My 16 year old twins are giving my 25 year old Audiolab 8000a with Monitor Audio BR5's a good regular workout but at volumes over 2 o'clock the amp cuts out. Amp is used with an iPod touch, Squeezebox and an Arcam CD 73 cd player. Music includes AC/DC and latest stuff, Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry etc. I'm seeing Kandy LIII's on ebay for £3-£350 not sure if a good match or other better options in the price range? I know I could use an 8000P with the 8000a but not sure if the 8000a will go the distance so advice appreciated.
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Upgrade for teenage amp hammerers!
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wow i dare to think how loud that actually must be, and wonder if the amp is clipping at any point. Wouldnt dare have it cranked round that far myself, i fear for my walls at 11 oclock so rarely see even 10 oclock on the XS which is as loud as I can comfortably listen to without actually feeling like the musicians are trying to break through my speaker side wall! :rockout:
but in all seriousness it sounds as though its the power amp overheating if its cutting out. The 8000p might be worth a punt as at the least you can use the 8000a as a pre amp ( i think, please someone clarify). best case you bi amp and give a bit more headroom and less stress on the 8000a poweramp section.
anyone please feel free to correct me as I have no experience with audiolab gear...
regards :cheers:
but in all seriousness it sounds as though its the power amp overheating if its cutting out. The 8000p might be worth a punt as at the least you can use the 8000a as a pre amp ( i think, please someone clarify). best case you bi amp and give a bit more headroom and less stress on the 8000a poweramp section.
anyone please feel free to correct me as I have no experience with audiolab gear...
regards :cheers:
hifilover1979 said:
Not sure about that... The 8000A was made to a far higher spec internally than the budget NAD. If the Audiolab is cutting out, I can imagine the NAD doing the same. The best way to do this down the NAD route is to get a C270/272/275 power amp to add on to your 8000A, those are pretty gutsy.
If you need the power, the Roksans are very good amps. A little clinical sounding though, so may not match the Monitor Audios terribly well. Then again you could go with some amps which have better power supplies to gain back a bit of warmth in the sound, Arcam Alpha 10, Musical Fidelity A3 etc, all are about £300. I've personally used an A3 to power my ProAcs at the 2 O'clock level when I was painting the house last week. Amp was barely even warm when I got in! I know the Arcam to be built equally well and has a nice musicality and warmth to it.
Infact, I just remember I owned an 8000A a few years ago. Sound-wise it's very similar to the Roksan, so if you like the sound the Audiolab puts out, the Roksan will be very similar if you want to stick to that sound, just with more power.
Not sure why spending money on a 50w amp will improve things when your 60w one's currently getting trashed. Get them something with plenty of power on tap and a good current delivery. Anything less than ideally 100watts will only toil when pushed so I'm not surprised your 8000a is feeling the strain.
Forget the NAD320, it'll just end up doing the same, clip and you'll waste your money. Get a C370 (120wpc) or a Harman Kardon HK3490. The latter is £299 in Superfi's sale and will also accommodate other digital sources too as it has an onboard DAC. Both will offer the power the Audiolab or NAD will toil to deliver without clipping.
Forget the NAD320, it'll just end up doing the same, clip and you'll waste your money. Get a C370 (120wpc) or a Harman Kardon HK3490. The latter is £299 in Superfi's sale and will also accommodate other digital sources too as it has an onboard DAC. Both will offer the power the Audiolab or NAD will toil to deliver without clipping.
🙂 I should add they're not always sat in front of it, they're in the kitchen, conservatory or on the decking outside socialising!
skinflint said:
The only amp that springs to mind that fits the OP's purpose would be the Azur 840a and im sure those are about 800 quid!
Get yourself a used Roksan Caspian/Kandy integrated, or pre/power if you would like a bit of a sound quality upgrade at the same time.
You can look round for a rotel pre/power amp combo.
A few year's ago I had a rotel pre/power amp combo it's was only 100 watt's but i killed a set of B&w 602 s3 speakers with it
A few year's ago I had a rotel pre/power amp combo it's was only 100 watt's but i killed a set of B&w 602 s3 speakers with it
skinflint said:
A very good idea actually.
