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Top 5 Worst Sounding Integrated Amps

R

ryder

pfm Member
We've often read about the best sounding amps when people ask for recommendations on amps that sound great. Several amps which I regard as mediocre or poor were recommended as great sounding amps. Obviously not everyone shares the same experience as everyone hears differently.

Inspired by the "Top 5 Integrated amps" thread running separately here, I was just wondering if terribly poor sounding amps do exist. Are there integrated amps that CONSISTENTLY get recommended for having an AWFUL sound?

Some of the less than stellar integrated amps which I thought sound mediocre or uninspiring are as follows.

Arcam Alpha 10
Rega Elicit mk2
Naim Nait XS mk1 (without power supply)

These integrateds are not exactly poor, they just sound relatively uninspiring in comparison to better sounding designs.

Back to topic, is there any integrated amp that sounds like bollocks in your book?
 
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I’ve not heard much that was really bad but here goes,

Cambridge Audio A1, it was a budget amp, and it really sounded like it, flat, dull, harsh if you tried to coax any volume out of it.

Ariston AX 910, see above, it’s the same amp.

Acoustic Solutions, now this thing really is the biggest bucket of arse to ever be described as a HIFI amp, just not fit for purpose… seriously, you’re better off just humming/singing the tune yourself, it’ll sound more faithful to the original recording. I could explain why, but we’ll be here a while and I can’t be bothered to waste my energy on it.

Linn Intek, now lets be fair, it’s way better than the three listed above and I could actually listen to one, but I don’t think it was good enough for the money asked, it was a little flat and sterile sounding to be honest, but not as bad as some people like to make out… it just got left behind when the Majik came along, which was better in every single way… about 50% more expensive for the phono stage equipped model, but still better value.

Quad 34/405… yes I know it’s a pre/power, but it’s on my pretty small list of “meh” amplifiers I’ve encountered… it’s better than the Cambridge Audio/Ariston and Acoustic Solutions amps I’ve listed but worse than the Linn Intek… proper snooze fest, with a weird “electronic” edge to the sound, like early digital. To be clear, I know the fault lies with the preamp… the power amp is actually decent, but I bought them as a combo, and as a combo, they just left me cold.

I have heard worse than the above but to be fair, they were budget home theatre amps, not HIFI… I bought a Thomson home theatre amp blind, I just wanted to put a home theatre system together in my first home and I was working to a fairly tight budget, and found discounted it in the local electrical store which sold/rented TVs and white goods (Claridges of Walsall Wood)… my god it was crap. I cut my losses, gave it away and blew the budget on a Sony ES model, which was much more respectable given the level of functionality on offer for the money.
 
Audiolab 8000A ( I didn't like the pre + monos either)
Naim Nait 3 (the worst Hifi demonstration I've ever experienced)
Linn Majik (sounded like an Aiwa midi system)
Musical Fidelity XA-50 + x series monos (heard a few other MF amps and didn't rate them)
Audion Sterling (Gutless)
Audionote (uk) Ongaku (not bad just disappointing given the extraordinary price tag at the time)

Of course we don't listen to an amp in isolation, there's also the source and more importantly the speakers to consider and it may be the case that it was the speakers or source I really disliked, all sources on first four were the matching CD player from the same companies, Audiolab was demonstrated with Monitor Audio, the Naim was with something a Naim/Linn dealer would have sold/stocked when the Nait 3 was released, the MF and Audion both with Triangle and finally the Audionote with a pair of Snell/Audionote speakers.
 
I like the other thread much much better. No point in thread like this one IMO. But here you go anyway

NAD 3020 (specifically this model, latter 304/314 were decent)
Technics SU-8080
Marantz PM-80 (and its siblings, cousins - big Marantz amps with low power class A option)
small Marantz amps (eg. PM-44)
 
1.Linn Intek, absolutely shocking, everything harsher than everything else.

2. Cyrus 1, a gutless and shrieky box of hate.

3. Audiolab 8000a, am I having fun yet? No, no; there’ll be no fun here. Only beige. Zzzzz.

4. Pioneer A300, I just didn’t understand the hype. Flat.

5. Supernait 1, I think that was the one with the DAC in it? Heard it a dealer who evangelised so much about it, I was expecting it to change my life, and…. No.
 
Actually bad sounding:

Eagle SA-100 - small EL84 amp, even cleaned up inside sounded horrible and no real bass.
Antique Sound Lab Wave Monoblocks - Its a power amp but barely, absolutley no bass and just horrible all round. Replaced by an Audion Sterling which was leagues apart.

Stuff I've had but did not stick around very long, I've always liked Rega's other products, mainly the speakers and the P9 but never got on with the amplifiers.
Maybe using them with lower efficiency speakers is not ideal but I thought with the Rega R9 speakers, the Mira, Cursa/Maia3 and Elicit Mk2 would all be great matches, I much preferred others.

