audiolab 8000ap av processor

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scotty38

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Posted this in the TAG section but didn't have much joy so thought I'd try here.

I've had a search around and it would appear that when this device appears it's possibly going to be held in the same regard as the TAG relative it's based upon. I appreciate it's no AV32R etc but how do you think it will compare with AV receivers around the same price (ie upcoming Denon 3808 for example) when they're just being used as a processor?

Thanks...
 
I'd appreciate the wisdom of the forum on this too as I am currently contemplating the 8000AV and 8000X7 instead of an integrated AV receiver.

Conventional wisdom seems to suggest that the separates will be better...but aside from the magazine reviews I've found nothing but negative comments about the AV30R/8000AV. Hard to say if this is relevant to the price point it is now selling at though or relative to the AV32R.
 
A pre-amp/processor will always sound better than an integrated receiver (price permitting). For a start, no radio - big bonus. Secondly, no huge transformer that usually supplies 7 channels affecting the delicate signals and processing that goes on within. Processors like the Cyrus and Audiolab will sound far superior musically, and obviously leaves you open to your choice of power amplification to suit any speaker combination.

The only drawback for these processors is the lack of HD processing at the price.
 
Thanks Helicon,

I've found nothing but negative comments about the 8000AV (ex AV30R) and 8000X7 (ex 700:7R) on the TAG McLaren forum and I'm sure it doesn't compare to many £1000s of high end TAG McLaren gear like the AV32R 192 DP, but it seems a potential no-brainer to me that this is going to out perform an integrated AV receiver at the price point they are now selling for (£999).

Looks like it would be a worthwhile extra £400 spent instead of a £600 Cambridge Audio 640R then?

Richard
 
Don't forget guys, I'm talking about the upcoming 8000AP (not the 8000AV) which does have LPCM via HDMI.....
 
See the LPCM thread for some views, the opinions you got on the Tag forums need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

1. These people have spent £1,000's on their setups.
2. They quote power amps from Bryston & Krell which are at the very top end.

The budget power amp design from audiolab is no different from similar medium range designs from Arcam, Rotel, etc (one toroidal transformer).

In it's favour it is the first genuine new design from audiolab for many years, it has removed video processing completely to focus on audio quality. Yes it is manufactured in China but hey this is a competitive world and also explains how previous kit can be discounted.

Shanling also manufacture in China but my cd player is nothing less than excellent. I would say before it is reviewed and everyone can listen to a demo, give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

I intend to gamble and buy one as soon as stock is available, thoroughly audition it verses my Lexicon MC-1 and if it isn't up to snuff put it on ebay and put it down to experience. I don't see anything else as good hitting the price of £1000 in the near future.
:thumbsup:
 
Well I've ordered an 8000AV and 8000X7. Seemed to good to miss out on at £999.

I think it was a bit of a shock for the TAG McLaren forum boys to have an aspiring Cambridge Audio owner in their space ;)
 
Probably truer than you realise, high end hifi owners can be a bit snotty about other brands.
 
Ok, another question.

Let's assume that the Audiolab 8000AP processes audio better than, say, a Denon 3808 and we know they both have the ability to accept HD audio over their HDMI interfaces so that puts the 8000AP out front...

However, the Denon has Audyssey room equalisation so would that turn the tables back in favour of the Denon.

Both bits of kit driving the same amp, speakers, room etc.

What I'm getting at is how much better would the Audiolab have to be so as to negate the affects of the Denons room equalisation?

What do you reckon?
 
Scotty,

My basic rules of hi-fi head says you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, hence if the Audiolab sounds better than the Denon before you apply any room EQ, then EQ is applied to an inferior source that has allready lost information.

Horses for courses however as room EQ will make a large or small difference based on the acoustic properties and layout of your listening room.

:clap:

I know some on here would vouch for the big difference room EQ makes for a Lexicon MC-12 or a Tag 32R dual processor but is Denons room EQ as significant, or just another line and logo on it's exhaustive feature list?

Help I'm sliding down the slippery slope of processor vs receiver snobbery myself:nono:
 
For info I got an email update from Audiolab UK today...

The 8000AP is undergoing final HDMI testing and if it passes it should be on sale in about a month.

I would guess mid-September is when I might get hold of one if I'm lucky.

