Very musical, lots of useful functions for future upgrades, simple looks

Needs matched speakers to drive and power cable to clean the bass

The first time I heard the 8000S was at my friend''s house. I''ve used other makes of integrated amps before but nothing came close to what I heard that day. So I went out and got myself an ex-dem for half price. That was the best money I''d spent all my life. It may look ugly at first but its simplicity and ease of use really grows on you. I listen to all kinds of music and it plays them all like it is but it strengths lies in its ability to produce clean vocals with good balance and wide soundstage. It''s best used when warm and proper and changing to high quality power cable made the bass more tight and focused. The only niggles is that it needs a speaker with high sensitivity and good drivers to make it shine. I pair my 8000S with 1. Marantz CD17mkIIKI 2. B&W DM603S2 3. QED SilverSpiral interconnect 4. QED SilverAnniversary Bi-wire with QED Airloc spades 5. KimberKable

Similar Products Used:

Technics, NAD C320

Clinical. Good mids. Good upgrade path, i.e you may use it as a pre- later on.

Bass?? No phono stage resulting in me having to invest in a stage as well as interconnects.

It was with a mix of fortunes that I had my first taste of this fine British Amp - my audiophile friend had one of his KEF drivers blown. So while he was shopping around for a new pair of speakers, I was offered the unit for safekeeping and to keep it ''warm''. And what great music it produced! It has a very neutral, detailed (I could hear details of an echo of an instrument in one recording) and transparent sound. The soundstage is wide and realistic. It is warm where the source material is good and dry on poorer recordings. Treble is good, Midrange is hi-end but bass seems to have some holes in it(On some recordings, bass is superbly tight, on others bass seems missing, even on good recordings). I suppose this is due to the power being fed to my amp, and also the time I listened to the equipment (afternoon or late night). I immediately sourced one unit from the 2nd hand market and got one some 4 months later. I used the Audiolab 8000S with the following equipment: a) Pioneer PDS703 (upgraded with LC Audio XO Clock, LCAudio Op-amp) plus various other tweaks b) A very old Sansui SR222 turntable + Technics Cartridge + project phono stage c) AudioQuest Quartz 3 interconnects d) TDL RTL3 floorstanders (7 years old and aging like wine!) e) Speaker cables - Cable Talk Talk 3 Biwire (not the best not the worst but real value for money and, I think, now the bottleneck) And, ... gave my Technics amp away.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SUA900MKII Amplifier. John Shearne Phase II

Impressive Musicality. Price Point. Great preamp section!

Noise floor a bit high compared to more expensive units.

I now have my Audiolab 8000s in preamp only mode. I added a Bryston amplifier to my system. Quite an improvement. If you are in the market for a high quality integrated, I'd suggest getting an 8000s. Very warm and musical. Probably one of the best values out there. Email me with questions.

Detail, Control, Neutrality

Dry sound with bad recording

The 8000s is a very special amplifier, partnered carefully it is capable of a wide open, very revealing sound. The bass is always under tight control which some people may not like but I for one prefer this. Having recently upgraded my speakers to the also very detailed Tannoy R3's the only criticism i would level at it would be the ability to show up bad recordings. With the 8000s no longer in production, i would recommend anyone looking for a sonic bargain to pick one of these up on the second hand market, they are bombproof.

Good bass. Very Clean. Good Bass.

Can sound dry at times. (Depends on the speaker cable used)

What can I say....I just enjoy my music.....and this unit really delivers...

Never really into hi-fi and stuff...but this baby is a definite performer...

At first......I just wanted a good hi-fi setup and also one that doesn't blow my budget...I tried out many combinations....

At last I settled for this amp....paired with a pair of Linn Keilidths....and a Sony CDP-X3000ES...
Cables and interconnects are of VDH make

All I can say....this combo works extremely well for most music....
The amp has enough power as well to drive the Keilidths considering its reputation of being a hard load to drive.

The quality of the bass and clarity is just astonishing...considering the price
I thought I would have to leash out loads to get this sound but I guess not. However the soundstage can be a bit varying for certain kinds of music...

Buy it and U won't be dissapointed.

Similar Products Used:

Roksan Caspian. Linn Majik. Lots more of similar price range

clarity of voices, tightness of the bass, slim design and upgrading capabilities. Remote control is great too.

None whatsoever.

I was a very satisfied owner of Cyrus products for nearly 15 years and still consider them some of the best electronics around. A few weeks ago, my friend purchased an audiolab 8000s and brought it to my house. I kept it here to try it out and was immediately astonished. This amp was incredible with the shear clarity, tightness and control over my speakers.

