The Best Amp for the Price of Dirt

Pedrillo : I revamped my listening space using the A500's & the APPO hooked to my ref. speakers. The A500's are so better than the trash talk in HI-FI and under $400 US a pair w/ext-warrenty. If your looking for a far less-expensive alternative w/ stunning musical sound this dirt cheep combo will not disappoint w/ the APPO ($169 US). Are they a Krell or a Mac ? NO , but none of you friends may tell the difference. Just my opinion. I love them and alternate between the A500's and my very costly gear ; six months in six months out. Tubes in winter.

Readers: It is true that the published bench tests reveal the A500's may not spec, as well as, say a Bryston. That is a fact. Nevertheless, the claim is these differences are subtel :The 500's are more than good enought to "meet all criteria for transpartent sound " , as stated in a review. That critic believes no one , except a few 18 year olds , could actually hear the difference. Well, I'm over 18 so that leaves me out of the debate.

It is my opinion, the A500 , as a mono blocks, are the most amazing find/value in Audio-Land. Period. For what they offer & for such value, an eager ear candy person (like me) can shift funds to upgrading the P/A or speakers to the surprise or chagrin of the other ear hounds. The only unanswered "Q" had to do with reliability; so far they answer as flawless, high performers , at the lowest price. I crown the A500's " The Best Amp(s) for the Price of Dirt " and you would also, should you buy them.

I'm with Crem1 - I continue to use an A500 on my desktop at the office, and a pair of A500 as monoblocks on my desk at home.

I NEVER turn them off, even through bad weather and thunderstorms, and I have never had a problem - they don't even get hot to the touch.

As good as Bryston, Pass, Levinson or ARC monoblocks? probably not. But these things sound pretty darn good.

I would say they somehow don't seem as powerful as claimed, but I otherwise continue to be delighted with these amps.

Can someone please also recommend:

"Best associated components for the price of dirt"

to use with our reigning champion for

"Best amp for the price of dirt"?

Best Wishes

09-10-08: Crem1
Readers: It is true that the published bench tests reveal the A500's may not spec, as well as, say a Bryston. That is a fact. Nevertheless, the claim is these differences are subtle :The 500's are more than good enought to "meet all criteria for transparent sound " , as stated in a review. That critic believes no one , except a few 18 year olds , could actually hear the difference. Well, I'm over 18 so that leaves me out of the debate.

Except for one thing, and I find it incredible that more people don't make a point of this: treble extension in electronics is also indicative of its overall speed. The issue is not so much whether you can hear a 0.5dB drop at 18KHz, it's that if it's flat only to 10KHz, that means the amp is only fast enough for a rise time of 5 milliseconds. An amp linear out to 100 KHz (and many are) would have a rise time nearly ten times as fast--around 500 microseconds.

You may not be able to hear much beyond 16KHz, but I think most people can hear the difference between a rise time of 5 ms and 500 micro-secs. Anybody who's heard a Spectral amp could tell you that.

I don't know why Aczel conveniently ignores that fact.

That doesn't mean the A500 doesn't deliver fair value; it obviously does.

But here's another "dirt cheap" approach--the Onkyo A-9555. This is an integrated amp that you can get on the Internet from an authorized dealer for $400-500. It has a decent built-in phono preamp. When it's fully broken in, which takes a good 100 hours, it's competitive with amps up to $2K, and preferable over many between $1K and $1.5K at least.

Unlike the Behringer's dodgy specs vs. measurements, the A-9555 has a usable frequency response out to 100 KHz, (measurements here) and I can attest that this is one fast amp. With this speed (every sound wave is formed more quickly with less slop) there is a very audible improvement in clarity and the ability to hear multiple harmonic, melodic, and bass lines easier than with a conventional amp. This is very audible to even a casual listener, and you don't have to hear to 20KHz to be able to notice it, especially with more complex music. The distortion curve is very flat, varying very little around the .1 % mark from 10 to 20KHz.

It puts out a solid 100 wpc into 8 ohms and 175 into 4 ohms, both channels driven. It's able to deliver a lot of current when called for, and the amp sounds bigger than its power rating would suggest.

Being an integrated, you get a 7-input linestage and a pretty decent phono stage thrown in as well. Plus, the back panel accepts RCA inputs and you can connect speaker cables via bananas.

Oh, and a remote control and a 3-year warranty. This amp is currently made in Japan, so the build quality is excellent.

I'm not saying that this is a *better* deal than the Behringer, but all things considered, even though the purchase price is higher, it's at least as good a value.

Johnnyb53, Thank you for a thoughtful view of the A-9555. We "dirt" folks need all the options that can be had in Audio-World. Do you have any recommendations for DVD/CD players ? I personally like the OPPO products , what about you.