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Review 1 of 5
Price Paid:
$650.00
from used Summary:
I recently went on a search for a good amp to match my new Spendor 3/5s. The process proved exhausting. There is a ton of great stuff out there. I haven't upgraded for years, living happily with an LS3/5a and Quad solid state combination. The Spendors are absolutely terrific speakers and fit my life long taste for the best of smooth British speakers (Harbeth, Spendor, Rogers).
The Spendors are also inefficent, at 84db, and need some real power to sound right.
I first ran the Spendors on my traditional back up amp, a NAD C340. This is a fantastic amp for the money and ran them satisfactorily.
I guess I'm one of those people who want it all. I love what good tubes do for midrange, vocals, and most non-electronic instruments. I can't live without great female vocals and a clean, liquid medium frequency spectrum. Yet, at the same time, I want some good solid bass. It's the old tube versus solid state choice.
I first listened to some Rotels, in that I have a RCD 971 CD and have a good friend who sells Rotel. They performed well, with power and separation, but were missing magic in the mid-range. Overall they sound too lean. Next, I tried the Rega integrated. This amp has terrific timing, like Naims, but is too bright. I don't mind the looks, kind of counter-culture.
I eventually got my hands on a mint, used Musical Fideltiy XA-1. I had this amp for two months. It was mainly a disappointment. I kept trying to like it but couldn't. It's hard to articulate what is wrong with this amp. It has good timbre, pace, and clarity. I guess it lacks coherence. The individual components of music sound great but they don't come together well. Even simple acoustical rock, like Sara McLachlan, sounds strange. Her voice is separated from the piano even though they are the only two sounds being produced. The soundstage for this amp is overly wide, if there is such a thing. As a final negative, the XA-1 couldn't really handle the Spendors. The amp pooped out on orchesteral creschandos (Copland's Third, Brahms first) and good rock (U-2).
The only amp I wanted to test, but couldn't, was the Audio Analogue Puccini. There are no dealers anywhere near me and I didn't want the hassle of returning a shipped product.
Almost out of frustration, I took a chance and bought a used Audio Refinement Complete amp, over the Internet, for $650. I figured if I didn't like it, selling it would be very easy. I purchased the amp based on the strength of it's numerous positive reviews and commentary on this site.
I received the amp, warmed it up for an hour, put on the soundtrack to the move "Glory", as was stunned. The Complete amp is virtually everthing I was searching for. It handles vocals like a fine tube amp, with real lifelike voices, and bass like a solid state, with force and authority. As I played a selection of my favorite records and CDs, I became further impressed. The Complete is an unmitigated high end powerhouse. It seduces you with an accurate and emotional midrange, provides beautiful and gentle highs, but also gives some real tight bass slam. Virtually every type of music I played was a revelation. The overall sound reminds me of the best of the Conrad Johnson separates or even Audio Research. The Complete also had no problem handling the inefficient little Spendors. I've been able to play at the highest levels with placing the volume dial beyond the 11 oclock positon.
Then, as a final surprise, was a level of detail I didn't anticipate. I began to hear detailed lyrics on poorly recorded rock CDs I hadn't heard before.
I am not given to hyperbole but this is one incredible amp. It plays music superbly and gives you 98% of what you could get from the most expensive separates. It is both emotinal and accurate at the same time. It gets music right in a forceful but non-fatiguing manner. It makes good recordings better and actually softens some of the worst characteristics of modern recordings. It's quality and build matches those of Classe or Bryston.
What else could I wish for? A pre-out to run a sub-woofer and maybe a headphone socket. Probably too much to ask for.
If you have $500 to $1000 to spend, buy this amp. I plan on keeping mine for a very long time.
Strengths:
Smooth, tube-like midrange, clear highs, solid bass. Overall liquid, consistent, beautiful sound. Incredible build. Great looks. Weaknesses:
No pre-out for subwoofer. Three legs makes it a little dangerous. Similar Products Used:
Quad 34/306, Conrad Johnson tube separates, Musical Fidelity XA-1, various NADs, various B&K, various Rotels
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5 of 5
