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British Integrated Amps

I have a great affinity for British gear.  I have owned many British speakers from ProAc, Celestion, Mission, Wharfedale, Tannoy, Mordaunt Short, KEF, Linn & Monitor Audio and they were all very musical sounding.

I had a Rega Planar 3 for over 25 years and much shorter stints with a Linn Basik/Akito arm, Thorens TD125 mkII w/Rega RB303 arm and now an Ariston RD80 SEL w/Jelco arm.

I have also owned several British integrateds:  Onix OA-21s, OA-20/2, OA-60, Creek 5050, 4330, Musical Fidelity B1, Rotel RA870 and maybe a couple others that escape me right now and I now have a Meridian 504 tuner.  

I particularly like the shoebox sized units, I just like the size and shape of them and that they don’t take up a lot of room.

Which British integrated amps have you owned, which were your favorites, which ones were overrated, overpriced and what speakers were you using with them that made them a yay or a nay?

Look forward to your comments!  Thanks!


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lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes OP
682 posts
 
Calvin, Interesting commentary and thank you for the post.  I had a Creek 5050 many years ago after a 3-4 year sabbatical from audio when my daughter was born.  It was pretty nice but I was greatly more impressed by the Creek 4330 that I had years later.

I’m also not a great fan of class D.  To me, they all sound a little dry and need to be paired with a tube preamp.

Right now I have a Linn Majik I, Music Fidelity B1, Acurus DIA100, and will soon be getting a Meridian 551.  The DIA, which is excellent, is for sale & giving the MF to my nephew.
smrex13
645 posts
 
@lou_setriodes Although not relevant to this discussion, your mention of the Acurus DIA100 brought back great memories.  It was the first piece of good audio gear that I ever owned, and it got me started in this wonderful hobby.  
steveashe's avatar
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steveashe
113 posts
 
You might want to check out a Sonneteer Alabaster. Just a simple, great integrated amp. Superb sound but like the LFD NCSE, no remote. I’ve had both. Now using Pass INT-25.

The NCSE and the Harbeth m30.1's are a fantastic pairing.  
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
your mention of the Acurus DIA100 brought back great memories


haha for me that one brings back one of my few episodes of hifi ptsd... i had these driving totem 1’s back in the day, just brutally harsh and aggressive treble -- am sure the amp/speaker match was not ideal but man what a painful learning experience that was ... don't just pick random 'recommended components' and expect them to work together
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes OP
682 posts
 
The knock against the Acurus DIA100 on audio review was that it tended to sound bright. I’ve never experienced that but several others have. So knowing that, I would not pair it with a bright sounding speaker, or one that has an aluminum or metal dome tweeter. I think it would be better with a silk dome tweeter or a speaker on the darker side.
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