Outstanding product! I can only compare to my previous setup but these amps are a HUGE improvement. Sold all 3 of my Adcom GFA555's to purchase these small monoblocks. Currently running a pair of Mordaunt Short Performance 880's (biwired). Front end is an Acurus ACD-11 and a Monarchy M22C (DAC/preamp purchased AFTER I got and listened to the SE-100's (sold my Theta Chroma - another HUGE improvement - especially in the bass). I was prepared to spend up to $4K for a good amplifier and after listening to many (Ho-Hum) amps - all solid state. I found out that you DON'T have to spend a fortune for an amp IF you don't "need" one of those "fancy" brand names. I came across the review of this amp in "Soundstage". I read all the reviews I could get my hands on before finally taking the plunge. (Ordered them without EVER hearing them!!!). Only downfall to Monarchy is very limited dealer network. Back to the music. . . The amount of detail or "music" that I was NOT getting with the Adcoms was enormous. Bass was about equal in power BUT much more defined. Vocals and strings are rendered with exquisite detail. I would have the rank the Monarchs VERY strong in vocal reproduction. These little beauties also pack plenty of power and did not seem any less "powerful" than when I had all 3 Adcoms (tri-amping) running the MS880's (at over 700 watts per channel!). These run exactly as the owners man. specified "40-50 degrees celsius". Mine are always @ 103 degrees Farenheight (about 40-42 celsius). For a "class A" model, they certainly don't get "hot" as I expected. That solid state "grain" or "glare" or Hash" (whatever you want to call it) is GONE from my system forever. Thanks Monarchy for an outstanding value!

Tremendous sound quality, perfect balance

Zip, none, zilch

I use these amps with Martin Logan Ascents, and the combination is beautiful. The SE-100s carry a fabulous mid-range and this is of course the exact strong point of the electrostatic Ascents. The result brings tears to my eyes :)

The whole output of the SEs is, above all, *balanced*. A song is presented to you in the proportions to which it is made. IMO, many amps and speakers produce an unbalanced sound which can sound excellent but in reality you're actually loosing out - for example, using a Rotel amp with Aerieus Is, the female voice came out very strongly and actually, when you think about it, dominated the rest of the song. This sounded superb with some songs (Baker Baker, from Under The Pink by Tori Amos) but it's *not* what you want - you're loosing out on what the song sounds like as a whole; you're just listening to one part. It's a bit like having the treble or bass set too high, you know?

Listening to the same song on the Ascents with the SEs was far more of an experience because the entire song was presented to you in harmony, and this is a far better experience than simply listening to the voice with an underlay of music (or music with a weedy, underlayed voice).

Note that the SE-100s I have are actally the year 2001 version, not the 2000 (the drop down list doesn't show 2001).

Earlier versions recieved some critisam for a weaker bass. I found none of this with my SEs; playing NIN (We're In This Together, Underneath It All) bass was wonderful; tight, clear, well defined, fast and exact.

The toughest test, musically, was playing Make You Mine (Heather Nova). On B&W CDM 9NTs and the Aeriues (both with a huge rotel amp) this sound just did not come to life. With the SEs and the Ascents, it was *there*. The vocals in particular was so perfectly *effortless* - you could just hear the speakers and amps making this fabulous sound without any effort at all. It was just *there*, they were simply doing what they did because they couldn't possible do anything else :)

Amp build quality is lovely; they amps are physically attractive and solid. Watch out for the heat sink fins - they're sharp enough that you don't want to pick the unit up by it's sides. You won't cut, but it will hurt :)

Note that as Class A amplifiers you need to be aware of their operating restrictions. They take 30 mins to warm up fully (this make a big difference to the sound), they don't like power spikes, leave for one minute at least after turning off, etc.

All of this is clearly documented on page 1 of the manual.
I feel very sorry for the guy further down the page who wiped his amps out by turning his pre-amp on *after* the amps were on - but the manual tells you not to and says if you do this you're not covered (it's not Monarchys fault, after all - buy the amps and you're buying the fact you need to use them in the way they are used).

The boss of Monarchy, C.C.Poon, is amicable and capable and will help with questions you have regarding the amps.

Note the price seems high because these amps were bought in the UK. We have to pay 17.5% sales tax and 4.5% import duty - sucks, big time.

Note that getting Class A amps for this price is essentially unheard of - if you want Class A, this is the best deal you'll get this side of Alpha Centauri!

I will be writing a later follow up review once I've had the amps for several more months.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Denon

Perfect delivery of female vocals, piano and violin; great for concerto music

Very minor - constant low level hum, "thump" when turned on

This is a follow-up to the review I posted abut 6 months ago. The amp is broken in and how sweet it is!

This amp made me become fan of Monarchy and I ended up upgrading 18B DAC to 33, and added Super DIP and PCOCC power cords all from Monarchy. I also upgraded my speakers to Merlin TSM SE from Totem One as well as transport.

OK, you heard all the fine rave reviews on the 22 series and 33 (22B with line level amp) DACs. If you haven't upgraded to these fine DACs then you are missing out. The SE100 deserves fine front ends and 22 series will do justice to your system. Upgrading from 18B to 33 was almost like day and night.

