Acurus or Rotel ?
L. Liberis
pre-amp are cheaper than the American ACURUS A250 power-amp and
ACURUS RL11 pre-amp ( by about 25% ).
Is the ACURUS worth the extra ?
Has anyone auditioned these two models ?
Are there any other pre/power combos that I should
consider (similar UK price bracket 1200 UKP) ?
My speakers are the SD Acoustics SD 1 MK 2 (sensitivity 89 db,
bass from 25 Hz).
Any suggestions appreciated.
Regards,
Lakis Liberis
ume...@ps.ic.ac.uk
Thor Legvold
L. Liberis <l.li...@Imperial.ac.uk> wrote:
>In the UK the ROTEL RB990BX power-amp (200 W) and RC990BX
>pre-amp are cheaper than the American ACURUS A250 power-amp and
>ACURUS RL11 pre-amp ( by about 25% ).
I see. What will you be driving with them?
>Is the ACURUS worth the extra ?
IMO - no.
>Has anyone auditioned these two models ?
I've had an Acurus on home-loan, and sell Rotel at work (along with
Audiolab, Arcam, Densen, Adyton, Doxa and Audio Research, among others)
The Acurus was defect in one channel after an hour of use (no it was
not something _I_ did!) which didn't help my opinion of it. It was
grainy and forward as is to be expected of a new amp. After several
hours it improved, but not by much. I returned it after 2 days,
still grainy, still harsh, overrated (how they find 250 watts I don't
know, a Conrad Johnsen MV100 plays better, higher, louser, cleaner,
etc. I know, it's not in the same class, but anyway, its 100 watts
that are two times the effect of Acurus' 250...) and dissapointing
after all the hype.
What I bought? A Doxa 70 (Norwegian made), which I traded out for a
pair of Muse 150 monoblocks. Ahhh, now were getting somewhere :-)
>Are there any other pre/power combos that I should
>consider (similar UK price bracket 1200 UKP) ?
If you are seriously considering separates in this price range from
Rotel and Acurus, I'd save your money and buy an Arcam delta 270 or
290 (don't recall modell nr.) integrated. Not as many flashing
lights as the Rotel or hype as the Arcam, but a sound that never
dissapoints - I'm impressed by Arcam everytime I demo one at work -
they make a really nice amp with a great sound for a very fair
price. RIAA stage costs a bit extra if you need it. Otherwise,
if you want a pre/power combo no matter what, check out Densen
(Danish) or a Doxa 70 with 07 passive pre (Norwegian) if you have
access to these companies. If you get the Arcam use the money you
save on _good_ cables and some more music :-)
>My speakers are the SD Acoustics SD 1 MK 2 (sensitivity 89 db,
>bass from 25 Hz).
>Any suggestions appreciated.
Hope this is of some help. Email me if you want to talk more.
>Regards,
>Lakis Liberis
>ume...@ps.ic.ac.uk
Regards,
--
Thor Legvold | This is the strangest life
NorNeXT User Group leader | I've ever known...
University of Bergen | - Jim Morrison, The Doors
Norway | ed...@edb.uib.no (NeXTmail)
Victory Rahi
Centaur Minors. The sound is wonderful and I really think that the amp
is fabulous. I can't speak about the other components because I haven't
listened to the Rotel amp, but I know that the Acurus was far better
than the Adcom 555 II that I compared it too. I actually thought it
outperformed the Mark Levinson No. 29. I only have one or two
complaints about the amp:
1. The low bass is not as tight as I would like. The Adcom was
tighter but not nearly as musical sounding in the midrange and treble.
The Acurus has just the most minute amount of grain in the low treble,
but on a smooth pair of speakers its nearly undetectable.
2. I wish that the amp offered a balancedc input option.
Otherwise I think its fantastic!
Hope this helps.
Rahi Victory
L. Liberis
(l.li...@Imperial.ac.uk)
wrote: : In the UK the ROTEL RB990BX power-amp (200 W) and RC990BX
: pre-amp are cheaper than the American ACURUS A250 power-amp and
: ACURUS RL11 pre-amp ( by about 25% ).
: Is the ACURUS worth the extra ?
: Has anyone auditioned these two models ?
: Are there any other pre/power combos that I should
: consider (similar UK price bracket 1200 UKP) ?
: My speakers are the SD Acoustics SD 1 MK 2 (sensitivity 89 db,
: bass from 25 Hz).
: Any suggestions appreciated.
: Regards,
: Lakis Liberis
: ume...@ps.ic.ac.uk