AMP-150 - High End Integrated Amplifier
Weighing 13.8 kg, its sensational and solid mechanical design based on large heavy aluminum profiles and endowed with a huge power supply and sheer top-class components mounted on expensive double-sided fiberglass PCB... This amplifier simply speaks its own language.
Gato Audio AMP-150 is Danish high-end at its very best: An integrated amplifier of the highest aesthetic, technical and audio reproductive quality. Beautiful, simple and functional by design. As easy as child's play to operate. Resourceful enough to hold the most power-hungry speakers in a viselike grip, yet at the same time so musically respectful and authentic that even the most delicate micro-details and nuances seem to trickle out into "your personal imaginary concert hall"; the space between you and your speakers.
With a guaranteed minimum output of 2 x 150 Watts RMS in 8 ohms (IHF 20-20,000 Hz) and twice as much in 4 ohms, the Gato Audio AMP-150 can easily deliver more than enough power. Thousands of hours have passed while "voicing", a process where Gato Audio's development team has carefully selected and optimized the components in the amplifier's audio circuitry and power supplies to ensure that the AMP-150 does not leave any fingerprints on the music. The way the AMP-150 plays is therefore quite unusual; aurally, this is about the closest you can get to a piece of electrical cord with built-in amplification!
Many hi-fi enthusiasts are familiar with the issue of amplifiers that only play at their best after several hours of heating up. AMP-150 has an ingenious pre-heating circuit that when activated "accelerates" the amplifier's heat and thermal stabilization and subsequently switches off automatically. Therefore, you can enjoy optimal sound quality just about 15minutes after
AMP-150 is turned on from stone-cold power-off mode!
A classic beautiful instrument gauge with variable backlighting is used for analogue readout of the amplifier's gain regardless of whether the volume is adjusted via Gato Audio's tantalizing remote control unit or via the large volume control knob situated on the right-hand side of the amplifier front.
Coloured LED symbols indicate the use of muting and pre-Heating as well as the chosen input. The rear panel reveals line level inputs with gold-plated RCA and XLR connectors of the highest quality, and speakers are connected via large, massive terminals that can accommodate your choice of thick bare cables, banana or spade connectors.
The Gato Audio AMP-150 amplifier design will remind you 24 hours a day, year after year of the Gato Audio circuitry's unusually high degree of finely graded sound resolution and easily accessible musicality. The AMP-150 is Danish high-end of the most supreme quality. And the joys of ownership is of course backed up by a minimum 2-year factory warranty, not to mention a prompt, courteous and top-level competent service at Gato Audio's own service facilities just north of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Reviews
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HiFi & HIVI, Taiwan |
"Like an accurate and precise conductor, the AMP-150 is clear-cut and never vague about how each musical instrument each and every musician should perform" |
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Hi-Fi i Muzyka, Poland |
"Gato pulsates with energy, and it seems that it does not matter how loud it is playing. You are doomed to feel those calories." |
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6moons.com, online |
"The AMP-150 is both physically beautiful and sonically uncompromised." |
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Highfidelity.pl, Poland |
"The Gato Audio AMP-150 is supremely attractive. Besides Franco Serblin's Ktêma speakers this has been the only audio arrival of late which impressed my family." |
Technical stuff
| Output power (230 VAC) | 2x 150 W RMS 8 Ω / 2x 250 W RMS 4 Ω |
| Input impedance | 20kΩ RCA or 40kΩ Balanced |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz - 20 kHz ± 0.5 dB, and 2 Hz - 100 kHz ± 3 dB |
| Preamplifier output impedance | 100 Ω RCA and 200 Ω Balanced |
| Total Harmonic Distortion | < 0,05 % at rated power |
| Signal to Noise ratio A-weighted | > 100 dB |
| Voltage gain | 27 dB (+10 dB headroom) |
| Recommended speaker load | 4 Ω - 16 Ω |
| Load protection | Speakers < 1.5Ω |
Connectors
| Balanced analogue inputs | 1 pair gold plated XLR Neutrik |
| Unbalanced analogue inputs | 4 pairs of gold plated RCA Stereo |
| Balanced analogue outputs | 1 pair gold plated XLR Neutrik |
| Unbalanced analogue outputs | 1 pair of gold plated RCA Stereo |
| Speaker output | 2 pairs of gold plated safety banana |
Size & Power
| Power Requirements | 115 VAC or 230 VAC, 50 Hz or 60 Hz |
| Fuse | 20mm Sand filled, 6 AT@115 VAC, 3.15 AT@230VAC |
| Power Consumption | Standby <1 W, Idle < 40 W, Heat <200 W, Max is 600 W |
| Soft start | Surge current at startup is < 10A |
| Weight | 13.8 kg / 30.4 lb |
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Downloads
AMP-150 user manual (pdf)