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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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ryder
1,682 posts
 
I hang out quite often on a British hifi forum. The British integrateds that get the most love and attention are usually in the lower price bracket representing excellent value for money.

The Rega, Naim, Sugden, Exposure and Arcam are commonly used by many. I have owned the mid range Rega Elicit, Arcam Alpha 10 and briefly tried the Naim Nait XS. The Rega and Naim are good but not outstanding. Arcam is not so good.

Less common brands include LFD, NVA, Sonneteer and Leema. I have tried LFD Zero LE3, NVA AP70 and currently own Sonneteer Orton. All great sounding amps.

The Sugden Masterclass IA-4 and Rega Osiris are reference level and reported to be a class above the rest.

ryder
1,682 posts
 
I have been in this hobby for many years. You really get what you pay for, not all the time but most of the time. There isn’t any doubt that budget or modest gear may sound good or great. However, once you break a certain threshold and get into high end, the performance of each and every component in the system really rewards you with higher listening pleasure.

Excuse the rant. The message to be conveyed is it may be worthwhile to spend a bit more than beer budget for good hifi.

jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,361 posts
 
Creek Evo 100 was a fantastic pairing with PSB Imagine T2s and KEF LS50s.  There’s a big jump in build quality, parts and sound between the 50 and 100.  The 100 is a steal used but pricey new. 
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,361 posts
 
What about Roksan ?  I haven’t heard one in years but they always had great PRAT. 
cellorover
417 posts
 
British Fidelity A1 (now called Music Fidelity) was absolutely amazing. Its 20 watts class A limited it capabilities, but the sound was magnificent. Ran that for 10 years in a small system. 

My daughter used a Creek 5350SE (made in the UK) for 8 years. Once she got out of graduate school she moved over to an all Resolution Audio system.

I still have a Rega Brio. Just simply easy to listen to. 

Always loved Sugden.
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