Affordable Amplification

AUDIO AMPLIFIERS have but one task: take an electrical signal and make it more powerful without changing its character.

- Mark Henninger

OSD AUDIO NERO XA7180 AMPLIFIER

A good amplifier is as transparent as possible, neither adding nor subtracting anything from what you hear. The OSD Nero XA7180 promises all that plus high efficiency at a very attractive price.

Before attending CEDIA 2022 in Dallas TX, I was not familiar with OSD, a company specializing in high-performance, cost-effective gear-my preferred type. A bit of Googling revealed the company has a good reputation in online forums, so I took the plunge on doing a full review. This proved timely, as 2023 brought numerous premium AVRs with preamp outputs compatible with the XA7180.

In this competitive arena of solid state home theater amps, companies like ATI, Monoprice, Emotiva, and Outlaw offer similar power per dollar. However, OSD stands out for its combination of price and features, making it the most affordable seven-channel amplifier Sound & Vision has tested. Despite the low cost, it boasts a sturdy build, including both RCA and XLR inputs, and individual status LEDs for each channel on the front panel.

FEATURES

The only settings on this amp you have to worry about are related power, with an on/off button on the front and a toggle switch in the back that lets you choose to use a voltage trigger or input signal to automatically turn on the unit.

The outstanding features of the design is the use of a toroidal power supply, which does make it heavy but provides a solid foundation for an amp that advertises 122 watts per channel RMS power into 8 ohm loads, all seven channels driven, and the inclusion of XLR balanced inputs.