Verastarr
brody05
Posts: 329
Hi everyone, I have had the Verastarr for a few weeks now and feel I can now post a 'review' on this amp's abilities. I have no affiliation to Verastarr and living on the other side of the world nothing to gain.
I am running a pair of SRT fronts with it, as it is a 6 channel amp, I have two channels running the subs, and the other 4 channels running the left and right stereo and SDA arrays. The 'pre amp' is a Denon AVCA1se and runs the rest of the system, RT3000s in the rear, RT55i's in the center channel and FX1000p for the sides. Cabling is predominately Straightwire.
I dont have any technical measuring equipment but have enjoyed being a HT enthusiast since Dolpy pro logic was the best thing so have been around for a while owning other brands such as Pioneer, NAD (with a sweet spot in my heart for the 218 I had), Parasound and Marantz.
As I understand it, Verastarr is built from the same platform as the Cinepro amps, I am not sure of the detail but there was a legal battle between them and the amps are virtually the same base 'design', Bob from AB amps is the one that builds them and does the 5 year warrenty side of things, having the amp dropped on the way over from the US to NZ it had to go back to the US for repair at Fedex expense, Bob was brilliant, emails between us were thick and fast and he was the most helpful person I have come accross, very reassuring when it came time to make the decision to send it all the way back. His AB amps are also of the same platform as the Cinepro and Verastarr amps.
Anyway, right out of the box I was impressed with the Verastarr (they are run for 100hours prior to shipping), I have never run quite so much power to the SRT's before, the Verastarr is rated at 400w at 8 ohms with an impressive 3.5db dynamic headroom.
I am amazed that such a high rated power amp can be so warm, it is not clinical sounding in nature or any rough spots, personally I have always favoured the warm sounding amps in the past, the Verastarr fits the bill quite nicely, not to be mistaken for lack of clarity, I am hearing things in CD's I haven't heard before. It does it and seemingly effortlessly, running the 4 ohm load of the 2 sub channels doesn't hinder its ability to keep the satelites more than happy, under test conditions it's power consumption is rated at 6000watts, so it takes a fair bit of juice to run it.
The mid range was the first thing I noticed, it was so punchy in nature, even the range at the crossover point was done exceptionally well, the second thing was the bass, the change from the SRT plate amps to the Verastarr was simply jaw dropping, I have always though the SRT subs were very impressive to start with and I ran one for a while with an NAD 218, but the Verastarr upgrade was phenominal, the tightness of the bass at all volumes is a real credit to the amp, while setting the amp up and pushing it to find its limits I only saw the clip lights come on once and that was before it went back for repair, I wont ever be hitting even close to those levels in any normal use or even the odd demo.
I cant really comment a lot on imaging as the SRT's have always been so good at this, I have them too far apart (5 meters) which is great for the movie soundstage but musically not quite 100% when the listening position is 4 meters back, I even have them toed in slightly to compensate for this, and yes I know, there are SRT owners that will be shocked to hear this but it is a compromise and the best I can get with them so far apart.
The inside of the amp will no doubt confirm for you as much as me as to the quality of the build (not to mention similarities with the above mentioned amp brands). I have put the pictures up and hope it works (less computor savvy and more computor simple is how I would describe that ability or rather lack of it).
I had the option of upgrading the Plitron transformer for a little more power but at the sacrifice of signal to noise ratio so I passed, the quiet parts and silence is as important to me as the big bangs.
The power cord is a beast and a beauty to look at, it is hard for me to make comparisons to the standard cord as I had to use an extension lead for the original that may have more bearing on the differences between the two than anything. That said though, the amp does seem to be getting better power delivery, during the real peak loads it seems a little more effortless and may be the reason the clip lights haven't come back when doing the set up after the amp came back from repair. This initial issue from being dropped was a scratchy noise in two of the channels and not the two running the subs where the clip lights came on breifly originally. I understand the internal power supply of an amp is pretty crucial in its ability to perform, I guess it stands to reason that getting the power to the amp is pretty important too, Verastarr has a longer history with high end cables than it does it's amps and the 20 amp IEC is very effective. A link to the power cord http://www.verastarr.com/ca_pc_silref_hc.html
I know people have the tendancy to hear what they want, particularly when it comes to justifying laying out so much money on an amp, I can simply say I have fallen head over heals for my Verastarr and have yet to find any weaknesses, its build quality, its specifications and its ability to perform with music ranging from opera to metal, the big bangs and the silences in movies, simply astounding and a real credit to both Mike at Verastarr and Bob at AB amps.
