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This amp is loud. The meters barely move. If you want it really loud the meters move. I'm thinking this has more to do with the lack of an input sensitivity switch to go from 0.775V to 1.4V or higher. It is easy to get that over driven sound and you can hear it. I would make an adjustment but you can't without a switch. Maybe I'll try some inline attenuation. I e-mailed Avantone and asked why there wasn't a switch to go to 1.4V. Their response was to turn the mixer down. This is a Pro Amp. I would expect the standard to be 1.4v for the input. So 2 stars for features. This should be a standard feature. Maybe they will have an input module upgrade or choice in the future. That gripe aside, the amp has a very detailed and open sound. It is not dead quiet, but I have HF compression drivers on horns. Power transformer does have a slight hum to it, but it is in a rack and not as noticeable as a fan in other amps. I have yet to notice it getting warm at all. Why they have power ratings at 1KHz I don't understand. No definite rating at the normal 20-20KHz. They do come clean on their website and say it delivers a good 200+ watts at 8 ohms under testing. It looks nice in a rack. I could do with a smaller font size of the CLA-400 and logo. Some metal knobs on the input controls would be nice. The large back lit meters look nice, but they don't really move. Overall I do use this for 2 channel listening and it gets the job done. The amp is not harsh or veiled sounding. It has that nice pleasant class AB amplifier sound.