Great little amp. Can't understand them who dont get this amp to play good. What gear do you use? Missmatch or what? This amp is better than alot of what i have had or heard in hifishops or in other hifi guys who have gear to 4-5 times the price. Have tested this on my Mirage M-595is and sounds amazing! Had alot NAD,denon,Cambridge Audio,Musical Fidelity,Hegel...

None to the price!

Brilliantly cohesive, smooth , great balanced and downright musical performance, Great phono stage too!
Value for money!!

I listened to the Mira 3 in store and I brought in a pair of Toy Towers from Sonus Faber. The amp is warm alright, and so are the speakers so there was the concern that there wouldn't be enough detail at the top end. When I listened, I liked what I heard: spectrum like a little bonfire. I bought the amp along with the Rega Apollo CD player (a whole host of problems with this CD player I won't go into here). Very happy with the sound I went home to set up.

It was at the point of setting up that I felt ripped off. I was buying a hifi system to last and I expected quality because of the money I was paying and I knew that similarly priced items were beautifully built. Hmm that was a poor assumption; the warning should have been the empty plastic volume knob.

So I got it home and went to wire in the speakers.. WTF are these cheap terminals?? The speaker wire that Sercher Audio had sold me for my system wouldn't even fit in properly, I improvised, disappointed but still keen to experience it in home. The back of the amp is also plastic.. and it turns out the stylish front plate, which I had thought was a machined piece of anodised aluminium, was also you guessed it: plastic. The remote control being an after thought, pairs with an IR detector that has been shoved behind the Rega logo to take advantage of the fact that there is an actual hole there - whatever - not the way I design stuff. The array of RCA plugs is of the lowest quality too. That about ends the perceived quality of the product from its physical construction - I realise that this sort of thing doesn't matter at all to the pragmatic listeners, but it does to me.

Switch it on. Ugh the push button switch clicks in and the power light comes on with a surge that looks like it has just blown a fuse! Again, not something I'd be happy with as a designer. The remote control tries to be a CD remote and an amplifier remote and is overly complicated. Again it is made of plastic and disappointingly doesn't match the aesthetics of the amp.

Long story short the amp still sounds good but the whole experience ruins a lot of the pleasure... the $2000+ CD player refuses to play most times ( I took it back to Sercher Audio and they fixed it temporarily and tried to charge me.) Now it still refuses to play more often than not. And the amp power light is broken - not surprising really! Jesus my household light globes lasted longer.

Overall I cannot understand why a company would release a product like this and I cannot see the point of skimping in quality of materials or cutting corners in circuit design. Perhaps if there was an ability to contact them on their website I would be able to ask them about it but no.

I bought the Mira 3 along with the Rega Apollo cd player at the same time from my local Hifi dealer. This is the setup i used along with AVI Neutron speakers. I have to say its a very well built and stylish amplifier. But that is where the praise ends sadly. I found it to be very cold and lazy, much too matter of fact in its sound. Its a high quality sound, rich in detail and very balanced but in my opinion it lacks any real emotion or feeling for playing music. Maybe with different partnering equipment this could be improved. I prefer a warmer more musical sound, something entertaining and involving to listen to. I have now found my ideal amp in an old Musical Fidelity B200 i found for less than half the price. Try this amp by all means, but i would not recommend it personally.

Fun to listen to. All the reviews prising it's "PRAT" are dead on. Very nice amp for listeners of jazz, 70's pop, and other recordings featuring closely miced drums and bass. Acoustic music sounds lovely.

Not well-rounded. For very specific use. Unique sound that fans of "neutrality" may not like.

Doesn't sound like 60 watts. Very curious what the Maia sounds like.

It's a decent enough amp, with a good groove and pace. Quite nice with jazz and pop, this is a good amp for Herbie Hancock and Steely Dan. But avoid if you listen to any modern heavily compressed recordings (which already sound pale), and especially avoid with layered "wall of sound" mid-80's AOR... as this amp doesn't do details.

Bass has just enough drive without digging deep. It's all there, nothing's missing, but the bottom can sound a little forced and strident. I can imagine this amp pairing well with a smaller easy-to-drive bookshelf rather than a full-range floorstander.

Top-end is heavily emphasized, without being harsh. Very pleasing once you get used to it. Adds to the rhythmic nature of it's sound when you can hear all of the percussion and cymbals.

Not a good amp for 2.0 A/V use, mostly because of the lack of tone controls. I know this is a common "feature" in high-end gear, but it severely limits versatility. Sound out of my cable box sounds flat and lifeless; I had to insert an EQ into the signal chain between cable box and pre-amp. This helped tremendously.

The Phono stage is very low-gain, and robs vinyl of it' imaging and sound staging. Don't buy the Mira for its phono... gets a good external. Disappointing for a company like Rega.

Overall, I'm enjoying the Mira for what it is, but probably will not keep it very long. I actually prefer the "all-around" sound of my vintage NAD 7240PE.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam a65+, NAD 7240PE, NAD C320bee, Rotel Ra1060

Simple controls
Great styling, very plain
Can dim the red display as preferred
Remote control a plus

Double the price of the Brio which already is an awesome product.
Changing source with the knob means that you pass through other sources which if powered will come through with sound (like tuning a radio station!)

Background: My previous system was a collection of poor quality hand-me-downs, and I was looking to buy a package with integrated amplifier, CD player, and speakers.
After hearing the Aaron ATS5 floorstanding speakers I decided they were the speakers I wanted, so I then listened to various amplifiers with this in mind. The Brio had a very warm smooth sound and really complemented the speakers which could sound quite harsh with Elvis Costello! And eventually I settled on the Mira 3 for reasons of the remote control and the extra power. I figure I'll have it for a few years to come so the stretch in price becomes insignificant over time.
I've been very pleased with the product. The sound is warm and brings out the best in the music, and there is adequate power for my medium sizedl living room.
Some people have commented on the volume control however I find it excellent, low volumes or not!

Customer Service

Staff @ CAV are extremely helpful.

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge Audio Azur 640A v2
NAD C352
NAD C372
Rega Brio
Arcam A65 Plus Amplifier
Creek Evo Integrated Amp