Price Paid:  $500.00 from Private

Summary:
Great at the price range however the spec's result in my opinion in a sterile sound. The acrnoym of natural sound makes me laugh as the amp appears at its best when playing heavy metal or techno. The trouble is that it appears only to have two speeds soft and subdue at low to medium levels and flexes its dynamics at levels where the windows ceiling floor and walls vibrate to the point of defeating the low distortion specs of this device. Its abvious that between the two AMP stages that there is a serious amount of equalization/boosting and cutting. It therefore lacks intimancy with simpler presented music such as acoustic guitar or chamber music. With jazz i found it neutral the more complex the presentation the better it sounded. It was difficult to pick a good amp at hifi shops as i noted the cheap solutions were often presented at there worst ie a low current rotel amp auditioned with low Impeadance speakers even though the amp damping factor was low. Or a small amp with the most de-senative speakers in the store. In other words i could have paid a lot more and do a lot worse. I will use two different amps in different rooms to get the best of both worlds at a budget as its a world of trade offs below $10,000. The amp drives 2 pairs of original richter wizards 5 ohm with grace and refinement. To run it at its best, sound room principles should be applied to your room. The best amp i have used with LP's with a switch for cartridge types. I found that a Cd player with a higher than 92 db dynamic range would be best, noise ratio of the player in the case of this amp would be less important and probably a lower one in some instances may add some richness at low levels...?

Strengths:
Great with low impeadance speakers due to the great damping factor therefor a tight refined sound. great layout configuration of switches with no confusion if recording stuff. Heavy metal or techno and any other artificial complex arrangements appear best suited to this natural sound amp. in short doses can impress visitors. When converting Lps to CD via a PC the amp boost up the original to a point that could be considered re-mastered , great subsonic filter built in.

Weaknesses:
Not suited to tight/clean 8 ohm speakers as it due to the clinical damping factor will result in sterile sound that never quite satifies.

Similar Products Used:
12 year old low current 70 watt into 6 ohms Sony Amp that i bought in Japan dont think the international sony distributors sold this one any where else. Didnt fully realise how good it is until i brought the Yamaha home the sony puts out bigger friendlier bass and is more dynamic great for screaming jazz or live music sense even driving 2 pairs of speakers. wanted to audition the high end sony entry amp but the resellers wouldnt bring one in to sample.

Price Paid:  $800.00 from Allwave Beverwijk (d

Summary:
Very nice amplifier. Especially the separat pre-amp possibility. I use that pre-amp to create surround sound with a second amp.

Strengths:
Very powerfull amp. I use de amp. with the Dali 909

Weaknesses:
for a year now, the input selector starts to fail. it cracks and sometimes the right speaker is not switched on.

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Price Paid:  $575.00 from Bianco's Audiotronic

Summary:
Value for dollar, this amp is great. I originally bought it 7 years ago and am still using it to this day. It plays clearly and with great bass response, sometimes too much on efficient speakers. I've owned many speakers with this amp (Vega, Klipsch kg 5.5, Energy c-8, paradigm monitor 11's, even paradigm studio 100's!) but have never traded in this amp yet. I never had a problem with the quality of sound of the amp until i purchased the paradigm 100's, but common sense tells you a $500 amp does not match a $2400 pair of speakers. (i'm currently saving for the NAD T762)all in all, it's a good amp. I've abused the crap out of it at many parties, hardly dusted it and always play it loud and it still sounds great. The only draw back is the selector nob. After 4 years of use, it became clogged with dust and needed a cleaning worth $50 bucks - but that's normal wear and tear. The 'pure direct' button is very useful when using a pair of higher end speakers. It gives a flatter and more natural sound, and believe it or not, reveals a bit of imaging. Another good feature of the amp is the speaker A/B assignment. It allows you to play two PAIRS of speakers at the same time or independently. Most amps these days allow only A/B switching and won't allow two sets of main speakers to play at the same time. This amp would complement almost any speaker on the market worth >$1200. In all, the ax-570 is a cost effective amp, very solid, good sounding and still works perfectly till this day

Strengths:
power, detailed sound, A/B speaker, built in phono pre-amp, cost

Weaknesses:
selector nob, detail at low levels

Similar Products Used:
NAD, paradigm, Klipsch, Energy, Cambridge audio, Sony

Price Paid:  $300.00

Summary:
A very good amp, performaing way above its price. Muscular, neutral, precise. It trades muscle for detail - anything ought to be sacrificed at this price point - but is good enough for organ an big symphonic works. Is about as good as the YBA intégré, four times its price.

Strengths:
Strong, muscular and neutral.

Weaknesses:
None at the price

Similar Products Used:
Nads, Arcams, Regas and Ybas.

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Honolulu, Hawaii

Summary:
My AX-570 sounds great. I have all Yamaha components (I know, I know, what kind of an audio enthusiast does that, right?) and at the time were top-of-the line without getting separate pre-amp and amplifier. The sound from the AX-570 to me is classic Yamaha. Very clean, very smooth, but capable of being loud enough to hurt. The quality of the AX-570 is tremendous. Is has a large input transformer and big capacitors, big enough to slightly dim the lights while they charge upon power up. All the knobs and buttons are of a good quality and it has nice LED's to light the front panel. Volume control works very nicely, but I also had the dirty-contact input selector problem after not using the amp for a year or so. Have not cleaned it yet, but if I wiggle it around a little I can find a clean spot. I'll have to figure that one out another day. Hopefully this amp will last me for a long time, but, if it doesn't, I'd be more than glad to look at the current integrated amp, the AX-596. It probably is just as good if not better.

Strengths:
Quality, sound clarity and fullness, aesthetics (arguably).

Weaknesses:
None that I can find.

Similar Products Used:
RX-495