... ... ... :boring:
 
See the LPCM thread for some views, the opinions you got on the Tag forums need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

1. These people have spent £1,000's on their setups.
2. They quote power amps from Bryston & Krell which are at the very top end.

milesr3 said:
Well I've ordered an 8000AV and 8000X7. Seemed to good to miss out on at £999.

I think it was a bit of a shock for the TAG McLaren forum boys to have an aspiring Cambridge Audio owner in their space

stevos said:
Probably truer than you realise, high end hifi owners can be a bit snotty about other brands.

Seeing as I moderate that section ,and this amongst several others,I would say that each of the above is somewhat unkind.

Most TAG owners that I know are more than happy to help in whatever way they can,and will offer unbiassed advice,to the best of their experience and abilities,myself included.

The fact that you got few if any replies is more likely to reflect the fact that few if any there have any experience of the new Audiolab range.
 
Seeing as I moderate that section ,and this amongst several others,I would say that each of the above is somewhat unkind.

Most TAG owners that I know are more than happy to help in whatever way they can,and will offer unbiassed advice,to the best of their experience and abilities,myself included.

The fact that you got few if any replies is more likely to reflect the fact that few if any there have any experience of the new Audiolab range.

To be fair Alex, there was plenty of discussion about how poor this product would be in comparison to its TAG ancestor when it was first announced along with how IAG had lost their way with this product. All I was after was further discussion along similar lines but unfortunately it wasn't forthcoming hence my transfer of the same question to this forum.
 
My statement was in direct response to someone quoting a single post of mine as evidence that the brand had lost its way attracting Cambridge Audio buyers. Not particularly welcoming.

That said, I've since had some more positive replies that support your view that TAG owners are helpful, so I'll apologise if I caused offence.

I can also understand the frustration of having the not insignificant value of your kit undermined by the manufacturer suddenly selling something very similar at a lower price point too.
 
I can also understand the frustration of having the not insignificant value of your kit undermined by the manufacturer suddenly selling something very similar at a lower price point too.

This actually doesnt appear to have affected the value of anything other than either early/low spec AV32R's or AV30R's,as the value of DPs etc relative to what you would expect,seems to be holding well.
 
Seeing as I moderate that section ,and this amongst several others,I would say that each of the above is somewhat unkind.

Most TAG owners that I know are more than happy to help in whatever way they can,and will offer unbiassed advice,to the best of their experience and abilities,myself included.

The fact that you got few if any replies is more likely to reflect the fact that few if any there have any experience of the new Audiolab range.

I was simply trying to help Scotty and give him a more balanced view, by putting things in perspective.

It's one thing not to have experience of the new Audiolab range, it's another thing to dismiss it without listening to it.:)

I think some have forgotten the Audiolab heritage, IAG/Audiolab have not gone downmarket from TAG Mclaren. Audiolab went upmarket with rebranding to become Tag charging far more for essentially the same kit initially, now they are trying to go back to where they were before, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, maybe their new stuff is crap but I'll wait to hear it before I comment.:thumbsup:
 
I think some have forgotten the Audiolab heritage, IAG/Audiolab have not gone downmarket from TAG Mclaren. Audiolab went upmarket with rebranding to become Tag charging far more for essentially the same kit initially...

I think thats very true,in that a lot of people have forgotten Audiolab's origins,and the heritage of many of the products,but to say that Audiolab "went upmarket with rebranding to become Tag charging far more for essentially the same kit initially" is as you say,only true of the very first products,as after that a lot of work went into the legacy products,and the newer products were far removed from anything that Audiolab had produced previously.

It's worth looking through some of Udo Zucker's posts to see exactly what did go into them,and why they cost so much.
 
I'll just restate my view again too...

I went into the TAG forum to ask specifically for views on the 8000AP versus similarly priced receivers. Although the 8000AP is not out yet it had already prompted enough opinion and discussion that I thought I could reasonably expect further comment.

It didn't happen though :(

So, Alex, while we're on the subject what do you reckon. I appreciate it's going to be opinion and guesswork but I'm all ears :)
 
I'll just restate my view again too...

I went into the TAG forum to ask specifically for views on the 8000AP versus similarly priced receivers. Although the 8000AP is not out yet it had already prompted enough opinion and discussion that I thought I could reasonably expect further comment.

