Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I just had to write a review of my golden favourie amplifier the PIONERR A400 GTE (Tom Evans upgrade, made a significant improvement in all areas to the sound).

It really is a giant killer, those reviews are true! and the Tom Evans upgrade makes it even better - significantly so.

I have tried and compared this amp against other award amplifiers costing many times the price (including valves!) and this is a champion, its the one I have come back to and it is staying!

It is just so musical, foot tapping engaging and emotional to listen to. I will never change it.

But beware, feed it a poor signal, or a bright sound that you get from some cd players - including expensive ones from leading brands and it will sound bright. Feed it quality and that is what you get - real quality with whistles.

This is a Real Music maker with Emotion when fed a quality source. Back to the foot tapping for me!

Price Paid:  $180.00 from Local Buy/Sell Forum

Summary:
These comments relate to the A400 model only. I am into hi-fi for more than 2 decades but with the same setups I own. Recently I got the itch to try something out for fun of it. I saw the Pioneer amps being sold in a local buy/sell forum & bought one for S$130. This is because it was relatively ‘dirt cheap’ (less than many a basic interconnect) & because I have heard of its reputation so much but personally never heard it perform. The amp sounds so very good, even on first listen - so much so that I immediately went out to buy another, for future experimenting with bi-amping & as a backup. Using a single amp setup, it was a real ‘ear opener’, a revelation I should say. I now see why it created such a stir when it was first introduced & why it was then considered a giant slayer. This amp is powerful, comparable to a 100 watter, driving my speakers with ease. It is highly transparent, allowing the music to flow forth with dimples, warts and all. I can see why if poorly matched & used in the ‘wrong’ system, it will solicit criticisms of being too bright, harsh, slow etc. This is particularly so where the source components are of lesser or inferior quality. The truth is that it is highly revealing of what is fed into it; the adage ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out’ holds true here. I think it comes close to the definition of the ‘perfect’ amplifier - that of a straight wire with gain. As far as I can tell, it has no real, distinct, imposing characteristics of its own. Or at least it doesn’t add much to what it is given but merely amplify it simply & exactly. I confirm this for myself by using it with many other hi-fi components in various configurations for comparison.

Fronted with a Theta transport/dac & Aural Symphonics digital cable, the sound was glorious – very open, transparent, smooth, detailed, with good PRAT, tonality & soundstaging. It was like using a very good hi-end amplifier that costs thousands of $$$. I am a bit embarrassed to say it but to be absolutely honest, in some ways, it literally ‘walked over’ my other very expensive 2 pre/power & 1 integrated amps. However, I must confess that other than its performance, it will not enhance one’s bragging rights much in hi-fi, price & looks wise - an important consideration perhaps for many an audiophile. For me, musical enjoyment comes first & foremost so this amp is definitely here to stay, for a very long time. What a great & interesting discovery in my hi-fi quests & musical journey….

Strengths:
Highly transparent, revealing & neutral; powerful & good control, minimalist audiophile sleek looks, superb value for money used

Weaknesses:
Need careful system matching & higher quality sources

Similar Products Used:
Exposure, Audiolab, Cyrus, Luxman

Price Paid:  $130.00 from Local Buy/Sell Forum

Summary:
These comments relate to the A400 model only. I am into hi-fi for more than 2 decades with the same setups & recently got the itch to try something out for fun. I saw the Pioneer amps being sold in a local buy/sell forum. I bought one for S$130 as this was relatively ‘dirt cheap’ & as I've heard of its reputation so much but personally never heard it perform. The amp was so very good, even on first listen, that I immediately went out to buy another for experimenting with bi-amping. Using a single amp setup, it was an real ‘ear opener’, a revelation I should say. I now see why it created such a stir when it was first introduced & why it was then considered a giant slayer. This amp is powerful, comparable to 100 watter, driving my speakers with ease. It is highly transparent, allowing the music to pour forth with dimples, warts and all. I can see why if poorly matched & used in the ‘wrong’ system, it solicits criticisms of being too bright, harsh, shrill, slow etc. This is particularly if the source components are of inferior quality. The truth is that it is very revealing of what is fed into it; the adage GIGO holds true here. I think it comes close to the definition of the ‘perfect’ amplifier - that of a straight wire with gain. It has no real, imposing characteristics of its own or at least it doesn’t add much to it but merely amplify exactly what is given to it. I confirm this by using it with many other hi-fi components in various configurations for comparison.

