Vibe Black Box Stereo 2 V3 Two Channel Amplifier

Product Details
Manufacturer: Vibe
Distributor: Midbass Distribution
Website: link
Typical Selling price: £139.99 full SRP, £119.99 internet (CAD)
Two channel class AB amplifier with quality RCA input and output sockets and a speaker level input. Less powerful than its V3 predecessor also tested on Talk Audio. Previously rated at 2x110w at four Ohms and 2x175w at two Ohms, with 1x350w rated bridged. (Now 100w, 125w and 250w respectively) That said, it uses the same 30A of fusing, but split into two fuses rather than one big 30A job. Also rated 7Hz to 38kHz in passband rather than the 10Hz to 50kHz before. The signal to noise ratio is down to 96dB from the previously bonkers 114dB and channel separation is down to 61dB from a previous 70dB. It’s also fractionally shorter in heatsink length although the same width and depth as the V2. All of which looks like it adds up to an amplifier that has been developed further to offer plenty of muscle but at a lower manufacturing cost. Complete with manual,  key ring, Molex plug for high level connection and fixings. Packed in a black cloth string-closure bag to protect the finish. Supplied with test certificate with serial number and checked for THD less than 0.3%, signal to noise ratio being over 95dB and that there is greater than 60dB of channel separation. There are also tests done for checking that the reverse polarity, short circuit and thermal shutdown circuits are working but no power test as some American makers tend to do. The carton is better and more comprehensively prettily printed than that of any other maker worldwide in my opinion and the amp itself has huge amounts of information printed underneath it to keep it going for years and years after the first owner has finally thrown out the box. This product bears the mark of being made for durability and value.
– Class AB
– 2 x 100w RMS @ 4 Ohms
– 2 x 125w RMS @ 2 Ohms
– 1 x 250w RMS @ 4 Ohms bridged
– Aluminium heatsink with black anodised brushed finish
– 12dB per Octave high/low pass crossovers
– Switched Bass Boost @ 45Hz at +12dB or +24dB
– Adjustable input sensitivity: 250mV to 5V
– High level Molex (supplied) input and RCA line level input and output
– End caps with BlackBox logo included, yellow detail stripe denotes V3
– Optional level controller available for socket on end BBR09
– Stereo & Mono operation
– Frequency response 7Hz to 38kHz
– Signal to Noise Ratio 96dB
– Channel separation 61dB
– High Pass Filter 50Hz to 1kHz
– Low Pass Filter 30Hz to 300Hz
– Fuse Rating 15A x2
– HxWxD(mm) 57 x 348 x 224mm
– Complete with warranty card, top quality English detailed manual, key ring, fixings, test certificate
Review by Adam Rayner
This amp looks an awful lot like the V2 and has just the snazzy new yellow stripes between the end caps and the chassis to indicate it is different under the bonnet. The idea looks to have captured all of the classy appeal of the Aluminium solidity and sexy sound of the V2 but at a much lower cost. These used to retail at �200 and now this one sells at around £120 if you go discount-hunting.
The build and product presentation is world class as ever and the experience of opening the amplifier and finding it inside its own little cloth baggie is delicious. You no longer get that mad prism effect where a blue LED was on the outside end of the amplifier illuminating a chunk of clear plastic inset within the end cap, so it looked like it was ALL full of electronics. It was dead cool and when assembled with all the engineering tightness of the product, looked like the amp had no connections. This is because the end caps cover the power and speaker connections on one end and in classic style, the control and signal connections (kept at the farthest place away from where the power comes in) on the other. It was lovely but must have cost a bomb as the reductions in spec alone could not account for the much lower price tag.
However, the more complex control features have been eschewed, too, with simpler 12 rather than 24dB per Octave crossovers and less of the three-layers of input sensitivity and frequency multiplier switches of the previous model.
So are you getting as big a slice of Vibey Goodness as before? Is it as dynamic and exciting? Is it still able to bear quotes like the one from the V2 review I did? Like, ‘This puts it into audiophile territory.’? I decided to do something a bit cruel. I would hook it up to the Sony SACD deck, a terribly rare thing that although it does not have the delicious smoothness of the resident reference Pioneer DEH-P88RSII CD deck’s DAC, is nevertheless a signal outputter of huge resolution. SACD is Super Audio CD and has a higher resolution than normal 44.1kHz sampling rate PCM digital and so sounds fabulous and more detailed than CD.
Sadly, as a mad audiophile standard, like say DVD-A or dts-Audio it has to have its own special recordings. I have a limited amount and will give the amp all I have before trying CD though it as well.
Well, what an interesting review this has shaped up to be! I have been testing a variety of speakers in the new test boxes and one set that came up as sweet sounding were the Infinity Reference 6532i. They were in the box at the time and proved an interesting test subject. You could hear the speakers and their tweeter ‘attenuators’ when off was best as the detail could come through and you could hear how amazing was the resolution from the Super Audio CD with a bit of Floyd and all the Alarm clocks at the beginning of ‘Time’. You could also hear the limit of the amplifier which was remarkable. For all its perceivability, the amp is a real clever piece of kit. The incredible feature count of the previous amp and the absurdly high signal to noise ratio it used to have, even that clever blue prism LED illumination is no longer missed.
Yes, it isn’t quite as audiophile clear and front-edge wave front faithful as its predecessor but that’s (with respect to a reviewer who like to think he has golden ears) a bit of a ‘so what’ issue! The sound is a s good and fast almost certainly better and faster than a whole load of amplifiers at similar price points and with Vibe, you are getting a filtering-down of some really huge-level amplifier design and electronics.
A bit like how Bowers & Wilkins can supply funny little speaker boxes to go with a punchy woofer and slaughter the 5.1 system opposition at the lower price points with an inexpensive piece of kit that outperforms the rest because it has been derived from something superior in the first place. So the issue of the SQ score is one that only matters if you care about the fourth triangle on the left or you are an SQ perv who wants to stick their tongue in Adele’s mouth while she sings with her sounding close enough to do that!
For the real world, this is powerful enough at 100 watts to kick butt, has features aplenty to sweetly serve most needs below the three-way active speaker nutter boys and looks the nuts, too.
It sounded just as groovy from CD and played all the stuff I sent through it without any real ‘voicing’ becoming apparent in the way say JBL amps tend to be ballsy and Clarions tends to be really laid back.
As such an easy Talk Audio Recommended status product.
Sound Quality 8.0
Power Output 8.0
Features 8.0
Build Quality 10.0
Value For Money 10.0
Overall rating 8.8