What speakers do you have?So far from initial listening it has a great extended high end, no graininess very clean. It is quite good. I suspect that it probably sounds a lot like the Benchmark. It doesn't favor any part of the musical spectrum. Very neutral. It runs exceptionally cool and has loads of power. It runs full Class B. I am convinced in its price range it is extremely competitive. My Wells has a more colored sound I just happen to like. I could live with both, the only thing is the input impedance is 10K ohm so be aware.
REL subs with fully balanced amps can cause some issues due to common ground. Heard about this with my Ampzillas. It’s just not compatible.I picked up a S800 a couple months ago and had quite a terrible experience with it. I used a REL Tzero subwoofer that connected to it using a high level input cable and the subwoofer barely moved. I had though maybe it was my subwoofer but when I swapped the S800 out with a Schiit Aegir, the subwoofer came back to life. I swapped the S800 with a new replacement unit and after one day of using it, the right channel went out. I just requested a refund after that.
I'm surprised that all the reviews on this unit have been positive because the amp was very lacking imo. The Schiit Aegir that I used to test was a two tiers above in enjoyability and musicality. The SPL was closed in and "neutral" but lacked dynamics. The only thing I thought it did well was clear vocals with a pretty solid center image. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed by my experience with the S800. I think there's probably a good reason why there aren't as many S800 owners as there are AHB2 owners.
Performer S1200 owner here. I auditioned S800 and S1200 and ended up with the S1200. The S1200 is better by a wide margin in all areas of sound. Excellent amplifier without even taking into account price. Ergonomics dodgy, looks dull, and casing is purely functional. But sound wise, it punches way above it's price and looks.
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