Move over Classik & Solo !

[nixon_fiend]

~The 'audio-phile-all-in-one' is a market dominated until recently by the linn classik.. Now after about4/5 years arcamis challenging that niche dominance.. but the arcamsolo is a fair bit pricer,with questionable buildand questionable sound (compared to the classik)

Now audio analogue.. the tony's that brought you the puccini .. have introduced their 'all-in-one' offering... see here..

http://www.whathifi.com/newsMainTemp...mp;storyID=203

Half the price of the solo! andeven has valves!! .. probablywon't sound super-good but TBH neither does the arcam or linn... aNd from the pics.. the build quality looks superior to both! Hell, your wife might even buy you one for xmas!



Hope you don't mind me sticking the photo in here mate. Cheers, james.

[Chewie]

That looks the dogs danglies IMHO excuses my ignorance,:Not Sure:but being a relative newcomer, what sort of reputation have Audio Analogue got, I may well be interested in one of those for the bedroom

[nixon_fiend]

Not heard any AA stuff myself but IIRC they appeared on the scene about6 years ago (?) with this amp

http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/puccinie.html

V.warmly reviewed.. silky smooth, valve-like sound coupled with beautiful build.

Since then they seem to have gone from strength to strength .. extending their range to CDPs, tuners etc.. Biscuit of copper-cdp fame just bought an AA amp..

see this page.. http://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum1/657-3.html

crikey.

[SSM]

Chewie wrote:

what sort of reputation have Audio Analogue got, I may well be interested in one of those for the bedroom

Audio Analogue made a name for itself with the original Puccini amp, which treaded a sweet line between the hardness of solidstate and the softness of valves. I once owned the Puccini SE Remote (nice!), and the latest Puccini Settanta amp is a veryvery fine-sounding piece of kit. Heard it against the Exposure 'S' amps (same dealer) and it is a clear improvement over all the old Puccinis, surprisingly dynamic for an AA product. I would have placed it higher on my wishlist if I hadn't been spooked by the frequent failings of my previous Puccini amp. It seems AA kit, the older models at least, have long-term reliability issues - a point often reiterated by ex-owners on any hifi forum you can think of. The cheaper Primo amp (circa 2004) is rather nice too, although hampered by a captive power lead and competition from the superior MF X-80 imho.

My vibes on that new AA "all-in-one"? What a superb package! When the price sinks in a few years, I'd be very tempted to put one in the office. This baby would be a great way for a hardline solidstater like moi to get into valves cheap.




"audio analogue - sound pleasure"

[The Strat]

nixon_fiend wrote:.. probablywon't sound super-good but TBH neither does the arcam or linn... aNd from the pics.. the build quality looks superior to both! Hell, your wife might even buy you one for xmas!


I thought the Linn C sounded bloody good.

[meninblack]

Mmmm, this looks well tasty.

For the price of a Classik or Arcam Solo you couldhave one of these and some top-class mini speakers too, AVI Neutron IV, Opera mini, Dyn 42....

Sits nicely in the gap between the "mid-fi" Denon and Onkyo stuff and the more expensive offerings. Could be a winner.

[nixon_fiend]

The Strat wrote:

nixon_fiend wrote:.. probablywon't sound super-good but TBH neither does the arcam or linn... aNd from the pics.. the build quality looks superior to both! Hell, your wife might even buy you one for xmas!


I thought the Linn C sounded bloody good.

Ah, I knew someone would pull me up on that! don't get me wrong, i like the sound of the classik.. so much so I've just bought a linn majik without hearing it .. that's how much i dig the linn sound. buuuut in the scheme of things.. so to speak you can buy things that sound better.. they are more money, granted.. but that was my point.. the AA 'enigma' is only 495..

[Kiang]

linn majik you say

Off e-bay?

How much? What speakers are you driving

[Biscuit]

Audio Analogue make some nice kit :dude:

would be interested in replacing my denon dm31 with something like this for a uni system! (If only somebody would buy my lovely hifi rack hint hint)

[hifiwigwam]

Biscuit wrote:

Audio Analogue make some nice kit :dude:

would be interested in replacing my denon dm31 with something like this for a uni system! (If only somebody would buy my lovely hifi rack hint hint)

noice innit.

[wolfgang]

IMHO that toy would be more in competition with the likes of Denon and Sony. In fact I thought it looks just like a copy of the Denon version.

