Summary: About two years ago, I bought a used AMC 3050a along with an AMC T7a tuner to replace my old Kenwood KA-3500 integrated amp that had provided years of faithful service. The Kenwood has a pretty good phono section, but it is a little bright for CDs played on my old Yamaha CDC-715 through the AUX channels. Since I don't currently own a working TT, my focus was on getting a system that does a good job with CD and broadcast sources, but has the ability to handle phono inputs in the future. The 3050a seemed like a good candidate, and the price was lower than the similarly-powered new rigs available in my local hifi shops. The 3050a looks good and appears to be very well built. After auditioning several used amps including an NAD, I took home the AMC on a strong recommendation by the shops salesperson.
At first I was disappointed. The 3050a was plenty loud, but the sound was somewhat closed, and I would say that instead of sounding natural as some have stated, it sounded dull and slow to me. I was playing it through new speakers (homemade boxes with Morel drivers and decent crossovers), and thought that maybe the drivers needed to loosen up. I switched to some older Wharfdale Diamond 8.1s from my HT system and it didn't make much difference. The 24 year old Kenwood sounded a little better.
After a while (6 mos. or so), everything started to change. The sound opened up, and the staging and dynamics improved considerably. This was the case when played through both the "new" speakers and the older Wharfdales. Now the AMC sounds considerably better than the Kenwood in every respect. The unit looked brand new when I picked it up, and I think it had never been used more than a few hours before ending up on the used rack. Running in seems to have made a big difference in the performance of this amp, and it just continues to get better all the time. I am now a big fan of this little amp.
The last chapter in this story is that I was poking around magazine reviews of other AMC products and I found a reference to replacing the factory pre to power amp jumpers on the back of an AMC 3020. I had the guys at Speakerlab here in Seattle build me some braided silver jumpers to replace the std metal bars and it made a huge difference in sound - not necessarily better. At first the sound was very bright and harsh, and the bass moved way back. Over time the bass came up and was actually quite clean and well-defined, but female vocals and cymbols were still too harsh, almost raspy. I switched over to some Audioquest standard preamp jumpers with high quality solid copper conductors ($25/pr. U.S.) and the highs backed off, becoming much smoother and the bass is back with a vengence. I definitely prefer the sound of both aftermarket jumpers to the little metal bars that came stock with the system, a worthy and relatively cheap upgrade. If you wanted the best sound, solid silver conductors would probably be the ticket if you could find them. kn
Strengths: Sweet and natural sound, strong bass, quiest background, great for head phones, looks cool, easy to live with.
Weaknesses: Takes a while to run in and sound its best, left right signal becomes unbalanced at very low volumes.
Update on this review: I updated my CDP to a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C Version 2 and it made a big difference in the quality of sound the 3050a produces. The treble is now startlingly clear. Voices, piano and cello sound much more realistic, and bass reproduction has texture and depth previously lacking. I switched back to the custom sliver pre-amp jumpers and the clarity produced across the sound spectrum is just ridiculous for a system at this price point. I now hear what all the previous reviewers of this amp were going on about. Upgraditus forstalled until I get a different house with a better listening space.
Update number two: I replaced three stock fuses in the 3050a with HiFi Tuning silver fuses and it made another significant improvement in the sound coming out of the amp. More resolution up and down, smoother highs and midrange and a bit more dynamic lows. Sounds like there is more juice available to drive the mid/woofer in my system. This upgrade was not cheap - >$100, but really was worth it in terms of improvements in sound quality. Does the AMC sound like a Naim integrated now? No. But it does sound more detailed, dynamic and coherent than any sub $500 entry level amp I have heard to this point.
Current system:
Cambridge Audio Azur 640C Version 2 Audioquest Diamondback interconnects AMC 3050a Integrated Amplifier AMC T7a Tuner Audioquest Type 4 Speaker Cable Morel Drivers in Custom Cabinets (Large Bookshelf on stands) Grado SR125 Headphones
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Summary: I got the AMC 3050a to replace my clapped out 20 year old Sansui au999 integrated and boy was i surprised.
