Long shot - Sonneteer amp

[margetti]

Two products that don't get a mention much here - my Onix amp, and the Sonneteer Campion. Just seen a 2nd hand campian come up for sale and want to know if it would be a worthwhile upgrade over my Onix. Appreciate I'm not going to get a lot of replies, but if anyone, ANYONE, can comment I'd really appreciate it. Don't often buy "blind", but am sorely tempted (motivation being the ownership of a Sonneteer cdp).

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The Alabaster is a great amp - often overlooked as Sonneteer is not a well known name in the UK. It would depend on the price you are paying really. At £1000 ( its RRP) the Alabaster fights its corner and delivers a rich full sound. It doesnt quite have the pace of the competition or the out and out detail but in the right system it can sound excellent. Like the Sugden A21 but perhaps not as warm.

I have no experience of the Onix so can't compare directly for you unfortunately.

 

[margetti]

Thanks for replying Nick - I didn't expect too many if any replies as neither manufacturer is too well known. I think I'm going to have to decide whether to take a punt, and if it doesn't work out hope I don't lose too much money on re-selling it.

 

[Anonymous]

I know the Sonneteer amps very well, but I don't know Onix. The Alabaster firmly remains easily one of my favourite amps at it's price point, the little Campion is also a gem, a very sweet and charming sound that you can listen to for hours on end without feeling audio fatigue, it's not bright, it doesn't grate it's just an amp to fit and forget, it just makes music, it had good body, a sweet treble and a warmish bass, if you have a big room or low sensitivity i'd look for an alabaster, but in a smaller room a Campion will be perfect. Of course Sonneteer are designed and made in the UK, ignored far too much.

 

[margetti]

silly:I know the Sonneteer amps very well, but I don't know Onix. The Alabaster firmly remains easily one of my favourite amps at it's price point, the little Campion is also a gem, a very sweet and charming sound that you can listen to for hours on end without feeling audio fatigue, it's not bright, it doesn't grate it's just an amp to fit and forget, it just makes music, it had good body, a sweet treble and a warmish bass, if you have a big room or low sensitivity i'd look for an alabaster, but in a smaller room a Campion will be perfect. Of course Sonneteer are designed and made in the UK, ignored far too much.

Ah, cheers silly - I did find a post thru google you made a couple of years ago that mentioned Sonneteer, so was hoping you might spot this. I've heard a lot of good things about the Alabaster, but not something I could currently afford to consider unless it comes up in the 2nd hand market - something that doesn't happen very often with Sonneteer kit.

 

[Anonymous]

Ha, yeah, I've probably made quite a few comments regarding Sonneteer over the years, sometimes there are products like people that click with you straight away, there are many very good products out there and then there are a few that really stand out, when I first heard the Campion a few years ago I got that feeling, the Alabaster takes that amp to the next level.

No they don't come up often second hand, they are one of hifi' best kept secrets.

 

[Anonymous]

there are many very good products out there and then there are a few that really stand out, when I first heard the Campion a few years ago I got that feeling.

I fully agree with silly here. When I heard the Campion for the first time in 1996 I was litterally shocked...:O . At that time my amp was a Naim Nait 2. I was extremely happy with the Nait and how it made music :boohoo: with Royd A7's, till I heard the Campion with the same loudspeakers.

In 1997 I was able to buy the Campion and for almost 15 years I'm living happily with this incredible amp. Never had the feeling that I needed upgrading!

 

[plastic penguin]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread slightly. Back in the 90s I heard that a German brand called Restek produced some fine amps. I searched high and low for one, long before most of us had the internet, tracking down lesser brands was almost impossible. Then, out of the blue, in 2004 someone had won a competition in WHFI mag had a Restek Challenger. That was my only knowledge of the amp, and haven't seen one since.

C'est la vie.

 

[Helmut80]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread slightly. Back in the 90s I heard that a German brand called Restek produced some fine amps. I searched high and low for one, long before most of us had the internet, tracking down lesser brands was almost impossible. Then, out of the blue, in 2004 someone had won a competition in WHFI mag had a Restek Challenger. That was my only knowledge of the amp, and haven't seen one since.

C'est la vie.

seems like they are still around

http://www.restek.de/de/produkte/produkte.html

 

[CnoEvil]

Two products that don't get a mention much here - my Onix amp, and the Sonneteer Campion. Just seen a 2nd hand campian come up for sale and want to know if it would be a worthwhile upgrade over my Onix. Appreciate I'm not going to get a lot of replies, but if anyone, ANYONE, can comment I'd really appreciate it. Don't often buy "blind", but am sorely tempted (motivation being the ownership of a Sonneteer cdp).

