The Lightstar / Lightstar Reference are both more linear and slightly better built than the Sunfire's. The Sunfire's were purposely voiced to sound slightly more romantic ala the "classic" tube sound. Both series of amps are capable of very good performance if the rest of the system is up to snuff. Even though they are pretty efficient in terms of power drawn vs power out, they can pull prodigious amounts of current if cranking the volume on low efficiency, low impedance speakers. The "standard" Sunfire ( 2 x 300 @ 8, 2 x 600 @ 4 ) can easily pull in excess of 10 - 15 amps, so it would perform best on its' own 15 amp or preferably 20 amp dedicated circuit. The bigger 2 channel Sunfire Signature ( 2 x 600 @ 8, 2 x 1200 @ 4 ) and the multi-channel Sunfire Cinema Grand and Cinema Grand Signature all need their own 20 amp circuit at the very minimum in my opinion.
What these amps excell at the most is performing under difficult conditions without ever sounding stressed. You can push them and push them and they never get nasty, hard, gritty or strained sounding. If you are in need of big power and don't want to break the bank, either of these amps would be good candidates. Sean
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