Price Paid:  $1500.00 from Audio Advisor

Summary:
First, I gotta admit I got it at a bargain price. That said, this amp gave me exactly what I was looking for in a power amp. My old Acurus 250 was nice, but it was, and in hindsight sounded like, entry level high end. This is the real deal. The first thing I noticed about this amp was my all CD's had more body to 'em, a sort of full-bodied sound rather than the light airy quality I was getting before. Things like the weight of a key struck on a piano become discernable. Sorta like going from a pair of small 3 inch PC speakers to a deluxe setup, subwoofer and all. I noticed the cymbals on my jazz recordings. They used to have a sort of light sheen to them, but now I could hear the whole body of the cymbal, not just the 'fizzle'. At first I thought I was missing the high treble, but it was there, along with the rest of the sound spectrum. Flute and vibes that used to give my old amp fits are now effortless. This amp also blooms on bass as well. Recordings like Frank Zappa's 'Joe's Garage', which FZ once explained had limited bass because of digital mastering problems, had the bass restored enough to finally groove to, on cuts like 'Cy Borg',etc. The midrange response is smooth and detailed, and, surprisingly, revealed some distortion in recordings I hadn't heard before, such as Steve Lacy's 'Five Facings'. On the plus side, on Kate Bush' 'The Sensual World' CD, the 350P revealed previously unheard of details of harmony in the track 'Deeper Understading', specifically a dual treble bass line. Soundstaging would be hard for me to comment on, as my room is the main shortcoming when it comes to that aspect of the sound, and a 32" TV sits between my B&W's. Overall sound quality of this amp is excellent, and at approx. $4000, worth checking out.

Strengths:
Dynamics/details/bass and midrange response/ full-bodied sound

Weaknesses:
A little extra treble response wouldn't hurt.

Similar Products Used:
Aragon 4004mkll
Parasound 350wpc amp (I can't remember the model number)