these pieces are very hard to find in germany. i got mine from ebay 4-5 years ago (mkII for 800 euro) and would never sell it again. i was using a pair of kora 100 sb mono triode (ca. 7000euro) before. all my friends loved those monos for their look and punch. but plinius goes deeper with better definition of the bass without loosing the sweetness of mids and highs. and i never have to change tubes again ... in a system with plinius cd-player, chord pre3200, harbeth monitor40 with cardas speaker and madrigal cinch & xlr cables all changes are revealed. (highly recommended: use xlr cables only from cd to pre to amp!) the only problem is, that i lost my hobby now, because it doesn't make sense to look out for upgrades anymore ... i was using linn amps (chakra, i sold it immediatly. are they sponsoring all the stereo mags?), rotels (standard, good to compare), kora, mcintosh amps and intergrated amps (wannabe sound with classi look), bk-components (not bad for their price), creek (just good), musical fidelity elektra and A3 (good drive, no magic) ... all stuff from plinius is excellent!!!

clarity, sense of purpose, controlled delivery, open lucid and vital, value for money (esp in nz!)

runs way hot in class a! fairly heavy unit. a little imposing in appearance (some may like this).

looking for a power amp in the us$2-4k range, tried musical
fidelity xa-200 monoblocks, mission monos - not delivering
the goods and too high $$$ (due to import charges and
exchange rates). krell/mark levinson too costly in nz.

enter plinius - local nz manufacturer (and no i'm not a
kiwi) - stunning sa-50 power amp for a great price (approx
us$2k).

too good to be true - dem model was a mk2 version and
suffered a little mains hum, the follow up mk3 version
uses twin transformers to fix this.

takes a while to get warmed up (or should i say get hot),
but then capable of a really lucid and powerful delivery
(esp when partnered with plinius pre-amp). great
soudstaging, convincing atmosphere presented.

dynamic, vivid and full presentation.

solid build. needs good ventilation.

strongly recommended.

When I listen to de Plinius SA-50, I just thinking to my self “What an amazing amplifier"!.
I listen it with Sonus Faber and Dunlavy speakers, and the sound was BIG, presenting a full orquestra in the front of speakers, big and powerfull but smooth and musical, free from any harshness being musically accurate.

There are always a sense of warmth and transparency, that is not usual at this price level, the sound was almost tube like, mainly in the mid and high band, being true solid state in the bottom.

Even at high levels I never felt de need for more power than de 50 Watt delivered in class A, the amplifier shows always a tight control on the speakers.

At the price it a 5 stars rating.

Freedom from treble grain. smooth open midrange. Great bass slam .

Runs very hot in class A mode, so it needs good ventilation

I wish we could eliminate idiots like Bert, and Mr. B from flooding this site with foolish reviews based on nothing. I spent months auditioning amp after amp until I found this special product.The quality of sound from this product is nothing short of astounding. I have Merlin VSM's, a speaker that is very revealing of electronics used. The Plinius sa 50 mk111 made my system sing. The highs were extended and fatigue free. The midrange is very tube like, but not colored. The bass performance is phenomenal. Not only is the slam and authority there, but is also very well articulated. The build quality is second to none. Plinius uses nothing but the best parts and there 10 year warranty shows they stand behind their product. Bob at the Analog Shop in Victor NY made the purchase enjoyable. $3495 may seem expensive for 50wpc. but when you put it in your system the magic is revealed. I have no regrets at all since I have purchased this amp. Highly reccomended.I would give more stars if I could. Remember Question idiots whose opinions are based on looks alone.

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I auditioned products from Krell,ARC,Aragon,Coda,CJ,Classe'

Open, airy, spacious, deep,deep bass, warm and detailed

Haven't found any yet

I have to agree with everyone that has rated this amplifier with five stars. I'm using it with a Cary Audio 94LP preamp and Dynaudio speakers. In Class A mode, there is nothing I've heard, short of a couple exotic tube amplifiers, that presents such a large three dimensional soundstage with the warmth of a tube amplifier yet the detail, bass extention and control of a solid state powerhouse. Yes, you can believe the hype from Plinius, the SA50 MKIII is a remarkable amplifier.

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Aragon 4004, Golden Tube SE40 monoblocks Special Edition, McCormick DNA .1, Krell 300 Integrated

Great dynamics and power reserves. Very smooth - no solid state brightness. Switchable from class A to A/B. 2 pairs of 5-way, heavy duty, binding posts. Build quality - second to none!

None - except if you need much more than the conservatively rated 50 watts this baby puts out!