[Chewie]

solidstateman wrote:

Chewie wrote:

what sort of reputation have Audio Analogue got, I may well be interested in one of those for the bedroom

Audio Analogue made a name for itself with the original Puccini amp, which treaded a sweet line between the hardness of solidstate and the softness of valves. I once owned the Puccini SE Remote (nice!), and the latest Puccini Settanta amp is a veryvery fine-sounding piece of kit. Heard it against the Exposure 'S' amps (same dealer) and it is a clear improvement over all the old Puccinis, surprisingly dynamic for an AA product. I would have placed it higher on my wishlist if I hadn't been spooked by the frequent failings of my previous Puccini amp. It seems AA kit, the older models at least, have long-term reliability issues - a point often reiterated by ex-owners on any hifi forum you can think of. The cheaper Primo amp (circa 2004) is rather nice too, although hampered by a captive power lead and competition from the superior MF X-80 imho.

My vibes on that new AA "all-in-one"? What a superb package! When the price sinks in a few years, I'd be very tempted to put one in the office. This baby would be a great way for a hardline solidstater like moi to get into valves cheap.

"audio analogue - sound pleasure"

Thanks for the input SS definitely going to give it a listen when I track one down

[PARAGON]

Now that looks great, and if their previous products are anything to go by, it will most likely sound great too. It would be interesting to see what speakers would be a good match for it, maybe the AVI's as previously mentioned. It would make a great second system for the bedroom, where at the momentI have one of these...



But, I am willing to bet that the AA will sound A LOT better than this! (even if I changed the "ahem" speakers for some proper ones).

[nixon_fiend]

Kiang wrote:

linn majik you say

Off e-bay?

How much? What speakers are you driving

Well, it's usually ebay! But this time i found it on audiophile -candy website..

http://www.adverts.hififorsale.com/latest.asp

Brand new - unused majik in silver .. still boxed due to original owner's space constraints .. 500 notes. Not a massive bargain but a fair wedge under RRP and i like-a ze linn... and a headphone out is a good plus for maintaining domestic harmony

Speaker wise... i just bought a pair of these..

They're OK, but a stop-gap measure.. The end of the month should see a pair of these

Or.. if funds collapse (i.e if i feel the need to buy food ) then might lump for these..



audionote ax 2

All pretty sensitive (esp. the loth-x) so the 33w/ch linn shouldnt be too stressed.. besides.. the lk85/140 models are starting to look dated.. my money's on linn pulling them in a year or two.. and i'll be waiting to grab one with a healthy discontinued-discount .. well.. that's my plan anyways!

Wolfgang.. i think 'toy' is a little harsh.. these aren't trying to compete with the Mark Levinsons of this world but offera compact solution.. i think it's a smart move on AAs part.. there's a big g-a-p between the DM31 and a classik/solo.. It seems crazy thatno-ones else has tried to fill it yet.

[wolfgang]

Yeap, agree this might proves be a clever move and see if there is a market between the gap. However, this new 'toy' come ups in direct competition with the secondhand Classiks markets going around for £600 and the Audio Analogue unique feature is they have 'valves'. Btw I refer to all our hifi thingy as toys because that is what they are ....... things for man who have not really grown up and still like to play with toys.

[SSM]

wolfgang wrote:

Btw I refer to all our hifi thingy as toys because that is what they are ....... things for man who have not really grown up and still like to play with toys.

You are so right. Men like us never really grow up, our toys only got more expensive.I still play with my original Star Wars figurines - front bod on the floor, heels waving in the air - in front of my swishy music system blasting out those nicely remastered Star Wars soundtracks. Hail, technological evolution!

[Gaffer]

They just amended the price in the article to £875.

Probably changes your view a bit .

Acolleague was boasting about how good his all in one Linn DVD system with 5.1 (?Akurate) speaker package was. I went round fora listen of some CD's. It was SHIT.

Treble all splishy splashy. Background hiss worse than analogue tape (but music quality also worse). Bass all loose and boomy. I kid you not when I say I've heard panasoonic micro systems sounding better.

...which pleased me no end, as he also spent his days boasting about owning a top of the range porsche GT :raoflmfao::lmao:....and actually owned a second hand base model carrera

Sorry about the price change - to £850, actually - but this was advised to us yesterday by UK Distribution, the UK distributor: the original price came from a mix-up at Audio Analogue about export prices, it seems. Working in lire instead of Euros or something?



Andrew Everard
http://www.whathifi.com

[SSM]

andreweverard wrote:

Uh oh...

Thought I had left the corporate world of online hifism behind by quitting the HFC forum. And now this...

Mr Everard, may I be the first to welcome you to this excellent forum?

CheerSS

[Duvet]

confusing seeing as lire was phased out of circulation on the 1/1/2002;)