If you are in the market for a high powered amp, well the above clearly lays out my thoughts on this one. Never before have I taken to a new purchase like I have to this, having it for a week before needing to send it back to the US for a 3 week absence was quite simply heartbreaking, getting it back - sensational.
[/
I am running a pair of SRT fronts with it, as it is a 6 channel amp, I have two channels running the subs, and the other 4 channels running the left and right stereo and SDA arrays. The 'pre amp' is a Denon AVCA1se and runs the rest of the system, RT3000s in the rear, RT55i's in the center channel and FX1000p for the sides. Cabling is predominately Straightwire.
I dont have any technical measuring equipment but have enjoyed being a HT enthusiast since Dolpy pro logic was the best thing so have been around for a while owning other brands such as Pioneer, NAD (with a sweet spot in my heart for the 218 I had), Parasound and Marantz.
As I understand it, Verastarr is built from the same platform as the Cinepro amps, I am not sure of the detail but there was a legal battle between them and the amps are virtually the same base 'design', Bob from AB amps is the one that builds them and does the 5 year warrenty side of things, having the amp dropped on the way over from the US to NZ it had to go back to the US for repair at Fedex expense, Bob was brilliant, emails between us were thick and fast and he was the most helpful person I have come accross, very reassuring when it came time to make the decision to send it all the way back. His AB amps are also of the same platform as the Cinepro and Verastarr amps.
Anyway, right out of the box I was impressed with the Verastarr (they are run for 100hours prior to shipping), I have never run quite so much power to the SRT's before, the Verastarr is rated at 400w at 8 ohms with an impressive 3.5db dynamic headroom.
I am amazed that such a high rated power amp can be so warm, it is not clinical sounding in nature or any rough spots, personally I have always favoured the warm sounding amps in the past, the Verastarr fits the bill quite nicely, not to be mistaken for lack of clarity, I am hearing things in CD's I haven't heard before. It does it and seemingly effortlessly, running the 4 ohm load of the 2 sub channels doesn't hinder its ability to keep the satelites more than happy, under test conditions it's power consumption is rated at 6000watts, so it takes a fair bit of juice to run it.
The mid range was the first thing I noticed, it was so punchy in nature, even the range at the crossover point was done exceptionally well, the second thing was the bass, the change from the SRT plate amps to the Verastarr was simply jaw dropping, I have always though the SRT subs were very impressive to start with and I ran one for a while with an NAD 218, but the Verastarr upgrade was phenominal, the tightness of the bass at all volumes is a real credit to the amp, while setting the amp up and pushing it to find its limits I only saw the clip lights come on once and that was before it went back for repair, I wont ever be hitting even close to those levels in any normal use or even the odd demo.
I cant really comment a lot on imaging as the SRT's have always been so good at this, I have them too far apart (5 meters) which is great for the movie soundstage but musically not quite 100% when the listening position is 4 meters back, I even have them toed in slightly to compensate for this, and yes I know, there are SRT owners that will be shocked to hear this but it is a compromise and the best I can get with them so far apart.
The inside of the amp will no doubt confirm for you as much as me as to the quality of the build (not to mention similarities with the above mentioned amp brands). I have put the pictures up and hope it works (less computor savvy and more computor simple is how I would describe that ability or rather lack of it).
I had the option of upgrading the Plitron transformer for a little more power but at the sacrifice of signal to noise ratio so I passed, the quiet parts and silence is as important to me as the big bangs.
