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Audio Innovations Valve amps

I've used David Coe for a while now, and he's serviced and modified 3 S500's for me so far. Trustworthy - price is reasonable and he works to your budget.
On retirement, David Wright did recommend a guy near Guilford; I tried him. Wish I hadn't. Absolute disaster. Stick with David Coe and your S500 will be complete!
 
I seem to recall a magazine feature regarding dealers building a system to a budget where Definitive Audio paired an Audio Innovations pre and power with Rehdeko speakers with amazing results.
 
Good evening all from a cold, wintery and locked-down Adelaide. Found this forum and thread while doing some research, so I thought I'd share a story...

Many, many years ago I lived in Brighton and found myself working at Audio Innovations for a short while in the test area with Tony (if my memory serves). So a special 'hello' to pure sound - hi Guy! Well, they went out West, I left and eventually wound up on the other side of the world. I remember being very much thrown in the deep end when, after only two weeks there, Tony went on annual leave leaving me alone in the test room! I think I spent the first two days acting cool and calm while inside I was a nervous wreck, and the next three days asking anyone and everyone a thousand questions! Thanks guys for your patience. That first week alone I predominantly worked with the S500 and carry a love for that amp to this day without ever actually owning one myself. An astonishing looking thing which I clearly remember caused some differing opinions within the company! By the end of that week, I was confident enough to quietly place a tiny sticker inside each unit with my initials on after testing. It was a great place to work - Innovations indeed, and I remember Guy, Peter and Erik being very available. There was always a new industry magazine or some different test speakers arriving.

So, to 2020. During our first lockdown here at the start of the pandemic, I had my 60th birthday. It was the day they closed the international borders here. Not my idea of the celebrations I had in mind, so like many others, I hit the online stores. I'd often looked online for the S500's but had never commited to buy, but this time one popped up in Australia so I bid, and won, my birthday present to myself. It arrived safe and sound with a strange umbilical cord poking out the back - soon to be identified as being for the Border Patrol psu, a full complement of Sovteks, and equipped with the full set of speaker taps. The previous owner knew his stuff, it seems. Unfortunately I think that it was now part of a deceased estate so no history could be gained. The family finally located the BP and gave me a great price. Finally, I own my first Audio Innovations!

The final knockdown moment came when I opened her up to assess the internal condition - there, under a few decades of dust, was a little sticker with my faded initials on!! In a very personal way, this beautiful piece of audio, Brighton and my own history had made it's way home.

My memory of the full testing required has long since faded, but inspection tells me that the replacement of some of the aged components has not been carried out, hence the research that I mentioned before. I have made contact with the highly regarded juancho, and aim to get started on the upgrades soon with hopefully, his advice. I have some circuit diagrams gleaned from the net, but now that I see that Guy posts here, I would also like to ask if I could get a set of his diagrams to start the work.

All that remains to say is that I still visit Brighton as my parents and friends live locally and that occasionally, if we both happen to be in the same pub up the hill in Hanover at the same time, I bump into Jeremy, one of the guys who assembled the units and who helped me so much in that week when I was left alone in a very special, small room in a back street corner of Brighton.

Geoff.
 
Good evening all from a cold, wintery and locked-down Adelaide. Found this forum and thread while doing some research, so I thought I'd share a story...

Many, many years ago I lived in Brighton and found myself working at Audio Innovations for a short while in the test area with Tony (if my memory serves). So a special 'hello' to pure sound - hi Guy! Well, they went out West, I left and eventually wound up on the other side of the world. I remember being very much thrown in the deep end when, after only two weeks there, Tony went on annual leave leaving me alone in the test room! I think I spent the first two days acting cool and calm while inside I was a nervous wreck, and the next three days asking anyone and everyone a thousand questions! Thanks guys for your patience. That first week alone I predominantly worked with the S500 and carry a love for that amp to this day without ever actually owning one myself. An astonishing looking thing which I clearly remember caused some differing opinions within the company! By the end of that week, I was confident enough to quietly place a tiny sticker inside each unit with my initials on after testing. It was a great place to work - Innovations indeed, and I remember Guy, Peter and Erik being very available. There was always a new industry magazine or some different test speakers arriving.

