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Wish I'd discovered this forum before wasting £220 on an Audiolab 8000a!

J

Jon Perry

Active Member
I used to be "into" hifi in my late teens/early 20s. That was in the 80s. Most of my kit was "best buy" budget stuff and I travelled from Somerset to what was then, I think, the only Richer Sounds store near Tower Bridge in London. For some reason, I didn't listen to a lot of music in my 30s and 40s, then I got back into it in my 50s. However, I opted for the convenience of Spotify and a fairly decent HK Go Bluetooth speaker.
We've recently had a clear out and I sold a load of stuff on ebay. One thing I posted on eBay was my pair of Celef Domestic 1 Speakers. I was surprised at the amount of interest in them, so not having used them for 30 years, I thought I'd better check they still worked. I plugged them into my old Harmon Kardon 6150 amp and was blown away by the sound! I immediately removed the ebay listing (there had been loads of views but no bids) and I decided to go back to "proper" audio.
In that vein, I thought maybe I should upgrade the HK amp. I remembered rave reviews of the audiolab 8000a in the early 80s which, at the time I couldn't afford. So I treated myself to one from ebay. This brings me to the title of this post - What a disappointment! It sounded so "flat" and uninspiring, even compared to my £160 HK amp. So, after that long introduction (sorry!) here's my question: Can you recommend a £200-£300 amp that would compliment my Celef speakers? Or should I just stick with the HK?
Cheers
Jon
 
Thanks for the welcome. At the moment it's a Sony MDS-JB920 minidisc player. I've also got a Harmon Kardon CD player in the loft! (not sure which model). I don't think I'll bother with my Dual cs505 turntable as my vinyl collection is probably in a dreadful state by now.
 
Euan said:
Is one man's flat and uninspiring, another man's accurate?

I sold mine a few years ago for £100. Damn it.
Click to expand...
.I'm sure you're right but I guess, for me, I appear to prefer a bit of "embellishment" - is that a sacrilegious thing to admit on a forum like this?!
 
Jon Perry said:
Do you think that would be a significant upgrade to my current amp?
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It would certainly give you lots of life and colour. Difficult to know if you’d like it, but the great thing is, you can easily sell it on if you don’t. The Precision model is the one you want, and they still have a following.

Mine sold on eBay in a couple of days. We are supposed to be clearing the house before a move, but I wish I’d kept it for a second system.
 
I used to own the same HK amp but replaced it with the Pioneer 300R (non precision). That was a significant improvement (I still have it).
Then I tried an A400 (sold) and A400X (still have it). They sounded great but felt the 300R was better, so I bought an 300R precision.

It was much better than all of them (still have it) but in comparison to the HK......

......They may have the same power rating but the Pioneer sounds much bigger and the dynamic soundstage is in a different league.

Sadly, my hearing deficiency means I need tone controls so I have a Yamaha A-S500. This isn't as detailed as the precision but it's still much better than the HK.

All will be for sale.

Jon, whereabouts are you? If you are local, you are welcome to take and audition them.
 
As Martyn states, it might be that your 8000A is in need of a service given its age. If it has already been serviced, it might be that you just don't like it or it doesn't work with your sources / speakers / room.

If you still want to change amps, then consider:

Onix OA21
Musical Fidelity B200
Exposure models as per @foxwelljsly above
Naim NAIT 3
 
AnilS said:
I used to own the same HK amp but replaced it with the Pioneer 300R (non precision). That was a significant improvement (I still have it).
Then I tried an A400 (sold) and A400X (still have it). They sounded great but felt the 300R was better, so I bought an 300R precision.

It was much better than all of them (still have it) but in comparison to the HK......

......They may have the same power rating but the Pioneer sounds much bigger and the dynamic soundstage is in a different league.

Sadly, my hearing deficiency means I need tone controls so I have a Yamaha A-S500. This isn't as detailed as the precision but it's still much better than the HK.

All will be for sale.

Jon, whereabouts are you? If you are local, you are welcome to take and audition them.
Click to expand...

That's really useful info. Yes it's a total gamble buying without listening really, but there's little choice when it comes to equipment that's no longer made. I'm in Frome, Somerset by the way.
 
Thank you all for responding so quickly. Plenty for me to consider there! I'll have a read about some of those suggestions and take a look on ebay etc. Got to sell (or possibly service) the 8000a first or the wife will go mad!
 
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