Immense Power, Clarity, Low Distortion

NONE

WOW!!!!! I connected this to my HK AVR65 and "wow" is the only words that come to mind. My system consists of the following:
HK AVR65
Citation 7.1AMP
2 infinity reference series rear speakers
1 infinity sterling series center channel
2 Cerwin Vega 15" D9 speakers
Also using Cardas Microtwin interconnects and Tara labs 5

When I connected this amp up, I immediately played something with deep bass and the difference was amazing. The amp is rated to drive my 4ohm speakers and they have never sounded so rich and powerful. Not only is it loud, but the bass is smooth without distortion. The treble and mids have a very rich ring as well and clarity that is being brought out more than ever. The Krell Amps I think are the most overpriced Amps on earth. They sound great, but for 8-10k, they are not even worth it. The citation smacks it around hands down. One of the best investments that I have ever made and as one other reviewer noted..."You can buy some forms of happiness!!!"

If you can get a good deal on one, don't think, just buy it!!!!

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I have tested Krell KAV250, CLASSE, and Accurus Amps along with many other receivers from Yamaha, HK, ONKYO, etc,etc

Quiet, solid, POWERFUL.

HEAVY, (not a weakness)

I finally made the leap to separates when I saw these being blown out on Ubid. I had been using a Denon AVR-5700 (BIG dissapointment).
The only expensive part is the 5.0 controller, $3,700 if you can find it but worth every penny.
At first I was using the amps from the pre-outs of the AVR until I could get the controller.
I have to agree with the guy below, the transients come across accurately (if that's what he was saying), every nuance is proportionately correct. Something the 5700 just could not do on its' own.
I cannot praise this unit enough. I have many friends with seperates and have listened for over a year to everything the high end shop in my town sells. I have to say, I'm not impressed with their stuff. In fact, one friend has 4 $2,200
Brystons running some B&W 802's and he's got around $20,000 in his system and mine just blows his away in every category. Where his is seems harsh, the Madrigals are smoooooth, at high volume where the Brystons seem to become thin and the soundstage starts to collapse, the Madrigals just smile and say "how high do you want to go?".
If I was a little more audiophilologically literate I could expound on the unbelievable soundstage, the precise imaging, immeasurable depth of the noise floor or all the other technical perfections of this beautiful amp. But instead just let me say it sounds AWESOME!!!!!
The Citation 7.1 is hands down the finest of any of the dozen or so manufacturers offerings I have had the opportunity to listen to over the past year and like the gentlemen below, I would feel this way having paid the full $3,000, or even more.

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Bryston, Carver, EVERYTHING

Built like a tank,warm airy sound,so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Efforless power!

Binding post are capped off.

This amp is as close as you can get to the holy grail of music and movie entertainment. The Citation has an uncanny ability to reveal so much detail and clarity at extreme decibal levels. And to top it off,the sound stays warm and natural. You would think that this baby is a tube amp. And two channel music can actually sound like SACD with a decent DVD player and a high quality preamp. I consider myself the lucky few who bumped into this forgotten amplifier.

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Rotel 1095

Very clean sound. Powerful. Too heavy for a burglar to lift!!!

Too heavy for me to lift!!!

I have both the 7.1 amp and the 5.1 amp. The 7.1 sounds nicer in my opinion even against the 5.1 bridged for 300 watts per channel.

I agree with prior review that you can turn up the volume and experience no fatigue. This is the first time that I have experienced that. The music becomes richer as the volume goes up without unpleasant effect. Very enjoyable to listen to.

I bought this new in an unopened box via the internet. Oddly, the manual for this printed in 1995 indicates 130 watts per channel X 4 channels though the Citation site states 150 watt X 4 channels. I don't know if I got a really early model or not, the serial number is low. But regardless, this sounds truely wonderful.

I have not yet hooked this up for use in my home theater but the 5.1 sounded great (used a Luxman L580 for two of the six channels) and this will sound better.

I have been using two vintage Luxman M02 power amps rated at 150 watts per channel with better THD ratings for my stereo. Last two weeks used the Citation 5.1 bridged at 300 watts per channel and Luxman M02 mono at 320 watts for subwoofer but the Citation 7.1 blows those away hands down.

I have decided to sell my four Luxman vintage amps and other misc equipment just to get another one of these for use in another part of the house ... my wife will murder me!!!

If you can find it buy it!!! I have seen these go as cheap as $820 shipped recently. Also, the packing of this amp is excellent in a double weight outer box with inner box well spaced from outer box ... it even survived UPS shipping.

Similar Products Used:

Luxman M02, Luxman L580 R361 as power amps, Citation 5.1

Clean, warm but detailed, non-fatiguing, HIGH current, 4 channels makes it easy to biamp mains

Heavy, I didn't buy two

I have owned this amplifier for a little over a month, and it seems to be getting better every day. Ditto the comments regarding the non-fatiguing sound - but where this amp excels is it's ability to control difficult loads, as it should with such high current outputs. My mains are NHT 2.9s and I am using the 4 channels of the 7.1 to run them in a passive biamp configuration. Before the Citation, I had tried a variety of amplifiers in my system.

The Krell provided great resolution, but was somewhat sterile in its presentation. The Aragon was great at controlling bass, but lacked the slightest amount of warmth at the top. The McCormack was the most musical and was almost perfect with my speakers, but I felt that bass control was slightly lacking.

I bought the 7.1 based on reviews I had read and also after speaking with other NHT owners who were using this amplifier in their system. The first thing I noticed when I hooked it up was a smooth high end, lacking harshness, but with a great deal of detail - it was slightly (very slightly) grainy at first, but it has smoothed out. Mids were smooth and the bass was tight and controlled. Throughout it's break in period, coherence has improved (it was never a slouch to begin with), the soundtage is opening, and there is noticeably more air around voices than initially. I have had a difficult time matching an amplifier to my speakers, being that inadequate amplification has led to a very bright presentation, but I can honestly say that this amplifier is extremely musical and will be in my system for a long time.

Just an aside, I also dealt with Jeff, and when my first 7.1 was delivered it had a bad channel, so Jeff shipped out another one almost immediately. In the interim, I used the 5.1 (which I am using for center and surrounds) to power my mains, and I noticed slightly more grain and a bit more brightness with it - it is, however, an excellent amp also and brigded to 300 watts drives my Audio Center 2 with power and finesse.

Unbeatable at the current price, a great perofrmer at MSRP.

Similar Products Used:

McCormack DNA-1 dlx, Krell KAV-250a, Aragon 8008