I apologise if I appear to be stalking you, but I'm just intreagued by your most unusual choice of kit....at least this way I'm not hi-jacking someone else's thread.

Which Onix amp did you have. I remember the OA21. It was a no frills design, that looked a bit like a Naim from back then and you could add a SOAP power supply as an extra. It sounded more powerful than the first Naim Nait, as well as richer and fuller; though maybe not as "toe-tapping" or musically informative.

It competed head on with old models like Inca Tech Claymore and Myst tma3.

Happy days

Cno

 

[plastic penguin]

Two products that don't get a mention much here - my Onix amp, and the Sonneteer Campion. Just seen a 2nd hand campian come up for sale and want to know if it would be a worthwhile upgrade over my Onix. Appreciate I'm not going to get a lot of replies, but if anyone, ANYONE, can comment I'd really appreciate it. Don't often buy "blind", but am sorely tempted (motivation being the ownership of a Sonneteer cdp).

I apologise if I appear to be stalking you, but I'm just intreagued by your most unusual choice of kit....at least this way I'm not hi-jacking someone else's thread.

Which Onix amp did you have. I remember the OA21. It was a no frills design, that looked a bit like a Naim from back then and you could add a SOAP power supply as an extra. It sounded more powerful than the first Naim Nait, as well as richer and fuller; though maybe not as "toe-tapping" or musically informative.

It competed head on with old models like Inca Tech Claymore and Myst tma3.

Happy days

Cno

Don't dismiss Restek. From what I've heard over the last 20 years they are as good as any make.

 

[CnoEvil]

Don't dismiss Restek. From what I've heard over the last 20 years they are as good as any make.

Unlikely....you know me and my fringe horizon. :twisted:

 

[plastic penguin]

Don't dismiss Restek. From what I've heard over the last 20 years they are as good as any make.

Unlikely....you know me and my fringe horizon. :twisted:

Anyone with a dodgy fringe should be banned...😉

More seriously though, you like to promote lesser names. If I get the opportunity I'll listen to the restek brand and report back. Certainly from what I've heard and read they are pretty tasty...

 

[margetti]

I apologise if I appear to be stalking you, but I'm just intreagued by your most unusual choice of kit....at least this way I'm not hi-jacking someone else's thread.

Which Onix amp did you have. I remember the OA21. It was a no frills design, that looked a bit like a Naim from back then and you could add a SOAP power supply as an extra. It sounded more powerful than the first Naim Nait, as well as richer and fuller; though maybe not as "toe-tapping" or musically informative.

It competed head on with old models like Inca Tech Claymore and Myst tma3.

Happy days

Cno

Not at all, more than glad to be able to wax lyrical about my kit 🙂

The OA21 and SOAP power supply cetainly have a real cult status - they sometimes pop up on certain websites but always sell almost instantaneously. The Onix I had was an OA32LE which I bought in the mid 90's. I don't know too much about it to be honest - there's not much on 'tinternet about that particular model. I believe it was the last model they made in the UK before the company went bust, after which someone else bought the designs and had them manufactured in China... with little real success from what I can gather.

I stumbled across it when I went to my local dealer in SW London looking for a new amp (I had a Cambridge Audio at the time, can't remember which but it was my first "hi-fi" amp). I had an Arcam Alpha 5+ CDP at the time, and had my heart set on an Arcam amp (the 8 I think?) - it reviewed well at the time and had the added bonus of having a remote control. The dealer (whom I later bought the Ruarks from) had the Onix reduced to clear at about the same price as the Arcam... I wasn't that keen really - as I say I had pretty much already decided on the Arcam, I'd not really heard of Onix, and it didn't have a remote.

But the dealer got me to have a listen to the two, and the Onix just blew the Arcam away in every single way. The fullness of the sound at lower listening levels was particularly alluring, especially as I was living in a flat at the time. It was at that moment that I got hooked on good hi-fi - remote or no remote, there was no way I was going for the Arcam having heard what I'd be missing out on if I did.

Fast forward to 2001 when the Alpha CDP died whilst moving home - thankfully it was insured and the same SW London delaer helped out with the insurance claim etc... and that was when Sonneteer came in to the picture. The Sonneteer CDP is a fantastic player - as analogue a sound as you can get from a digital source for the money (imho, of course). The dealer demo'd it against the Arcam CDP of the time, and it just beat it hands down. (Although if I remember rightly Arcam went a bit AWOL around that time).

