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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!


128x128lou_setriodes
dlee
11 posts
 
Check out Exposure.
Don't be fooled by the plain looks.....they are excellent amps.
Re: Naim: they have a distinct sound.  Some people love them, some people dislike the Naim sound.

redwoodaudio
413 posts
 
They don't make integrateds as far as I know, but they are shoebox size or smaller and reputedly very musical: Crimson and DNM. British all the way. And not cheap. 

discnik
145 posts
 
I second the Musical Fidelity A-308 nomination - I've had one for several years, and after mating it with a pair of B&W CDM 9NTs, it does almosteverything right. The modest little Rotel RA-870 is also a great little amp that punched way above its class. After getting the A-308, my RA-870 is now doing duty in my computer system, with audio streamed through a lowlyParasound zDac.
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes OP
673 posts
 
Well, I ended up picking up a shoe box sized Linn Majik I and so far so good. It’s very smooth sounding, I like it’s aesthetics and ease of operation. It doesn’t have a phono stage but I’ve read the ones that do have crosstalk with the built in phono stage.


I’m still considering other shoe box Brit int amps though from Meridian & Onix too.
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
Check out the latest LFD integrateds. Very nice sound.
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