Really good amplifiers, worth every penny. Review on Norge Audio

Over the years I have used many amplifiers like Marantz, Denon, Cambridge Audio, Nad, Luxman, Yamaha & Leak. I'm an AV engineer myself, I specialise in the design of professional AV solutions including theatres. Because of my work, many people know me & come to me for advice when building their home theatre or even if they want to get themselves a good stereo setup.

I've also tried the Norge amplifiers, the Concerto Gold 1000 the 1515 & the Mosfet Reference 2000. They are excellent value for money if you are in the market for a pure analog amplifier. Please note that sound is always analog, the storage & distribution has become digital for convenience & to preserve quality.

What you get in the imported US, British & Danish amplifiers, for 10 or 12 times the price, is a little better input power filtration & speaker protection circuit that makes the music a trifle 'cleaner' but every one of the brands mentioned above has their own sound signature. You might like or dislike any one of them depending on your taste & choice of music. They might have an inbuilt DAC which most of the Norge ones do not have. Though they have started a UBT line of products that contain a DAC and allows you to connect Bluetooth/digital sources, I have not experienced any of them yet.

What's going good for Norge is that they do not have a distinct sound signature, they amplify the source faithfully, thus, if you have a poor recording it comes through as such. When hearing recordings from the 70's you'll probably not like these amplifiers.

If you pair them with a relatively decent pair of speakers like the QAcoustics 3050i, Elac Debut 5/6, Dali Oberon 5, or Zensor 7 and you have a good quality source, you are in for a treat.

You might notice that I'm pairing a mid-range amplifier with a pair of mid to upper mid-range pair of floor standing speakers. Speakers that are capable of delivering down to 30Hz & can handle 100Watts RMS with aplomb. You get a perfect balance of highs & lows, the mids come out clean and not overtly projected as some Denons or Yamahas would do.

I'd definitely recommend these amplifiers if you own any of these types of towers or bookshelves like the Oberon 3, QAcoustics 2010i/2030i & you love Indian music. Not that these amps fall short if you love Rock or Jazz. Vocals actually shine through these amps.

Buying these amps won't break your bank & it'll last you a lifetime if you take the simple precaution of putting the amp on a line stabiliser. In case you did not know, all of the Norge amplifiers come with toroidal transformers and speaker protection circuits.