rubbish amp beats Audiolab

[admin_exported]

OK this is a first for me. I remember my first amp being a Fisher Studio Standard CA35 and since then I have become a big boy and got a Audiolab 8000c and 8000p but suddenly this so called rubbish amp outpreforms it in every area. THe fisher is 1981 my birth year and the Audiolab 1986. The fisher makes the audiolab sound silly. PLease explain why

 

[plastic penguin]

It was with a Fisher receiver I cut my hi-fi teeth with. It was the best thing I heard (circa 1976) and inspired me to build a dedicated hi-fi system.

Really depends what speakers you have. The Audiolabs, to me, generally sound a bit mechanical.

 

[Anonymous]

OMG you are are right. This amp sounds so dull but...there is just wrong. I just replaced the whole crossover and tweeters and the fisher still blows the audiolab away. So iam selling this awful piece of **** that cost a fortune. I should have never sold my creek

 

[shado]

Fisher were not crap I remember when their Tuner won awards way back in the 1980s - I think it was the FM 55 a typical anaolgue with 3 green leds and 2 red leds per signal strength. My father bought a Genexa receiver (1980s) which was controlled by Tandy and was not disgraced by more popular choices. Your ears are more attuned to your previous setup.

I went from Leak Valve amp to Marantz PM 440 with 5 band equaliser in gold champagne colour to a Sansui AUG 80 wpc until the award winning Pioneer A-400 really hit the mark. I have now moved onto Cyrus which retains the dynamics of the former but more resolution. This is 1980 -1990 -2009

Don't blame the amplifier but look at your speakers perhaps they are not suitable with Audiolab.

My speakers 1980 were Wharfedale Diamonds I and II, 1990 Sony APM22ES (amazing bass beasts), 2009 KEFs iQ50 (amazing midrange articulation).

 

[Overdose]

It might simply be a fact that the Fisher is technically better. Never having heard either, I wouldn't know what differences exist.

If you really prefer the Fisher though, then it's hardly rubbish.

 

[matthewpiano]

I think that by the time your Fisher was made, they were basically Sanyo products. I had a slightly later Fisher still which looked quite similar and whilst it was OK, it was nothing special and I'm surprised you find it better than the Audiolabs. However, as Overdose says, if you like it, it isn't rubbish.

Shado makes some good points though and it would be interesting to know what the rest of your system is and also what model your previous Creek was.

 

[FennerMachine]

I replaced a Cyrus aCA7.5 (2004ish £800.00) for a Quad 44 (1989 last unit production, not sure the age of mine, £250.00 second hand).

The Quad batters the Cyrus in every respect with a big stick!

The only things the Cyrus can do is go quieter at night and has a remote.

A cheaper, older Quad pre amp whoops the Cyrus.

Pre amplification is SOOOO important to a good stereo system!

Maybe the Fisher has a really good pre amp missing in lots of modern amps?

 

[matthewpiano]

Good point FennerMachine, but unlikely in the case of this particular Fisher. These 80s Fisher products really had nothing to do with the great products of earlier years. They were really budget products made by Sanyo and whilst they were OK, I sincerely doubt the CA-35 contains anything special by way of pre-amp.

 

[CnoEvil]

This could simply be about liking a presentation. There are some much cheaper amps, that I'd take over some fairly expensive ones.

 

[Anonymous]

I had something simular in the past.... A Rotel 981 was beaten by an old Lafayette from the 70's ( was modified )

Nowadays, they save money by using cheaper material, also a proof that an old design still stands its ground.

 

[matthewpiano]

The amp we are talking about here is the bottom item in the stack shown below:

We are not talking about the superiority of a great old design but more, as has been suggested, a preference for a particular type of presentation.

 

[toyota man]

My two pennyworth for what its worth I can only imagin that the audiolab equipment was faulty as the fisher amp is at best

audio at its base level having had a 8000a plus 8000px for many years and enjoyed them

 

[Rethep]

The Audiolab combination has been auditioned by me on my Epos 11's, some 18 years ago. It was like "watching paint dry". It was relaxed in a way but also dull. Some brighter speakers would have done some justice to the amps! But now with valves on the same speakers i have an almost perfect sound..

 

[Diamond Joe]

The Audiolab combination has been auditioned by me on my Epos 11's, some 18 years ago. It was like "watching paint dry". It was relaxed in a way but also dull. Some brighter speakers would have done some justice to the amps! But now with valves on the same speakers i have an almost perfect sound..

Just goes to show we've all got different ears and different tastes. I ran an Audiolab 8000A with Epos ES11s from 1992 up until last year and found them anything but "Like watching paint dry", especially with dance or electronic music.

