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Albarry M-408 Mono Blocks

What a little gem of a story and a treausred brief glance back into some of the Albarry history, I thank you kindly ellamoo, maybe one day Albert, Barry or Neil will honour us here with a post, what a great treat that would be.
I remember "Its a Knockout" very well, we were all graced with the presence of Princess Anne and Prince Edward as hosts in the 80's as I recall, wasn't this the first time that members of the Royal family were involved with a public event that was screened for TV?? oh my and Eddy Waring was the commentator in the early days, oh the memories come flooding to the fore :)

It is interesting that a small British cottage industry business like Albarry Music should take their inspiration from one of the Japanese giants of the time, most Japanese amps and certainly speakers were regarded as sounding bright and for want of a better word "tinny" back then, this just amazes me to learn that the benchmark was from the far east, I can understand the Beard comparison, I believe the Albarry is probably only one of a few SS amps that is able to achieve an almost valve like quality to its sound, it is rich and warm yet has subltes in fine detail and scale that I have not heard from most of my other SS amps, to be absolutely honest, when I first got my M-408's up to speed I wanted to scrap them, seriously, I thought they sounded thick, flabby bass, no mid detail or depth of image, everything just sounded so bland after being used to the Naim sound, and they certainly did not appear to exhibit any PRaT. So I swapped the source CDP around, I won't say what for what, and spent some more time actually listening to the music and NOT the system and what emerged was a revelation, all the detail, space, depth, and scale of musical presentation was there, nothing like the Naim sound that oozes these qualities, but my word what I was listening to was amazing, a real treat just to sit back and enjoy the performance of the artist rather than judging the performance of the latest cap swap, or regulator tweak, and I am not knocking the DIY up-grade path, I have done more than my fair share of it and endorse it 100%, but it can sometimes take over from the joy of the real reason of what we all strive to achieve, simply " enjoyable music " thanks again ellamoo, wonderful stuff.

Paul
 
I return after having the complete Albarry set-up running for over a week and now allowing the ears to have adjusted to the sound of the system. As you may already be aware I have been using the Albarry DMP-1 pre-amp along with the APS-1 pre-amp power supply ( basically a transformer in a box ) the rest of the power supply is located inside the DMP-1 pre-amp, weird arrangement this.
Over the past week or so I have sat back and enjoyed my music for a change and have abandoned the hi-fi maze to the sheer delight of just listening to the artists and music, but............................................yes there is a but and more !!

I just noticed that something was missing from the bigger picture, and being one not sit back on my skinny arse and watch the world go by I decided to investigate a little into what it was that was not present in the overall mix, and tonight I have discovered what it is, it is emotion, yep the things that make you want to listen and not just sit back and listen to the music, and yes I do realise that all this is in total contradiction to what I posted above only a few days ago, and how has all this been achieved !!!........................I am seeing red, through rose tinted specs, well almost ;)
Paul
 
You need a pair of bridged Crown D-60's mate - valve driven of course. (OK, just kidding ;))
 
DSJR said:
You need a pair of bridged Crown D-60's mate - valve driven of course. (OK, just kidding ;))
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:) LOL ;) Oh David I really don't think so mate, you are not even warm, let me put it like this, the M-408's will definately not be going anywhere, so what does that leave eh !!!!, the clues are all in the sublime cryptic last line of my last post, d'you know, I really thought that you of all people would have seen right through it :D
Paul
 
ellamoo said:
Those were great days. I was working on a TV game show called Its a Knockout and my escape was to spend some hours in the shop and I helped out selling some of their stock for them just for fun of being involved.
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ellamoo, I really can't imagine anything more fun than that combo (well, ok, given some time I probably could...). They must have been great times indeed.
 
Pulse Studio said:
:) LOL ;) Oh David I really don't think so mate, you are not even warm, let me put it like this, the M-408's will definately not be going anywhere, so what does that leave eh !!!!, the clues are all in the sublime cryptic last line of my last post, d'you know, I really thought that you of all people would have seen right through it :D
Paul
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I got it sir!!! :D My specs are grubby rather than rose tinted these days...;)

I hope the 408's continue to behave themselves. Old Naim 250's (bolt-up) can have wobblies too. naim had to keep one we sent back for a couple of months before they were happy with the stability, as it had gone t*ts up badly and took a pair of Sara's with it.... Goes with the territory of owning "classic" equipment.
 
