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Mike & Dave's Hi-Fi Riff YouTube Channel.

I happen to know where there are two working models, not sure whether all the lettering though is still in place though.

Drill holes in the side a put a fan in to move some air around was one way to make them last a little longer.

This man knows a thing or two about them: https://www.markhennessy.co.uk/mf_a1/
 
Just watching it now. The A1 looks much nicer than I remember. I had one for a short while when they were all the rage. It got stolen before it broke, so I have no bad experiences with it, though I was a little underwhelmed by it. I replaced my 33/303 with it as all the magazines were telling me that was crap. Which it wasn’t at all. Rest of the system at that time was an RD80, AT1120 arm with damper, Ortofon M25FL cart and Tannoy M20 Golds. I then went off into the flat-earth thing…

Some surprising errors in the video though, e.g. the A1 isn’t actually a pure class A amp, and even if it was it most certainly wasn’t the first affordable transistor one (Sugden A21 in the late ‘60s likely takes that). Obviously tons of class A valve kit before that too.

PS Folk in Liverpool really are good at stealing stuff. It got taken via the skylight of my third-story flat!
 
I had an A1 for a while, quite enjoyed it from memory though I sold it while it was working:D. I also had a B..., can’t remember which one but I do remember the volume or function knob rubbing plastic to plastic I guess when rotating them. One of the knobs and its shaft (plastic) fell out as well though that was an easy fix just spreading where it joined the pot.
My mate at the time was repairing fairly large numbers of these but once repaired and copious amounts of new heat sink compound applied had very few issues. Certainly the owners appeared very happy with them when they actually worked.
 
David Price has aways spoke highly of this amp. It is still regarded as a bit of a classic. Seems to break down a lot though.
 
Nigel said:
David Price has aways spoke highly of this amp. It is still regarded as a bit of a classic. Seems to break down a lot though.
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That's a myth. Not that many of them break down in fact. Most of them self-incinerated before anything else had time to go wrong.
 
I still got mine. A very early mark 1. I used it with the side panels off to allow some hot air to escape.

The first time it broke down it was because the volume pot went open circuit or something. When you turned it on, the amp was full blast and couldn't be turned down.

It came back with a new alps and upgraded capacitors. It never quite sounded as good to me though. Seemed to lose something in the process.

It's not in use regularly now but has developed another fault, after playing for while, the right channel stops as if there is a loose connection. Took the cover off but couldn't see anything obvious. I will get it looked at one day.
 
Hifi firework: brilliant but short-lived. Remember the hype and was tempted, it was cute too.

My stepson visited a friend who had moved to Liverpool using a hire car. They found it on bricks. The hirer was in tears as he had just started his business.
 

In which Statler & Waldorf assess the Akai 4000DS…

PS I really rate these. Really nice sounding and well constructed machines. I’ve got a 4000DB the same as Mike’s above that I found at the local auction for £35 in dirty but otherwise superb condition. After a good clean, re-lube, new pinch roller (it had been left in play so had a ding) and belts it works really well. Miles ahead of any cassette deck I‘ve ever owned. I also feel they got the price level wrong, it was never cheap. £170 back in 1973-4 was more than twice an LP12, more than a Quad 33/303, and I’d have to check, but I think you could get at least one ESL for that, maybe even a Tannoy.
 
I got very close to buying the last (non Dolby) version of these when Comet were remaindering them around 1981 for I think £150. One of those decisions I'm still not sure I got right. Sometimes when a consumer format has had its day there's an artificial buoyancy as product is sold off - in this case domestic reel to reel (finally usurped by cassette), but it also applied around the same time to amateur cine (usurped by video).
 
I love this channel. Just a couple of old farts sharing their love of hifi past and present
Reminds me of PFM in lots of ways
David Price frequently responds to comments especially regarding music choice, classic albums etc.
 
Tony L said:

In which Statler & Waldorf assess the Akai 4000DS…

PS I really rate these. Really nice sounding and well constructed machines. I’ve got a 4000DB the same as Mike’s above that I found at the local auction for £35 in dirty but otherwise superb condition. After a good clean, re-lube, new pinch roller (it had been left in play so had a ding) and belts it works really well. Miles ahead of any cassette deck I‘ve ever owned. I also feel they got the price level wrong, it was never cheap. £170 back in 1973-4 was more than twice an LP12, more than a Quad 33/303, and I’d have to check, but I think you could get at least one ESL for that, maybe even a Tannoy.
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Did anyone see the original version. I was about to watch it and it suddenly disappeared?

Apparently it got removed due to a complaint made.
 
I think my father sold his when he got his GX625, I know my mother has the 625 but probably not the 4000.
 
I watched a recent review that they did for the Cyrus i9-xr and they came across as ill-prepared and spent quite a bit of time going off topic - all in all I thought that the whole thing was rather poor - I get the banter, but they simply lack any real charisma to properly engage.
 
Caliente said:
I watched a recent review that they did for the Cyrus i9-xr and they came across as ill-prepared and spent quite a bit of time going off topic - all in all I thought that the whole thing was rather poor - I get the banter, but they simply lack any real charisma to properly engage.
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I felt the same at first. Poor production values and too little preparation. But, you have to catch the vibe. They maunder on and go off at a tangent and you are invited along for the chat. They aren't taking it too seriously and you shouldn't either it's, a complete antidote to people like Darko who take themselves, very, very seriously indeed.
Did you see how outrageously priced that new Cyrus amp was? Six freaking large with the power supply. I personally can't see Cyrus selling anything at those prices.
 
Caliente said:
I watched a recent review that they did for the Cyrus i9-xr and they came across as ill-prepared and spent quite a bit of time going off topic - all in all I thought that the whole thing was rather poor - I get the banter, but they simply lack any real charisma to properly engage.
Click to expand...
I find the total opposite to be true, I love the banter, it's what make the channel unique and the nearly all the comments agree. They say it’s done as first take with next to no production cost. It's not meant to be another boring review channel, more like a couple of us hifi nerds in the pub talking hifi over a pint.

I find it very engaging and feel like I could be in the pub with them and look forward to every episode.
 
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