Audiolab 8000A Integrated Amplifier

22 Responses to Audiolab 8000A Integrated Amplifier

Quino araneta Says:
November 14th, 2006 at 9:46 PM

Thanks for this posting. I have difficulty finding the speakers you mentioned in this side of the world (Atlanta, USA). Any other floor standing speaker recommendations for the 8000A? I see Martin Logans, Polk Audio, maybe a few wharfedales, B&W's here. Source is an Acurus ACD11. I listen to Jazz fusion, new age (Jim Chappell), some Alternative, and classic rock too.

Hi-fi insight Says:
November 15th, 2006 at 11:18 AM

Quino,

Not sure what is available state side. If you know of a Wharfedale stockist, then you should be able to get hold of the Quads as they are all manufactured by IAG Group. The Quad 11L's are the baby bookshelf but there are a couple of floor standers that offer deeper bass and are reputed to be very good indeed although I have not auditioned them

Quino Says:
November 16th, 2006 at 9:54 AM

Thanks for the recommendation. In case I don't find the Quads, have you auditioned/would you recommend other floor stander models from any of the brands below?

B&W
KEF
Klipsch
Martin Logan
Polk Audio

Hi-fi insight Says:
November 16th, 2006 at 9:56 AM

We have not auditioned any of the speakers you mentioned, but we know the latest B&W's are highly rated.

Quino Says:
November 16th, 2006 at 2:38 PM

You must be referring to the B&W DM604 S3. I found those and will see if I can audition them

Andreas bastiansen Says:
December 16th, 2006 at 5:17 PM

How about a test with the B&W CM1´s?

They might fit the Audiolab perfectly!

Chris burton Says:
January 21st, 2008 at 9:16 PM

I bought one of these second hand in the late '90s to work with Rotel RCD-855 player,Technics ST-GT1000 FM/DAB Tuner into Monitor Audio MA5 mk2 speakers. Hardly state-of-the-art, I admit, but the sound is wonderful; smooth but warm and round and full in the bass. Musical preferences are acoustic jazz and classical. For a retired codger on tight budget this is pleasure indeed!

CB

Astro Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 10:39 AM

Audiolab 8000a sounds extremely musical with a Harbeth Compact 7ES3. The Harbeth's has a rather full, warm and transparent sound. The Audiolab needs a little bit of warmth in the mid-bass area and the Harbeth's just balances out that deficiency (in my opinion the mid-bass of the 8000a sounds a little bit lean). There is no harshness to the sound that is coming out of the Harbeth Compact 7ES3.

Strengths:
-The sound stage is very wide and deep.
-The bass is very fast, deep and punchy. Bass can literally shake the walls and felt. I find that an active subwoofer is rather slow in comparison to the fast paced bass out of the amp.
-The highs are crystal clear.
-A very neutral/revealing amp. (Great amp to use to audition cables/components for sound balance.)

Weaknesses:
-Need to partner the amp with sources/components that will complement the neutral sound.

Conclusion:
I also use a Cary Audio V12 power amp partnered with the SLP 05 pre amp. While the sound is very 3 dimensional with Jazz, Classical, Acoustics I find that with pop/rock the Cary Audio components sounds thick and muddled. The Audiolab has the edge in fast paced music with plenty of dynamics.

All in all, even till this day I rate the Audiolab 8000a highly! My model is the 8000a mkII and was purchased back in 1993. The amp has been extremely reliable and this is one amp I will never get rid of.

I agree that the EPOS ES11 is a good match with the Audiolab 8000a. ES11 bass is warm and should even out that lean mid-bass from the amp. The B&W 805s initally sounds impressive, however fatigue sets in after extended listening. 805s bass is lean.

Happy listening peeps.

David gledhill Says:
September 14th, 2008 at 5:54 AM

I bought a second hand Audiolab 8000a several years ago. Coupled it with some ProAc Tablettes and was always trying to find ways to improve the sound. It was lacking in bass and midrange and as three dimensional as a sheet of paper. I ended up replacing most of the electrolytic capacitors with exceptional results. The offending capacitors were 6 Elna RE2s (about $2 worth) located close to the heatsink. 4 4u7 63v and 2 47uF 10v caps made the all difference.
If you're unhappy with your Audiob 8000a, my suggestion is to have it serviced, paying particular attention to those capacitors before spending lots of money on different speakers.
Good luck.

Jean-michel caille Says:
September 28th, 2008 at 8:51 PM

My 8000A caught the storm, the fuse burnt but without the service manual which I could not find, no one is able to repair it.

Could someone help me.
Thank you

PS: It worked perfectly with Kef 105 speakers.

Hi-fi insight Says:
October 10th, 2008 at 12:31 PM

IAG should be able to service the Audiolab for you in the UK.

The address details are:

IAG Service department
Unit 4, St Margaret's Way
Stukeley Meadows Industrial Estate
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire
PE29 6EB.

Tel : +44 (0)1480 452561
Fax: +44 (0)1480 413403

Robert foo Says:
October 12th, 2008 at 11:27 AM

I have a schematic if you are interested. Haven't figured out how to attach to this site, I can send to you via email though. I have a stuffed circuit board, the previous owner had tried to fix it with a blow torch. The problem is the left is not an exact mirror of the right as to the component layout. if someone can take a picture of the solder side of the board that would be appreciated.

Napis0 Says:
January 19th, 2009 at 7:20 AM

where can I buy that amplifier?

Adrian sloan Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 10:29 PM

I have recently replaced my Rotel RD-965 LE Discrete CD player with an Arcam CD37 and Kef Coda 2 speakers with PMC FB1is floorstanders biwired, but have retained my 8000a from 1992. The sound is outstandingly clear and focused & easy to listen to. It is surprising that £2k speakers work so well with my 8000a. Also, in auditioning the amp saw off the Arcam A28 amp.

Dexter Says:
May 6th, 2009 at 5:59 PM

Real Noob questions this: just bought one of these second hand and it didn't come with a power cable. I have bought a replacement but I don't know what fuse should be in the plug?
I think it should be 2 amps - anyone?

Fraser Says:
May 13th, 2009 at 7:09 PM

With anything that's channelling the sort of power of this amplifier you have to use a 13 amp fuse everytime.

Steve Says:
May 27th, 2009 at 1:33 PM

hi there.
i have it with castle durhams and sony scd-900qs uk sound tuned and it sounds awsome. so strong and clear its unreal best amp ever..

Pintu Says:
June 24th, 2009 at 8:54 PM

pl. send 8000 a user manul. in my mail id

pintu

Dan Says:
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:07 PM

just found one of these in the back alley, hope i can get it working :)

Marvin yanga Says:
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:47 AM

i have an audiolab 8000A which i purchased 12 years ago. i have a problem with the balance knob, sometimes one of the channels is not working.

do you know if there is any service center for Audiolab here in riyadh, saudi arabia?

thanks

Lynden Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:33 AM

i got an audiolab 8000a amp with epos es11 speakers from a charity shop very cheap but theirs a problem with the amp wen i turn the volume up it cuts off for 3 seconds and wont go past half way can anybody tel me why this is happening and any way i can remedy this problem

Kareef arzadon Says:
July 8th, 2010 at 10:38 AM

I can't believe this amplifier is still around delighting audiophiles everywhere.

I still own two of these and I believe I haven't squeezed the bejesus out of it in sonic terms (e.g., I don't have decent speakers to partner it with).

But seeing these comments I had a resurgence of passion once again for these quaint amps.