Pulse Studio said:
I am seeing red, through rose tinted specs, well almost ;)Paul
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Pulse Studio said:
Crimson amps back in the mid 80's, still have them too, in fact I contacted Crimson not so long ago and the man himself responded, Mr Brian Powell who designed them, another worthy 80's design IMHO,
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OK this is what is now on the front end of my Albarry M-408's, and they are being powered by 2x 12V 7A/hr SLAB's and they sound just sublime, although very early days to make a fully committed assessment, but the initial impressions blew the Albarry DMP-1 out of the water, so maybe this was not a well recieved pre-amp back then :( , the good news is that the Crimson boards will fit inside the DMP-1 case and I could get some 12V 3.2A/hr SLAB's that will fit into the APS-1 power supply case so I will still have the Red perspex matching set if it passes the audio acid test some time down the line :D
Paul
 
hi,
just read all the latest threads about our Albert and his mate from Stockport - very interesting especially the Trio connection, as you say , it does sound odd but I remember the early Trio being very well received and then they quickly went plastic and mass market . I didn't realise you had old Crimsons ,I've got an old pair of the flat monoblocks too - must say that they don't power my Gales too well though , a bit too laid back on the current stakes I think . I know you don't appreciate the passive pre-amp but at least with the Albarry's you can switch from one to the other and get a direct comparison , and as I said , I find the passive great for high volume listening and the powered pre good for late night low power sessions . I've tried quite a few simple passives , never paid much cause as you say ,they are just best kept simple , but the Albarry is as good if not better than most ; and how neat to have that flexibility in one box, are there any other pre-amps that offer the same - I wonder what Al and Bas included it for ?.As you know I'm not that techy but it constantly amazes me how the different combinations of amps ,pre's and speakers either work or not , there seems to be fuzzy logic at work in there somewhere ,as what you expect to sound great often doesn't and visa versa . I often think that if you stick to a speaker that you like the sound of and then find the amp that powers it to it's best you can achieve more than starting in any other way ie, source then amp then speakers. Sorry I'm rambling now.
I am still a bit doubtful about which way to go with my Albarry's , part of me says that I should restore them with the protection circuit intact , after all they have worked well for years and that was the way they were designed . Is it just that time has degraded some ( or all ) of the essential components and this has led to the protection circuit initiating the breakdown - but have these amps had problems from the outset with the PC ? .What would it take to make the protection stable ? I know I won't probably understand the solution but is it easier than modifying the board ? Logically the system must have worked well for most of it's life , so maybe restoration of the original design might be the way forward. I think it is really a bit like the use of classic speakers or vinyl - we all know that modern high tech solutions carry more information more accurately but we still like the sound of them in terms of their easy listening and smoothness - and that's what the Albarry's have in buckets - a smooth but punchy ,almost valve like sound . My 408's work well with the Gales ,can't tell much difference between them and the AP4 but they look better - I'm going to use the PP1 as a pre amp so that I max out the red perspex look - I wonder what blue LED's would look like through that red perspex ?-- these are the important considerations !!!
regards
Steve
 
Just got a near mint ap4 and wondered if any of you know if the phono stage is mm or mc.
thanks.
 
I seem to remember that it could be ordered with a MM or MC module or all line level. Can you plug your TT in and see what happens ?
 
On my Albarry DMP-1 pre-amp there are 2 internal switches for MM & MC, one per channel, it may be worth checking out the internals of your AP4, it is a miniture slide switch PCB mount affair, with MM/MC printed on the PCB next to it, lift the lid and have a look ;)

Paul
 
Dear Sirs,
my name is Francesco from Italy. I have a marvelous pair of Albarry M408.
I'm very happy for their sound, the are my SS reference amp (I have also Audio research Classic 30 tube amplifier).
In this moment i have an Audio research SP11 preamp. The couple SP11+M408 are fantastic, but i need to know what is the best preamp (ss if is possible) to intefance correctly with Albarry power amp.

In this period i can trade an Albarry AP2 but i don't know it's audio quality. Have you some experience with it?

However, at the moment the best performance from my experience are:
1) Counterpoin SA5000 + M408;
2) Audio research SP11 + M408;
3) BAT Vk3 ix + M408;

Obviously with LS 3/5a Kef limited edition.

I hope you can send me your experiences?

Excuse for my bad english language.