The power cord is a beast and a beauty to look at, it is hard for me to make comparisons to the standard cord as I had to use an extension lead for the original that may have more bearing on the differences between the two than anything. That said though, the amp does seem to be getting better power delivery, during the real peak loads it seems a little more effortless and may be the reason the clip lights haven't come back when doing the set up after the amp came back from repair. This initial issue from being dropped was a scratchy noise in two of the channels and not the two running the subs where the clip lights came on breifly originally. I understand the internal power supply of an amp is pretty crucial in its ability to perform, I guess it stands to reason that getting the power to the amp is pretty important too, Verastarr has a longer history with high end cables than it does it's amps and the 20 amp IEC is very effective. A link to the power cord http://www.verastarr.com/ca_pc_silref_hc.html
I know people have the tendancy to hear what they want, particularly when it comes to justifying laying out so much money on an amp, I can simply say I have fallen head over heals for my Verastarr and have yet to find any weaknesses, its build quality, its specifications and its ability to perform with music ranging from opera to metal, the big bangs and the silences in movies, simply astounding and a real credit to both Mike at Verastarr and Bob at AB amps.
If you are in the market for a high powered amp, well the above clearly lays out my thoughts on this one. Never before have I taken to a new purchase like I have to this, having it for a week before needing to send it back to the US for a 3 week absence was quite simply heartbreaking, getting it back - sensational.
[/ Post edited by brody05 on
Comments
-
I would love a Verastarr amp. I currently am using a Cinepro 3k6. (the first generation of your amp)
The original founder of Cinepro died during heart surgery. His family sold all the plans for the amps (and a fair amount of spare parts) to his partners who started the company Verastarr. They then sold the building and company name to another investor who still makes Cinepro amps based on the original designs.
I sent one of the channel boards from my Cinepro to Bob at AB Amps to have it repaired. They also will do upgrades (refreshes) to the cinepro amps like what I have. I have certainly enjoyed my Cinepro and the Verastarrs are supposed to be an even better evolution of that amp design. (the insides look very similar between them)
Enjoy it - you will have an amp to last for many, many years.
MichaelMains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms) -
Glad to hear you're enjoying the amp. Mike at Verastarr performed the initial mods on my CDP a few years ago. I've also heard his amps. They are supposedly tricked out CinePro amps -- same design, better parts, IIRC.HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50 LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub
"God grooves with tubes." -
I would love a Verastarr amp. I currently am using a Cinepro 3k6. (the first generation of your amp)
The original founder of Cinepro died during heart surgery. His family sold all the plans for the amps (and a fair amount of spare parts) to his partners who started the company Verastarr. They then sold the building and company name to another investor who still makes Cinepro amps based on the original designs.
I sent one of the channel boards from my Cinepro to Bob at AB Amps to have it repaired. They also will do upgrades (refreshes) to the cinepro amps like what I have. I have certainly enjoyed my Cinepro and the Verastarrs are supposed to be an even better evolution of that amp design. (the insides look very similar between them)
Enjoy it - you will have an amp to last for many, many years.
Michael
Bob is a very clever guy and most helpfull, I am very impressed with his willingness to help, probably the best customer services I have had from memory, makes the 5 year warrenty thing well worth it.
I have seen photo's inside one of the 3k6's series and yes, the layout is very similar. I haven't heard the amp itself but read a forum where Eric (now passed away) was talking about the amps themselves and some of the changes to the se gold ones, it was very interesting reading and he came accross so gracious and very passionate about his amp designs including the transition from industrial to home use. Here is a link to it incase you haven't read it and interested.
http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=39296&perpage=20&pagenumber=1
Thanks and yes, cant see myself parting with the Verastarr now. -
Glad to hear you're enjoying the amp. Mike at Verastarr performed the initial mods on my CDP a few years ago. I've also heard his amps. They are supposedly tricked out CinePro amps -- same design, better parts, IIRC.
