11 of the best British stereo amplifiers of all time

[What Hi-Fi?]

A selection of our favourite amplifiers to have deserved a place as the beating heart of your hi-fi.

11 of the best British stereo amplifiers of all time : Read more

 

[eriksven]

CXA81 dethroned the Rega in 2018? Wouldn't that have been the CXA80?

 

[agentsmittie]

Cannot believe both Naim Nait 1 or Nait 2 did not make it.

 

[Mr. C Nation]

I see you started in 1979, presumably the launch of the paper magazine. The Quad 405 was on sale during this period, up to 1982. It - and it's Mk2 version, are still regarded as amplifiers of the highest quality, so much so that they were power amps of choice for many small recording studios

The recording engineer/producer of a selection of albums by Mike Oldfield, inc T.Bells, is a friend of mine. When he built his mobile recording unit 'The Sound Box', a Quad 405 powered each channel of the monitors.

This quality of recordings of this mobile was sufficient for the London radio station LBC to engage it to record the classical music strand of LBC's output. The Quads, powering Tannoy 'Little Red Monitors', were of broadcast monitoring quality.

405's are still much sought after. They have become legends of the power amp world.

 

[Navanski]

As someone who has a preference for a decent sized, central, volume control as demonstrated on many an Arcam or Rotel amp, aesthetically some of these amps leave a lot to be desired. Ugly or what?

 

[MajorBloodknock]

I see you started in 1979, presumably the launch of the paper magazine. The Quad 405 was on sale during this period, up to 1982. It - and it's Mk2 version, are still regarded as amplifiers of the highest quality, so much so that they were power amps of choice for many small recording studios

The recording engineer/producer of a selection of albums by Mike Oldfield, inc T.Bells, is a friend of mine. When he built his mobile recording unit 'The Sound Box', a Quad 405 powered each channel of the monitors.

This quality of recordings of this mobile was sufficient for the London radio station LBC to engage it to record the classical music strand of LBC's output. The Quads, powering Tannoy 'Little Red Monitors', were of broadcast monitoring quality.

405's are still much sought after. They have become legends of the power amp world.

The 405 was a dreadful amp, the mk2 was barely any better. Mentioning LBCs use of it is hardly an endorsement, just an example of mediocrity attracting mediocrity.

 

[MajorBloodknock]

A selection of our favourite amplifiers to have deserved a place as the beating heart of your hi-fi.

11 of the best British stereo amplifiers of all time : Read more

No surprise the Audiolab 8000A was listed, it's the Pioneer A-400 of British amps - massively overhyped by the press and for all its detail, was ultimately boring to listen to.