Abrahamsen amplifiers

[iQ Speakers]

Not had a humming transformer or noisey volume, give me a shout if in UK if not give Abrahsmsen a email. Yes they sound lovely and warm.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I see no flaws in the brilliant Marantz PM8005. But I did just see the Opticon 6 specs and they appear to be 4 ohms nominal floorstanders. If I'd expect any improvement from the trully brute force power supply of the Abrahamsen it would be absolute control of all low frequencies.

ok thank you Vladimir yes I know the marantz is a good amp and yes the abrahamsen amp has one hell of a power supply so good to know about controlling the low frequencies better . This opticon 6s are so good and kind of thinking the abrahamsen amp will push even more quality out of my speakers. . One issue I would have is that I see the abrahamsen amp has balanced inputs for hooking a CD player the trouble is my marantz sacd player only has the normal phono connections but would like to use the balanced inputs on the abrahamsen amp if I get one as I read that's the best input to use to get the best out of this amp ? Or would I have to buy the abrahamsen CD player to use this feature or can I get a lead for it .

 

[Vladimir]

No idea if balanced line would make a difference. In theory it shouldn't. But it's something I personally would use for my own gear loving hedonism.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Have a large 10000va transformer and nonsound what so ever or hum (am pissed so excuse)

 

[iQ Speakers]

RCA's work fine!

 

[Blacksabbath25]

RCA's work fine!

hi what uk warranty do you get with the abrahamsen v20 up amp please

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Ok thanks I am so tempted to buy one of this amps but I have only had my marantz pm8005 3 months but been reading most of the posts on this amps and a lot of people have not regretted getting one . The trouble the chap who sells them is a bit far for me to go for a demo so would have to be a blind buy if I got one but so tempted . Does anyone know on here how this amp will stack up against the marantz and has it got a nice warm sound too it ?

pm 8005 is a serious bit of kit and the amp you are currently considering might be a sideway move. I would suggest you hold on to your amp for few more months.

Why blind buy? There are so many other brands available in the market. I don't know what your budget is but moving up from your current amp i would be looking into some of these:

roksan caspian m2, arcam a39, creek evo100a, naim nait xs2, yamaha as2100, mf m6si.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Ok thanks I am so tempted to buy one of this amps but I have only had my marantz pm8005 3 months but been reading most of the posts on this amps and a lot of people have not regretted getting one . The trouble the chap who sells them is a bit far for me to go for a demo so would have to be a blind buy if I got one but so tempted . Does anyone know on here how this amp will stack up against the marantz and has it got a nice warm sound too it ?

pm 8005 is a serious bit of kit and the amp you are currently considering might be a sideway move. I would suggest you hold on to your amp for few more months.

Why blind buy? There are so many other brands available in the market. I don't know what your budget is but moving up from your current amp i would be looking into some of these:

roksan caspian m2, arcam a39, creek evo100a, naim nait xs2, yamaha as2100, mf m6si.

yes i know what you mean by blind buying its something i do not like doing so would be a risk . i do not like any of the roksan range i do not like there sound i had a demo on the roksan k3 amp before buying the 8005 and thought the 8005 was better sounding then i have read on here on a older post that the abrahamsen amps will out class some of the naim range and they are a big jump in price . then the arcam i had a demo on the A19 and A29 and still felt that the 8005 was better the only ones i have not had a demo on is any of the creek range or yamaha range the only ones i would like to try is rega elicit -r , marantz pm14s1 se . i will phone colin up and find out a bit more before doing anything

 

[tonky]

Make sure you audition them both - ask colin to set up a blind test! - now that would be very interesting. Whichever way you do it it would be very interesting to read your findings. Don't believe all you read tho - you know how subjective it can sometimes be.

tonky

 

[Kostku]

I have sent several emails to Thomas but he never replied. The transformer is just irritating, sometimes I can hear it between tracks, when there is silence for a few seconds...

I had a chance to listen to V2.0 UP (but not in my house) and there were no clicks while changing volume. Moreover, the transformer was completely silent.

