DETAILED AND POWERFUL SOUND, GOOD PRICE, CAN DRIVE ANY SPEAKERS, BUILT LIKE A TANK.

VERY HEAVY. One of the best power amp i have ever used. i can hear more details from music which i never heard before and in movie sounds are amazing and i am sure that it will make your neighbor nervous.

Powerful

Bested by other in its price range

A decent product but not in the same class as other amplifiers in its price range. One thing to ask yourself is how is that this 450wpc amp weighs less than 250wpc amps in its price range. What is more disturbing is some Cinepro fans giving various competitors product a 1.

Full bodied yet decorous sound.i.e.smooth and detailed.Even extended base free from coloration. Large scale material sounds glorious.

The speaker terminals at the rear are quite a hassle to deal with as they are so close to each other. No big deal but just a tad inconvenient.

There is no doubt that this is a stunning product from Cinepro. I also use the 3k6 currently however this is way ahead in all aspects. Upon calling Cinepro for some information -for a friend who wants to buy one- I was shocked to hear an answering machine tell me that they are not in service and then discovered that the web page no longer exists. Could someone please fill me in on what has become of Kevin and this wonderful company. An e-mail to 'dilqatar@qatar.net.qa' will be much appreciated.

Similar Products Used:

Krell FBP 700, Theta Dreadnaut, Bryston 14B SST.

EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.PRICE.

SPEAKER OUTPUT CONNECTIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOLD,AND POSTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FARTHER APART.

YOU READ RICKS REVIEW,NOW IMAGINE 2-3K6-SE-GOLDS BI-AMPED BOTH 240 VOLT 30 AMP CIRCUTS, ABSOLUTLY INCREDIBLE!!!YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SOME STUNNING SOUNDS,ERIC REALLY COULD DESIGN AND BUILD SOME VERY TOP QUALITY AMPLIFIERS,ONE OF THE BEST, HE WILL DEFINITLY BE MISSED!!!HE WAS A GREAT PERSON

Similar Products Used:

ADCOMS 5500,5503 CINEPRO 3K6-SE-MARK1 ONLY ONE TO COME CLOSE,SUNFIRE, KRELL

Incredible power with transparent detail

fan noise, but only when pushed HARD.

I have had an early production of the new 3K6SE III for about 4 months and I can only say that this is the best amp I have ever had in my system. I was going to replace a Cinepro 2K5II but decided that I'd use he 3K6 as a super stereo amp instead. Four channels are bridged to feed the bass modules of my VMPS Super Tower III Special Editions while the remaining two channels handle the mids and highs. Once I ran a new 30 amp circuit I could produce over 1500 watts per channel into my towers.

Breathtaking is putting it mildly. The control of the bass is a wonder, making it louder, lower, tighter and more real then the bridged Parasounds I was using for the bass. While the HCA-2200II is no slouch at 800 watts bridged it didn't sound nearly as good as the Cinepro. There was detail that seamlessly came out of my speakers which I had not noticed before, everything from old vinyl to 24/96 CDs sounded clearer and more defined. While I couldn't do a direct A/B I swear that the Krell monoblocks I demoed didn't do any better. As an HT amp it can't be beat with 400 watts per channel it has the headroom and dynamics to best any other amp on the market. Bridged it becomes a monster.

Balanced and unbalanced inputs will mate with any gear out there and the remote trigger turn on makes it easy to power it up although I leave mine on most of the time.

The one minor complaint is that if you run the amp hard and then hit a very quiet passage the fan is barely noticable. A very small price to pay for all of the other benefits this amp will give you.

$7500 (the new list after Oct 28th) is alot to pay but when you hear this beast in your system it is money well spent. I can't reccomend this enough.

System:
Cinepro 3K6SE III, 2K5II, PowerPro 30, VMPS SuperTowers, VMPS Super Tower /R, Parasound GMAS Sub, Phase Linear 8000 with AT OC-9 cart, Teac C-1 cassette, Pioneer Elite PLD-99, Pioneer Elite DV-05, Parasound CDP-2000, Parasound DAC-1600HD, Parasound PLD-2000 etc. etc..

