Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Audio by Van Alstine, Inc. Omega III 260 Amplifier (SS) by Marc Bratton

Model:	Omega III 260
Category:	Amplifier (SS)
Suggested Retail Price:	$1059
Description:	High current MOSFET amplifier
Manufacturer URL:	Audio by Van Alstine, Inc.
Manufacturer URL:	Audio by Van Alstine, Inc.

Review by Marc Bratton ( A ) on June 17, 2003 at 21:01:04
IP Address: 63.184.97.201

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for the Omega III 260

This amplifier is the immediate precursor to his current OmegaStar 260 solid state amplifier, which retails for $1200. As such, their specs are about identical. This amplifier is very conservatively rated at 130wpc into 8 ohms, 260 into 4 ohms, and yes, a whopping 520wpc into a 2 ohm load, all of which belies the very big, stiff, and well regulated power supply this amp is endowed with. And it sounds it...the first thing that strikes you about the sound of this amp is its extraordinary sense of ease and unflapability (is that a word?), and its unbridled dynamics. Even with my Magnepans, I could not get it to sound strained no matter how hard I pushed it. Suffice it to say my ears and the room overloaded way before the amp. In this regard, it sounds way more powerful than most '200wpc' amps I've heard. Bass is Stygian, tight, and clean...and there's plenty of it. Soundstaging is excellent-not only very wide, but VERY deep, and layered. In this one sense only, it is like a tube amp. Plenty of air there; the treble seems to go on forever.But you'd never be fooled into thinking this was a tube amp. Its sound is clear, clean, cool and pellucid, like a mountain stream. There is no tube warmth at all. In fact, this is about the most utterly neutral and transparent amp I've heard, of amps in its class. We all SAY we want neutrality, but do we really? If it's a crappy recording, this amp does NOTHING to hide it...you'll hear every crapola IC op amp, slider control, and garbage resistor in the mixing board used. If the recording is really good, then this amp does nothing to hide that either. It can sound tubed and lush if the recording is that way, or harsh and grainy if the recording is thus.As far as harshness goes, it doesn't seem to impart any of its own. Like most all solid state amps anywhere near its price range, it does impart a very slight grain to the texture...but it is a fairly fine one in this case. Less so than many any other SS amps I've heard in this price range.
My one complaint is it just doesn't have the liquidity in the midrange or treble finesse of a really sweet tube amp. Sam Tellig's phrase 'a bit threadbare' comes to mind. In this regard it is like most SS amps in its class. I wouldn't call its sound dry, but it might head that way if you had a solid state preamp in front of it that also tended that way. Not near as bad as the Adcoms in this regard. It mates VERY well with a tubed preamp as it's transparent enough to let that tube midrange come thru from the preamp, and it helps flesh out the sound. This may be why it seems a bit more successful with an average rock recording (read:mediocre) than an average (mediocre) classical recording. Truth of timbre is what tubes do in spades, and this amp can't quite match that.
Quite frankly, I'd love to hear the FET/Valve amps...I'm sure the tubed inputs remedy the complaints ennumerated above. But this amplifier is an overachiever for its price. It is a whole order of magnitude better than any of the Adcoms, Parasounds, B&K's, or yes even Brystons in its class. It sounds clearer, cleaner and more dynamic than any of these. If you've got a hard to drive set of speakers that need some real current, and you don't have big bucks to spend, you could do FAR worse than this amp. Believe me, I've heard them. While I'm not a big lover of solid state, I think it'd be hard for me to go back to a medium power tube amp now, after hearing how alive my Magnepans became after I dropped this amp into the signal chain. Pair it with a good tubed preamp, feed it a good recording, you'll be pleased. If you're a diehard tube lover, look elsewhere. Long term, I'm hoping for a FET/Valve. Short term, this will do nicely. In fact, I was going to sell this amp, and have thought the better of it. Sure, there are better amps out there, but it'd be hard to beat this amp for the price I paid.

Product Weakness: A bit threadbare harmonically. Definitely sounds like what it is...a very well designed affordable solid state amp. I think pairing it with a tube preamp really helps here.
Product Strengths: Clean, clear, DYNAMIC, and neutral. Excellent soundstaging and bass. No real solid state harshness of its own.Built like a brick, should outlast you.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	AVA Omega III 260
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	AVA Transcendence 7SL
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Teres/Morch UP4/Virtuoso. Old style Rega Planet
Speakers:	Magnepan MMGs
Cables/Interconnects:	All DH Labs
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, jazz, rock, even a wee bit of country
Room Size (LxWxH):	who x cares x
Room Comments/Treatments:	look it up
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Brickwall
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	A bit threadbare harmonically. Definitely sounds like what it is...a very well designed affordable solid state amp. I think pairing it with a tube preamp really helps here.
Product Strengths:	Clean, clear, DYNAMIC, and neutral. Excellent soundstaging and bass. No real solid state harshness of its own.Built like a brick, should outlast you.