Confused with my new very cheap amp

Don't know about the new Audiolab since they re-started but the original Audiolab amps were indeed Audio-drab.

To my ears the Cyrus was a far more 'bouncy' little amp which still had a solid bottom end.

 

I ended up getting a brand new Azur 640A for £150 and nearly had the Richersounds sales person in tiers. I did the usual trick of hiding the What HIFI magazine under my coat

The only problem this is going to take a few days to wear in so I will leave it quietly while I am at work,

 

Nope other places do sell Eltax stuff, I know Maplin have been known to sell of their stuff, DSGi (Dixons) also sell some Tangent stuff.

However Cambridge Audio and Gale are both owned by RS.

This amp is actually the first time I have bought from RS for ages and I doubt I will be going for a long time. The trick I pulled today has bound to got back to other branch in Manchester

 

I have seen Eltax being sold in Crack Convertors new.

Which pretty much concludes the quality of the components.

 

My Eltax Monitor IIIs sound ok and I have heared a lot of high end stuff as I often end up getting demos from customers who want to show of their systems.

However they are by the far the weakest link in my system but I don't use them that often.

 

I don't mean to sound belittling AT. But you posed the question and the general concensus is Eltax is crap. The general conclusion is everything they do is 'OK'

everything Goodmans do is 'OK'

 

I wonder how many people hear have heared Tangent amps though .

I guess the bottom line is the amp was £50 less than my new Cambridge and is leagues above, even though the retail price is supposed to be £250.

I could have got something like an AudioLab second hand but then everything would need upgrading the cost just ends up spiraling.

 

So.. you took the Tangent back and bought a worse, more expensive amp? I'm confused...

Not getting a better amp because you would have to upgrade the rest is a poor excuse and you know it

 

Sorry that didn't make sense.

I meant I got a much better amp for just £50 more, the CA is leads above and the Tangent was only £50 less. A price of a good night out.

I am fine with this Cambridge it sounds better than my Marantz cost me £150, I can sell my PM6010 OSE for £50 in its faulty state so its cost me £100.

The electronics are good quality. The only thing is not so great is the headphone socket, the speakers sound better but I can buy a headphone amp .

 

As for Richer Sounds - I don't mind what Cambridge do. Their top-of-the-line products have always provided a very Mid-Fi sound for a very Entry-Level price. The added bonus was that they use to be made in England.

For anything else from there...

 

When were they made in England? I have known Cambridge kit quite well since 1999 and its always been Chineese made. I am guessing the English kit was bought before the Audio Partnership (i.e Richersounds) bought them.

 

Amazingtrade
In the 1970s I heard Naim amplifiers and knew that they were for me. I couldn't 'afford' them so I chased my tail buying bits of kit after bits of kit, all new, all cheap.
In 1980 I bought a S/H 160 and a new 42 preamp.
I changed the power amp in 2002. The pre in 2003.
See where I'm going here? Two years from now you'll have probably spent enough to have bought your choice of kit S/H. The make is irrelevant. Its the strategy that counts.

 

I suppose at the moment I just enjoy electronics for electronics sake, my room is small so any high end system will be lost on me. But if I do ever get my own place sound quality will be the number one piririoty. My next CDP will probably be a Marantz CD17 for example, a cool 2 grand when new.

 

CD17 was £800 new. Even the KIS was only £1300. The high-end marantz players were the likes of the CD16, CD10, CD14 and the fabled CD7.

 

It was the KI version I was meaning I heared one in a shop once and was blown away. I have been listening to a lot of 300 quid cds lately and I think its going to be very hard to upgrade my CD6000 OSE LE.

My electronics are sorted for now though, its my speakers that need replacing .

 

exactly what trick did you play..?

 

I really didn't like the CD17 Ki Sig. please do lots of listenning before you decide on this one, although of course it'll be tonnes better than £200 cd players....
Oh yeah I owned the 17 for years... much better for el cheapo money is Lexicon DC1 Dac with Pioneer DV717 transport, or something like that anyway.

Tim
Ah my first post in years
Merry Christmas.

 

Its easier to explain this in steps but its the infamous one you do at RS.

1.) I phoned up to check stock of the CA 640A and explained I would be brining a Tangent for exchange.

2). As I walked into the shop I had a What HIFI stuffed in my coat.

3). When I see the Cambridge box and have the exchange accepted I show the £100 off voucher.

4) I watched a 40 year old man nearly break down in tiers.

 

Let me explain it:

You walked into a shop with shiny things.
You were not prepared to walk home empty handed.
You blew your load.

End

 

You buy What HiFi................:NADowner: