Summary:
I saw this amp being advertised about four or five years ago in my home theater mags. At first I had no intention of buying it, but soon was realizing what an amazing buy this could be if it did in fact turn out to be half way refined. My mind was sealed when, on summer vacation, I took a Stereo Review magazine that happened to have a review of the amp. Julian Hirsch (did he ever admit an amplifier could have sound differences?) said he has never seen such an amp at the price and even called Cinepro to check to be sure the price was not a typo! The gist of the article was that the sound was extremely transparent and very very powerful. The dynamic headroom tested around the 3.0 db range at all impedences also! To make my story more concise: I purchased two and I love them. They take control of the speaker they are driving and transfer the amplified sound wonderfully-clear, crisp (not harsh but totally clear), and they are more sensitive and play louder than my Hafler 9505 which I had been using. BTW I love the Hafler too. It is one of the best buys I had found until I found the Cinepro 600x2 amp. I would say do not hesitate to buy this amp. Like everything, it has some faults. What it does right, however, is important and the fact it does it at the price it sells at is nothing short of amazing.

Strengths:
Price, power, fidelity, quality, and company support

Weaknesses:
Fan noise(you won't hear it during passages loud enough to make it come on), also needs detachable power cord, needs more heat sink material which could make the fan where it never needs to start, quality face plate and chasis except for the somewhat cheesey looking silk screened lettering saying "Six-Hundred Watt Theater Amplifier" and large Cinepro logo ( if silk screening is used it would be more tasteful using a minimalist approach like on Hafler amps)

Similar Products Used:
Hafler 9505's, Denon POA-2800, Dynaco ST-400, and 9 year old Parasound amp (I forget model, it only had 100 watts/ch).

Summary:
The Cinepro amplifier I directly compared the Acurus A150 to was the 600x2 (not SE) - at the time I was considering purchase, the 600x2 were being sold for $799 so I felt it was a fair comparison to the Acurus A150. I spent a week with both amps, often laboriously swapping the interconnects to discern the differences more directly.I also listened to each at length.

I would like to clarify that I am not in the Krell amp price range- the Krells I listened to for reference were at the local high-end audio salon.

My hearing is fine- I can hear the scan frequency of televisions from more than 50 feet away. (The high pitched noise the electron gun makes is above 16 KHz)
Perhaps I am a bit too conscious of high frequency noise and distortion.

As it was a personal review- and the fact that "I" could not listen to it- I labeled it with the rating of two "speakers". By the way- I would rate my Cinepro600x2 with 4 "speakers"- I am a bit stingy when it comes to accolades, especially with the limited range that only 5 rating steps gives...

The way I break it down is 1 = absolute junk, 2 = not quite good enough, 3 = competent, 4 = second best, 5 = best ever heard...
Perhaps there should be more rating steps.

The Cinepro has ample power and inner detail but I feel that the upper midrange is not as refined as it could be...however, I feel this may be cable related (Monster 500 series) or even speaker related. (NHT 2.5i)
I found the bass was not as controlled as the Krell FPB but that is not hard to understand given the price differential. Please keep in mind that I was not too impressed with the Krell FPB- it seemed a bit closed in, there again could be room or speaker related. The speakers that were associated with the FPB were the B/W Matrix 801.
In addition, the transformer has developed a bit too much physical hum which I have had to dampen to an acceptable level.

Another note- the Cinepro actually blew up about 6 months ago- don't know why, perhaps an electronic component just gave up and took other parts with it...these things can happen. I sent it back under warranty and Eric Abraham said that it would be fixed and would also be upgraded with the 600x2SE components. This was a nice thing.

The 600x2SE was a bit bright when I first listened to it upon its return to me.
This brightness went away as it "burned in". I felt the midrange was a bit more refined than before but still not as much as some other systems I have heard (Meridian) -however, this is perhaps more attributable to the source components and accessories.

To conclude- I have heard amplifiers with more authority and grip in the low end and more delicacy and refinement in the rest of the range but it works well enough in my system and much better than any amplifier I have listened to in its price range thus my rating...

Summary:
I just bought the SE version. Its sound is amazing. I bought an used one for $450, including shipping. It is surely my best investment on my audio system.
NOt only is its sound amazing, but it is also beautiful looking. I highly recommend it.

Summary:
I have two of these babies in mono mode feeding a pair of B&W 802's and is that sweet!! I do not listen at very high volumes but mainly I listen to classical music where tha dynamic range is as broad as it could be and these amps handle it with the true realism. I would say they are totally unbias, that is totally transparent. I have tried different arrangements and yes, there are better amps out there but you have to be prepared to scoop out the money. If I ever replace them it would be for the Mark Levinson's 33 so go figure.......These amps are really one of the best if not THE best buy you can ever make. I have just one complaint and that is that if you manage to make the fans kick in, they are nosy. I understand that in newer models (although this one is not longer made) Cinepro instaled quieter fans. However, the best of having these amps is the SERVICE level and commitment from the company and its President Eric Abraham. I have never found a company with not even similar service and commitment compared to Cinepro.

Summary:
I'M glad to see that some people have had the chance to,try this amp out for the money it cannot be beat,I really think that for 2500$ and down you will not find a amp that would beat this amp, sonically power and control is outstanding concidering this amp costs under 1000$ some of its external features could be better, but it the sound that it produces that counts. I tried there 1k2se which is there bench mark power amp, for somebody looking for exteme current power clarity and control thats the amp,but the 600x2se is not far behind this amp in performance.they do offer a 30 day money back gurantee which I thought was a nice little perk. they also are very knowledgable and helpfull for anyone searching for a power source in there systems give this amp a try I DON'T think you will be disapointed.