Similar Products Used:

Cinepro 2K5II, Parasound HCA-1206, Parasound HCA-2200II

High current, Quiet, Clear, Incredibly micro-detailed, Low s/n ratio, Dynamic!, Well built, Clean looks.

Binding posts could be further apart. Does not look like the radiator grill of the Bat Mobile.

My review consists of a reprint of the letter I sent to the president of Cinepro:

Eric:

I told you that I was going to take the Mark III over to a friend’s house and ruin his day. I did. I took the Mark III over to my friend’s house last night that has the Wilson Watt/Puppy 6.1 and Cubs fill out the rest of his 5.1 system. He currently has the Krell KAV 500 as his amp. The rest of his stuff is Theta.
Well, he brought up a dedicated 240V circuit from the fuse box and we set up the Mark III next to his Krell. And here is what happened: He was blown completely away. This is the opinion of a Krell KAV 500 owner who has been listening to his system for almost 2 years now.

We both agreed that the Mark III was much more detailed and while at the same time it was much less harsh sounding. The Krell sounded muddy and made it harder to perceive the individual instruments as distinct sounds surrounded by sharp sonic borders, the individual sounds in the music just seem to run together. In sharp contrast to the Krell we both agreed that the Mark III presented a distinct, clearly definable image of all of the instruments in the sound stage. It was so obvious that what we were listening to sounded so much clearer, more detailed, and more dynamic that all of us just kept looking at each other with expressions of disbelief on our faces. And this is detail and clarity that is much less harsh and analytical sounding at the same time. The Mark III makes the Krell seem harsh and metallic sounding. We were absolutely giddy listening to music on my friends system with the Mark III and were scrambling to put on CD after CD to hear what our favorite music sounded like with this amp and speaker combination. We listened to everything from DTS versions of Diana Krall to re-mastered Pink Floyd.

As we listened to more CDs, we heard details and voices and instruments we described as "crystal clear images that just seem to hang in the blackness of sonic space!"

We talked later and wondered how something more detailed could at the same time sound warmer and more musical. I later thought about a Sony technician that was involved in the design of one of their flagship projectors who once told me that what makes great projectors great is their ability to create black. And it is true, because all of the colors of the image arise out of blackness and if the black isn't dead black then the image is less dynamic and less clear. The image is just visually Grey and without vivid color. It is as if someone opened a door in the back of the theater and bathed the screen in light.

I believe the same is true of sound reproduction. An amplifier's ability to create black is related to the amplifier's ability to have low signal to noise and huge dynamic range. Give me those things in a great amp and I think you are a long way towards creating a sonically black background from which detailed and rich music can arise. Just like colors from a great projector, the music from a great dynamic amplifier can be as detailed, clear, and rich as colors can be vivid.

The Mark III is such and amplifier. It creates black incredibly well. And because of that ability, its circuitry can amplify images that are so crystal clear, rich and dynamic that it is just jaw dropping. Going back and listening to the Krell KAV 500 was as if someone had just opened that back door to the theater and made all of the music Grey and without clarity or richness. And further, with the Mark III where I felt as though someone was hitting me in the chest during dynamic passages of snare and kick-drums, with the Krell KAV 500 I felt as though I was being hit by a pillow. The KAV 500 is no contender it is a pretender. We put the Krell away for the rest of the night; nobody wanted to hear it anymore.

After more listening to the Mark III we were now ready for the "E-ticket" ride of our night with the Mark III. It was time to put on The Eagle, Hell Freezes Over, "Life in the Fast Lane" and really crank it up. This is one our favorite kick-ass, slam-songs of all time. We have heard this track more times on more systems at coil-bottoming decibels than any other cut of music we play. You can probably tell by now that we like our high fidelity as much as the next audio golden ear but we love that rock and roll. Give us a well recorded kick-drum with a bass guitar line underpinning it and we are in heaven.

