|
Review 3 of 4 Summary:
I love this amp. As a former McIntosh fanatic, who loves the soft easy to listen to sound of Mac amps, I had a difficult time finding an amp that didn't grate on my ears.
I gave up on the old McIntosh stuff because they lacked detail, very smooth sound, but no detail. Since then, I tried several amps, most of which offered more detail and clairity, but at the expense of harshness. The Counterpoint amp is also easy to listen to, but the bass is all messed up. Musical fidedity is great, but just a little to polite. The Bellis 150A was nearly perfect, but at $1500, it cost nearly 3 times what I paid for the Hafler 9303. To my ears, the 9303 and the much praised Bellis, are very close cousins.
Here's the kicker....
There's a place called HCMAudio.com, who sells factory remanufactured Hafler amps for cheap. I got my 9303 for $649. This is a steal.
Stereophile mag gave the Hafler 9300 (same amp, but without the balanced inputs) a class B, recommended component rating, and that was based on the retail price of $1400. At $649, what else can you say.
Let's see, what else...
Usual drival about great bass and dynamics, but the best quality is the amps ability to reproduce those delicate, subtle sounds, like when Eric Clapton accidently wacks his guitar on the leg of his chair, on the Uplugged CD. With my old Carver cube, I never even heard this sound. With the Mac amp, I heard a thud, but couldn't identify it.
With the Hafler, I could tell exactly what happed.
Great sound, plain-jane cosmetics Strengths:
Smooth-sounding, dynamic, excellent value Weaknesses:
Ever so slight forwardness in upper midrange Similar Products Used:
PS Audio Model 2, McIntosh MC250, Carver M400, Musical Fidelity A3, Bellis 150A, Counterpoint NPS-100
| 
5 of 5
