Price Paid:  $2300.00

Summary:
Personally, I hold the old Krell KSA-80 mkII from the late 80`s to be one of the best amplifiers ever built, with its non-compromise class-A operation and balanced (symmetrical) circuitry. The KSA-series of amps all had that state-of-the-art resolution in the highs and mids, combined with fantastic slam in the bass and incredible transient handling. The Thule IA-250B sounds almost like that. Not quite the same smoothness in the highs, but almost there. The resolution is unparallelled at the price, and the amp will never ever sound hard or harsch no matter how hard you push it - just like the old Krells. And again just like the Krells, it seems to hold the speaker drivers in an iron grip, never loosing control, but at the same time retaining that feeling of effortlessness.

I have a set of speakers that are particularly demanding when it comes to amps - the Dynaudio Contour 1.3SE. They have low sensitivity, low impedance and incredibly high resolution, so you can hear instantly whan something is not right in the front-end. I auditioned almost ten amps before finally finding the perfect match with the Thule IA-250B. The result is very neutral, accurate, undistorted even at the very highest levels - with plenty of slam at the same time that the sound is soft and sweet.

I´ve upgraded my amp now to the new Thule IA-350B, which sounds a touch warmer and has even more of that ooompfhh slam in the lower octaves, but in retrospect, I´ll have to say that where value-for-money is concerned, the IA-250B is the one to beat! It easily compares to many amps that cost five times as much - and that is my honest opinion. I hope you´ll be able to find a Thule retailer in North America and Asia, though I doubt it... -It would certainly give over-priced american high-end like Mark-Levinson their run for the money!!!

Strengths:
Superb resolution, great macro-dynamics as well as micro-dynamics, plenty of power to handle even the most difficult loudspeakers, "neutral" in the very best sense of the word, overall Value-For-Money is probably the best you´ll ever find in high-end audio! great versatility with both 250Wpc balanced for 2-channel operation and 100Wpc for 5-channel use.

Weaknesses:
absolutely none

Similar Products Used:
Primare, S.A.T Amplifix, Electrocompagniet, Musical Fidelity, Harman Kardon, Krell KSA80 etc (none owned, only auditioned in the same circumstances)

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from Danich Dealer

Summary:
All put together a very nice amp at a fair price...If you´re looking for at great sounding, simple 2 channel amp, with 5 channel capabilities, you´re in for a bargain..!!

Strengths:
Very good soundstage,Superb Highs with lost of detail and pleasant sound..Mids are smooth, dynamic og wellsounding, no harshness at all.. Bass are well controlled, deep and pulls you in to the music. Easy to use, almost no controls at all, remote is simple but usefull. Build like a tank, weighs 50 pounds..Lots of Power 2x 400 watts in 8 ohm.
Surroundsound is also very good, though it needs a separate dekoder or a dvd player with build in dekoders..
Good connectivity, balanced cd input, preouts for twin woofers and a separate poweramp.

Weaknesses:
hmm....Perhaps the lack of biwiring terminals, which is a bit annoying if you use separate cables for bass, mid and high. Otherwise a superior product.

Similar Products Used:
Densen B-300, yamaha DSP-E 492.