 

[winiar550]

Hello.I am new on this forum but have decided to join as i could not stand not to give some input about an abrahamsen v20up amplifier which i personally own.I can only say that on my experience i have heard a marantz 8500 at superfi with 8500 sacd and some kefs r700 then the same configuration but with musical fidelity m6si and marantz sounded really bad in comparison.But to the point.I have abrahamsen v20 up and rate it above musical fidelity m6si for pure musical pleasure but musical fidelity wins on power and drive -control.Marantz pm8500 sounds poor in comparison with both of these amps.I would describe an Abrahamsen as very musical amp with a fantastic soundstage and valve similar sound signature.Hope it helps.By the way-i live in Yorkshire and if youre not far away i will be happy to provide you a demo if you like. My message is directed to blacksabath25 .

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Hello.I am new on this forum but have decided to join as i could not stand not to give some input about an abrahamsen v20up amplifier which i personally own.I can only say that on my experience i have heard a marantz 8500 at superfi with 8500 sacd and some kefs r700 then the same configuration but with musical fidelity m6si and marantz sounded really bad in comparison.But to the point.I have abrahamsen v20 up and rate it above musical fidelity m6si for pure musical pleasure but musical fidelity wins on power and drive -control.Marantz pm8500 sounds poor in comparison with both of these amps.I would describe an Abrahamsen as very musical amp with a fantastic soundstage and valve similar sound signature.Hope it helps.By the way-i live in Yorkshire and if youre not far away i will be happy to provide you a demo if you like. My message is directed to blacksabath25 .

thanks for the demo i am from cambridgeshire . i find with my marantz stuff is does sound good with dali speakers i do get a good soundstage and the pm8005 is musical sounding and goes low on the bass side of things i think it comes down to speakers that you are useing i have just got my self a power amp to try bi amping as this is something i have always wanted to try even though a lot of people have said i would not hear anything new on the sound front but i still want to try this as i have got myself some amazing speakers which i think i can get a bit more out of them by bi amping this is just something i have to see for myself here i have looked around the net to see if anyone has done bi amping with the marantz pm8005 and mm7025 power amp and i found nothing . if i do not get what i want out of bi amping then i will send the power amp back and get the abrahamsen 2up amp

 

[tonky]

did you do a direct a/b comparison of the abrahamsen with the marantz sa8005? with your speakers? If you rely on auditory memory (using different speakers too) it is really a totally unfair comparison. Blacksabbath - you have a great amp - don't rush into change just for the sake of it. Do a fair comparison if you must - then decide - the differences will be much smaller than what you think they might be.

Tonky -

 

[winiar550]

Hi Tonky.No i havent done direct comparison with abrahamsen at the time but i have done with a musical fidelity m6si with same rest of the system and for me musical wins hands down.I have both amplifiers at home abrahamsen v20 up and musical fidelity m6si and with my speakers and source abrahamsen is better sounding amplifier than m6si at les than half the price.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

did you do a direct a/b comparison of the abrahamsen with the marantz sa8005? with your speakers? If you rely on auditory memory (using different speakers too) it is really a totally unfair comparison. Blacksabbath - you have a great amp - don't rush into change just for the sake of it. Do a fair comparison if you must - then decide - the differences will be much smaller than what you think they might be.

Tonky -

i understand that i might not hear anything new by bi amping but i want to try this . someone on here said it would be a side ways step me getting the abrahamsen amp post 57

so this is what i meant by a risk to me by buying something that would be a side ways step and this comment put me off to be honest getting the abrahamsen amp .

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Hello.I am new on this forum but have decided to join as i could not stand not to give some input about an abrahamsen v20up amplifier which i personally own.I can only say that on my experience i have heard a marantz 8500 at superfi with 8500 sacd and some kefs r700 then the same configuration but with musical fidelity m6si and marantz sounded really bad in comparison.But to the point.I have abrahamsen v20 up and rate it above musical fidelity m6si for pure musical pleasure but musical fidelity wins on power and drive -control.Marantz pm8500 sounds poor in comparison with both of these amps.I would describe an Abrahamsen as very musical amp with a fantastic soundstage and valve similar sound signature.Hope it helps.By the way-i live in Yorkshire and if youre not far away i will be happy to provide you a demo if you like. My message is directed to blacksabath25 .

ummmmmm!

interesting and also very unsual, considering this is your first post.

