Avantone CLA-200

Nach eingehender sehr guter Beratung in der Studioabteilung habe ich beschlossen eine defekte HIFI Endstufe eines namhaften deutschen Herstellers gegen Studiotechnik zu ersetzen. Die Wahl viel auf den Avantone CLA 200 da dieser konvektionsgekühlt ohne Lüftergeräusch arbeitet. Der Verstärker kommt an vorhandenen Passivlautsprechern zur Wiedergabe von CD's und LP's zum Einsatz. Die äußere Verarbeitung ist tadellos die Rasterung der Potenziemeter ist präzise. Klanglich stellt das Gerät meinen vorher verwendeten, wesentlich teuereren Verstärker in vielen Kriterien in den Schatten. Die räumliche Positionierung der einzelnen Instrumente und Stimmen ist sehr gut ortbar, Bässe klar, Bläser näher am Originalklang, keine überzogenen Höhen. Das Klangbild ist natürlicher und näher am Original. Bei künftigen Investitionen in Musikwiedergabetechnik werde ich mich wieder an Studiotechnik und nicht mehr an Hifi Technik orientieren.

I bought this amp for my Yamaha NS-10M Studio monitors using it with my Apollo Twin MKII audio interface. Today CLA-10 monitors are considered by most as the best replica of NS-10's, and CLA-200 amp is designed especially for CLA-10's. So I thought this amp would be the best match for my NS-10's.

Now that I've bought the amp and used it a few days, I can't tell that CLA-200 is ideal for NS-10's, but nevertheless, it's really a good option and I don't regret buying it. For people looking for the ideal match, I would recommend considering old used vintage amps – it might be hard to find the right one in good conditions on the secondary market, and the price usually is much higher than CLA-200's + some additional risks, but it can be worth it. Personally, I'm pretty fine with CLA-200.

Pros:
+ Sounds and looks really great
+ Silent (even my laptop is much louder)
+ Has Link outputs (I use them for a subwoofer even though it also has its link outputs, just love how all the system works this way)
+ It's heavy, but you only need 4 rack screws in the front to mount it. I thought I'd need some extra mounting using its back "ears".

Cons:
- VU meters don't work well with NS-10, they were designed for CLA-10's, and probably due to some difference in the circuit, you'd hardly see any movements on VU meters. It's a known issue.
- At the minimum volume knob positions (1-1) the real volume differs between two speakers. The problem eliminates from the second volume knob positions (2-2, 3-3 and higher). It might seem not critical (and it's really not that much), but in pair with my Apollo Twin, I don't need that much amplification as I usually work on low volumes.
- When I received my CLA-200, there was a strange sound from the inside when moving the amp. When I uncovered it, it had turned out that one of the screws was unscrewed. I fixed the problem but it was an unpleasant moment.

Would be nice to have:
~ XLR speaker outputs
~ VU meters mode switch for NS-10's