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Top 5 Worst Sounding Integrated Amps

Darren L said:
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)
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I agree upon the Linn. But the 8000A was pretty special at the time. And the Nait 3? You owe it to your ears to get a proper demonstration!
 
The worst integrated amp I've had the displeasure to own was a McLaren A150b. Supposedly rated at 75WPC, it sounded really anemic compared to the 50W Musical Fidelity A-100 before it. Even a basic NAIT3 pissed all over it from a great height.

It's put me right off integrated amps since.
 
Bas V said:
I agree upon the Linn. But the 8000A was pretty special at the time. And the Nait 3? You owe it to your ears to get a proper demonstration!
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Shortly after I discovered I really prefer a good class A amp whether solid state or Valve or even a hybrid.
 
I'm bound to ask the question of all except those who are just reporting on dems, or those who admit to buying blind. If it was so godawful... why did you buy it?

I don't recall hearing many real stinkers. So much depends on the system..especially speaker choice.

I've owned three integrated amps:

-ION Obelisk 1. Brilliant little amp if properly partnered.
-ION Obelisk 3X-X-Pak. Even more brillianter..and so good I bought it twice and bi-amped. My only mistake was selling them.
-LFD Zero MkV. My current amp and a shining example of the absolute requirement for a home dem, in your own system, in your own room. Relatively uninspiring in a dealer dem and I was veering towards a Sonneteer alternative.. but in a home dem it blew away all comers.

As for other stuff. When I worked in hi-fi sales, we carried NAIM, Linn, Arcam, Rega, Cyrus ...odd bits of Meridian and selected stuff from NAD, Rotel, Denon, Marantz and TEAC.

For me..the Arcam stuff always sounded a little soft. A definite 'house sound'...Presumably some like it, or modify it with source/speaker choices.

I've never liked NAIM kit but I demmed the NAIT 3 many times and could never understand how it seemed to be only me who heard it as confused, congested and claustrophobic sounding. Still..yer pays yer money....

Rega electronics back then were largely Brio, Planet CDP etc. I didn't find much to complain about with any of it and have always had a lot of time for the company and its 'ethos'. But I have always felt that putting too much Rega together can produce an artificially bouncy sound which is far too dependent on 'leading edges'. Try Planet, Brio, ELAs for e.g. Things may have changed. it was a long time ago.
 
JensenHealey said:
Surely there must some Amstrad dross?
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I had an Amstrad stereo thingy when I was in my early to mid-teens. It had little lights on the speakers that came on if you played it loud and the record player slid out the bottom on a motorised drawer. I'm sure it sounded shit but it played Iron Maiden loud enough to annoy the rest of the household, so that was plenty good enough at the time :D
 
Mullardman said:
I'm bound to ask the question of all except those who are just reporting on dems, or those who admit to buying blind. If it was so godawful... why did you buy it?

I don't recall hearing many real stinkers. So much depends on the system..especially speaker choice.

I've owned three integrated amps:

-ION Obelisk 1. Brilliant little amp if properly partnered.
-ION Obelisk 3X-X-Pak. Even more brillianter..and so good I bought it twice and bi-amped. My only mistake was selling them.
-LFD Zero MkV. My current amp and a shining example of the absolute requirement for a home dem, in your own system, in your own room. Relatively uninspiring in a dealer dem and I was veering towards a Sonneteer alternative.. but in a home dem it blew away all comers.

As for other stuff. When I worked in hi-fi sales, we carried NAIM, Linn, Arcam, Rega, Cyrus ...odd bits of Meridian and selected stuff from NAD, Rotel, Denon, Marantz and TEAC.

For me..the Arcam stuff always sounded a little soft. A definite 'house sound'...Presumably some like it, or modify it with source/speaker choices.

I've never liked NAIM kit but I demmed the NAIT 3 many times and could never understand how it seemed to be only me who heard it as confused, congested and claustrophobic sounding. Still..yer pays yer money....

Rega electronics back then were largely Brio, Planet CDP etc. I didn't find much to complain about with any of it and have always had a lot of time for the company and its 'ethos'. But I have always felt that putting too much Rega together can produce an artificially bouncy sound which is far too dependent on 'leading edges'. Try Planet, Brio, ELAs for e.g. Things may have changed. it was a long time ago.
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I should also have never sold my 3X/Xpak1.

I cycled from Knighton to the factory and back years ago, had a lovely tour with Richard and got taken out to lunch. Shame the company folded and of course RIP Richard.
 
JensenHealey said:
Surely there must some Amstrad dross? Or Eagle? or or

...Or the Clive Sinclair modular amps of the 1970s.
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I could be wrong but I don't recall them making "separates"

In the mid 80's I had an Amstrad tower system, graphic equaliser, twin tape, high speed dubbing etc in a glass fronted cabinet on castors, it was dreadful.

