Abrahamsen... electro

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I also looked at the Abrahamsen V2.0up which had many forumites dribbling over it on old threads.

This appears to no longer have UK distributors (?)... I’m very tempted for the cash as it seems a lot of amp for the money.

Does anyone (electro...?) know if this is correct, or if not, who is a UK distributor.

Ideally I’d want to hear it first, and also have the reassurance I could take it somewhere if it died as sending back and forth to Sweden would be expensive, time consuming and a faff.

Cheers,
 
It was distributed by Colin who posts here sometimes. He explains on his website that A have cancelled their distribution arrangements. It looks a bit uncertain to me, unless, as you say, you’re prepared to ship from the home country.

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/abrahamsen

I was seriously tempted a year ago when I was looking for a new integrated amp, but in the end I got a good deal on an ex-dem Primare, that was due to be replaced. I think it’s a super amp, and there are several others in the c. £2000 range worth hearing, depending on your needs. Primare now have the Prisma 35 series. I liked Hegel too, but they were too sparse with inputs for me. Having subsequently bought ATC speakers, I’d be getting an ATC amp, as I heard them demo’d with one and it was faultless. But the Primare is very nice to use and looks great too.
 
nopiano said:
It was distributed by Colin who posts here sometimes. He explains on his website that A have cancelled their distribution arrangements. It looks a bit uncertain to me, unless, as you say, you’re prepared to ship from the home country.

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/abrahamsen

I was seriously tempted a year ago when I was looking for a new integrated amp, but in the end I got a good deal on an ex-dem Primare, that was due to be replaced. I think it’s a super amp, and there are several others in the c. £2000 range worth hearing, depending on your needs. Primare now have the Prisma 35 series. I liked Hegel too, but they were too sparse with inputs for me. Having subsequently bought ATC speakers, I’d be getting an ATC amp, as I heard them demo’d with one and it was faultless. But the Primare is very nice to use and looks great too.

I would agree, Primare are great and still have dealers in the UK. The Abrahamsen is good but you would take a chance on, God forbid, having to ship it back for repairs and are, therefore, unlikely to be able to hear one before purchase.

Having said that, if you get it for a very good price, you should be able to get your money back if it doesn't suit.
 

insider9

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I was also tempted by Abrahamsen and nearly got one 7 months ago. It was a second hand purchase and sadly I was getting a bad vibe from a fella selling it. That's how I ended up buying Densen.

I'd still love to hear one and was I ever to go with it it would have to be V30UP pre and 2 of V40UP power amps bridged. That's circa £2k for all of it and supposedly high bias class AB that could output over 200Wpc. For me that's good value for money but I've not heard one.
 
about the reliability and supply of this brand. I know it got up Colin's nose, but Per Abrahamsen has a history of bad practises: He took Electrocompaniet into bankrupsy, because they had reliabilty and supply issues back in the early days.

They seem to have a good following SQ-wise but the OTHER problems makes it a total 'no-no' or me.
 

paulkebab

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Nords? I think Colin has shifted his site over to nordacoustics.co.uk but there's no sign of Colin as a contact. I'm still seriously thinking of trialling one but there's been no news from Colin about his idea to 'borrow/loan' the Nord amps.
 

Blacksabbath25

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I had a abrahamsen 2up it was a very good amplifier with no issues in the 12 months I owned one but i had issues with my abrahamsen 2up CD player as mine was faulty out of the box which wasn’t very good as Colin tried to get a new mechanism for it but couldn’t because of the poor communication with abrahamsen which put me right of the brand to be honest .

Your better of spending the money on a brand that you can get it fixed easily with a good warranty as you do not need the hassle of sending a abrahamsen back it’s just not worth it I would support your local hifi dealer because if there is a problem they will sort it for you and you haven’t got to travel miles to get what ever you buy fixed .
 

Andrewjvt

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Blacksabbath25 said:
I had a abrahamsen 2up it was a very good amplifier with no issues in the 12 months I owned one but i had issues with my abrahamsen 2up CD player as mine was faulty out of the box which wasn’t very good as Colin tried to get a new mechanism for it but couldn’t because of the poor communication with abrahamsen which put me right of the brand to be honest .

Your better of spending the money on a brand that you can get it fixed easily with a good warranty as you do not need the hassle of sending a abrahamsen back it’s just not worth it  I would support your local hifi dealer because if there is a problem they will sort it for you and you haven’t got to travel miles to get what ever you buy fixed .

