TIBO PA150 | Power Stereo Amplifier | 2 x 150W | Black

Originally purchased one of these PA150 power amplifiers to provide power to my front loudspeakers and at the same time take some 'pressure' off of my Denon AVR. The PA150 sounded a bit lean compared to the Denons dedicated, internal, amplifiers and didn't make much difference regarding 'power'.When using my Denons internal Front Right/Left amplifiers the comfortable listening volume LED indicator was usually between 32 - 36. With the PA150 ,( which is quoted as 2x150w 80hms) the output was very much the same. The volume indicator displaying between 32 -36. Over the next few weeks I did find myself warming to the PA150 sound, I definitely found the bass was more controlled and to be honest I did expect this, AVR amps are very much a compromise and the bass ,irrespective of price is always questionable, especially so in two channel stereo, in my opinion.I added a second PA150 and switched the amplifers to 'mono' mode. That's to say each amplifier provides the power to a single speaker only and this is where I began to encounter problems. The wiring of the loudspeaker outputs diagrams provided by Tibo are at best 'vague', and could be interpreted in several ways. Obviously one doesn't start poking cables in every connector hoping to 'stumble' upon the correct way etc, so I emailed Tibo three times, with no reply whatsoever. I thenwent onto the internet to try and find a definitive solution but there was very little information available. I eventually phoned Tibo and spoke with a Tibo employee who tried his very best to offer the information I required and concurred with me that the wiring instructions for the speakers aren't clear. He then informed me in an helpful civil manner that he would email me a 'better diagram'.On receiving the email of the loudspeaker cabling diagram from Tibo I was amazed to see that the actual diagram was the loudspeaker wiring for Rotel Power Amplifiers, (Pic attatched)which in principal are similar to the Tibo PA150, but the whole layout is different.Okay, so now I have a diagram to follow which isn't confusing and which doesn't show cabling routing crossing over existing loudspeaker binding posts albeit a diagram from a completely different amplifier.I combined the diagram of the Rotel Amplifiers with the PA150 diagrams and once all wired up I ran the Denons Audyssey room correction software, which measures the sound from all of the speakers and runs some sort of equation to make all the channels equal in volume in relation to other room acoustics and where the listener might actually be situated when listening to music or watching movies. I was very surprised to note that the Denons volume LED output indicator was exactly the same, displaying 32 - 36 at a comfortable listening level. This surprised me greatly given the 'mono switching' of the PA150 amplifers effectiviely claims to double the output of the amplifers, to 300 watts each. Don't get me wrong here, I aren't somebody who listens to music at high levels but nevertheless I didn't expect it to remain exactly the same.Overall, several weeks on, I like my Tibo PA150 Amps. On a recommendation level I would recommend a single PA150 if you want to extend the life of your AVR, perhaps even two in stereo mode for your front L/R and rear L/R, but I wouldn't recommend for using as 'Mono bridged Power Amps', for £500 you could buy a very decent stereo integrated amplifier which would do pretty much the same etc and the quoted 2x300 output isn't something that has even slightly materialised in my experience.It could be that I still don't actually have the PA150's correctly configured regarding the loudspeaker output wiring etc and am hopefully hoping to be having a friend of a friend who is evidently a sound engineer have a look at somepoint.I also should say that Tibo are a company that I like , I like what they are doing, offering quality audio equipment at reasonable prices is to be respected, however, they could definitely learn a lesson from other audio companies regarding 'customer care', 'customer services' and also clear, definitive instructions are an absolute necessity for both the consumer and the manafacturer, to avoid products being 'damaged' during 'connecting up' and consequently being returned.As a last note I find it interesting that 'Tibo' have offered no response to my observations and opinions.

Pros:Built like a tank.Toroidal transformer.Slim format.Linear frequency response (just to the ear - sounds a tad less warm than a UK version of the Onkyo A9010 amp)Sufficient amplification for it's purpose (used within a 12ftx12ft garden office).Cons:150w is marketing speak - at a rough guess, I would say it is more like 50 watts RMS.No measurements for this amp can be found ANYWHERE - Tibo's website and documentation is dreadful.Overall:Well, I'm keeping it. I wanted a power amp cable of driving everyday speakers (eg in 40 to 100 watt rated range...6 ohms to 8 ohms). It does this and sits nicely underneath my preamp and it's power supply as it does not get overly warm. On this basis, I guess it uses a class D amp module (but don't know as Tibo keep everything in the mystery box) - maybe gets up to 50 watts RMS and it's peak power is 150 watts. Who knows??!Sound quality is acceptable and I am quite picky, so read this as 'not bad at all'.Recommendation:If you are looking for a comparatively inexpensive but reasonable quality power amp and have a good pre-amp, I don't think you would be disappointed. However, if you expect this amp to deliver more than around 50 watts RMS, you might be a tad miffed.

I had a pre power amp combo many years ago and lived the sound it gave , but unfortunately it died in the end. And at the time was left with a choice of many different integrated amps that were on the market at the time ended up with a Yamaha that cost £450 12 years ago .Have never been really wowed by its sound always seemed a little flat and clinical. Was about time I updated so I looked for a power preamp combo again . After hearing a few valve amps I decided to go for a valve preamp and a solid state power amp . So I've now got this lovely sounding pre power amp combo . The power amp sounds great only let down slightly by the fact that I am still burning in the valves on the preamp . It powers my Heco 504 speakers very well , just make sure you use good quality speaker cables . Don't make the mistake I did and use sliver RCA connections between the pre and power amp as it made it sound a little Shirl and lack bass , high grade copper connections are best for this and have me a nice clean warm sound . Also have tested this in bridge mono mode was very sound and extremely powerful and will play a very high volume without a hint of distortion. Have so far found this a very pleasant amp to listen too but have only had it a couple of days will update this I'm a few weeks .