Rega Elicit Mk2 (Rega R9) - Replaced with Bryston B60R
Rega Mira (Rega R9) - Replaced with a Cursa/Maia3 and the Denon PMA-2500NE
Rega Brio-R (ATC SCM10) - Replaced with Bryston B60R (different one)
Rega Brio 2000 (Keesonic Kolt) - Replaced with Sony TA-F670ES
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
Quad 34/405… yes I know it’s a pre/power, but it’s on my pretty small list of “meh” amplifiers I’ve encountered… it’s better than the Cambridge Audio/Ariston and Acoustic Solutions amps I’ve listed but worse than the Linn Intek… proper snooze fest, with a weird “electronic” edge to the sound, like early digital. To be clear, I know the fault lies with the preamp… the power amp is actually decent, but I bought them as a combo, and as a combo, they just left me cold.
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I once had a pals 44/405 combo in my house. As you say, the pre was really bad, the power amp at least decent.

Of my own, only a Sugden A28 is remarkable. Not only did it sound rather bland, it was so badly built it actually started to go to pieces when you hold it!
 
It’s little surprise that some amplifiers make both the best and worst list.

The usual suspects of Cyrus 1, Audiolab 8000 and Pioneer A400 are particularly bad, not just because of their truly woeful performance but because so many were conned into purchase by reviews that can only have been bought.

The most disappointing amplifier for me would be the chrome bumper nait 2. So inferior to the Nait 1 that we seriously thought it was faulty.

Obviously Musical Fidelity made stinker after stinker but at least no one ever came in enthusiastic to hear one based on biased reviews.

Except of course the A1. That wonderful soft, dull uninspiring and soggy wonder. Many a customer realised the truth about reviews on hearing a comparison with that beauty. (When we had one that worked)
 
Beyond disappointing - Audiolab 800A and Nait1 - I ended up with a Magnum IA125 (still have it 40 years on :))

Pioneer A something - 300 or 400? The one that won loads of shoot outs

Quad grey/orange 34/44/306/405 Pre/Powers - bought loads of different Quad amps last year to finally scratch the itch from my cash strapped youth, never meet your heroes - the later QSP was a star though
 
Nytech something or other. Assembled by idiots. It might have sounded OK, but it was rarely in working order.

Other than that lemon, any other integrated amp I've owned has been fine (though to be fair I've only owned two).
 
The more I’ve learned over the years the less I buy into simplistic ‘best/worst’ type rankings. To my mind two key parameters defined things back in the ‘80s AB dems; a) cartridge loading, and b) speaker load. An amp with a phono stage designed for a V15/III was only ever going to sound beyond horrible with the Linn Audio Technica designs that were so often used. Speaker load and efficiency cut between camps with a scythe too, some amps being far more able to deal with the aggressively ported heavy plastic drivers of the era than others. Change the context and the results changed. I’m sure some dealers grasped this all too well and stacked their dems towards the products they wished to sell with cartridge and speaker choices.

The interesting thing now is to see which have lasted the distance and are still highly desirable today, which have fallen by the wayside, and which were so badly made few examples even survive.
 
Tony L said:
I remember walking into a fairly well known dealer and seeing a big pile of boxes near the door. I made a comment that they must be selling really well only to be told that was the ‘warranty returns pile’.
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I can believe it. I was foolish enough to accept the shop's offer to return the amp to Nytech for repairs whilst it was under warranty rather than demanding a refund/replacement. Once it was out of warranty, it failed again.
 
The worse I ever heard was a Inca Tech Prelude I made before the Claymore, thank heaven I only made 4, it was dreadful, the phono stage was a SCEA design but the noise was hell.
So started again, with a request from Music Hall New York, for a amp with a weapon name, so the Claymore was made, the first 6 or so went to the USA and got stolen, bright orange.
 
I'm struggling to think of a genuinely poor production hi-fi amplifier that's passed my way - most are at least adequate, and I have to say that IMO audiophiles often grossly overstate differences.

That said I had a Yaqin (MCA10 rings a bell) valve amp once which literally caught fire. Sounded reasonable for a cheap valve amp when working.
Had a 3 box active prototype amp from Harbeth. The owner dropped it off because it buzzed badly and kept blowing transistors, apparently the manufacturer couldn't sort it.
Turns out it just contained some really poorly laid out clones of a mosfet amp module of the type sold at Maplin.
It was awful and no amount of work would fix it. The owner disappeared (likely just wanted rid) and 10 years later it went to the skip!
 
Robert said:
That said I had a Yaqin (MCA10 rings a bell) valve amp once which literally caught fire. Sounded reasonable for a cheap valve amp when working.
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So many cheap Chinese valve amps ended up being shipped direct from China via eBay etc with 220V transformers and very marginal tolerance as they were trying to max Watt ratings etc. Stick them on 240 (or even higher) in the UK and it was only a matter of time until they blew up! I know several people who had similar experiences.
 
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