You've had bad reliability with the yamies also though
 

Oie

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Hi,

In my opinion is a good amplifier. Not necessarily as good as other amplifiers two, three or even four times the price as it was mentioned here st the time ;) but very good.

it works well in my system, room at low-medium volumes and with my music taste.

I bought it directly from them and I exchanged some emails with Mr Abrahamsen. So communication is possible :)

Yes, it would better to have some reps around just in case but I don’t think is so different to other amplifiers, so if something goes wrong I’m sure it can be fixed by someone who knows how to fix amplifiers.

On the other hand you could argue you buy it at a somehow “discounted price” so there have to be “some disadvantages “.

Regards,

O
 

Blacksabbath25

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Andrewjvt said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
I had a abrahamsen 2up it was a very good amplifier with no issues in the 12 months I owned one but i had issues with my abrahamsen 2up CD player as mine was faulty out of the box which wasn’t very good as Colin tried to get a new mechanism for it but couldn’t because of the poor communication with abrahamsen which put me right of the brand to be honest .

Your better of spending the money on a brand that you can get it fixed easily with a good warranty as you do not need the hassle of sending a abrahamsen back it’s just not worth it I would support your local hifi dealer because if there is a problem they will sort it for you and you haven’t got to travel miles to get what ever you buy fixed .

You've had bad reliability with the yamies also though
yes I agree you do with any product but when I’ve had a problem I can just go down the road locally and get it fixed and have 3 years warranty on on what I brought

You can’t really say that about abrahamsen products because there is no warranty or service backup in the uk and personally I wouldn’t touch abrahamsen products again .

The abrahamsen amplifier is good but there better amplifiers out there but the abrahamsen is good value for money that’s the trouble but in regards of after sales service that sucks

Because I feel the abrahamsen products should of been properly supported by more then one dealer and have a proper service network in the uk for abrahamsen products so if you have a issue of some kind it’s quickly sorted out for the customer .

If you buy any kind of main stream hifi products in the uk and you have a problem with it like I did with the abrahamsen CD player having issues right out of the box and then waiting months to get it sorted out is wrong I should of got a replacement not waiting 3 or 4 months waiting for abrahamsen to send a new cd mechanism and if I brought a CD player say from richer sounds and it went wrong you would take it back and they would replace it without any bother .

So I think they shouldn’t sell a product that they can’t support properly in this country simply really
 

paulkebab

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interesting comment there, as my thoughts are that the Abe is much the same as the Nord.. I could be 100% wrong there but would appreciate more opinions. So, how would the Nord stack up to my Vincent do you think? Could I be wasting a pile of cash, or is it a flight of fancy with no appreciable benefit? Comments and opinions welcome from anyone, constructive obviously. Oh hang on Im in WHF forum lol :D
 

Electro

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It's a shame about the Abrahamsen amplifiers because they are really very good indeed and at the price there was nothing and I mean nothing else that came close to the component type and build quality, they were worth double what they were selling for in the UK compared to the rest of the UK market, but as already said only if they had adequate comprehensive after sales service.

Personally I would still buy an amp direct from Abrahamsen because there is nothing even comparable for under £800 plus delivery, what other £800 integrated amp has a huge 1000 va top class power supply and that amount of current delivery !

As far as I know there is now no UK dealer or distributor so you would have to send any repairs or upgrades back to Norway / Sweden, but that is no different to any other online only company that you buy products from .

http://www.store.abrahamsenaudio.no/
 

Electro

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paulkebab said:
interesting comment there, as my thoughts are that the Abe is much the same as the Nord.. I could be 100% wrong there but would appreciate more opinions. So, how would the Nord stack up to my Vincent do you think? Could I be wasting a pile of cash, or is it a flight of fancy with no appreciable benefit? Comments and opinions welcome from anyone, constructive obviously. Oh hang on Im in WHF forum lol :D

The Nord amps are class D and the Abrahamsen amps are high bias class A/B so there is no similarity in the power amp sections .

I think but I could be wrong that colin uses the Abrahamsen preamp internals to build his version of the Nord preamp ( please correct me if this is not the case ) which is class A .
 

BigH

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Blacksabbath25 said:
Andrewjvt said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
I had a abrahamsen 2up it was a very good amplifier with no issues in the 12 months I owned one but i had issues with my abrahamsen 2up CD player as mine was faulty out of the box which wasn’t very good as Colin tried to get a new mechanism for it but couldn’t because of the poor communication with abrahamsen which put me right of the brand to be honest .