Still got the Audiolab and finding it very difficult to find a worthy replacement.

 

[Anonymous]

I had an early 8200A (beige/brown front with the great phono stage) which I bought because of all the hype on the internet. Someone at work was selling a NAD C370 for a silly low price so I bought it to try (and I quite fancied an amp with a remote) and I was amazed that the NAD wiped the floor with the Audiolab. It had better dynamics, bass and much more clarity, just better (and I'm not usually one for hifi hyperbole).

Beware the internet myth...

 

[Richard Allen]

Beware the internet myth...

And all the hype and stupid comments that go with it from some, not all people who seem to design their HiFi systems with calculators rather than ears. "On paper, this should work". Hmmmm.

 

[Anonymous]

I had an Audiolab 8000A for many many years and was very happy with it, otherwise i wouldn't have kept it so long. Different strokes for different folks i guess.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I still use an 8000A in a secondary system, and I chose it because I wanted a capable amplifier that I knew would drive awkward speakers on a low budget.

The Audiolab was well known for being quite neutral, and as far as I'm concerned, unobtrusive, in the sense that it didn't have much of a 'signature'. Those used to a warm or coloured sound will prefer other products to the Audiolab regardless of their price or quality.

Pairing the 8000A with good quality speakers and source really shows what they're capable of. I remember hearing one with Ruark Sceptre speakers and a Marantz CD17 - awesome, for what was essentially a £1500 system.

 

[lindsayt]

My two pennyworth for what its worth I can only imagin that the audiolab equipment was faulty as the fisher amp is at best

audio at its base level having had a 8000a plus 8000px for many years and enjoyed them

Have you owned a Fisher CA35? Or have you compared one directly to an Audiolab?

If so, how do you think they compared sound-wise? IE what were the sonic flaws of the Fisher?

 

[Thompsonuxb]

I'm convinced Audiolab products are of an inconsistant production, are they built in different factorys or something. I demo'd a 8200a for a couple of months and thought it was awful at 'normal' listening levels. ( it did have a superb earphone stage though). and it sounded o.k when turned down low.

But push the dial past 8'o clock and things went south I'm amazed at they wide range in views on this forum, no other products have such wide/extreme polar opinions on them.....strange.

 

[Frank Harvey]

But push the dial past 8'o clock and things went south I'm amazed at they wide range in views on this forum, no other products have such wide/extreme polar opinions on them.....strange.

Definitely sounds like there's something wrong there - but again, might depend on speaker choice.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

I have to admit, I thought I got a dodgy one, returned it -I think the amp is probably one of the best looking ones out there (I had the matt grey one) but it was sibblant with no grip at all on my speakers - that after leaving it on for the whole time and running a signal through it for the full duration it sat on my rack.

but on this forum there is a definate devide regards the brand.

 

[Richard Allen]

I have to admit, I thought I got a dodgy one, returned it -I think the amp is probably one of the best looking ones out there (I had the matt grey one) but it was sibblant with no grip at all on my speakers - that after leaving it on for the whole time and running a signal through it for the full duration it sat on my rack.

but on this forum there is a definate devide regards the brand.

maybe that 'rubbish' amp isn't so rubbish after all then

 

[Frank Harvey]

I have to admit, I thought I got a dodgy one, returned it -I think the amp is probably one of the best looking ones out there (I had the matt grey one) but it was sibblant with no grip at all on my speakers

The older 8000A's date back to the early 80's. The black ones - introduced around 93, I believe - were noticably better.

 

[CnoEvil]

I have dug up a review of the 8000A from 1987 by Malcolm Stewart.....and it isn't flattering.

He states that "word had it that the 8000A had been improved since its early days" and sums up by saying, "I could only conclude that this amp was among the most tonally thin and dynamically gutless of all the amps I've ever auditioned.

The vocalists seemed devoid of any expression in their voices, as no semblence of emotion or personality whatsoever emerged. To be honest, I found this amplifier boring and at times offensive: when it did manage to awake from its slumbers and make a stab at sounding dynamic, it was generally at the expense of some poor instrument in the upper registers, whose sound was catapulted at the listener with inordinate ferocity.

I think I'll stop at this juncture, as least said, soonest mended."

Now this is not necessarily my view, but a quote from HiFi Review during a mega test. They liked the Naim Nait, Inca Tech Claymore and NVA AP30; and quite liked Myst tma3, Onix OA21, Harman Karden PM655 and A&R Arcam Delta 90. They also didn't like the Mission Cyrus 11.