I was unbeliever to this "jitter" reducing devices; I mean if digital signal consists of 0's and 1's then what is this jitter stuff? Well, after putting the Super DIP between my
Pioneer Elite PD-91 (30 lb player from late 90's with external power supply)and 33, I realized that I was so used to the jitter that without such distortion it took me while to appreciate "cleaner" sound. Stereophile's recent annual edition (as well as old) included it on their "C" category and must for only $300.

I also was unbeliever to power cord upgrades but Gino in SF said it's a worthwhile upgrade to the SE100s. He was right. This made definite improvements to SE100 (quiter and more focused) that I think Monarchy ought to include it as stock power cords for SE100.

I noticed other reviewers used Totem Model One and I'd recommend trying Merlin TSM SE ($2400 per pair) as Totem is fine but Merlin is so much better that you will find yourself listening to fine recordings (good system will identify poor recordings) till wee hours in the morning.

Finnally, CC Poon is great as how many top executive in the audio world personally communicates with the customers?

My equipements:

Monarchy Model 33 DAC/line level amp
Monarchy SE100 Basic
Monarchy Super DIP
Pioneer Elite PD-91 as transport
Merlin TSM SE studio monitors
Target stand
DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-1 interconnect
DH Labs Silver Sonics D-75 digital cable
Illuminati D-60 digital cable
MIT MH-750 Bi-wire speaker cables

This is my review written for AE2 with discussions of Monarchy's. Just want to add that the Sonus Faber E. Amator 2 combined with SE100 delux makes you even more forgetting about the stereo and submerging into the music instead.

THE SYSTEM

AE2 sign. ser.2
Target R5 stands
Harmonic Tech Pro-11 speaker cable 10ft, Cardas jumper
Monarchy SE100 delux monos
Harmonic Tech Truthlink XRL 3m
Monarchy 33 with piggyback upgrade, HT power cord
Monarchy DIP2
Harmonic T. digital cables 2x
Marantz DV18

The next upgrade: AC cords for the monos, maybe the ones from Monarchy.

Over the time, I have heard quite some systems where things like VSR VR8, Audio Physics Calderra etc were featured at various dealers. But none has come close to my system when playing big orchestra music or piano. The whole sound picture is rock solid yet with all the fine layers revealed without any strains. With Rock and Jazz and all kind of vocals and chamber music, it's equally great. Well it can't reproduce the lowest octave under 40hz so well due to physical limits. But it's definitely among the most "complete" small speakers. Yet, you may get a little better and different result if the AE2 be replaced by Sonus Faber E. Amator 2, for more ease and beauty in the mid to high with also quite solid bass but a little bit less authority and definition. I heard them hooked on my Monarchy's with Maridian 508.24 w/o the HT cables. It's an alternative I'd love too if I could get SF Amator2 used.

Some caution when using AE2: Have a solid stand! I couldn't stand the sound when I first tried them on a pair of $100 stands. Also, the HT Pro11+ are quite essential to my above listening experience. I used Audiodyne and the HF was sometimes quite annoying and bass was a bit too tight. With HT Pro11+, everything got much better to a level I never thought of possible form speaker cable changes. Everything seems at ease now with gentler highs and more extended bass. And fine details come through NATURALLY without attention being caught to any part of the tone. At first, it felt as if they were less dynamic, but in truth after getting used you will find their reproduction sounds 'righter' and the perceived lack of dynamic is actually due to the removal of 'wrong' noise associated with other cables. Sorry, it's getting too long. It's just to say that AE2 might be picky as to the complementary pieces in your system. To be safe, I'd recommend tune amps to embelish the sound a bit, if you don't have my system.

Power on demand and very precise sound.

Grounding, akward to move

I have always been a tube enthusiast. I currently own two pairs of tube monoblocks, two tube stereo power amps, and two tubed integrateds. With that said, how could I like the SE-100's? Before I purchased the SE-100's I was using a Type 45 amplifier that I thought was the best amp I have ever heard. It took the harshest recordings and seemed to "liquify" them. Being very excited about this new amp, I wasn't ready to try out a solid state set of amps at that moment, but a friend really wanted a turntable I had so a little extra money came my way. I purchased this set of monoblocks to use with my current inefficient speakers so I would have a good loud system while I constructed my new 96DB speakers. Instead of going through with this plan, I have just decided to use the monoblocks. They manage to smooth over recordings almost as well as my other amp, yet they are very crisp and precise. I have discovered how nice my Soliloquy 5.0 speakers really are, and I am not planning on building new speakers for quite some time! I referred to the "grounding" as being a problem on these amps. All I had to do to bypass this was to put a cheater plug between the wall outlet and the AC chord. I ultimately plan to hard-wire my monoblocks so that I don't need a chord. I would recommend these amps to anyone who can afford them. Ohh, one last thing: don't underestimate the power of class A!

System components:
Soliloquy 5.0 Monitor Speakers with matching stands
TMC Reference Speaker Cable
Monarchy SE-100 Monoblocks
Bottlehead modified Foreplay Preamp
Arcam Delta Black Box 50 DAC/Delta 170.3 Transport
Oracle Delphi MK-3 w/Lehman Black Cube
Audio Magic Silver Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Quicksilver 60 monoblocks, modified ASUSA KT-108 monoblocks, ADCOM GFA-5800