Price Paid:  $700.00 from local audio shop

Summary:
I think this is the most pre amp for the money and gives you the best of both worlds. I wanted a pre amp that would still give me good stereo 2 channel and good 5.1 dts surround. It is doin every thing fine. I dont hear nor have I ever heard any hum buzz or noise of any kind. I am running some power threw it front and rear crown macro ref. 760 per chann. and a hafler bridged to mono at 750 for the center my crowns make noise with the cooling fans but Never any noise from the pre amp

Strengths:
Great surround very good stereo built great almost 3 years I think , and have never had any problems at all.

Weaknesses:
Stereo and dolby digital and party modes are all I listen to the other modes sound alike and are worthless to me , they all sound like crap. Whats with the white knob ? It looks like the original volume knob broke off and I just stuck whatever I could find on it

Similar Products Used:
None this was my first venture away from 2 chan. stereo

Price Paid:  $150.00 from ebay

Summary:
I have never used the ACT 1 for an AV setup but only for stereo. I have a B&K amp with celestion speakers, MIT speaker wire, transparent interconnects, and a velodyne sub. I have been expremely pleased with the ACT 1 in using it as a stereo preamp. The simple or "lean" desogn of the front panel is nice looking but makes changing settings annoying because I have to keep getting the manual out to see what's what. However, that's a pretty minor complaint.

I have never had any problems with hum. I do use a hospital grade power cord, though. I don't know if that makes a difference compared to the experiences of some of the other reviewers. Overall, I think this was a great buy for the money I paid for it.

Strengths:
As a stereo preamp has clean, detailed sound with good sound stage.

Weaknesses:
Compared to a tube preamp I have recently switched too, the sound is more cold and seems a little harsh in comparison.

Similar Products Used:
NAD, B&K

Summary:
This is an update of a previous review I left at this site. I recently replaced my ACT-1 with the McIntosh MSD-4. Now, I'm not faulting the Acurus for not being up to the MAC-4 in surround sound quality. My new MAC is more than 3 times as expensive(Yeah, if you can afford it, the multi kilobuck processors will take you up those golden stairs). What gripes me is that I spent the last year and a half struggling with serious artifacting and corruption of wide screen movies on my new Mitsubishi 4:3 HDTV 50" rear projection set. It has the integral line doubler that can't be switched out and I assumed that the problems I was having was the fault of the TV.

Silly me......

I hook up the MAC-4 (which doesn't use on-screen menus) and the artifacting is reduced 90%. Not believing my eyes I try the ACT-1. The wide screen version of "The King and I" looks like crap. With the MAC-4 its gorgeous.

When I bought the ACT-1 and complained of the audible hum my stereo shop said, "That's baseline...perfectly normal."

That translates to: "Gotcha! If you don't like it, tough..."

My new MAC-4 is quiet. Yes, put your ear 4 inches from the center channel and you will hear some noise.

With the ACT-1 I could hear the hum from the comfort of my listening chair TEN FEET away in two different houses I used it in.

YES I LIFTED GROUNDS...YES I BROUGHT IN SEPARATE 20 AMP LINES FROM THE POWER POLE AND STILL THE HUM AND VIDEO NOISE FROM THE HIGHLY TOUTED ACT-1 WAS STILL THERE.

I'm mainly angry because for 4 years I've been treated as crazy by the very people you expect straight answers and quality components from. MY stereo shop and the people at Acurus.

Yeah, I'm a sucker. You can guess what a positive refernce I'll be to anyone I meet that is even considering buying the ACT-3.

I hear they're having problems shoving THAT piece down peoples throats because of the same kind of shoddy engineering and bean-counting economies that ham-strung the ACT-1.

Strengths:
Pro-Logic decoding

Weaknesses:
HUM, LOUSY S-VIDEO SECTION, HUM, ON-SCREEN MENU INJECTS IMAGE DESTROYING NOISE INTO PICTURE, AND HUM.

Similar Products Used:
McIntosh MSD-4 and other decoders...

Summary:
Well... this isn't so much a review, but more a warning to anyone who currently owns an ACT1 and is considering buying one of the new "H" series of Toshiba TV's and big screens.I have owned an ACT1 for several years.. have been VERY happy with it's performance in the pro-logic domain, aside from thinking the remote is an ergonomic nightmare I've had no complaints.
I recently decided to upgrade my 27 inch Toshiba set to a new 32 Cinema series CN32H95 and that has started about 5 weeks worth of frustration.
It would appear that there is something electrically incompatible between the ACT1 and the new Toshibas. When the video signal is run through the Act1 THEN to the video input on the back of the set (normal configuration for the ACT1) it generates an odd horizontal banding through the picture.. ok, so I figure I have a ground isolation problem... NOT ! I tried lifting grounds on various things. No effect. Everything runs through a Panamax 1000, so, I tried sourcing direct from the wall.. nope.. nada !
Anyhow, to make a long story short... there appears to be NO solution, my Toshiba dealer tried an ACT1 with his projection series of the new Toshibas.. and guess what .. SAME RESULT !
Toshiba Canada, has in a round about fashion acknowledged it as an "incompatibility" ??? but that is as far as they will go... claiming that there technician has verified the set is in perfect working order .. which it is ! (it has GREAT picture, and still would recommend it) and
The Canadian rep for Acurus is stumped, and has spoken with Mondial.. strange but true, my Act1 works perfect with a Pioneer 50 inch, my old Toshiba, and a cheap Samsung that I have in the bedroom. So, I am stuck using the Pro-logic functionality of the Act1 only, and have had to forget about using the video switching capability. IF I had my previous set up of 2 VCR's and my DVL-90 still in the system, I would be DAMN mad,.. however, the video source side of my system is in flux, so.. it's not a big deal right now. My Toshiba dealer offered to move me into a different model Toshiba.. hence the test with an Act1 he had on trade in, which led to the discovery of this affecting the the whole new range. If I were to point the finger to something in the new Toshibas I would have to wonder if maybe it had something to do with the addition of the new Color Stream inputs ???? Just a guess on my behalf...
I have tried EVERYTHING to isolate the problem...to the point of stripping the system to just the ACT1 and the Toshiba... and 1 piece of inter-connect..even with NO video signal present as a source.. it still creates the horizontal banding. TOO WEIRD !
I have wired a "work-around" so that I can make any needed adjustments via the "on screen menus" but it is a patch at best.
I guess the true solution is to start looking at a new processor, something that I wasn't really planning on doing for about another year.. til some of the "format wars" settle down.
If anyone else has had some experience like this... I would love to hear about it and your solutions.
My rating is based on the audio quality of the pro-logic mode... and is not based on the incompatibility with the new Toshibas.

Summary:
The ACT-1 is a very good DPL processor but its lack of flexibility makes it near useless as a preamp (3 video inputs and 0 audio). The lack of a front panel display (it has on-screen menus only) makes it difficult to change modes. Once it is set up, however, all you need to do is turn it on and use the volume control. Sonically, as a DPL processor, it is extremely good.