So, to 2020. During our first lockdown here at the start of the pandemic, I had my 60th birthday. It was the day they closed the international borders here. Not my idea of the celebrations I had in mind, so like many others, I hit the online stores. I'd often looked online for the S500's but had never commited to buy, but this time one popped up in Australia so I bid, and won, my birthday present to myself. It arrived safe and sound with a strange umbilical cord poking out the back - soon to be identified as being for the Border Patrol psu, a full complement of Sovteks, and equipped with the full set of speaker taps. The previous owner knew his stuff, it seems. Unfortunately I think that it was now part of a deceased estate so no history could be gained. The family finally located the BP and gave me a great price. Finally, I own my first Audio Innovations!

The final knockdown moment came when I opened her up to assess the internal condition - there, under a few decades of dust, was a little sticker with my faded initials on!! In a very personal way, this beautiful piece of audio, Brighton and my own history had made it's way home.

My memory of the full testing required has long since faded, but inspection tells me that the replacement of some of the aged components has not been carried out, hence the research that I mentioned before. I have made contact with the highly regarded juancho, and aim to get started on the upgrades soon with hopefully, his advice. I have some circuit diagrams gleaned from the net, but now that I see that Guy posts here, I would also like to ask if I could get a set of his diagrams to start the work.

All that remains to say is that I still visit Brighton as my parents and friends live locally and that occasionally, if we both happen to be in the same pub up the hill in Hanover at the same time, I bump into Jeremy, one of the guys who assembled the units and who helped me so much in that week when I was left alone in a very special, small room in a back street corner of Brighton.

Geoff.

Hi Geoff
Great story and I am very pleased for you that a 500 has come home to roost , I may have a look inside my 500 for the sticker , My 500 has had the works done by AD audio
 
I owned a Classic 25 AI integrated years ago. I used it with a pair of medium-sized Magneplanar, and although the SPL was modest and the global voice had a mild rolloff at the upper treble, it was the only system in my audio life that was spontaneously complimented by both my brother, a professional cellist, and my oldest dearest friend. They came by while I was playing some music and commented in surprise howe good it sounded.
BTW, I have tubes again after a very long hiatus.
 
Good evening all from a cold, wintery and locked-down Adelaide. Found this forum and thread while doing some research, so I thought I'd share a story...

Many, many years ago I lived in Brighton and found myself working at Audio Innovations for a short while in the test area with Tony (if my memory serves). So a special 'hello' to pure sound - hi Guy! Well, they went out West, I left and eventually wound up on the other side of the world. I remember being very much thrown in the deep end when, after only two weeks there, Tony went on annual leave leaving me alone in the test room! I think I spent the first two days acting cool and calm while inside I was a nervous wreck, and the next three days asking anyone and everyone a thousand questions! Thanks guys for your patience. That first week alone I predominantly worked with the S500 and carry a love for that amp to this day without ever actually owning one myself. An astonishing looking thing which I clearly remember caused some differing opinions within the company! By the end of that week, I was confident enough to quietly place a tiny sticker inside each unit with my initials on after testing. It was a great place to work - Innovations indeed, and I remember Guy, Peter and Erik being very available. There was always a new industry magazine or some different test speakers arriving.

So, to 2020. During our first lockdown here at the start of the pandemic, I had my 60th birthday. It was the day they closed the international borders here. Not my idea of the celebrations I had in mind, so like many others, I hit the online stores. I'd often looked online for the S500's but had never commited to buy, but this time one popped up in Australia so I bid, and won, my birthday present to myself. It arrived safe and sound with a strange umbilical cord poking out the back - soon to be identified as being for the Border Patrol psu, a full complement of Sovteks, and equipped with the full set of speaker taps. The previous owner knew his stuff, it seems. Unfortunately I think that it was now part of a deceased estate so no history could be gained. The family finally located the BP and gave me a great price. Finally, I own my first Audio Innovations!

The final knockdown moment came when I opened her up to assess the internal condition - there, under a few decades of dust, was a little sticker with my faded initials on!! In a very personal way, this beautiful piece of audio, Brighton and my own history had made it's way home.