Yeah, I think that is one way of putting it. I have done some reading and there aren't any bad reviews out there on the Verastarr amps. There isn't much info to be found actually, I don't think the marketing for home use has been pushed all that hard, it is a shame as they really are that good that I couldn't imagine anyone not being blown away by them, even when compared with some of the heavy hitters of the industry so to speak. It is funny really, I cant stop looking at it, use it as often as I can and just brings a smile to my face so easily, I really dont want to sound like a raving launatic but I have never taken to a piece of equipment so much in the past, even when I first got the SRT's, I was blown away sure and went on a bit but maybe didn't appreciate them as I was young and just a bass head, now I am a bit wiser (not that the mrs would agree), the finesse of things is more important, I hope others out there can demo one of these amps and take the plunge, there would be no looking back. -
How much that AMP Cost?Panasonic 65" Plasma
Pioneer SC81
PS4 BluRay / Memorex BD-Player
Polk RTiA7 Fronts
Polk CS2 Center
Polk RTi4 Surrounds
Eomtiva XRef12
Monster Power HtS 1600 Power Line Filter/Conditioner -
He got something like this.....
An excellent amp. (and here is a chance to own your own rockin Verastarr amp at 40% of its original price....)
MichaelMains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms) -
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
-
How much that AMP Cost?
I picked it up off him (Mike Powel) for $4150USD-, it was his own amp and being made for him had a couple of upgrades but nothing majorl. -
1.5 hernias.
Haha and sore knees from begging the mrs....... I think she got sick of my asking, it was a three pronged attack, nag......nag......and nag again.... -
He got something like this.....
An excellent amp. (and here is a chance to own a rockin Verastarr amp at 40% of its original price....)
Michael
My one is the 6.4se which is basically the studio 64 with a different face plate.
The SSA64 is the one up from mine (400 watts vs 440 and a couple of upgrades such as different capacitors ect), my cousin actually has 2 of those ones and they sound awesome also, just a bit more power really and some fluff such as binding posts, I would have jumped on this one if it was available at the time of purchasing mine. Both exceptionally good amps. -
I have been fortunate enough to have a listening session with Brody.
Although it was only a relatively short session i feel i can add to your review (hope you don't mind)....
My initial impression of the verastarr@6x400w is that its not as big physically as i thought it would be. I have seen and heard Plinius, Bryston and Rotel to name a few, and the verastarr size wise is not the biggest of them. The faceplate is uncluttered (as most power amps are), with independent channel lights. The lights i thought would be distracting and they proved exactly that, entrancing to say the least watching them dance....
Before i went for a listen i played quite a few tracks at home so they were fresh in my mind. I own SRT's aswell and although our systems differ in a lot of ways, SRT's are SRT's (mine are being run by a NAD218thx which is no slouch).
3 things really impressed me ;
* The first thing that struck me was the backdrop, silence, like midnight in the bush, blackness... Can there be different levels of silence?
* Bass on the verastarr is nothing short of phenomenal. I thought the plinius i heard had a good grip on bass. Its hard to describe but the bass has texture/separation/layers and a depth that i have never heard, ever. How a normal speaker could cope with this thing i shudder to think, a fair bit of caution would be needed.
* The last thing for me is just what the verastarr is capable of. I still cant comprehend how a single amplifier can run SRT's including the subs with the plate amps removed!!! The control/grace it wields over the speakers is just breath-taking, even at levels that would shock even the most hard-core HT fans.
In summary, the amp is like a best friend, if you call on him he'll be there....
I haven't heard such a complete amplifier for both music and HT period. So many amps do some things well but rarely all, and i think this is where it excels. We run it pretty hard (beyond 0.0db:eek:), and it still never sounded flustered. No red lights to indicate clipping, no grain in the treble, and no loss in bass definition.
I woke this morning and was a little disappointed not to find one under the tree
. Oh well i'll have to be super good next year and wait and see....:D
Merry christmas everybodyIn terms of audio, i truly feel sorry for the visually impaired. How can they know what they like if they cant read google?
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showcase/view.php?userid=86838
