints, and very touchy pots.
- Non-replacable cord - easy to fix.
- Somewhat restricted soundstage, ultimate dynamics and deep bass via design.

I brought my modified Dynaco ST-70 in the shop and switched between the two amps for about 15 minutes before I packed this amp n my car. It is in another class than the old Dynaco die-hard, and though I loved it while for a decade, I can't look back. The EH tubes in the system resulted in a softer top end, and replacing with Siemens EL-34 were the best results I've had. The EH EL-34 were brighter and possibly more dynamic, but the Siemens brought out the melody in the music. I could tell tube and equipment changes much more readily than the Dynaco. Make sure to bias the tubes correctly, not by ear, and the pot is extremely touchy. If it hums, check the zener diode and resistor on the output transformer which are the first to go in a tube failure. Compared to other amps, it performs extremely well for the price with slight lacking in dynamics, dimension, top end, bass punch. Note that this is in direct comparison and would be less noticable upon general listening. I upgraded to the AMC 2100as, and found the 2030A to have a softer and lighter sound with less detail and less revealing for better or worse. Overall, you can't lose with the relaxed and quieter EL34 sound. For the price it's a definite 5/5. For all the amps I've owned, this is an easy 4.5/5. Since super high end users won't be looking at amps in this cheaper range, I'm basing my ratings on that.

Customer Service

Excellent even when I didn't buy from them.

Similar Products Used:

300B mono amps
AMC 2100as
Dynaco ST-70 with Welbourne labs FET front end and other mods
Hafler 9300 THX
ADCOM 535/555
Sherbourne
Proton/NAD

price, punchy base, great clarity

Some would say that the look of the amp is too bland.

I purchased a refurbished cvt2030 with the tube socket upgrade and new tubes for $415 from Retrodazeaudio.com. The cvt2030 replaced my Mccormack DNA-1. I also have owned a Jolida hybrid integrated in the past, and the AMC is superior. The sound is awesome for the price! The clarity and base are great (and it does not run super hot like other class A amps). This amp sounds better than the Mccormack DNA-1(I know, I am comparing a hybrid tube amp to a solid state amp), which was double the price. The cvt2030 is a class A hybrid amp which puts out 30 watts per channel into 8 ohms. Where else can you get a tubed class A amp anywhere near this price? Brent, the owner of Retrodazeaudio.com is a super person to deal with. You can get better tube amps, but they will cost you probably 3 times as much as the AMC CVT2030. My equipment is as follows: Amc CVT2030 amp, Tube Audio Design pre-amp, Micromega Stage 1 cd player, Arcam Alpha 8 AM/FM tuner, and JBL S38 speakers (90db efficiency). I hope this review was helpful.

Similar Products Used:

Mccormack DNA-1, Jolida hybrid integrated, Quad 99 amp

Everything! Price, build quality, sound quality

Have not experienced any!

CvT2030- Purchased this amp on an impulse Ebay [buy it now], and it is one of the best purchases ever!I was shocked and amazed at the sound that came through my JBL 4311b's. 60 watts sounds like a GZillion out of these efficient monitors. No need for sub!I have a normal sized room and this thing puts plenty of super smooth power everywhere.Right now i am using a borrowed pre-amp but plan on purchasing an AMC unit to match! I cant believe I received an amp of this quality for $350!! Unbelievable. Brent at Retrodaze.com is the Man, and will hook you up! Rock On!

Beautiful, wide soundstage. Warm and detailed sound. I love this amp!

I wish the thing was build in such a way where I could look at the tubes glowing without having to look in the slots of the cover

Ok, I bought this amp because I wanted to quiet down the horns on my Klipsch KLF 20s. I bought the 2030s which is the socketed version right from the factory. I was driving the KLFs with a Parasound HCA 1200 II 205 watt amp. I really love the bottom end of the Parasound but the top needed some tweaking and since I'm not a Techno nerd (like my brother) who can change the sound of amplifers I opted to bi-amp the KLF 20s... I knew I had to warm up those bright horns so I had my mind set on a tube amp.I went to E-bay and bid on this baby for $515.00. Let me tell you at that price the amp is a steal. I run MITerminator II cables going in and Monster MI.2s going out and the sound is nothing short of love. The sound stage is great and extends way outside of the speakers and the detail this amp produces with the horns is astronomical. This amp is is a perfact match up with the Klipsch horns... I really got lucky when I used transisters on the bottom and valves on the top. It's the perfact sound for me ( Tight bass and Warm Highs) I can't take credit for the idea my brother thought of it. (Just kidding about being a techno nerd)... I do recommend shopping at Retrodazeaudio.com Brent will treat you with the uttermost respect with his prices and attitude.