 

[mocenigo]

i don't have a slightest doubt that abrahamsen beats your naim setup hands down but also it won't take long for you to find someone who will have the exact opposite opinion.

Of course!

i am not, by any means, saying that abrahamsen kits are not worthy of praise they are getting. I am sure they make great sound and they are axactly what their users say they are . It is just that i am not entirely convinced that British, Japanese or more main stream manufacturers, with in the same (ish) price bracket can not match their quality and performance.

The fact that they are selling direct and further discounting already shaves off about 50-60% of the price that they would have if they were distributed via normal channels. I think a really excellent product at 2x-2.5x the price can match their quality - and at similar prices this can happen at comparable prices with used equipment.

Roberto

 

[mocenigo]

is that normal then for abrahamsen amps to hum or make a sound when you put the vol up ?

There is a very faint hum from the speakers, which is not audible as soon as you are a couple feet from the woofer, and it is probably connected to the mains hum - so this is independent from the volume.

There is a very faint hiss at higher frequencies that is audible when you drive up the volume at crazy levels with very sensitive loudspeakers - but these would be volumes that may even damage yor equipment of you dared play music through them.

I must say that the V30UP+V40UP combo, even with no perfectly black background, is one of the most silent amps I had in my rented flat during the last years - I live about one hundred feet from a small hydroelectric power plant and everything has buzzes and hums. Apart from Class D stuff, only a Teddy Pardo amp was more silent here (and even that produced some level of noise that was unexpected).

Roberto

 

[mocenigo]

Does anyone hear a little click from the loudspeakers while changing the volume level in Abrahamsen V2.0 (not upgraded) amplifier?

I can also hear irritating hum from the transformer.

Click: I think It depends how sensitive your speakers are. Mine are qute sensitive (91 Db/w/m over 6 Ohm) and I head a very faint click while changing the volume level.

The transformer hum can depend from your mains. If it is higher than 230V (say it hits 235-240, depending on how much headroom there was in the design) then the transformer can hum. Similarly with a little bit of a DC component is also a known cause of humming, that can also affect the sound through the speakers.

MIne does but it is very, very, faint, I have to put the ear close to the amp. My power is usually close to 230V but I have a variable DC component from 50 to 100 mV, and the hum (both transformer and throught the speakers) is correlated to that. I am getting a DC blocker and also an industrial RF filter. Note (I have a separate reply on that in thid thread) that I had these issues with everything audio at my place, from my humble Teac A-H500 to quite good DACs like the Teac UD-501.

I have separate pre amp (V30 UP) and power amp (V40 UP) but the V20 has the V40 transformer and the V30 volume control.

Roberto

 

[Kostku]

I can hear these clicks from the very beginning, when volume level is 2, 4, 6... The click is even louder while pressing mute button. It's still audible about 2 metres away from the speakers... I have AE1 Series II loudspeakers (89dB, 8ohm).

Next week I will be testing DC blocker. I hope the transformer will be more quiet.

 

[Kostku]

I can also hear irritating hum from the transformer.

It might be worth try a mains DC blocker because even a very small amount of DC on the mains can cause this problem .

DC blocker changed nothing. Still the same hum.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I can also hear irritating hum from the transformer.

It might be worth try a mains DC blocker because even a very small amount of DC on the mains can cause this problem .

DC blocker changed nothing. Still the same hum.

what amp are you running ? and how old is it

 

[drummerman]

I can hear these clicks from the very beginning, when volume level is 2, 4, 6... The click is even louder while pressing mute button. It's still audible about 2 metres away from the speakers... I have AE1 Series II loudspeakers (89dB, 8ohm).

Next week I will be testing DC blocker. I hope the transformer will be more quiet.

When I had a what was called Cambridge Audio 840V2 on home loan you could hear the relay volume control clicks down the road (ok, perhaps slight exaggeration but it was l o u d)

 

[chebby]

Poor old Kostku has been complaining here in this thread about his humming Abrahamsen for 3 weeks now.

Can't Colin/Bogit/IQ Speakers help or support or advise this chap?

Kostku, here is the UK contact details for Abrahamsen support and queries ...

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!contact-us/c17l5

Good luck.

 

[Vladimir]

Also, I live 100-120 feet from a miniature hydroelectric power plant (no joke)...

FFS! *ROFL*