Audiolab 8000PX Vs M's

New to this site, first post.
Hello, my name is Mick

Can anyone give me any advice regarding Audiolab?
At the moment I have an Audiolab 8000c with a 8000px.

How much better will it sound with 2 M's instead?
Had an offer of 2 for £600, is that a good price nowadays, I know they were around £1000 brand new but in everyone opinion is it a worthwhile investment.
Also run a Roksan DP1 transport with a Arcam Blackbox 500 with Ruark Epilogue II speakers (letting the side down, I know)

Any help much appriceatedN

 

hi mick

welcome to the forum.

I wont try to answer the question because I dont have enough experience of the 8000Ms.

I do wonder about what you might get though if you were to look at selling the 8000c, and then go shopping with circa £1,000 in your pocket.

I suppose it boils down to whether you've fallen in love with the audiolab sound.

PS
Why not post in the welcom 'sticky' threads aswell?

Cheers
Chris

 

I agree, if you want the M bloxs change the pre to the Q,good prices these days,maybe worth seeing what the new range is like.

 

As others have said I'd give priority to replacing the 8000C (I owned one but not a good pre-amp IMHO). Also, I wouldn't pay £600 for two 8000Ms since next month you'll be able to buy two new ones for £800 IIRC (IAG is relaunching Audiolab products in the UK then).

 

Q: when is an audiolab not an audiolab?

A(1): when its a Tag and a lot more expensive ('cos its been done better???)
A(2): when its a re-launch of the badge and a lot less/more expensive ('cos its made in China???)

It will be interesting to see what the re-launch products sound like.

yours, an owner of s/h Audiolab 8000S (which I am looking to sell) and perhaps now an owner of s/h AudioLab 8000T (which is in the post)

 

The 'x' series (direct coupled) amps (px, mx, sx) were quite an improvement over the original amps, from memory the newer px was pretty close to the old m so I don't think you would gain much.

I used to have a mixture of p's m's and mx's with a Q pre-amp, used with a Meridian DAC and a seperate Meridian transport. I replaced the pre-amp and DAC with a better quality DAC with integrated digital volume control (Audio Synthesis DAX Decade) which was a substantial upgrade, an option you may want to consider.

Regards
Gary

 

pouched, have you heard a belcanto? wadia meister is selling a couple in the classifieds for £1000 each.

This is £400 beyond your budget for a power amp, but its worth it if you can find a way to beg borrow or steal the extra.

If you have no TT or tuner, you could consider getting rid of the pre altogether (and the transport and the DAC), and look at a CDP with a built in vol control, run directly into a power amp. Quads 99 springs to mind.

If I was a solid state guy with one CD source thats a direction I'd certainly favour.

TBH there are a million variants, just thought I'd mention an alternative.

 

a far better upgrade would be to change your 8000C to a new preamp.. like an 8000Q or even better an 8000LX integrated and biamp with it.

The LX is a gorgeous simple straight line design using the same direct coupled technology as the PX... will really sounds good.

The 8000Q is also direct coupled and would work well with the PX but the LX's sheer simplicity means it doesnt lose a lot to a Q in preamp mode.

I wouldnt bother with the 8000M's unless you need lots more power... they sound about the same as a PX.. they are just great for driving tricker loads.

 

yes

 

the combo of good transport + Dax Decade with the Belcanto 2002.2 powers heartily recommended. not cheap but good value s/h deals on offer if you look.

 

I'll second what's been said .......and add that I have a Q on ebay at this very moment

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5801139525&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MESE:IT&rd=1

Sorry for the plug !

If you like the audiolab presentation this is a good pre but not neutral or natural in its presentation.

 

I've heard in different places that the new ones are likely to be made using cheaper components and might not be up to standard, but also that there are basically loads of the old Tag components (or at least their boards etc.) so that at least for the first ones on the market this will be what is sold. It would be very interesting to know quite what the situation was!