This is the MK III version of the SA-50. It is a very powerful amplifier which excels by putting out tremendous dynamics, but with the ability to serve up fragile music with all the nuances the recording can offer. Very smooth with no brightness whatsoever! This amp puts out 50 watts class A or A/B into 8 ohms and continues to double its power output down to 1 ohm. It can drive most speakers except for the "freaks of nature" or what I call the "poorly designed" with their 81 db sensitivity and 2 ohm load! A well designed speaker should have "real-world" specs! It is built like a tank and is very heavy for its size (75 lbs.) The best sounding amplifiers in the world are low powered ones since it is much easier to match a lesser quantity of superb-quality output devices (4 to 8) than amps requiring 12, 16, 24, etc, output devices!

BTW: The SA-100 MK III is another great amp which is very similar in topology to the SA-50 MK III but with 100 watts output in class A and A/B.

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Gamut D-100, BAT VK-200, Aloia 13.01

This is an absolute winner, the sound is transparent, clean, powerful. Just add a decent pre-amp and probably you will never need another amp.
It is capable of driving most loudspeakers to very high levels with absolute control despite the 50 Watt (Class A running very hot) rating.
Just listen to it and compare with the much more expensive Krell and Mark Levinson amps and you will be surprised.

I have had this marvelous little machine in my system for two weeks on
trail now, preceded by a Naim CDX/XPS, BC 3 preamp, SPM cable, and followed
by a pair of B&W (Matrix) 805's. The best thing I can say about it is that
it has brought my dullest cd's to life and made my shrillest cd's listenable.
I don't know how an amp can work at both ends like that, but this one is
doing it. It is wonderfully clear from top to bottom -- and I do mean bottom.
It has a deeper, clearer bottom than the Krell KSA50S, which it is standing
in for -- and a clearer, more appealing midrange, a characteristic for
which the KSA50S was particularly noted. Its ability to get the timbre of
things in ways no other amp I've heard is best demonstrated by the
palpability and presence it gets out of string quartets. I can feel both
the wood and rosin. And my wife just called to tell me that her favorite John
Gorka cd sounds like she's never heard it before: "How can an amplifier do
this," she said. "He sounds so there." Enough said. I have not yet heard
the SA 100 III, its larger brother. That's three weeks away. But if I were
planning on keeping the 805's forever, I'd be perfectly happy with the 50.
And actually, a friend is driving his huge VMPS floor-standers with one, so
who knows? All I can say is that is easily a $5000 amp -- and it retails
for $3000!!!

Power, smoothness, musicality

Zip

The Plinius SA-50, delivers a strong and powerfull musical way of reproduce music. For anyone thinking that the specified 50 Watt are insufficient for a high-end performance, my advice is go listen. If used with medium sensibility speakers it does wonders. I've been use mine with Sonus Faber Electa Amator II, and Magneplanar speakers and the amplifier always show a splendid control over them.
As all Plinius products it is very musical and controled, with a tigh and extended bass, transparent in and sweet in the mids and higs. An excellent product at a fair price.

Natural, open sound stage,astonishing detail (with most components I have tested), audio purity.

perhaps the price, but nothing else to my way of thinking.

I am using:
PLINIUS SA 50 power amplifier,
PLINIUS M7 preamplifier (ready to be upgraded),
DENON DCD1015G Cd player,
B&W DM603 S2 loudspeakers,
KIMBER silver interconnects
MONSTER XPHP3 speaker cable (ready to be upgraded,
LOVAN system support.
(I have a medium sized listening room)

Although I have two weak links in my system (the pre-amp and the speaker cable), I am quite pleased with it's performance. I run a hifi store in PLINIUS' home town (Palmerston North, New Zealand) and I have had the good fortune of being able to listen to world class products without having to buy any of them! So when it came to putting a system together for my main listening room at home, PLINIUS was what I decided to invest in.
I have also had the pleasure of spending an afternoon at the PLINIUS factory (with Peter) earlier this year and was pleased to be able to see first hand the stirling effort and craftsmanship which make PLINIUS products stand out from the rest.
I think PLINIUS products are well worth considering and I am sure any hifi enthusiast will recognise the benefits PLINIUS products can offer simply by listening.
As I say to all of my clients, " it is what sounds good to you, not what sounds good to me or the magazines. By all means consider other opinions, but make sure it sounds good to you. Listen with your own ears!!"

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I have tried and test numerous amps (Denon, Marantz, Arcam, Linn..etc) and have found the Plinius sound to be the most pleasing.