RadialElite

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from ebay

Summary:
I have two a200 running my PSB Stratus Goldi's bi-amped and use an a200x5 for the surrounds and center.

The a200 is a tank! I can describe it better than that. When the amps are asked to deliver they wake up and make the music sound full and rich.

The only moving parts are the power switch and the binding posts so it is as quiet as can be.

The toroidal transformer is massive enough that might seem silly to have one for each (get a monobloc if that is what you want),

The capacitor is almost the size of a coffee can and it always has reserves. I have had the levels at full volume when the power went out and the a200 will continue to play for at least 5 seconds!

I love them!

Strengths:
Solid power
clean uncolored sound
Solid build (could probably drop it 6 feet (on carpet) and it would be unscathed!

the massive heatsinks are pretty!

not pretentious

It is heavy so it would be harder to steal!

Weaknesses:
Doesn't have an auto on trigger, but it is cool to turn it on. it feels like the beginning of back to the future.

The heatsinks are sharp and will cut the uninitiated.

at program it is warm to the touch so has become the cat's favorite spot.

doesn't have balanced inputs, but if you had the money for a pre-amp with balanced inputs you might not have ever looked at this "budget" jewel.

Similar Products Used:
Mackie
Peavey

Price Paid:  $450.00 from ebay

Summary:
I've owned this amp for about a year now and it has performed flawlessly. It is the coolest running amp i've had in my system, no matter how long it stays on or how hard it's pushed. The only way to describe the sound is nuetral, nothing accentuated that shouldn't be. It also is extremely quiet when idling, not so with the Rotel amps (RB-981s)I used before the Acurus. The build quality is superb, this amp looks like it'll run forever. Too bad it is no longer in production. For the price this amp is unbeatable.

Strengths:
Build quality, runs cool and quiet.

Weaknesses:
None.

Similar Products Used:
Sony TA-N55-ES, Rotel RB-981

Price Paid:  $500.00 from HTF

Summary:
Very nice two channel amp. I'm using it with an Acurus A200x5 for a 7.1 system. There's not much else I can say! It does the job in a very understated way. Always have enough power, never runs hot, doesn't add anything to the sound, very well built, I expect to have it in my system for a long time.

Strengths:
Sound, build quality, looks.

Weaknesses:
Has 1 transformer. Dual transformers would be a step up, but that would cost more too.

Similar Products Used:
Aragon, Nakamichi (Threshold), Adcom

Price Paid:  $600.00 from returnbuy.com

Summary:
First, I am sorry to learn that Acurus is now defunct. Klipsch bought Mondial(Aragon/Acurus) and dropped Acurus to concentrate on Aragon. I hope that they don't ruin the company. I have two A200s used as monoblocks. They are smooth, detailed, neutral and image well. Bass is well defined and controlled. Mids are reproduced correctly without overweigting them. Highs are nicely extended without becoming "silvery". I strongly reccomend their products, they are bargains and mine were NIB, probably a few still left out there.

Strengths:
Excellent overall sound quality for the price. Smooth, detailed and non-fatiguing. Bass response is excellent-weel defined and controlled not bloated. Outstanding build quality/craftsmanship at this price. Better sounding and more accurate than anything else that I have listened to in this price range. Does not add or take away from what is present in recordings, good one sound great-bad recordings are reproduced the way they truly are. Amps "disappear" leaving only what is upstream.

Weaknesses:
Can get a little bright when driven hard, as almost all solid state products do. Out of business, unfortunately. Lack of snob/curb appeal, not a problem for me. I tend to let the equipment speak for itself on its own merits.

Similar Products Used:
Adcom, Rotel, NAD, Carver other various mid-fi products.

