80s and 90s integrateds: A stacked division, or was it?

Elicit was pretty darn good. Expensive though. Elex was decent too but the Elicit was a level up

Elex and Elicit were very good in a restrained kind of way. Rega (and Naim) were I believe one of the first to use automated board stuffers (rega out-sourced locally with these). Sadly, the caps weren't up to it and thermal stresses shortened their lives I gather..

Not sure about your list westie. The Intek when current was an absolute pile of cack whatever it was used with. maybe old age has removed the remaining vestiges of 'grain' but irrespective of the cables used, the thing was truly awful and 'dirty' sounding. I still wonder if the preamp version (pretek) might have some merit though.

I worked with a Nait 1 yesterday and it's totally gutless really. People actually pay good money for these.

I liked what I heard of the Onix, Claymore was beloved in a competing dealer at the eastern side of the county (long gone now). The 8000A was cable sensitive I remember and very early grey cased ones could be made to sound quite good with care.

The Cyrus 1 in all forms was underpowered and ringy when pushed too hard - ugh - although the later cast cased ones were a little smoother. The 2 needed the PSX to add authority but evolved into a seriously good amp by the end. You needed an Isoplat to 'present' the pair of boxes on, but these were seriously good if sources were up to it I thought. Cyrus 3 pushed the prices up and that was the beginning of the end for many.

We had an Exposure X in for a dem and it was total shite. Six months old and VERY hard toned I remember. the XV and i think the XX were rather better so maybe our demo X was faulty?

Ion was resurrected from the ashes of Nytech and went the WTF mag 'hard as nails' route. We found the Ion stuff unsellable.

MF A1 - ARE YOU SERIOUS? Very veiled, soft toned in the extreme like you've almost blown the tweeters or put a thick blanket over the speakers, terribly unreliable although later ones got better as the circuit changed so much. A100 much better but still very crude inside. Tim de P whom I understand designed so much MF gear is a master of making amps sound whatever the client wants it seems.

The A400 was a lower cost amp which never worked with low cost scrappy sources or speakers. With better quality cables and ancilliaries it wasn't bad at all we found, but was it worth the effort? Dunno really!

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The mid 90's brought about a bit of a sea change in amps I thought and some below I remember fondly for lifting the bar in various ways..

Linn Majik I - I hated it at the time but hearing one later, it wasn't bad at all in a kind of precise sort of way. Brilliant if bi-amped with Lk100 or later LK85/140. I think aktiv cards could be fitted but can't remember definitely.

Quad 77 series - Two way remote cost Quad and the amp system dear in software glitches, but musically it was amazingly good, with tunes and atmosphere aplenty. the separate power amps were good too - AB circuit - but the remote system killed it and it only came back with the post sell-out 99 system which I don't think were separately available. 77 units cheap by Quad standards now.

Audiolab 8000S - maybe too stark toned for peeps here, but the vagueness and maybe thickening in the 8000A was totally removed. Amp now fully direct coupled inside I believe and the 8000PX and MX took the topology further with much more power (8000Q preamp was good for line inputs).

AVI S2000 integrated - a bit pricey for £1000 at the time and hardened when pushed, but the neatness and clarity at lower levels was excellent and the Philips language remote was fine as well. Th ematching CD player was clunky and the tuner basic, but never an issue sonically at all.

Myryad MI120 - Totally forgotten but superbly made for around £600 I recall, as bomb-proof as an Audiolab (relays click in if speaker outputs shorted) and very musical and involving with nice phono stage add-on. Adding the power amp and bi-amping was a further transformation if the speakers allowed it. Matching tuner and CD player again excellent (designer did the original A&R stuff and helped begin the NAD rejuvenation of the late 80's after a lean spell).

I must give a personal shout to the original clamshell Rega Mira. The baby Brio was gutless and blew up if thrashed into a low impedance load (some eejit bought some used Keilidh's for use with one and the pairing didn't last long before the amp blew its output), the Luna was tons better but no remote and it lacked an identity but the Mira had some visual character, good power and the remote option. I didn't know the Cursa preamp but the Maia power amp added on for Bi-amping once again lifted it further, especially into the naughty Jura speakers

The original got a great review in an early Choice book. I think by 'my' time with these baby Denons twenty years ago, the 250 may have grown spiritually into the 350SE as this latter did sound rather 'stronger' than the later 250SE I remember from dem memories and it was worth the extra, although a phono board was practically a factory-fit option I recall.

By the way, PLEASE accept my posts and views are just that, my views from the times expressed at the time of typing and based on often old impressions. Some gear from now ancient times can stand up really well today and my recent experiences of a Linn 280/Spark as well as the partnering LK1 shocked me more than a bit...

I've a soft spot for 5he audiolab s, paired with b and w 601s and a micro mega stage 3

Westie, you'll never hear any meaningful differences using Kans as much of anyone's energy I remember is fighting the speakers too much (interesting article I've been reading states that our ears seem to adapt to a 'different sound' after twenty minutes of listening.

I think we had ours when the ES14's were really popular and I remember these being more than 'revealing' enough of constriction and grain further back.

The first couple of generations of Micromega Stages were excellent but very unreliable just as the importer packed up. To get spares from France cost an absolute fortune and took months I recall back in the early noughties.


All this stuff is very old now and some of it too highly 'tuned' for a purely subjective domestic listener.

I’ll try my best. It seems to have all the same initial appeal. It has superb clarity and is squeaky clean. You seem to have a real transparency that makes you feel,like you’ve removed a veil.

Very soon. It all seems to ring hollow. Bass sounds thin and “cranky” and the sound has a “hollow characteristic that build until you can’t bear it. Music lacks drive and the thing never seems to play music,, but is an excellent sound effects device, Mine was a DM 20 Gold. The standard version might be more forgiving.

Well, I have a thought that the LK1 PLUS LK2 series is a bit too much as a pair. Individually they're rather good in their own slightly constrained ways as I've said before but maybe together, they're just a bit too much? A 'Brilliant supply' Kairn in working order would sound much livelier I think.

Sorry, kans for me a a step too far and I did try them at home (eff, I even MADE a pair in walnut up at Linn in late '83 and measured them there too), along with Rega Elas and Gale 301's, these others sounding fine ion the shop but piercing and bass light at home.

Well, you've settled on your Sonneteers and probably owned that brand now for longer than most others? No need to chop and change if you're happy.

I used a Nait One on Friday. Gutless, and no bass power. Can't believe the rep on this one as it does so little compared to its peers - sorry - as it's compressing all the time

I've had both Nait 1 & 2. I just don't understand that amp, and why people fork out big bucks for it. The Nait don't appeal to me.

S.

Still not heard a Nait 2. It came out just as I left my hifi shop job. Our main branch had it and reported it was a watered down, mor emainstream amp that lost much of the original’s appeal. Seems to square with what you’re saying, Dave.

I'm using a Nad c372 which isn't strictly 80's or 90's but early 2000's but hope it gets an entry here. After a few years of Naim up to 282/300 which never quite did it for me and an 82/250 which did I decided to start again at the last point where I owned a hifi that played ANY genre or pressing and gave me pleasure 100% of the time and that was early 2000's Technics 1200 and Nad c372.

Admittedly the Techy is modded and I'm using much better speakers but I'm having so much fun with it and my Dyns are loving the extra power.