An RC-971 pre amp can be had for about £80-100, an RB-971 for about £125 or an RB-981 for about £190.
Alternatively, use the 8000A as a pre-amp and buy two rotel RB-971s or 981s and bridge them for a silly amount of power. Be careful though, as im sure this would rip the BX5's apart if you're not very careful.
My old Marantz PM 7200 sounded great with my BR5s. You will find the speakers are the volume bottleneck, not the amp
. Switch it to its class A mode and it was lovely for acoustic stuff, but when listening to drum and bass on A/B the thing was bottomless.
I know everybody has there own idea's and taste but why do people go on about the lower end nad's amp range?
I have had a couple of them from the £500/600 price range and thay are total c**p both were reboxed and sent back within hours of arrival.
I would rather stick my head in a pan of boiling chip fat than buy or hear another one!!!!!
I have had a couple of them from the £500/600 price range and thay are total c**p both were reboxed and sent back within hours of arrival.
I would rather stick my head in a pan of boiling chip fat than buy or hear another one!!!!!
skinflint said:
I don't mind people recommending them, as they work well with some lower end bookshelves, BX2's etc. But give them anything even slightly hard to drive or a big room and anything less than a C352 will struggle, badly.
They sound good at low volumes though, that's undoubted.
Monstrous said:
I think Nad sorted out The First Watt pretty well TBH, which is why they sound well for most people, as few listen to more than 1 watt for long. Those who do went deaf a long time ago... I remember in my old 3020 amps (I had a 3020 and a 3020e kicking about at some point) the power amp capacitors were so small it took me a while to find them. The amp I'd just built had about 40,000uF per channel and it showed in the immense grip on the bass.
As for the OP, I'd just ventilate the amp better if it's overheating. You can always buy a Peavey pro-audio amp of about 800wpc if you really want the power, complete with anti-clip circuit.
Harman-Kardon HK990 - rated at 150W into 8ohms but measured by a magazine at 200W into 8ohms. Maybe a tad over budget though.
Surely a bit of a chat about why they have to listen at such a volume would be more fruitful, let alone for the sake of the neighbours and your own sanity.
Good point - if the 8000A is running at 60W when it cuts out, that's something like 106dB, which is hazardous.
Globs said:
I still have an old 3120 kicking about (3020 without the tone controls). Pre-amp section still works... Power amp died about 18 years ago!
The Musical Fidelity A370 we have, has 8 22,000uF per channel that's a total of 176,000uF per channel. Unbelievable amount of slam it can kick out.
matthewpiano
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Crossie said:
The most common sense displayed in this thread. :clap: (alongside Chebby's post of course)
eggontoast
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Might be an idea to add about having some respect for other people's belongings to.Crossie said:
The Audiolabs don't have any thermal sensors to shut them down it just has a protections circuit which activates with DC - clipping.
noogle said:
Surely in real world settings the output will be nowhere near what the specifications state? I was under the impresion that the dB ratings were taken with a test tone at 1m from the speaker, not something difficult to play like acdc.
I usually behave with my setup, but recently had a house party and was a lot naughtier than usual. My onkyo is setup bi-amped, so in theory has 220w per front Chanel (I know av manufacturers like to fib with their power stats, but the 805 is a big unit). It's set up to be 75dB at the seating position at reference level (0dB) and at +10 dB all fans were blazing, and you could fry eggs off of the thing. This was playing equally challenging rock music.
I would be very surprised if the 8000a is getting anywhere near that loud, unless it's a tiny room or they sit directly in front of the speakers.
More power would give a much more pleasing sound at the same volume as the 8000a.
You could always buy them a single ended tube amp.. it gets cooler the louder you play it and clipping is quite subtle.
It also sounds superb, helps keep the room warm and their ears and your speakers safe - it's a win-win.
It also sounds superb, helps keep the room warm and their ears and your speakers safe - it's a win-win.
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