Ultrabach

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $700.00

Summary:
The SM-70 Pros are an incredibly pleasant surprise. We leave to the professional reviewers the details but as far as true musicality is concerned there is only a few amps left in the market to compare with this last model. The soundstaging, sweetness & warmth along with the level of detail they render make them the amps for the tube lovers, or rather for anyone who love m-u-s-i-c. Period. We've had John Curl designed HCA Parasounds, Pass desined Threshold Stasis SeriesII & have heard quite a few of the so called "exotica" but none of them can truly compare. Anything better should easily break your & your wife's bank accounts. We can easily say that the quality of these products for the price asked are an indictement for the high-end industry. As far as the heat is concerned is like complaining that your loving baby also cries (??). My wife & myself don't find it bad at all. Besides what can you expect from a true class A, zero feddback amplifier? The other detail, hum in some cases, is but the case of a high gain amplifier that will allow for an easy drive using a passive pre-amp, which is musical heaven. We pospened buying the Monarchy Audio products for 6 years just to find out how much musically we've lost. And we are now expecting to buy our new pre-amp from this very fine brand name too.

Strengths:
Soundstage, true musicality, warmth, sweetness, great level of details without being fatiguing, taut bass (using them in mono).

Weaknesses:
We don't understand this question...

Similar Products Used:
Threshold 150 Watts per channel Stasis SeriesII, Parasound HCA-300

Price Paid:  $0.00 from monarchy audio

Summary:
The SM 70 Pros were bright at first and I almost sent them back but glad I didn't! It has been over 5 weeks now and they sound much better after the burn in time. My speakers are Klipsch and are 99 DB so they are very efficient which can be a bit bright at times. These amps new are a little bright on speakers that are not as efficient as my speakers. My speakers are the Klipsch KLF 20's and with the SM 70 Pros were very bright at first but now are sounding very good!! The midrange is no longer very harsh sounding but is very smooth and the highs are very detailed. If you own Klipsch and are looking for a great solid state amp this one would be a great match!! These amps are outstanding for home theater!! I have a SM 70 runing my center channel with 70 watts and it sounds great. I also have 2 SM 70 Pros runing my left and right speakers for home theater. I use a Dennon receiver as a preamp and it sounds great. I also use the SM 70 Pros with a Luxman preamp in a 2 channel stereo system and it sounds even better.

Similar Products Used:
SM 70

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from monarchy audio

Summary:
Well I just hooked up 2 SM 70 Pros and even before they have had a decent burn in period they sound fantastic!! Right now I'm using a Luxman stereo reciever as a preamp and it sounds so much better than my Dennon 4800!! I bought a Luxman preamp that I'm waiting on. I have wanted this Luxman preamp for almost 20 years and finally found it on Ebay. I own Klipsch speakers which are very effecient and do not need huge amounts of power so these amps are a good match. One thing that does not bother me but might bother someone else is there is a low level hum that you can hear when the volume is turned all the way down. If I'm turning it down then I'm probably about to turn it off so no problem. Also if your speakers are not extremly efficient then you probably won't hear it.

Similar Products Used:
SM 70

Price Paid:  $300.00

Summary:
Purchased after reading an extremely positive review in UK magazine HiFi+, where a single sm70 is recommended with high sensitivity speakers. I purchased the unit second hand, without audition for £300 and installed it in an existing system, with oldish mission speakers. And it sounded very average. I located a pair of 92db triangle ZAYS speakers (which sounded terrible in the room I auditioned them on niam equipment) second hand and the transformation is sensational. The best sounding amp I have heard, and Ive owned quite a few.

Strengths:
matched with the correct loudspeakers (essential) this will take your breath away

Weaknesses:
in the wrong system, very average.

Similar Products Used:
all sorts including valves

Price Paid:  $380.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
This was the second unit that I purchased. This unit was from a person in Mississippi, who claimed that he was selling it because his wife didn't like the clutter. I don't think so. Actually, the unit had an intermittant problem where the unit would simply shutoff after about 30 minutes of play time. I called Mr. Poon to find out if this problem had been reported. He said that I might try to reconfigure the front end switch with new connectors. The ones that he had in this unit were bent. The ones that he sent me were straight-in. I replaced them and that only helped the problem a little. The next thing that I did was to open the case entirely and do an inspection. Lo and behold, the fuse holder had been baked (it was bakelite) to a funny condition, so, I went to RadioShack and bought a simpler replacement. This fixed the problem completely. Just a warning...

Strengths:
Limitless musicality. Can be used in a number of configurations. C.C. Poon's most complete product.

Weaknesses:
Runs quite hot.

Similar Products Used:
Odyssey Stratos, Aspen AKSA 55, Van Alstine Omega Star