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Albarry M608's

Hi Elephantears,

Since you posted about the AP11 last year, several improvements have been given to the pre-amp.
I believe it has been lifted from being the best pre-amp in Britain, to World class.

This also allows the M608's to shine to their best of their ability.

I have heard the AP11 take on pre-amps 3 -4 times the price.

I stand by what I hear, I bought the AP11 and the flagship M1108's for Christmas and IMHO for the money this is the best pre-power amplifier available.

The speed, dynamics, articulation and musical involvement are stunning.

I hope you get to hear the AP11 one day. I understand £2,495 is a lot of money, but comparatively, I think it's amazing VFM.

enjoy your music

regards Al
 
That price is ridiculous. It was £1650 a year ago. Two price rises since release is silly in the current economic climate and puts it well out of my reach. Very depressing.

By the way I didn't post about the AP11, just the M608s. As I've said before, Albarry also have a problem that its incredibly difficult to demo their new amps. I only got to hear the M608s by a fluke, since I managed to buy some ex-demo ones from a European dealer at a good price.

Basically they only have one dealer listed in the South of England, and he never actually stocks the preamp: I've enquired several times and he never has one in. There is no dealer in London. So I've been waiting all this time to get to listen to the AP11 and within this time they are just putting the price up to make it inaccessible. May be it is good, but the distribution and pricing policy is just looking like a mess.
 
Didn't Albarry have a lot of trouble with reviewers back in the day? I think that's why there are only 3 dealers and no magazine reviews.

Albarry are trying to operate on the same model as Avondale - minimal or no dealers and rely on word of mouth and internet forums for advertising, keep it simple.

I wish him well, and certainly the sound descriptions posted here sound like his products could be right up my street. I'd be particularly interested in the phono stage but I'm a bit doubtful about the speed of reaction that batteries provide.

As for pricing, this must be the biggest headache for Albarry. How much do you charge for something - how do you know in advance how many you're going to sell?
 
There is a magazine review - a very good one - in HiFiPlus.

I certainly wish them well too, but I'm angry that the price rises have put the pre-amp out of my reach. Almost £1000 rise in a year since release - that just doesn't make any sense.
 
I agree, their initial pricing was a little mis-guided, but it was at the start and it was actually 2 years ago.

That was a glowing HiFi + review of the AP11 and M608's, as good as it was, that review was done with the first AP11, since then many things have changed and upgraded, hence the price increase.

I have heard the AP11 beat pre-amplifiers 3 times the price, so I bought it.

IMO the M608's are a beautiful amplifier, capable of beating ANY amplifier in the price bracket.
As elephantears discovered, they are very fast and dynamic with an effortless ability to portray a believable soundstage.

As for the phone stage, I had a £5,000 pre-amp with MC built in and I thought my Ortofon MC30 super cartridge was absolutely average, until I got the Albarry MCA11, then WOW!! it was actually a fantastic cartridge, with a delicate, articulate delivery and a beautifully tuneful bass, IMO it is cheap at £500 for what it brings to a system. as for "speed of reaction with batteries", if Neil Burnett designed it, it will be right and it will stay right for years.

I think more dealers would like to take on new products, but as we all know times are tough and I think some dealers need to move existing stock to create cash flow, it must be a bit hard at the moment.

Albarry are exhibiting at the Bristol show in 3 weeks time.

enjoy your music

regards Al
 
I had the 408's for 27 years and loved every minute of them, I upgraded to the M1108's at christmas and I use them with Allison 3's, no doubt they will deliver beautifully for years as well.

regards Al
Audio Images said:
always loved the 408,s with active allison 1,s and 3,s
Click to expand...
 
Audio Images said:
always loved the 408,s with active allison 1,s and 3,s
Click to expand...

I have the M408's and Allison 1's and now a set of 3's and have toyed with the idea of making the 3's active. What sort of crossover arrangement did you use?

I also ran a passive PS Audio pre to the M408's and was advised to keep the cable as short as possible.
 
'Best pre-amp in Britain', it's not even the best pre-amp in most shops that sell it.
 
Hi sq225917,

That's both interesting and and surprising, where and when did you hear it and versus what ?
I did place IMO in my post, that's because I have heard it versus other pre-amps costing 3 times the price and I and 5 others listening agreed it was a superior pre-amp.

However if it was the first pre-amp they produced that you heard, I understand your comment, it was a good pre-amp for the money but, other pre-amps (usually dearer) were better IMO.
Hopefully you would give the latest upgraded pre-amp a listen and see what you think.

regards Al
sq225917 said:
'Best pre-amp in Britain', it's not even the best pre-amp in most shops that sell it.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Audio Images,
I was part of Bespoke Audio and Allison were our flagship speakers (I still use 3's).
We did try active for a while, but in the end we decided it wasn't worth the messing with xovers and using 6 x M408's to get the results.
IMHO one would have to consider the cost versus the gain.

IMO a pair of Allisons driven with a strong fast amp is quite sufficient.
The M608's drive the Allisons beautifully especially the 3's as they almost double in power to the 4 Ohm load.

enjoy your music

regards Al
Audio Images said:
the active xover was made by crimson electronics for bespoke audio.
Click to expand...
 
i remember barry and albert well! got my first bits of good gear from albert when he managed the audio centre in sheffield!
 
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