Audiolab / Arcam / Rotel amps

Mikey

Mikey

Mikey

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Looking at doing a few updates to my current hi fi system and looking at changing the Amp.

Considering the Audiolab 8000A with a 8000P power amp or a Arcam Alpha 8 with a power amp again.

Any 2nd hand recommendations?

CD player is a Marantz CD6000 and speakers are Kef Reference 101/2 speakers
 
I have an Audiolab 8000A. I love it. Some don't like it cause it's seen as too dry or clinical, lacking warmth. It depends on your tastes, if you prefer a warmer sound, I would avoid the Audiolab. No experience with the others mind, although the Arcam is a good choice, if you prefer a warmer sound.
 
Marsman said:
I have an Audiolab 8000A. I love it. Some don't like it cause it's seen as too dry or clinical, lacking warmth. It depends on your tastes, if you prefer a warmer sound, I would avoid the Audiolab. No experience with the others mind, although the Arcam is a good choice, if you prefer a warmer sound.
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I have an Arcam Alpha 6+ at the moment and have just been given a Audiolab 8000A

Shame the 6+ isn't in the same league, but I'll be trying them both out and going from there.

What I do hope to do is end up with an Arcam / Audiolab + power amp set-up

I listen to just about anything (except rap). One moment I'll be listening to a Giles Peterson mix CD, or Herbet and the Michael Buble etc then Pink Flyod etc
 
The Arcam 8 and 9 are great amps that can be picked up at bargain prices now. Just make sure you ask the seller that the sound level is evenly balanced at low volumes. Its a pretty common fault that one channel is louder than the other, its very noticable at low volumes and very anoying. I bought my dad an alpha 8 for christmas and after 6 months his developed the fault.

My money would go on a Roksan Kandy III amp, bloody fantastic bit of kit for the cash.
 
Hi Mikey,
A few upgrades ago I was running a marantz cd85, audiolab 8000a and kef reference 102s. The Ref 102s needed an amp with fair bit of grunt/grip, and to my ears the audiolab did the best overall job in its price bracket at the time. I borrowed an 8000p, which was an improvement but I think was starting to be limited by the preamp section of the 8000A.
Now running with a big rotel power amp (with a self-built pre) which has a more effortless and natural presentation. I never quite took to the Arcam cds or amps for some reason.

Maybe consider a passive pre-amp with an 8000p/rotel/whatever power amp? Your CD6000 has got (IIRC) a variable level output, so if you don't need any input switching you could use a fixed attenuator to limit the maximum volume and dispense with a pre-amp altogether.
 
The 8000A is a great amp, make sure you get a later mk 2 or 3 one though (the earlier ones are grey rather than black and don't have a 'CD' input - it's now 20+ years old and is 50wpc rather than 60wpc).

Adding an 8000P at a later date is a good idea, but sell the 8000A when you do and replace it with a dedicated pre-amp. The 8000C (or Q if money will stretch) will do the job. Adding a second 8000P and bi-amping if the speakers allow gives a further upgrade path. The 8000x kit is a great second hand buy, you can sell it on without losing much and the upgrade path is always there thanks to that well known auction site :D
 
I've only got experience of the grey Mk 1 8000A but hadn't heard that the later models were better - I'd be interested to know what's wrong with the earlier ones? I still have a Mk 1, which does have a CD input BTW, and not noticed any signs of ageing. I gather that later models have problems with the phono sockets breaking though, so that would be something for the OP to look out for.
 
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I've owned the CD6000KI and the Arcam Alpha 8 & 8P combo and the sound (to my ears using rock music) was very warm i.e bass/treble volume slightly reduced, mid-range volume slightly raised. I had to used the tone controls turned to max to boost the bass/treble back to my prefered setting.

I then had Rotel amps (ra-971 and rb-991 as pre/power) and the sound was very neutral which suited my rock music better and didn't need adjusting.
 
Im not sure what model it was, but i had a listen to a 10year old audio labs amp running some bose speakers and sub, and the sound was very impressive, very clear and crisp with great bass.
 
Ah, sorry, early ones says 'CD disc' and the later ones say 'cd'.

The early ones are now getting a bit old and you can't get many of the spares etc. for them, for the price difference (usually as little as 10-20 quid) make sure you get a later one - B serial numbers onwards.
 
Well my relative says I can have the Audiolab 8000A so I will post up further info once I'm got it.

Need to get the stands filled and on spikes for the Kef speakers and then go from there.

Keeping an eye out for 8000Ps but not many about and I'll see how it sounds first before other changes.
 
Audiolab 8000x stuff is nice. I run an S&P on my hifi, and it sounds gooood :) The P is 100% worth the money and will make a massive difference to the overall sound, esp with the A as a base. I would love to add another P and a Q if I could find them at decent prices :)
 
Bes said:
Audiolab 8000x stuff is nice. I run an S&P on my hifi, and it sounds gooood :) The P is 100% worth the money and will make a massive difference to the overall sound, esp with the A as a base. I would love to add another P and a Q if I could find them at decent prices :)
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Indeed looking forward to how it sounds with the current kit

CD player is actually a CD6000OSE shame it's not a KI!!

Think I'm getting a QED interconnect with it too as I've only got a cheap cambridge audio interconnect at the mo.

Speak cable is Chord which was donated with the speakers, got a pure copper core etc.
 
I'm a sucker for the way a Marantz cd player sounds through an Arcam amp, the precision of the marantz seems to match perfectly with the warm fuzzyness of the Arcam. the end result is loads better than a matching setup from either brand. No idea on the audiolab gear allthough it is something that has always interested me!
 
Oh just noticed you are running Marantz- I have a CD61 (I think) but heavily modified, it sounds good with the Audiolab stuff- if I was being fussy, I would say it could do with some more warmth, but then I am running Focal JMLab floorstanders with it, which are quite neutral speakers.

You'll certainly get a very 'true' representation of the original music and excellent positioning, but as I said maybe a little lifeless esp with no dedicated power amp. The 8000P does improve things considerably however.

Edit 2: I also run chord speaker cable, but I think mine is some super special silver cable or something... I got a load of it thrown in with the speakers. I have been told this also aids the 'neutralness' of the sound, but I've never really bought in to the whole cable making a difference thing. I've tried some cheaper cables and noticed very little -if no- difference.
 
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a1ex2001 said:
I'm a sucker for the way a Marantz cd player sounds through an Arcam amp, the precision of the marantz seems to match perfectly with the warm fuzzyness of the Arcam. the end result is loads better than a matching setup from either brand. No idea on the audiolab gear allthough it is something that has always interested me!
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Same here. Though I'm using an old cd-52mk2 through an old delta 290. I picked up an Alpha 9 but I soon got rid as I prefered the sound from the older amp.
 
Will certainly be interesting to see how the amps compare. May borrow a Meridian CD player again as a comparison
 
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