I'd been looking for quite a while and i can say that i have gone through a lot of brands for something that appealed to me, looking around the $1000 mark
i got a real jump start when the guy at Tomas told me that it was $400 less than the bloody Yamaha. What a sucker i could have been.(BTW if you didnt already know, AMC was founded by the same group of engineers as NAD so expect quality as well as plain and simple design.)
so down to business.... This AMC is quite honestly the most amazing amplifier in its price range.
The bass is strong but clear and smooth
The mids are transparent as any ive heard in its price bracket. (not a scratch on tube quality but hey, what do you expect?)
The highs are crisp and clear, not sharp like the yamaha.
Using records, i am quite happy with the phono preamp, though if your realy picky you'd reckon the mm mode is a little quiet. but im not too finnicky.
I run my Sound dynamics RTS7s off it, and i must say, it sounds a little more powerful than 50wpc. the high current output must be the ticket.
Overall the AMC is a beautiful amplifier with great sound and user friendliness. if your looking for a new amp around this price range you cant go past it.
I must have a gripe though. What the hell do you do with the remote. I reckon the functions are easier to manipulare manually without the bloody thing. I wouldnt be complaining if they could have added a muting function on it, then i wouldnt be geting up and sitting down so often when someone enters my study (im being very picky here).
I'm just going to shut up now and let you get out and hear this amp for yourself. you wont be dissappointed.
Summary: I purchased this amp from a mate a few months back and it's performance has been exceptionally brilliant so far.
Im curently running it with an exposure 2010 cd player and b&w 602s. some might say it's not the perfect match but I'v found that this amp's soft but eagar
tone combined with the exposure and the b&ws presents a superlative sound alltogeather.
I have also found that if I have both the tone direct functions on,i'm rewarded time after time! At one point, I nearly upgraded the main capacitors to some audio note ones but thaught i'd better leave it be.However,i must admit that i have changed both the out-puts and speaker posts to gold plated numbers,this made a slight improovement in sound (not that it needed any) and still kept it's anologue-like tonal softness. all in all,
fab amp!
Strengths: punchy,smooth and exciting but not tireing; 50wpc of clarity and "umph".
looks nice too and blends in.
Weaknesses: it's a bit big and it's got a really ugly remote!
Similar Products Used: rotel,denon pma 355 and arcam diva.
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Summary: Overall this is a very solid amp-with like previously stated lots of value. I've used it mainly for stereo only-home theater and especially for phono playback.
Giving this amp playing time has really sweetened up the sound. I listed about 1 hour per day. It drives speakers well but if I had the money I'd buy some more wattage for home theater purposes. Still 90% of my listening is on vinyl and I find the phone stage and preamp section to be capable and relatively quiet. At times it even sounds warm and rich-(although I attribute most of this to my stylus Clearaudio Aurum Beta) All functions work great, remote useful and handy, auxiliaries and flexibility of this amp make it a top contender for the price. I have really no complaints, sound is accurate, lively, neutral. Only concern is I have a sub-woofer connected and the phono stage on board seems to pick up a little vibration through the chassis of the amp itself, a problem which was easily rectified by adding weight onto the amp itself-thus reducing any slight acoustic feedback.
Amp has high quality inputs and speaker binding posts-has a touch of class. Tone controls are inoffensive and pleasant when employed.
Otherwise I really enjoy it-I feel very satisfied with my purchase.
Strengths: Accuracy, neutrality, warmth(via phono playback). Acceptable power for loud playback. Good Options and auxiliary inputs and pre-outs etc. Remote. Value!
Weaknesses: MM setting on phono stage could use a little more juice. -
Similar Products Used: Sony integrated. Sansui Quadrophonic Receiver/Amp. Pioneer sa-6700.
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The problems I was having with the audio, was not the amp but the Y-cable I was using. It was a crummy AMX cable which was replaced gratis by my audio shop with a ultralink unit. problem gone.
I also upgraded my speaker to some decent Monitor Audio Silver 4i's - which are spectacular.
Overall I have to give five and five. A great starter unit. Great sound overall.
Strengths: good sound, price
Weaknesses: remote lacks features
Similar Products Used: none
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