It didn't happen though :(

So, Alex, while we're on the subject what do you reckon. I appreciate it's going to be opinion and guesswork but I'm all ears :)

I think you will find that most there won't give an opinion on something they havent heard,other than broad general impressions on build etc.

For my part,I think you can expect that the house sound will be broadly similar to the Audiolab usual,but you really will need to wait for the product to be available to audition one.

I would expect it to be very similar overall to the old TAG Av30R,which,with the addition of HDMI,it very closely resembles.
 
I think you will find that most there won't give an opinion on something they havent heard,other than broad general impressions on build etc.

For my part,I think you can expect that the house sound will be broadly similar to the Audiolab usual,but you really will need to wait for the product to be available to audition one.

I would expect it to be very similar overall to the old TAG Av30R,which,with the addition of HDMI,it very closely resembles.

Thanks, much appreciated.
 
The room EQ question is something that has been bugging me a lot recently.

For simple stereo, getting a system to work well in a room is fairly simple, however for AV this seems to be an infinite increased problem. I for one have never managed to get my av setup to work correctly (to its potential) in my room.

I would buy the denon today, however from past experience (3802 and 3805) denon's are terrible when it comes to stereo duties.

I can't currently afford/justify the stand-alone room EQ option.

I am now tempted to go back to a 2 box solution again (stereo amp and AV amp). My previous one worked well but in the end the complexity of the system got on my nerves.

Not sure what to do again.
 
I had a brief think about the Denons with their room EQ stuff when I was looking to change my av receiver. In the end I was put off by some pretty unconvincing reports on here about how effective the limited version in the Denon amps is compared to a stand-alone EQ. Also (as you say) I won't compromise on stereo performance.

Trying to keep it vaguely on-topic, I am now totally convinced I made the right decision to purchase the Audiolab 8000AV and 8000X7. This combination is sublime for stereo music using the 8000AV as a DAC in direct mode with my Mission E83 fronts. This bit has really suprised me as I've read some fairly negative comments about the 96KHz DACs in the AV30R/8000AV, which goes to show that there is more to a DAC than the sampling rate. The clarity, space and precise location of individual sounds is very impressive for surround formats too, even just plain old Pro Logic II movie when watching the telly sounds better than my old CA 540R did with Dolby Digital sources! I'm firmly in the keep it simple camp whereby I'm trying to get the best quality, least messed about with output I can, rather than trying to polish a turd.
 
The room EQ question is something that has been bugging me a lot recently.

For simple stereo, getting a system to work well in a room is fairly simple, however for AV this seems to be an infinite increased problem. I for one have never managed to get my av setup to work correctly (to its potential) in my room.

I would buy the denon today, however from past experience (3802 and 3805) denon's are terrible when it comes to stereo duties.

I can't currently afford/justify the stand-alone room EQ option.

I am now tempted to go back to a 2 box solution again (stereo amp and AV amp). My previous one worked well but in the end the complexity of the system got on my nerves.

Not sure what to do again.

I think for many of us,especially those with particularly troublesome room dynamics and resonances,then RoomEQ is almost indispensable.

I'd had severe problems trying to get a Linn/Krell active system to work properly when we moved house,and some of those problems remained even when the system was radically changed.....RoomEq completely changed all that,but as has been said,it's not a cheap option yet.

milesr3 said:
Trying to keep it vaguely on-topic, I am now totally convinced I made the right decision to purchase the Audiolab 8000AV and 8000X7. This combination is sublime for stereo music using the 8000AV as a DAC in direct mode with my Mission E83 fronts. This bit has really suprised me as I've read some fairly negative comments about the 96KHz DACs in the AV30R/8000AV, which goes to show that there is more to a DAC than the sampling rate.

Very true....which may explain why a number of DAC's(e.g NOS DACs)based on quite old chips,can sound superb,when everything is optimised.

The bulk of the negative comments surrounding the 96kHz DACs are only when compared to the 192kHz versions,as taken on their own,these are still decent DACs.
 
I for one will watch this with interest, I still have my 8000A from 1984 and love it. Audiolab sold themselves to Tag, who are a marketing brand, and then bought back out. I suspect Tag did little other than add $$'s to grow Audiolab internally under their brand. So what has come out is probably a better Audiolab and probably substantially the same team. Still based in Huntingdon I think?
 
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