Frontedt with a Theta transport/dac with Aural Symphonics digital cable, the sound was glorious – very open, transparent, smooth, detailed, with good PRAT, tonality & soundstaging. It was like using a very good hi-end amplifier that costs thousands of $$$. I am a bit embarrassed to say it but to be absolutely honest, it ‘walked over’ my other very expensive 2 pre/pwr & 1 integrated amps. However, I must confess that other than its performance, it wil, looks & price wise, not enhance one’s bragging rights in hi-fi - if that is what one is after or is an important consideration, as is the case for many audiophiles. For me, musical enjoyment comes first & foremost so this amp is definitely here to stay, for a very long time. What a great & interesting discovery in my hi-fi journey...

Strengths:
Highly transparent & neutral, quite powerful, sleek minimalist 'audiophile' looks, superb value

Weaknesses:
Careful system matching crucial, quality sources vital.

Similar Products Used:
Exposure, Audiolabs, Cyrus, Luxman

Price Paid:  $0.00 from N/A

Summary:
This review is for the "vanilla" A400, not the A400X.

I suggested this amplifier to my friend as he had heard my seperates system and wanted one for himself. He wanted a second hand system that offered good bang for the buck, and naturally, this amplifier came up in the list.

It also fulfilled his desire for an amplifier with a bright, crisp sound. So he bought one from ebay for around £100.

I have since heard it used in his system for a good 2 or 3 years now. I have also got to hear it alongside my (now ex) system.

Initially it was used with some Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 loudspeakers, however, it was felt that these speakers were probably holding it back.

So he went out and bought some Rega Ela's to partner it.

Now, the Rega Ela's are good speakers, however, using this amp with a variety of speakers proves that this amp needs VERY careful system matching.

Basically, the Rega Ela's are in my opinion, not really the right speakers for this amplifier. The speakers and amp are too similar in character, so the match is not that great.

It is recommended that you match these amps up with warm speakers, as they do have a very fast and bright sound. I suspect Tannoy's might be a good match for these amps, but I would not match these with Rega Ela's, thats for sure!

So, what about the sound of the amp? Well, as I say it has a bright sound, that is fast. It does not do particularly deep bass on its own. Vocals are the strong point of this amp, they sound smooth, and stand out from the music. The soundstage is not bad, but not as good as I was led to believe. Overall, I think the amp has a slightly metallic / silverish sound, that lacks lushness, and sounds somewhat clinical.

I then compared it with my old Rotel integrated amp. Compared to that, the Rotel sounds warmer, has harder hitting and deeper bass, and is not as bright in the treble. Nor is it quite as detailed, however, the Rotel does have a "bigger" sound, despite an apparent shortfall of wattage compared to the Pioneer.

Personally, I thought the Rotel overall was a more enjoyable and fun amp to listen to, sounding more natural and just having more prescensce to the sound.

The A400 may well have been at the top of its class back then, but compared to more modern offerings, it is no longer any better than most. One has to remember that this was always a budget amp however, and one should not get carried away in thinking it can take on high end integrated amps - it cannot.

As for the build quality, it seems solid enough, and has no frills, but some like that. Unlike the Rotel and NAD amps of this world though, it does not have a torroidal transformer, so as a result, its not quite as silent as it could be.

It does however have plenty of grunt in reserve, and can go nicely loud, but not if your speakers are bright, because it will make your ears bleed much above 9 o clock on the volume pot.

Overall, I'd recommend this amp with caution. Its suitable for warm sounding speakers, but I'd avoid anything that tends towards the bright / lean end of the spectrum, because the results are not favourable. Don't neccesarily assume this is better than all budget amps either, because there are some amps out there that to my ears soundly beat this one, and they are not neccesarily that expensive either!

Strengths:
Quite cheap, well built, fast sound, detailed sound, loud.

Weaknesses:
Very bright, metallic sounding, can be cold and clinical.

Similar Products Used:
Rotel, NAD, Marantz, Plinius, Naim, Vincent, Cambridge Audio

Price Paid:  $400.00 from trademe

Summary:
my first non technics amp
sounds good to me but alot of people dog it compared to the original a400
would like a audiophile to do a side by sid ecomparison

Strengths:
good amp for price

Weaknesses:
???

Similar Products Used:
technics