Regards
francesco
from Turin (Italy)
 
Hi Francesco

I see from your profile that you are a new member, so firstly welcome to the PFM forum. It is really good news to hear from someone from Italy, especially as the Albarry amps seem to be very popular in your country, please can you advise me why this is ?? is it the Red perspex front panel, maybe because it is the colour of your treasured Ferrari ;)

There are a few Albarry users on this forum, and they all have their own experiences and advice to offer I am sure, and maybe some of them will chime in on your post and offer their experiences, trawl through this thread and you will see who these members are, there are some that have more than one pair of Albarry amps, lucky buggers :D I have a pair of MkII M-408's that I brought as faulty, I repaired them and now they work really well, I have a few pre-amps that I have tried with them and these are:

Crimson 610
Albarry DMP-1 & APS-1
Naim NAC112X

from the selection above my experience has been that the Crimson 610 is best suited to these amps, they offer more detail, an improved sound stage and depth of image. The DMP-1/APS-1 offer a very valve like sound, being quite warm and laid back, the detail is not as good in the mid band and the imaging is less obvious, in fact the DMP-1's mid band has a very severe effect, male vocals tend to extend their lower ranges to the point of becoming a little too excessive and dare I say "muddy". The Naim 112X does sound very detailed in the mid band with a great sense of timing and rhythm, but the HF is a little too hard and forward for my taste, especially with the LS3/5a's, yes I use these little BBC monitors too, I have Rogers and Stirling and I love what they do within their limitations. I would add at this point that my Naim 112X and Crimson 610 are both powered with lead acid batteries of suitable voltage and current capacity, in fact I have used the Crimson powered in this way since the mid 80's :eek: What CDP & TT do you use Francesco ??

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

thanks for the welcome.
My Albyes are the first version, monowiring.
I have prefer they to an other mkII version.

In italy there are many admirers of albarry. In particular albarry m408 have had considerable success as a result of some positive reviews on audio magazines.
A well-known audio journalist, Bebo Moroni, used them for quite some time in his reference system. Even now he speaks very well about albarry and is best product M408.
The M408 for me and for other friends rappresent one of the best english power amplifier. For me the M408 are the most funny amplifier to listen (the best for timing and rhytm, if they are very well interfaced with other components.

I have recappapped them 2 years ago with bhc, black gate and sonicap caps. With recapping i have solved some things not positive, such as the refinement of the sound.
Now they are perfect....

I don't know the crimson, excuse me. I never have seen it.
Could you send me a link to these preamplifier? It has the phono input?

Have you listen the AP2 albarry preamplifier? What kind of sound have it?

However my set up is:
Analog: Sota cosmos turntable, origin live conqueror, denon dl 103, Denon au1000, denon au340 (in this moment on sale);
Digital: Classè audio CDP 1.5:
Preamplifier: Audio research SP11 mkII;
Amplifiers: Albarry M408, Audio research Classic 30;
Integrated amplifier: Pioneer sm83;
Speaker: Kef ls3/5a R.C. Edition
Headphone: denon AH-D2000

Excuse for my bad english language.


Regards

Francesco
 
Hi Francesco

My Albarry amps are Mono Blocks too, they are the M-408 MkII later version, i have also re-capped the amp boards and done some further modifications, added a Zobel network and removed the opto-coupler protection circuit, I have no protection in my amps at all, did you replace the feedback capacitor Francesca ? I used Panasonic FC for de-coupling and a solid aluminium Philips for the feedback, kindly supplied by Les W of Avondale Audio.

I am not familiar with your CDP, but looking at the reviewers comments it does appear to be very favourable.

My Crimson 610 pre-amp is from the mid 80's so it is quite old now, Crimson did offer a modular system of buying their products back then, and you then had to build it into a case of your own choice, and add a power supply, they dissappeared from the mainline hi-fi scene for several years but are now back and offering their lates pre-amp which is the 710, obviously improvements have been made to this latest model but I have it on good authority that the Crimson philosophy has remained from the earlier designs, but they are not cheap as they used to be in the 1980's in module form, here is the link to their site.

http://www.crimsonelectronics.com/710.html

ciao
Paul
 
You need a sweet, clean, dynamic pre-amp to partner your Albarry M408's and IMO, the ones you mention are not ideal. Back when we used to sell Albarry, they almost always went with a Croft pre-amp of some sort and these were an excellent match. Croft now make two pre's, the Micro 25 at £700 and the Micro Basic at £350, both have an excellent built in MM phono stage. I doubt you'll find, at the price, anything new which is as good.
 
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