Monoprice 300-Watt (150w RMS x2) Studio Audio Amplifier (605030) Black

Compared to the other products I was looking at in this price range this thing is clearly superior. Well made, stays cool, and sounds clear. I had made my own bridged speaker wire but accidentally shorted out one end. The protection light came on on the unit so I got the multi-meter out and quickly realized the problem and corrected it. No damage to the unit. Pumps out great sound.Yes, the fan is a bit noisy but I'm not recording vocals in the same room so it doesn't much matter. I'm suing it run a PA main that I use for both electric and bass guitar through Boss multi-effects pedals. Works great. Eventually going to probably get a 2nd speaker and run stereo for better rotory speaker and chorus effects. For now I'm running in bridged mode, which gives pretty crazy headroom. I'm sure I could blow my inexpensive PA speaker before I even push the amp that hard.If I needed it silent I would take the other reviewers advice and take the top off.Over-all this is a great value. I've had good luck with Monoprice in the past and it is one of the reasons I went this route.

The media could not be loaded. The amp was installed in bridged mode driving the center channel speaker in a home theater setup using all separates. The monoprice provides a decent amount of power, and is reasonably clean with no noticeable hiss or audio noise. I am pleased with the heft, layout, features and power of the amp, especially at this price point.Now onto the (only) negative....yes...the fan...make no mistake...IT IS VERY LOUD for any half decent dedicated home theater room (only exception is if electronics are in an enclosed rack or closet), other than that, it is way louder than any of my other crown amps, think small hair drier at low speed. I am not new to home theater by any means, and spend a good amount of time tuning, treating, etc my room, and, well..it is what it is...a decent low budget amp with a very loud fan. It may be perfectly better suited for live /PA use or noisy environments in general, but not HT in exposed equipment settings. I Will look into the fan mod.Hope the video goes through...Im switching on a Crown amp (silent), then the Monoprice). .should give you an idea.Edited: Did a cooling fan swap using the fan described below from Amazon. Amp is now much quieter. Probably 80% less fan noise. Fan replacement required cutting and splicong 2 wires, pretty straightforward.Fan used:Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800, High Performance Cooling Fan, 3-Pin, 1800 RPM (80mm, Grey)

I bought this amp after much deliberating. I finally decided to pull the trigger after coming to the conclusion that absolute sound fidelity is not my primary concern. I use this amp in a stereo guitar amp rig, driven by an Atomic Amplifire digital modeler. For my purposes it works well. If I was using it for critical listening I probably would have spent more money for a better amp. I generally don't like to say in a review that "for the price" it is a good amp... but simply put, there is not any other single rack space amp that I could find that didn't cost significantly more. If I was using it in home stereo or home theater set-up I would have spent more money on another amp, but in a guitar rig it works well. Guitar speakers don't reproduce frequencies much below 80 HZ or above 7kHZ so I can't be really critical of the sound quality at the high and low ends of the spectrum. In my guitar rig it sounds punchy and articulate. I haven't used it yet at band or gig volume and I will update this review after I do. As of now, I am reasonably confident that it will hold up well in those environments. I read a review by another guitar player that said this amp seemed very underpowered, and that I don't agree with. IMO no solid state amp will compete with a good tube amp, even one rated for half the power rating will often be perceived as louder. This amp does pretty well for solid state so far.I will also say, as stated in other reviews, that the amp has a fan and you can hear it unless what you're playing is fairly loud. That is one of the reasons that I probably wouldn't use it in a stereo or home theater setting, unless it is in another room or sealed case. You would definitely be able to hear the fan listening to anything with quieter parts, such as movies or classical music.Overall I am very happy with this purchase.

The amp is an incredible value. I bought it for my guitar rig, using an SMS classic preamp and and Eminence Ragin Cagun speaker. It is well designed, and powerful. i compared it to my 1983 VanAlistine Mosfet 200B. The VanAlistine is better, it (the VanAlistine) has more more tube-like sound, it is warmer and has a more ‘airy’ presentation. But an amp of VanAlistine’s quality today would be well more than $1000. The Monoprice, by comparison, is a little brittle and cold/sterile sounding—more obviously solid state. Still, at $115, the Monoprice you cannot go wrong. I also have an AudioSource 200 watt amp that was double the price ( 4 years ago) of the Monoprice, and the Monoprice is far better. Note the fan on the Monoprice is definitely audible. Not a problem while playing guitar, but clearly audible at idle. Probably too loud for a HiFi/ home theater setting. Overall, this amp far exceeds expectations based on price, but dont compare it to the higher end of hi fi amps. At the price, it gets 5 stars. If it sold for $400, i would give it 4 stars.

This amplifier provides sound to outdoor installed speakers around a porch area. This thing can push out some power when loaded at 4Ω/per channel. I had to put the gain down to half to prevent others in control of the faders from getting to loud with it. I do have neighbors after all. Definitely buying the same amplifier when the next set of speakers are installed in the yard.