[Johnny2Bad]

I'm thinking of adding one as a centre channel amp. I'm mostly a stereo guy, but movies are nice with 5.1, and I think I can work that in without compromising my stereo setup (by using a line in on the stereo for L & R from a used, probably, 5.1 pre/pro). Anyone familiar with these monoblocks?  See: http://www.divertech.com/aslwaveav20dt.htm Do you think they would maintain the overall character of a tube main system when used as a centre channel amp? I don't really care about the rears; I'll throw something in there. How about reliability? They sell for about $US 375 and can probably push 20 watts out without too much groaning.

[Kim S.]

I was not aware that these were still being made.  I have a pair of AV-8's which are an 8 watt predecessor to the AV-25.  They sound wonderful an I have had no problems with them.  I owned them for years.  I have not heard the AV-25 but have read reviews that were favorable.

[Ericus Rex]

The general idea for theater is to have the three front speakers sound as homogonized as possible.  This means using the same brand speaker and same amplification, at least for L-Center-R.  While I'm sure the center would sound great with this amp you may notice differences in timbre between it and the L & R.  Why not get three of these amps?

As for reliability, I've never owned an ASL amp but I have owned two of their pre/headphone amps and have never had a problem with either unit.  YMMV

[Johnny2Bad]

The general idea for theater is to have the three front speakers sound as homogonized as possible.  This means using the same brand speaker and same amplification, at least for L-Center-R.  While I'm sure the center would sound great with this amp you may notice differences in timbre between it and the L & R.  Why not get three of these amps?

As for reliability, I've never owned an ASL amp but I have owned two of their pre/headphone amps and have never had a problem with either unit.  YMMV

I'm not convinced that kind of homogenization is necessary for casual movie and broadcast video use. I think that school of thought relies on an intention to use the HT setup as your primary music as well as movie system.
I have no intention whatsoever to listen to multichannel audio-only disks, ever. The music listening system will be stubbornly 2-channel until they pry the armlift from my cold, dead fingers.
This will be only for when I want to pop a disk in and watch a movie. I've been using the 2-channel system for movies via a 42" plasma for six years, and I could be quite happy to continue that way if necessary.
Some may disagree (okay, if you go to the HT sites, they ALL disagree) but as far as I'm concerned, music and video are two different animals, and you cannot do both without compromise. In my own case, I'm refusing to compromise the music side and letting the movie side fall where it may. If you want to read that as "refusing to compromise the 2-channel side and letting the multichannel side fall where it may" I wouldn't argue.
So, no full-blown HT setup, and no double-duty as movies and music, if that requires any compromises of the 2-ch setup whatsoever. If I spend big bucks, it's going to the stereo, not the multichannel.
There is an Anthem Amp-1 driving the L & R's now, and a sub placed and tuned for integration with the stereo audio. That will stay that way; no bass management, no LFE effects. I'll take the bass I get when the movie is on, the way things are now.
I don't need video switching or fancy video upscaling; I have a DVDO upscaler that can handle that just fine. There are lots of better-quality pre/pro's being dumped right now because they don't do video switching or upscaling as good as the new ones. So, that's what piqued my interest in moving to a multichannel setup for movies; there are some outstanding bargains out there right now on the used market.
I will use a center channel speaker that's a good match to my L & R's; the same manufacturer has more than a few choices that are voiced appropriately to mate. I wanted to use vacuum tubes for the center channel because the front three are the primary channels and I want something that maintains the character of the whole system. For the surrounds, I'm going to use an NAD amp I have laying around, and a pair of Athena 50's I picked up for $20 on Kijiji.
Much appreciated feedback on the pre/headphone amps reliability, especially coming from someone who bought again from ASL. Thanks for all the comments so far.

[Johnny2Bad]

I was not aware that these were still being made.  I have a pair of AV-8's which are an 8 watt predecessor to the AV-25.  They sound wonderful an I have had no problems with them.  I owned them for years.  I have not heard the AV-25 but have read reviews that were favorable.

Yes, the AV-8 is fairly well known and liked. The AV-20 (now AV-25) is a somewhat different circuit, using 6L6's. I don't mind the sound of 6L6's but I'm not particularly familiar with them in a HiFi amp; they were popular tubes for use in guitar and bass amps (eg Fender Bassman).

[Ericus Rex]

Since you're sticking with the same brand speaker for center and already have tubes for your L-R I'd say you're just fine concerning homogenization.

The ASL stuff is made to a price point, of course.  If you open one up, you'll find cheap flimsy PC boards and military surplus caps and such but, again, my experience is that it's reliable and decent sounding.

Best of luck!

[Johnny2Bad]

The ASL stuff is made to a price point, of course.  If you open one up, you'll find cheap flimsy PC boards and military surplus caps and such but, again, my experience is that it's reliable and decent sounding.

Best of luck!

Yes, I've seen photos of the inside (and the AV-8's; not much difference there). I realize what low-cost Chinese means, that way. ASL has a decent reputation as far as China-tube makers go ... there is a lot of variation in build quality, issues with parts sourcing (counterfeits; abrupt substitutions, etc) in that market as a whole. ASL has been around a bit, so I thought I would give them a look. Now, if only someone who actually has heard them would pipe in here, I'd be a happy man. Thanks for the input ERex.

[AudioSoul]

   Auidioadvisor.com sells them. You wont find them in the regular electronics section. You have to do a search on their website. They may have some customer reviews to look at.......

[Bill Baker]

Aside from the application you are talking about, I will just comment on the amps themselves.
 I use to do a lot with the AV-20/AV-25 amps and still have customers that are greatly enjoying them (granted, these are upgraded pieces).
 Personally I find them to be a very good value and do not sound bad at all. For that type of investment, you can still work in some wiggle room for upgrades which they do take very well to. You have the option of EL34, 6L6, KT66 tupes with the later version. If you are not familiar with the 6L6 in hi-fi use you minght be in for a pleasant surprise.
 They are not point-to-point wired but their quality has always been good and I have never had any problems with them.
Mate them up with appropriate speakers and they can provide long lasting pleasure.

 (I am not a retail dealer for these products)

[Johnny2Bad]

   Auidioadvisor.com sells them. You wont find them in the regular electronics section. You have to do a search on their website. They may have some customer reviews to look at.......

(AudioSoul): Yes, I know about AudioAdvisor as a dealer of ASL. I'm in Canada, so it's better for me to go either to the North American distributor (divergent technologies; Montreal) or a Canadian reseller; AudioAdvisor's price of US$ 345 isn't that attractive versus MSRP of $375 with shipping of relatively heavy stuff like tube amps is taken into consideration. If I find a local dealer, or even one close, he eats that, not me, so even full MSRP isn't a bad deal.
AA only has a short quip taken from a fairly lightweight Absolute Sound review as far as customer reviews go, which in my mind brings up two things. For one, (I've read the whole review) it's more along the lines of a brief summary than a review.
I was a subscriber back in the 70's and although even then you had to take what they said with a grain of salt, at least they were honest in their own way, and I came to know the reviewers and their tastes, and knew where they were coming from. You don't need to buy what a magazine is selling in order to find a review valuable, in my opinion, particularly if you take the effort to know each reviewer's tastes and the editorial biases of the publication as a whole. To get that, you have to read the thing a lot, cover to cover.
As for "Today's Absolute Sound", to me it seems somewhat ... not sure what word to use here, but  ... I don't have much confidence that their judgement meets my expectations ... just my perception, but I go with that and take my chances (as I think everyone interested in this hobby should). So, as far as reviews go, I haven't really seen any I have confidence in. Thus my query here ...
(Response Audio): thanks for your own experiences. That's very helpful.