Your better of spending the money on a brand that you can get it fixed easily with a good warranty as you do not need the hassle of sending a abrahamsen back it’s just not worth it I would support your local hifi dealer because if there is a problem they will sort it for you and you haven’t got to travel miles to get what ever you buy fixed .

You've had bad reliability with the yamies also though
yes I agree you do with any product but when I’ve had a problem I can just go down the road locally and get it fixed and have 3 years warranty on on what I brought

You can’t really say that about abrahamsen products because there is no warranty or service backup in the uk and personally I wouldn’t touch abrahamsen products again .

The abrahamsen amplifier is good but there better amplifiers out there but the abrahamsen is good value for money that’s the trouble but in regards of after sales service that sucks

Because I feel the abrahamsen products should of been properly supported by more then one dealer and have a proper service network in the uk for abrahamsen products so if you have a issue of some kind it’s quickly sorted out for the customer .

If you buy any kind of main stream hifi products in the uk and you have a problem with it like I did with the abrahamsen CD player having issues right out of the box and then waiting months to get it sorted out is wrong I should of got a replacement not waiting 3 or 4 months waiting for abrahamsen to send a new cd mechanism and if I brought a CD player say from richer sounds and it went wrong you would take it back and they would replace it without any bother .

So I think they shouldn’t sell a product that they can’t support properly in this country simply really

You have had 2 Yamaha amps and both have gone wrong, believe the last one you did not buy locally. I understand CDPs these days are not very reliable. I agree buying locally with a long warranty is preferable but some people don't have that option. You can always send by the post or courier. My experience of Richers is they are not reliable, both items I tried at their store did not work, if they are going to sell something they should check it works, wasted 100 mile round trip.
 

insider9

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That's a bit harsh on Colin. I've never dealt with him and it may well be deserved but it looks like he's taking the flak for Abrahamsen not dealing with the issue properly. Is there any more to it?

It's an absolutely the right thing to do if there are concerns with servicing/repairs but let's face it. Vast majority of gear doesn't go wrong. Caution can be exercised but for many who are used to buying second hand it won't really be any worse when buying new from manufacturer in another country.
 

newlash09

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insider9 said:
That's a bit harsh on Colin. I've never dealt with him and it may well be deserved but it looks like he's taking the flak for Abrahamsen not dealing with the issue properly. Is there any more to it?

It's an absolutely the right thing to do if there are concerns with servicing/repairs but let's face it. Vast majority of gear doesn't go wrong. Caution can be exercised but for many who are used to buying second hand it won't really be any worse when buying new from manufacturer in another country.

+1 :)
 

BigH

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I thought you had to change your Yamaha A-S3000 after a few days?

I've had hifi for 25 years it did not go wrong but todays stuff is made with cheap components.

I agree I would want decent service and not have to return anything overseas.
 

Electro

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plastic penguin said:
Having heard all the horror stories about Electrocompaniet and Abrahamsen, and owned a Electro CDP, I wouldn't touch'em with a barge pole, regardless of the perceived SQ.

Per Abrahamsen, IMHO, comes across as a Arthur Daley type of character.

I think you are being a little disingenuous and your asserstions totaly unfounded.

There have been no horror stories about Electrocompaniet.

There was a fellow a while back that went under the name of Disbeliever, or Gerald a few years ago who started a campaign to spread as much disinformation and lies about Electrocompaniet on every forum he could sign up to but was soon banned from most.

He then went on to do the same thing about Quad and others so you can make of that what you will .

Apart from the financial aberration around 2004 when Electrocompaniet was purchased by Westcontrol they have had an exemplary performance in the HiFi industry and are one of the most loved and respected manufacturers in the HiFi trade .

As for Abrahamsen he is a top class engineer but a poor salesman, his love of making amplifiers comes long before making lots of money , this was also the case when he and others started Electrocompaniet.

He is a very honest man with great technical inovative skills that changed the way amplifiers were measured and built from then onwards, not an Arthur Daley charachter at all far from it.

Have a read about the real man.

https://www.electrocompaniet.no/files/reviews/2012_jan_Hifi-news_Vintage_EC.pdf

As for the Electrocompaniet Cd player you bought second hand / ex demo, I did warn you that that particular cheaper range from Electrocompamniet was nothing special and that there were others at a similar price that were as good or better, but you went ahead and bought it anyway then proceeded to tell everyone on the forum how average the sound quality was and that Electrocompaniet products were very overrated.

