Price Paid:  $1060.00 from Hi-fi dealer

Summary:
The sound of Thule IA150B is actually good, not much to complain.
Just weeks after I bought this amp, it began to turn on and off by it self. Sent it for repair. It was fixed, but the same problem reoccurred months later. The amp was sent again to the service. They said that they’ve changed the transformer. I was asking for substitution then. Well, Thule IA150B has been functioning for about a year without any problem.

One day, it begun to send a hum to my loudspeakers when regulating the volume control. The amp was then just dead days after. Eh, what a headache!!! I had to send it back to the service centre. They were not willing to substitute the amp or give me my money back. They send me the amp back saying that they have changed two new circuit boards inside the box.

It is unfortunate investment. I can’t give it more than a star for overall performance.

Strengths:
Sound, cool look.

Weaknesses:
Turns on and off by it self, poor power-supply and volume control design, transformer hum and warmth.

Similar Products Used:
Thule Spirit CD150B, Thule TU100, Supra interconnections and loudspeakres cables and Patos lyric 301 MK || floorstanders.

Summary:
Listened to some different amps including: Arcam 9, Marantz PM-17 and Thule IA60B. But for me the IA150B has proven to be the most refined for the money. Solid looks and sound that will please with the right set-up and material. It is neutral but still sweet to the ear. I have very revealing speakers that might seem bright in other systems, but here sounds so open and truly dynamic. IA150B is clean, fast and airy. Forget the Arcam; it sounds distorted and unnatural. I have found several speakers to match this amp including B&W CDM-1 and my own Dynaudio 1.1. With the Arcam 7SE it is a most pleasing system for me and plays most anything well.

Strengths:
power, looks and build

Weaknesses:
should not be used in a bright system...price?

Similar Products Used:
Arcam, Thule, Copland

Summary:
Simplistic looking with only 1 big golden knob for adjusting volumeand one "invisible" knob for changing line input. Volume is selected
between 79 discrete levels 1dB apart. The amplifier is usually
controlled by the remote control which can also be used for controlling
most CD-players. There are three unbalanced (RCA) and one balanced
(XLR) input line as well as a tape loop.

The amplifier should be put in standby mode when not used. The
manufacturer say that the amp uses approximately 1/2 an hour to reach
normal operating conditions from standby whereas it uses 4 hours if
turned off completely. The preamp is supposed to be pure class A and
is fairly warm even when in standby mode. When playing loud music,
temperature runs quite high so you can not put this box in a compact
rack.

The sound is very detailed with a lot of power to handle transients.
I compared the sound to Marantz PM-17 and found the Thule amp more
vivid. Acoustic guitar sounded more lively and female voices are just
fantastic. The Thule is not forgiving on bad recordings and may sound
harsh on poorly engineered music. The amp delivers a lot of power and
handles transients without problems. This is probably where I found
the biggest difference to PM-17. I'm not into loud music but the musical "intensity" was bigger.

The controlling of volume and line switching is digital. Despite that,
there is no interference between the different line inputs. The PM-17
however, using gold plated relays, actually had some "cross-talk"
between some of the input lines.

The only problem I have had with the amp is that the digital control
(volume and line switching) have gone bananas twice. This is supposed
to be caused by the power-supply that doesn't handle the high voltage
in the Norwegian electric network. Its been repaired on the guarantee
but it gives you second thoughts about the construction.

Five stars for sound, design, and build quality, but this is dragged
down by technical quality of the power supply to the digital section.