Similar Products Used:

None

Quality Construction, Great Sound, Nice simple looks

The fan although quiet is not silent, it is not auto-biasing, tubes soldered to circuit board until you update from AMC

I've owned these for about 3 months, so I think I now have some idea what the sound is like. It has a very smooth sound to it, a very large deep soundstage, and is pretty detailed. For the $330 I paid, I think it would be impossible to beat with any other new amplifier. The tubes are 4 EL34 which are common tubes, and will be relatively cheap to replace. The amplifier tips the scale at around 31 pounds, which tells me it is of very high quality. The guy who designed the original NAD amplifier, also designed this amp.

I don't really have any major complaints with the amp, if anything it is the slight hum of the fans. On very quiet passages at low levels the fans intrude slightly on the listening experience. I'll probably have changed to a different, more costly amp, by the time it is time to change the tubes, so that is of no real major concern to me. If you have any questions, feel free to email me, at b2_62@hotmail.com

Similar Products Used:

None really

smells like new ;-) no for this price $326 delivered.

The amp just arrived... smells like new tube amp (burns a little because of the new tubes) I feel myself like near the fireplace… nice to watch orange cathodes throw the cover… I think about it as about “vacuum tube life form”. It plays "Oregon in Moscow" via Infinity Entra Two Tower Speakers (90dB, 55-20000, laminated woofer and twister) in my 4x5 m office.

Pros:
1. Warm sound
2. Quiet build in fan.
3. Killer for $326.
4. Nice bass btw.
5. It is LOUD and CLEAN! But use 90dB speakers or better with tube amps.

Cons:
Not detailed at very low volume, but I use my SB Live! Value to mix sources. Anyway nobody uses the amp in this mode (I play sympho-jazz 320KBs MP3s in my office).

I rated it 5 of 5 because you cannot find a new tube amp for this price. Best buy for a vacuum tube beginner/enthusiast! Less to worry about as compared with used/vintage tube amps.

Long lives the tube!

Max

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n/a

Has a lush, smooth unfatigueing sound without diminishing clarity or low level details. Excellent factory support.

The tubes couldn't be changed without an update from AMC.

What was a fine amp became an even finer amp, when after owning it for 5 years, I had this amp updated by AMC. They installed interchangeable tube sockets (can't really understand why they didn't do this originally), put in new Sovtek tubes and updated some electronics etc. for $135.00 including return mail. And they returned it in a week. Not a bad deal. Now the good part. First of all it's absolutely dead quiet (the preamp plays a part here too). I can turn the volume to maximum, put my ear to my JM Reynaud MK 2's and not hear a whisper. I've owned 8 amps, including receivers, integrated and separates, but this is a first for me. It also has to be one of the coolest running class A tube amps around. It has 2 very quiet automatic fans under the output tubes that seldom turn on. The amp and preamp are very reliable, never had a problem. Tubes seem to last a long time since the original tubes were still running strong after 5 years, just got the mod so I'd be able to change tubes. The Sovtek's made a signiicant improvement and I guess there are probably even better tubes, but I'm extremly
happy with this amp as it is. It does all the things good tube amps are known for. Now of course all this is true of the AMC 1030 tube preamp also. Without which the amp wouldn't sound this good. By the way, the preamp was also modified. at a cost of $115. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Modified Adcom 555, AMC 1030 tube preamp.

This was designed by the guy who designed by the origional NAD amp.I have paredthis amp with Vandeersteen 1B speakers and the combination is outstanding.In my
13X17 listening room I keep the volume control on my BK 10MC preamp below 10'
clock to stay in the room.Highly recommended.Other equipment are as follows:NAD
502 CD,Project-1 turntable,Yahmaha tuner.