And that was that, until about 3 or 4 years ago when the upgradeitis bug started to bite again. I was reading a lot about the Sonneteer Alabaster and how highly rated it is by nearly everyone who has heard one. But at £1200, I wasn't going to be able to afford one new... but trying to find one on the 2nd-hand market was also a challenge - they come up on ebay about 3-4 times a year if you're lucky.

Finally I managed to grab one this time last year - I'd missed out on two other occassions in the previous 6 months, and this one came up on a buy-it-now. I thought about it for about 5 seconds, and bought it. Drove a couple of hours each way a few days later to pick it up - was a bit nervous as I had no idea if it was going to be that much better than the Onix (or better at all for that matter). But I also knew that if I didn't like it for any reason, I'd be able to sell it on for little if any loss.

But disappointed I wasn't! More oomph, fuller bass, sweeter treble. The Onix was a great sounding amp (except when pushed really hard), but the Alabaster was a definite step up.

And that's about where I'm at - can't be happier with my system and I really can't see me replacing the Sonneteer's at any time (I now also have the Sonneteer Sedley phono amp). The Ruark's are 15 years old now - I'm in no hurry to replace them, but if/when some cash becomes available I'll be doing some serious demo sessions to complete the system 🙂

Phew! Sorry, went on a bit there... :type:

 

[CnoEvil]

Not at all, more than glad to be able to wax lyrical about my kit 🙂

The OA21 and SOAP power supply cetainly have a real cult status - they sometimes pop up on certain websites but always sell almost instantaneously. The Onix I had was an OA32LE which I bought in the mid 90's. I don't know too much about it to be honest - there's not much on 'tinternet about that particular model. I believe it was the last model they made in the UK before the company went bust, after which someone else bought the designs and had them manufactured in China... with little real success from what I can gather.

I stumbled across it when I went to my local dealer in SW London looking for a new amp (I had a Cambridge Audio at the time, can't remember which but it was my first "hi-fi" amp). I had an Arcam Alpha 5+ CDP at the time, and had my heart set on an Arcam amp (the 8 I think?) - it reviewed well at the time and had the added bonus of having a remote control. The dealer (whom I later bought the Ruarks from) had the Onix reduced to clear at about the same price as the Arcam... I wasn't that keen really - as I say I had pretty much already decided on the Arcam, I'd not really heard of Onix, and it didn't have a remote.

But the dealer got me to have a listen to the two, and the Onix just blew the Arcam away in every single way. The fullness of the sound at lower listening levels was particularly alluring, especially as I was living in a flat at the time. It was at that moment that I got hooked on good hi-fi - remote or no remote, there was no way I was going for the Arcam having heard what I'd be missing out on if I did.

Fast forward to 2001 when the Alpha CDP died whilst moving home - thankfully it was insured and the same SW London delaer helped out with the insurance claim etc... and that was when Sonneteer came in to the picture. The Sonneteer CDP is a fantastic player - as analogue a sound as you can get from a digital source for the money (imho, of course). The dealer demo'd it against the Arcam CDP of the time, and it just beat it hands down. (Although if I remember rightly Arcam went a bit AWOL around that time).

And that was that, until about 3 or 4 years ago when the upgradeitis bug started to bite again. I was reading a lot about the Sonneteer Alabaster and how highly rated it is by nearly everyone who has heard one. But at £1200, I wasn't going to be able to afford one new... but trying to find one on the 2nd-hand market was also a challenge - they come up on ebay about 3-4 times a year if you're lucky.

Finally I managed to grab one this time last year - I'd missed out on two other occassions in the previous 6 months, and this one came up on a buy-it-now. I thought about it for about 5 seconds, and bought it. Drove a couple of hours each way a few days later to pick it up - was a bit nervous as I had no idea if it was going to be that much better than the Onix (or better at all for that matter). But I also knew that if I didn't like it for any reason, I'd be able to sell it on for little if any loss.

But disappointed I wasn't! More oomph, fuller bass, sweeter treble. The Onix was a great sounding amp (except when pushed really hard), but the Alabaster was a definite step up.

And that's about where I'm at - can't be happier with my system and I really can't see me replacing the Sonneteer's at any time (I now also have the Sonneteer Sedley phono amp). The Ruark's are 15 years old now - I'm in no hurry to replace them, but if/when some cash becomes available I'll be doing some serious demo sessions to complete the system 🙂

Phew! Sorry, went on a bit there... :type:

Thank you for taking the time...appreciated.

There's no point in waxing lyrical, if you don't hit your stride 🙂 ....passion is good, and diversity makes life more interesting.