John Lumbard

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.29 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $200.00 from 2nd hand from a frie

Summary:
I have had this amp for over 8 years having upgraded from my previous Sansui. The amp currently is sourced from a marantz CD60 through Dynaudio floorstand speakers. The amp has worked faultlessly throughout. The sound is very balanced. The bass is deep and powerful, the midrange clear and the treble tonally balanced so listening never become fatiguing.
The amp does exactly what an amplifier is supposed to. It amplifies the source. Badly engineered CDs sound badly enginered. Quality Cds where the sound engineer has spent time getting the sound right sound wonderful. If the source is musical then the sound is musical, if the source is dull then the amp doesnt compensate for this weakness. Its very neatral. Detail is amazing. As such the amp allows the user to tailor sound to suit by selecting speakers which produce the sort of sound the listener likes. so those that complain of weak bass etc should perhaps look at the speakers or the source.
I listen to all music from rock to reggae, to garage to classical. Even some heavy metal. This amp just gets on and delivers.
Even though the amp is limited in power it is sufficiently loud to fill my lounge with music, rock and reggae can really pulse and I can feel the music as much as just hear it.

Remember listening to music is about listening to music. Sound is very personal. Partnered with a good source and speakers that produce sound to ones taste then this amplier will not disappoint.

Amplier design has changed much over the last 25years. Digital technology has. I now intend to upgrade my CD player. I have full confidence this amplifier will just allow the new player to improve my system. Its that good. Highly recommended.

Strengths:
Neutral, detailed and balanced. Powerful enough for most domestic use. Very well built and has no worked faultlessly for over the past 15 years.. Speaker protection circuitry bulit in. Tone defeat switch. Easy to build a good system around as the sound is neutral, it doesnt add its own colouration.

Weaknesses:
Havent found one yet...even after the 8 years I have owned. Just remeber it wont compensate a poor source, make badly engineered Cds sound good or add its own colourations to the speakers. My friend sold it too me as he upgrqaded to audiolabs separate power and pre amps. That should say an awdful lot about this brand. It amplifies.. nothing more nothing less...which is what you want when building up a system as you can then chose your preffered sound from either the speakers or source.

Similar Products Used:
Sansui 3900z reciever, nytech amp, rotel reciever....all going back over a 25 year period.

Belgarchi

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $320.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
It is a review of the 8000A-mkIII model. Very well build. Low, elegant profile. Many, many nice features. But the sound is disappointing : neutral but not very detailed, compared to NAD 214, with NHT SuperOne speakers. The value rating is for the price I paid for a used, but in perfect condition Audiolab.

Strengths:
Features, neutrality

Weaknesses:
Lack of "peps", no remote control

Similar Products Used:
Denon PMA-560, Adcom, NAD

Price Paid:  $650.00

Summary:
bought this amp, 8000A, afew yrs back. still can't get enought of it. the sound is very neutral & clean. sound tends to get better when this amp got heated up. even though this amp looks slim but it is very powerful & heavy. the tone controller has little impact on the sound reproduction. this amp is very rigid & does not give me any problem for the pass five yrs of usage. Clarity is the keyword for this amp. a very relaible & gd amp.

Strengths:
pre-out mm & mc selection solid build

Weaknesses:
non at this moment of time

Price Paid:  $350.00 from somewhere in Guildfo

Summary:
I bought this shortly after it came out, in the mid-80s I think. I liked the neutral sound, mc preamp (I would never go back to mm!) and tone controls - defeat them for audiophile listening, enable them and feed a subwoofer for parties. In the last week, after some 15 - 20 years, the amp has developed its first fault. A power trannie has gone. I thought that the sensible thing was to buy something new with remote control, but I didn't hear anything I liked at an affordable price, so I'm going to fix it. Does anyone have a circuit diagram to help me make sure I fix the right fault? :o) This is an amp which does most things pretty well. A £ 1000 combination of a dedicated MC preamp and an integrated amplifier does sound noticeably better. But at the price, there's nothing IMHO to touch it. Even at double the price, there's nothing to touch it - and £ 1000 is three times the price

Strengths:
Neutral Versatile - tone controls also allow use as a boombox for parties Low-noise mc preamp Reliable Still very good value for money. Still holds its own when playing back digital media Superb when playing back vinyl.

Weaknesses:
Difficult to think of any, but here are some nitpickings: Mc preamp is as good as you'll get in an integrated amp at this price, but isn't the most transparent. If I were buying new, I would use a dedicated mc phono preamp, but of course a mc preamp plus a modern integrated amplifier of similar neutral characteristics would cost much more than an 8000A. Doesn't like 4 ohm loads - the power-trannie protection circuit cuts in at quite low levels (volume control at 12 o'clock) when driving 4 ohm speakers with a large reactance. Some combinations of this amp and particularly clinical, analytic CD players can sound unmusical. Take the amp with you when auditioning CD players and other digital sources. If you want an amp that sound loud, the 8000A is not for you. If the weather is hot and the sun is falling on the amp, the protection circuit cuts in at quite low levels

Similar Products Used:
I use this with an Audio Technica AT-31E in a Thorens TD166 MkIII. I bought all three at the same time - they make a nice combination, sounding a lot better than more expensive combinations.

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Trysil Elektroservic

Summary:
I bought my Audiolab8000A in january 99. I still have it and I`m still satisfied with this amplifier. It have been said about this amplifier that it is boring and with no good or bad sides. In othe word, as I see it, it is neutral. in many ways this is good. By changing source for sound and speakers, you can get the sound you want via an neutral amplifier. A tip for you who have one of this amplifiers who`s about to be rear: change the power cord. I made my own cord from a solidcore earth cable. 2,5 square mm x3. this made it sound more power full. I altso have a x condensator who`s made to stand 250volts atached in a contact for the wall. This works as a kind of noise filter. it does not improve the sound, but take away noise.

Strengths:
Liability, strong enough, and even if they say the sound is boring, you don`t get bored of it in the long terms.

Weaknesses:
The look could be better