One day when bored I took the back off to find it was mostly an empty box :D
 
A friend gave me a knackered old Amstrad Receiver. It was wide and low with loads of buttons. I pulled it apart and the only thing of note inside was an old style 'tuning condenser' with exposed plates...made by Alps.
 
Audiolab 8000A (the original one) - dull, dull, dull!

Pioneer A-400 - I never understood the fuss but I have one coming my way soon so maybe I’ll give it a second chance!

Rogers Ravensbourne. Another dreary thing

B&O Beomaster 4000 - stunning looks; disappointing sound. Given that its circuit is about 95% identical to other B&O units that sound superb, this is a mystery.

Sony TA-5650 - VFET magic supposedly. I thought the TA-3650 sounded better, personally!
 
Mullardman said:
I've never liked NAIM kit but I demmed the NAIT 3 many times and could never understand how it seemed to be only me who heard it as confused, congested and claustrophobic sounding. Still..yer pays yer money....
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Are you sure you looked at the Naim-logo for a few minutes? You need to be hypnotized first :p

Very interesting to read that people can experience sound so differently. I have been into Naim since the Nait 3 came out. Sometimes switched to other brands, but I always came back as I really like the boogie-woogie. I have owned a.o. Linn, Exposure, Wadia, NuForce and JOB. Only the JOB I miss.
 
CJ14 said:
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.
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I love my Claymore, black with gold detailing ((cough)), it will remain as part of my collection for many years to come.
 
fegs said:
I could be wrong but I don't recall them making "separates"

In the mid 80's I had an Amstrad tower system, graphic equaliser, twin tape, high speed dubbing etc in a glass fronted cabinet on castors, it was dreadful.

One day when bored I took the back off to find it was mostly an empty box :D
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If you mean Amstrad They certainly did make separates.
Several integrated amps and a cassette deck.
 
I like my Audiolab 8000a, but more than any other amp i've owned, i found it's need for warming up integral, perhaps it's why it was left on all the time by some. My most disappointing amp were the very expensive Tag Mclaren range, very dull affairs.
 
The worst I had was an Akai casseiver thing with an additional matching TT for my 18th birthday from my Mum. I wasn't at all 'bad' and I felt very lucky (I think it was about £220 at the time with speakers so that'd be about £750 in today's money).
 
Tony L said:
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.
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I reckon you’re spot on, and why a few of us in this thread have such polarising views of the same product… Darren L’s view of the Linn Majik is a surprising one, but he has his own ears. I think it’s an excellent little amp, enough that I’ve had about seven of them over the years and still have three in use in various places. The Intek isn’t great though and made my “worst list”.
 
I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Audiolab 8000A over the years. I've heard many demos of the amp over the years and, somewhat remarkably, I find that I have owned 5 of them. The demos were all pretty ghastly, but of course the reviews were entirely the opposite, so the poor result had to be down to something other than the amp, right? And other than the sound, everything else is very likeable indeed; it looks good, it's clearly laid out, it's well made, it has most facilities you'd ever need, it has a quiet MC stage, and it's pretty powerful. Indeed, on the latter point, one or other of the number I owned have stood in for much more powerful amps when they've needed attention - it even drove my big Magneplanars when the American valve amp that usually drove them expired spectacularly.

I started out with the revised grey version, the one that replaced the DINs with RCA Phonos. I wanted so much to like it but I missed the warmth and sweetness of my old amp, so I sold it not long after. Later I bought a black fascia version. The first demo for this one was truly epically awful, with one of the then-new Philips Bitstream CD players up front (CD850??); hard, bright, horrible. A second demo in HK was far more promising and so another purchase soon followed. It was OK for a while - possibly better than the original - but I got bored of it and sold it soon after. The other three I have bought secondhand in more recent years. Why? Well, they were in great condition, being offered locally, and they were cheap. They have been great temporary stand-ins for other amps, phono stages etc.. They have been rock solid in their reliability. However, for all it's good points - and there are many - I just didn't love the sound all that much. It's not that it's particularly bad, it's perfectly competent, but it didn't move me in the way other little integrated amps have done - everything from a NAD 3020, through to a Creek 4040, Ion Obelisk2, 3 and 3x, numerous Naits - even the Arcam Deltas 60 & 90 were more engaging. And yet, I just couldn't resist buying an 8000A if the opportunity arose to do so. Perhaps I just kept thinking I might finally find one that lived up to all the rave reviews I'd read about. Currently I don't have an 8000A. It can't be too long before I end up buying my next one...
 
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