Price Paid:  $670.00 from www.onecall.com

Summary:
The Mondial Acurus A200 power amplifier is a heavy (32 lbm), solidly constructed, and — from all my observations — bullet-proof amp. The brushed black front panel is elegant in its simplicity. The side panels contain large cooling fins which seem to be very effective. The rear panel is nicely constructed with plated connectors for good long-term noncorroding connections. The speaker output terminals are particularly convenient in that they accept spade lugs, bare wires, or banana plugs. The A200 is specified to deliver 200 W rms per channel into 8 ohms with 3 dB of headroom (400 W transient peaks). The amp lists at $1100, but I purchased it from www.onecall.com for $670 delivered. The Mondial warranty is limited two-year. The accompanying documentation is a bit sparse: a single folded card giving a few specs and a few suggestions for operation. A schematic diagram would be of interest to most users. There is a bit more information on line at www.mondialdesigns.com.

To qualify my sonic observations, I must say that I am not a golden-eared audiophile, and, in fact, must admit to having tinnitus (ear ringing). That said, I am still intolerant of audible distortion or otherwise spurious noise in my music (mostly classical). Accordingly, I have never regarded LPs or most pre-recorded cassettes as high fidelity media but generally unworthy of even modest audiophile equipment. I am generally sympathetic to the former Stereo Review’s contention that it is difficult for most listeners to distinguish (in a double blind test) between two reasonably good amplifiers, and even more difficult to convincingly select the better sounding amp. My speaker wire is no. 16 lamp cord based on (again) double blind tests which convincingly demonstrated that it was audibly indistinguishable from the higher priced specialty wiring. I tend to be tough grader, so the 4 I give the Acurus is intended as a definite compliment. I'm not sure what would get a 5, maybe a McIntosh or a Mark Levinson.

My new A200 replaced a NAD 2200 (1986), which is comparable in power output (the NAD is 100 W rms + 6 dB headroom). I had been enduring intermittent channel breakup from the NAD and had it repaired several times. The A200 is driven by the pre-amp section of a Marantz 1120 integrated amplifier (1973). My primary speakers are two Klipsch Fortes (1994). My signal sources are an Empire Troubador turntable (1973), a Sony CDP-XA1ES CD player (1995), a Teac X-300R open reel tape deck (1984), and a Sony TC-KA1ES cassette deck (1996).

I have been using the A200 since late Aug. 2001 (3 months), averaging about 40 hours per week. I won’t attempt to verbally characterize the sound of the A200 except to comment that it delivers excellent power levels without coloring the sound, to the extent that I am able to discern. It will amplify classical music with large transients without audible evidence of clipping. The 1812 Overture on Telarc sounds excellent, though probably no amplifier in existence can reproduce the canon shots without clipping, at least at the volumes at which I tend to listen (my wife says it’s much too loud, but I’ve never actually broken anything and the police have never come). When I first acquired the A200, I did some comparative listening with the NAD (when I could get it to work). I would judge the sound comparable. The NAD 2200 received excellent reviews in its day; today, of course, nobody tests or critically reviews high fidelity equipment. We dearly need another Hirsch-Houck Laboratories.

There is one initial experience I should comment on. When I first replaced the NAD with the A200, I was chagrined to find that a loud ground loop buzz had appeared in my system. I traced the ground loop to the TV cable coming in through a VCR connected to the pre-amp. I eliminated it with a ground loop isolator from Radio Shack. Apparently, the NAD, which is not a conventional common ground amplifier, naturally broke the ground loop for me, whereas the common ground A200 did not. This is not a deficiency in the A200.

I can easily recommend the A200 to anyone who craves listening to music at a volume setting that allows one to discern detail at low volume and enjoy the thrill of thunderous transients. There is a minimum volume level below which the fidelity and detail of a good recording is just not apparent, but at or above that volume the transients become really loud, totally enveloping the committed listener. If this describes your listening goals, then too much power is not enough! But the A200 is a really good start.

Strengths:
high power and headroom, solid and well built

Weaknesses:
sparse documentation; would not turn down more headroom

Similar Products Used:
NAD 2200