My memory of the full testing required has long since faded, but inspection tells me that the replacement of some of the aged components has not been carried out, hence the research that I mentioned before. I have made contact with the highly regarded juancho, and aim to get started on the upgrades soon with hopefully, his advice. I have some circuit diagrams gleaned from the net, but now that I see that Guy posts here, I would also like to ask if I could get a set of his diagrams to start the work.

All that remains to say is that I still visit Brighton as my parents and friends live locally and that occasionally, if we both happen to be in the same pub up the hill in Hanover at the same time, I bump into Jeremy, one of the guys who assembled the units and who helped me so much in that week when I was left alone in a very special, small room in a back street corner of Brighton.

Geoff.

Hi Geoff
I also run a Mk 1 S500 up here in sunny but cold Brissie - I wonder if it could be one of yours? Mine has had the vol pot replaced and runs 5881 valves which produce less power but run fairly cool. I use mine to feed the mid/tweeter half of my speakers. Good luck with your restoration.

Mike
 
Hi Geoff,
Great story and happy to help in any way. Havn't heard from you yet...I am AD Audio aka Juancho!
David

Hi Juancho - we had a brief moment on another forum, but I'll pm you here when I get a moment this weekend. Cheers.
 
Hi Geoff
I also run a Mk 1 S500 up here in sunny but cold Brissie - I wonder if it could be one of yours? Mine has had the vol pot replaced and runs 5881 valves which produce less power but run fairly cool. I use mine to feed the mid/tweeter half of my speakers. Good luck with your restoration.

Mike

Hi Mike. Thanks for your reply. I'll be in touch with some questions! But for now, hope you're staying safe up there. Interested in your opinions of the 5881's as mine arrived with these too. They seem to be a popular choice, especially as they run cooler....
 
Hello from Belgium,
I'm new to this forum, have been swapping gear left and right , Sansui AU7900, 505,101 on beautifully restored JBL L166 to finally finally end up with a pair of Tannoys 3808 with custom xover and yes, an Audio Innovations Classic Stereo 25 which I connected to a custom LencoL75/SME3009 and as a "cheap" streamer a RasberryPi/ Dragonfly Cobalt/Volumio/ Tidal.
Probably my hearing is polluted as I need to detox from that fat Sansui sound. Or, the tubes have had their time, 4* EL34 Svetlana, 2* ECC803S telefunken, 1*ECC83 telefunken and finally 2* 12AU7A Audio Voice.
The Reason why I say this, the mids and highs are detailed, voices sound great but I do miss something, with certain records there is some blurryness? Not sure, not an expert here but I'd like to play around and hope to improve this beautiful amp. I also read trough the 17 pages and this Amp gets mentioned once in a while but nothing in detail. No manual, no schematics. Why is this one overlooked amongst the Audio Innovations series ?
Hope someone can help me

Regards, Oliver
 
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Just wondering if Mr. Pure Sound would have the schematics for the audio innovations series 1000 monoblocks mk.2? This would really help me out a lot
 
You can but ask. His name is Guy Sergeant and is a member here and elsewhere. I think his nick is Pure Sound in fact.

ps. read through pages 1 and 2 of this thread and take it from there
 
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Hello EVERYBODY,
I am so glad that I have stumbled on this website, what a great community there is on here :).
I have been searching the internet with regards to my "Audio Innovations Ten Year Limited Edition Series 800".
I bought it sometime ago, it arrived VERY WELL packed and all nine valves were all individually bubble wrapped, BUT! there was no information as to which valves go where. It was obvious where the four big valves went, no problem there. Where things got difficult was,.....the five small valves....., there are two different numbers on them :( and all five sockets are idienticle, as for the valve designations, there are three 12AX7's and two ECC82's. I am hoping that one of you kind gentlemen will appreciate how I am feeling not being able to use this heavyweight amp and guide me as to where the 12AX7's and ECC82's go, then I will be able to enjoy my A.I., as much as you all enjoy yours and long may you do so ;).
 
EL34 valves at the rear position , 3 Ecc83 left to center , 2 Ecc82 in the 2 right side sockets , As far as I can rember from when I owned one.
 


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