Audiolab upgrade.

I'm hoping to treat myself just after Christmas to a new peice of Audiolab.

I'm currently running an A as a Pre-amp and using its speaker outs to power the tweeters of my Castle Severns. And an 8000SX to power the mid/bass drivers.

What I'm wondering is if I should get an 8000P(X) to power the Mid Bass and move the SX to power the tweeters. And keep the A as a pre (with a view to getting a Q in the future).

Or would I benefit more from upgrading the 8000A to an LX or S and keep the current configuration?

Willing to take anymore radical thoughts. Once heard you could monoblock the SX and use 2. But I am keen to keep with Audiolab (Poss Tag).

Thankyou.

 

I borrowed a P from a shop to try with my A and B&W CDM1's and I couldn't tell any difference, but that's just my 2c worth

 

I messed with passively bi-amping, and wouldn't go back there. It seems to mess up the treble/bass balance to my ears...

If you've got spare cash to spend on amplification my reccomendation would be for a better single unit (of whatever type) rather than 2 power amps.

 

avoid the 8000Q ... REALLY

ive owned most audiolab kit over the years.. and the 8000Q although good in isolation.. is easilly bettered. It robs a lot of life and sparkle from the music.

Even my local dealer agrees that the power amps are fantastic but their preamps are nowhere near as good.

even the pre in the 8000S is better to my mind than the Q.

i ended up using a croft valve preamp with my 8000M's and a brief session with a cyrus preamp also worked well.

if your sticking with audiolab for preamp duties, then keep the A, the Q wont offer you much more.

 

Thank you all.
So do people think I should get an 8000P and move the SX to the tweeters? Or is that just over kill and I should keep the A doing that and just upgrade the SX to a P?

 

Ok, here's a radical thought, sell the pre and get a TAG Av32R instead. Great pre and even better dac if you have a mid range cd player (also useful for DVD, TV etc!)

Liam.

 

I'm thinking of changing from my 8000C + 2 x 8000M in the new year, which could be the answer to your problems.

PM me if you are interested.

 

ive had quite a bit of audiolab gear down to a full audiolab system consisting of a Q and px..had an S etc too fro a long time. the biggest upgrade (but downgrade cash wise) was swapping to a Rega Cursa/maia..which imo wasted the audiolab set up and cost ne the same as what i sold my pre amp for while Audiolab prices were high. This oculd of cours just be personla taste but it was just better sound wsie in every area.i ended up also comparing the audiolab cd player to a Rega Jupiter and again..i was quite shocked at how much better the Jupiter was. id been on the Audiolab upgrade path for years and it really did open my eyes. altho nicely engineered and well built (apart from phono conns!) i think there is alot better out there sound wise for considerably less..i think the mags just did a good job of bigging up the audiolab stuff and creating almost a cult status for it. id try a different amp first if you can just to see if it's to your liking..could be the cheapest upgrade option.

on a more informative note: i found that adding a PX to my S gave greater control and better bass power/punch but certainly not the upgrade i expected and the S sounded better as a pre than bi amping with the PX, i was also using Castle speakers at the time (avons). the change from S to Q gave me a pleasing upgrade if im honest for not too much money, adding another power amp didnt change too much really. good luck snoo

 

Thanks. That's very interesting indeed.

What is the rega stuff like to listen too? I find my audiolab to be very detailed and the mid range is superb for voice and strings with the Castles. I guess that's what I like so much. However it does lack bass and warmth.

Be interested to hear more actually.

How much does a second hand Cursa/Maia go for do you think?

 

2nd hand cursa/maia should be around 500 pounds. it has a lot more energy and bounce and just flows better..that was to my ears anyway. the Audiolab always sounded too restrained at the frequency extremes for me, the Rega gear filled in the gaps for less money so it was a no brainer. see if you can borrow one first tho as you may actually prefer the Audiolab sound, it is donw to personal taste after all. or as an alternative try to find a late Densen Beat 100 which i have also owned for a short while and would have no hesitation in using in a system with far more expensive components. a real bargain which i really warmed to. only a chance to change over to valves persuaded me to not keep it.

midrange was always good with the audiolabs and castles & it was ok with simple music but not much else shone really. happy searching

 

Thanks Bourney. I actually nearly bought a Densen around the time I was after an 8000A but never got to hear one.

I'm moving house it would seem in a few months so I'm going to wait to check out the acoustics and then I should most likely be shopping around.

Thanks again and a happy new year.

 

Hi all,

Further to this I've just taken ownership of an 8000P. Which I'me very happy with but has left me with a slight dilemna and I'd be greatful of some advice.

1. My 8000A shed yet more RCA connectors.

2. I wired the 8000SX to the power the tweeters on my Castles. While I appreciate this is overkill the treble now sounds very harsh where as connectoed to the 8000A it sounded fine.

I'm figuring that I sell the 8000SX and use the money to buy either an 8000S or LX to replace the 8000A. Then I can still use it as a pre and power the tweeters with it.

I'm a bit worried about the LX as the SX is, I believe, the power section of the LX so I could end up with the same harsh treble issue. Do people think the S would be a better option?

Also any opinions on the Tag equivalent which I think was based on an S?

Thanks again.

 

I once upgraded from 8000A to 8000S. so much better. the 8000S has much better pre. I was advised that the LX was not worth considering, so didnt.

The tag 60iv was the upgrade from 8000S I believe - not the 60i, which is to be avoided.

 

i liked both the 8000S and the 8000LX and when i heard the LX it was with mission speakers... with no sign of harsh treble.. that said i didnt live with it

i have lives with an 8000S and mission speakers and its a great amp.... i have a lot of respect for the 8000S and genuinely find it more musical overall than the 8000Q/8000M's that i also used.

 

look at picking up the TAG AP20r on fleabay, a better unit than the old style Q and S, both of whihc i owned, and much much better than the current IAG model.( which is just crap).

I run the TAG PA20r, 2 x TAG Monos and it sounds lovely, to these ears at least, musical, accurate and expansive.

 

Thought I'd bring this saga up to date!

I got rid of the spare 8000SX and used the money for a Rega Cursa 2000.

I was a bit worried at first as the gain is lower than the 8000A and I needed to turn it up much more to get a good listening level. The Cursa doesn't jump out at you as doing anything jaw dropping. TBH at first I was very disappointed. It didn't seem to wow me in the way I was hoping.
However I proceeded to play my favourite records and CD's it's sound started to grow on me. I found that it is a lot more musical. And would pick a groove through anything. I think the treble could be more delicate, but the bass was a lot better. I think it maybe loses a bit of crispness to what I was using before but it sounds a lot cleaner. In fact I'm really beginning to like it a lot.

The thing I was unhappy about was the build though. The buttons feel cheap and the RCA's aren't gold plated. Plus the feet are just riveted to the base. I know it's not new but I would have expected better. Be interested to see the new model at the bristol show.

Cursa was bought from Cymbiosis who part ex'd my 8000SX for what I wanted privately and they were a joy to deal with.