Not very fair really was it !

You are of course entitled to your opinion, and I apologize in advance if I appear to be a little overly sensive, but I could not let your unfounded statements go without challenging them .
 
I know you love the product. I totally get that. However, you did say to me a few years ago that Electro's issues while Per was at the helm, they had a number of reliability issues.

Innovative person? Can't question that, but there's a huge difference between being Innovative and a good business person. When it comes to business acumen (reliable products, good network of dealers yada yada yada...) Per has fallen well short.

I know that two of Electro's dealers, one in Devon (can't remember their name) and Igloo Audio in Kent both now don't stock Electrocompaniet.
 

BigH

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plastic penguin said:
Having heard all the horror stories about Electrocompaniet and Abrahamsen, and owned a Electro CDP, I wouldn't touch'em with a barge pole, regardless of the perceived SQ.

Per Abrahamsen, IMHO, comes across as a Arthur Daley type of character.

Strange all these stories were not aired when I was asking about Electrocompaniet and Abrahamsen a few years ago when I was considering them. Think you were trying to sell your Electro CDP at the time.
 

Electro

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plastic penguin said:
I know you love the product. I totally get that. However, you did say to me a few years ago that Electro's issues while Per was at the helm, they had a number of reliability issues.

Innovative person? Can't question that, but there's a huge difference between being Innovative and a good business person. When it comes to business acumen (reliable products, good network of dealers yada yada yada...) Per has fallen well short.

I know that two of Electro's dealers, one in Devon (can't remember their name) and Igloo Audio in Kent both now don't stock Electrocompaniet.

The highlighted is true there was a short period before the Westcontrol takeover when there was a problem with supply and minor reliability problems but that was quickly sorted out after the takeover.

Westcontrol pumped a lot of money and a great deal of expertise especially in the digital and software side of the buisiness and also commissioned a lot of new products , they also bought another HiFi amplifier company called Dynamic Precision .

http://picbear.club/dynamic.precision.of.norway

Many of the Original staff were retained but Per Abrahamsen decided to go his own way and continue with his first love.

Yes a few of the dealers have droped off recently but it seems to go in cycles.

Most UK dealers want to stock products with a high turnover and a new model every year and Electrocompaniet is not that sort of company.

It seems to be a UK only problem for Electrocompaniet the rest of the world loves their buisiness style and products .
 
Electro said:
plastic penguin said:
I know you love the product. I totally get that. However, you did say to me a few years ago that Electro's issues while Per was at the helm, they had a number of reliability issues.

Innovative person? Can't question that, but there's a huge difference between being Innovative and a good business person. When it comes to business acumen (reliable products, good network of dealers yada yada yada...) Per has fallen well short.

I know that two of Electro's dealers, one in Devon (can't remember their name) and Igloo Audio in Kent both now don't stock Electrocompaniet.

The highlighted is true there was a short period before the Westcontrol takeover when there was a problem with supply and minor reliability problems but that was quickly sorted out after the takeover.

Westcontrol pumped a lot of money and a great deal of expertise especially in the digital and software side of the buisiness and also commissioned a lot of new products , they also bought another HiFi amplifier company called Dynamic Precision .

http://picbear.club/dynamic.precision.of.norway

Many of the Original staff were retained but Per Abrahamsen decided to go his own way and continue with his first love.

Yes a few of the dealers have droped off recently but it seems to go in cycles.

Most UK dealers want to stock products with a high turnover and a new model every year and Electrocompaniet is not that sort of company.

It seems to be a UK only problem for Electrocompaniet the rest of the world loves their buisiness style and products .

So once again it comes down to the fact that anyone vaguely intested in a brand and lives in the UK has to have faith and buy blind with the knowledge that if things go wrong they will have to pay handsomely to ship the item abroad for repairs.

Whilst I might not have issues doing this for amplifiers I may very well baulk at doing so for any other items of equipment.

Support your local UK manufacturer I say. ;-)

...... and I did. There's plenty of other brilliant options out there.
 

paulkebab

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I don't know where the modules are sourced from but the class A part of the Nord is the input buffer which can be swapped out to suit one's taste. Essentially then it's a hybrid although it will obviously run in this mode right up to max power. Is that right or have I misinterpreted something?
 

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