Thus spake Keith G:
"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Just been to the 1st Hi Fi show in over 12yrs. Went with my GF, a
friend & met up with another couple. It was actually good fun & I
managed to leave my cynical persona behind.


snip


The worst sound was from the Cyrus room


Well, who'da thunk it.....??

I can remember salivating over the Audiolab 8000A & eagerly awaiting its
release as a replacement for my Sansui AU217. It had so many rave reviews, I
couldn't possibly go wrong by buying one.

It duly arrived & I was somewhat underwhelmed by its sound. For starters,
its crosstalk between inputs was poor on its phono input. I whipped the lid
off & discovered that although the PCB layout has been CAD designed as
advertised, it was for digital topology & all the phono inputs spread out
across much of the rear panel all came together with tiny track widths with
equally tiny gaps between them. I sold the damn thing & returned to my
Sansui.

The moral being that rave reviews mean jack ****. I eventually sold on the
Sansui & am still using a Linx Quasar that replaced it. A friend bought a
much later version of the Audiolab 8000A which sounded fine as it happens.

Alarm bells start ringing when reviews state "partner with care" or best
suited to a particular kind of music as is often said of Cyrus gear. I was
not that enthralled with the triple amp'd Linn system - just didn't light a
fire under my seat, the last part I heard was from an LP12 - the only vinyl
I heard in a demo - didn't see a deck in the Rega room.

"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Thus spake Keith G:
"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Just been to the 1st Hi Fi show in over 12yrs. Went with my GF, a
friend & met up with another couple. It was actually good fun & I
managed to leave my cynical persona behind.


snip


The worst sound was from the Cyrus room


Well, who'da thunk it.....??

I can remember salivating over the Audiolab 8000A & eagerly awaiting its
release as a replacement for my Sansui AU217. It had so many rave reviews,
I couldn't possibly go wrong by buying one.

It duly arrived & I was somewhat underwhelmed by its sound. For starters,
its crosstalk between inputs was poor on its phono input. I whipped the
lid off & discovered that although the PCB layout has been CAD designed as
advertised, it was for digital topology & all the phono inputs spread out
across much of the rear panel all came together with tiny track widths
with equally tiny gaps between them. I sold the damn thing & returned to
my Sansui.

The moral being that rave reviews mean jack ****. I eventually sold on the
Sansui & am still using a Linx Quasar that replaced it. A friend bought a
much later version of the Audiolab 8000A which sounded fine as it happens.

Alarm bells start ringing when reviews state "partner with care" or best
suited to a particular kind of music as is often said of Cyrus gear. I was
not that enthralled with the triple amp'd Linn system - just didn't light
a fire under my seat, the last part I heard was from an LP12 - the only
vinyl I heard in a demo - didn't see a deck in the Rega room.



I'm afraid my seat also remains spectacularly unscorched by SS amplification
these days......

Thus spake Keith G:
snip

I'm afraid my seat also remains spectacularly unscorched by SS
amplification these days......

Although My brother drives his Radford BBC monitors (huge) with a 33/303, he
did use a Fisher valve amp. All that I can remember was the shiny gold front
panel surround, brushed gold panel & maroon coloured knobs (with gold
coloured caps!). Probably still in the loft.

"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Thus spake Keith G:
snip

I'm afraid my seat also remains spectacularly unscorched by SS
amplification these days......

Although My brother drives his Radford BBC monitors (huge) with a 33/303,
he did use a Fisher valve amp. All that I can remember was the shiny gold
front panel surround, brushed gold panel & maroon coloured knobs (with
gold coloured caps!). Probably still in the loft.



Is it broken?

Thus spake Keith G:
"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Thus spake Keith G:
snip

I'm afraid my seat also remains spectacularly unscorched by SS
amplification these days......

Although My brother drives his Radford BBC monitors (huge) with a
33/303, he did use a Fisher valve amp. All that I can remember was
the shiny gold front panel surround, brushed gold panel & maroon
coloured knobs (with gold coloured caps!). Probably still in the
loft.



Is it broken?

I'm not sure - it wasn't broken. He had an operation on his gut today & will
not be home for a while yet but will ask if he wants to part with it or have
me service it for him. It hasn't been powered up for probably ~30yrs & new
electrolytics wouldn't be a bad idea.

I can remember he bought it from G O Moorhen's in Henley - long since gone.
He later bought a very expensive Fisher tuner - never did work properly,
ended up a fairly good Sony FM only model, now broken.

"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Thus spake Keith G:
"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Thus spake Keith G:
snip

I'm afraid my seat also remains spectacularly unscorched by SS
amplification these days......

Although My brother drives his Radford BBC monitors (huge) with a
33/303, he did use a Fisher valve amp. All that I can remember was
the shiny gold front panel surround, brushed gold panel & maroon
coloured knobs (with gold coloured caps!). Probably still in the
loft.



Is it broken?

I'm not sure - it wasn't broken. He had an operation on his gut today &
will not be home for a while yet



Hope that all goes well. My younger brother has recently had his 3rd heart
valve fitted and a bypass, I gather!!


but will ask if he wants to part with it or have
me service it for him. It hasn't been powered up for probably ~30yrs & new
electrolytics wouldn't be a bad idea.

I can remember he bought it from G O Moorhen's in Henley - long since
gone. He later bought a very expensive Fisher tuner - never did work
properly, ended up a fairly good Sony FM only model, now broken.


Sounds like an interesting project. Pix would be appreciated if you decide
to rescue it!!