Let me start out by saying that we sustained levels of 114dB during this cut from the Eagles measured at the listening position 13 feet into the room. Hearing this kind of sound reproduced cleanly without any sign of clipping or cone break-up or coil bottoming is quite an experience and it evokes a feeling that is something like the feeling you get when you ride a roller coaster. It goes like this. First everyone takes his or her seat. The anticipation causes a little nervous laughing that makes us feel like Steven Furst in Animal House when the marbles are rolled across the street during the parade scene at the end of the movie. "Oh boy." Everyone anticipates what might just ruin a pair of perfectly good Wilson Watt/Puppies and what might just wreck our hearing for the next few hours. We wonder just how stupid is this? How can otherwise mature adult males act so immature? Is Dave Berry in the crowd somewhere? We started the track anyway. Wha wha wha wha wha, wha wha wha wha wha. Thump thump thump thump thump. Not so bad as I ramped the volume control past 50(95dB) and up to 60(somewhere around 107dB.) We all looked at each other and just laughed. This was serious kick-ass slam and none of us could hear any distortion or clipping. The roller coaster had long since started its first drop and was taking us for a wild ride around tight corners when I decided to see just how much more this system would take. So, up goes the volume from 60 to 63 and then from 63 to about 68(112dB.) Perfectly clear and talk about slam! Don Henley sang on about life in the fast lane as I wondered how many dBs we would measure if I could get the volume to a nice round number like 70. I decided to give it a try, slowly. I felt eyes fall upon me as the volume-bar popped up on the screen indicating to everyone that I was at it again with the volume control. Slowly, I raised the volume up to 70(114dB) and we couldn’t hear a bit of distortion. All we heard was just crystal clear music and slam that whipped us around corner after tight corner of drumming and base playing. We sat back and just listened in disbelief that music could sound like that. At the end of the track I quickly turned the volume down not knowing how loud the next track would be. We all just laughed in total awe of what we just experienced. And most interestingly, we did not feel as if our ears were fatigued or ringing. When your eardrum is moved in smooth non-distorted sinusoidal excursions it just isn't as fatiguing as the jerky clipped motion that lesser amplifiers and speakers would have subjected your eardrums to. All in all, quite incredible!

I left the Mark III with my friend to use for a few days until I get back from vacation. As I drove home I realized, the few days I left the Mark III with him will spoil him and he won't be able to ever listen to his Watt/Puppies with his Krell again without wanting more. What are good friends for? I suspect you will hear from him sooner than later.

Rick

P.s. My friend later bridged his Krell and said it provided more base response but did nothing to improve the over all sound of the Krell.

So, that was my letter. I want to add that this amplifier also does amazing things with a movie sound track as well. I just got done watching the DTS version of "The Haunting" and it was awesome. There is just no substitute for raw horse power! (Read dynamic range!)

Similar Products Used:

Krell KAV500. (Have heard about everything from Mark Levinson reference to Bryston, all of which I like.)

Raw, clean, and accurate power.
Built like an amp should be

none!!

The Cinepro 3K6SE III Gold is the best state of the art amplifier I have ever had the pleasure of owning and listening to. Starting with its massive transformer which supplies the large, clean, and accurate power, down to the fine attention to detail, this amplifier is a must have for the serious home audio and theater enthusiast. To fully experience the way music and movies were intended to be heard, I suggest combining the Cinepro 3K6SE III Gold with the Cinepro Powerpro 20. The Powerpro 20 is an A/C balancer which eliminates A/C hum and reveals information on CD's and DVD's that was previously masked because of unbalanced power. In closing, I live in a very quite part of the country and audio hum, noisy amplifiers, and poor performance is totally unacceptable. Thanks to Cinepro, I do not have to worry about these issues.

Similar Products Used:

(2) Parasound HCA 3500's and (1) Parasound HCA 1500a