It made me buy one too, brand new unsold from the distributor even though they're discontinued. I can't really say that the 8000s is better than the Cyrus, but it is different, so it's up to personal choice. At first it sounded absolutely awful with very harsh highs but it smoothed out with time and with my Monster M1 cables feeding into my B&W P6 speakers. This is a very high end product that is very dependant on the rest of your equipment.
With the proper equipment, it can shine beyond your wildest dreams. I consider it a steal at full price so having bought it for nearly half price due to the fact that it's discontinued, makes it an unbeleivable value.

Similar Products Used:

Cyrus 2 with PSX, Cyrus 3 with PSX-R.

Detail, Midrange

Deep Bass

i used the 8000s with a pair of castle chester
speakers and a marantz ki 63 sig
i was not happy with this amp a first no real bass
was given whitch the speakers did not help
so i bought a 8000p to perhaps help
it did a little but i was still not happy
i sold the 8000p and was going to sell the 8000s
when i thought i would try a Subwoofer
(Mission 73se second hand)this made a huge difference
the bass was excellent
so my review is for the 8000s with sub ****
without sub **
perhaps i should have kept the 8000p and tried it with the sub but who knows

Similar Products Used:

to many to mention

Lots of potential...

One glaring weakness makes this a lemon

I know that this amplifier can be powerful and dynamic; I also know that both amplifiers that I bought this year have been defective. I bought one for my girfriend several yeara ago. When I finally sold my Auidiolab 8000A I took advantage of the heavily discounted price of this discontinued line to buy one. I then sold my beloved Marantz CD63 to go after the well reviewed Audiolab 8000A. I thought they would complement the Sonus Faber speakers I had overindulged in very well.
The first Audiolab 8000S had very little life to it. Not the kind of dynamics you would expect from such an amplifier. Whereas you barely had to turn up the volume on my girlfriend's (ie. 25 to the hour) to get a clear, clean sound, you still did not get that same full sound even if you turned my volume up to 9 or 10)! I got the first amplifier exchanged with some difficulty. I have not been any happier with the second. I hope to resolve this problem, but if anyone has any idea what has bewitched these 2 Audiolab 8000Ss I would love to heaer from them,

Similar Products Used:

Audiolab 8000A; Cyrus; Creek; Rotel; NAD; Luxman; Yamaha

Extremely detailed, clear, neutral, rhythmic sound. Lots of power. Very tight controlled bass, great tones (highs, mids, and lows). Top notch build quality. Very respected brandname, well known for their products.

The Audiolab name is gone, they were joined into the creation of TagMcLaren Audio. However, you can still go to the TagMcLaren Audio website and register your Audiolab product and enjoy the benefits and support they give to their customers (http://www.tagmclarenaudio.com).

I have decided to post this review after owning this amplifier for awhile now and putting it through its paces. I picked up this amplifier about 4 months ago on the used market, I paid less than half the original retail price and consider this a steal. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this sweet amplifier.

The first impression one gets of the Audiolab 8000S is that this thing is built like a tank!! It's very heavy for its slim size and you can see the top notch quality throughout. You can hear the quality in the component switching mechanism. All controls, including the volume control, have a heavy and precise feel to them. A simple, elegant red LED stays on while the unit is running. The binding posts and connections on the back are better than anything I have ever seen. The binding posts are absolutely massive, my local high-end audio dealer didn't have any spades large enough to fit around them! I had to order the most expensive spades Ixos makes online as they were one of the only ones that would fit. The top of the unit has a series of air slits and you can see the unit's heatsink inside. The Audiolab never gets hot, only slightly warm on the touch, even after I played it for over 50 hours straight. Also interesting to see are the playing modes that Audiolab has included on this amp. With a turn of a knob, you can put the unit in either pre, integrated, pre/power, or pre/power-AV mode. This is perfect for a future upgrade to separate power amp. The remote control, while not the prettiest, is very functional and convenient.

Now on to the sound. The Audiolab 8000S is one sweet sound experience. Music played comes out extremely detailed. That's the first impression you will get from it. Bass is tight and very well controlled. There is ample power, and its all clean, no distortion. I never have turned the power knob past the 12 oclock position as it would probably cause the walls to start coming down! One of the great strengths of the 8000S is its performance with voices, they come out extremely clear. For all kinds of music, it produces a wide soundstage, really a great musical experience. In all my music, I find that I am really re-listening to the material for the first time. That is the difference a great amp makes. I would definately recommend this integrated amp wholeheartedly. I don't have any doubt that it would please the most discerning listeners. I really prefer the performance of this amp to any of the others that I auditioned, including the Rega Mira. This amp was so good that after Audiolab was gobbled up by TagMcLaren, they took the 8000S and around it built their current offering, the 60iRv. The two amps are actually extremely similar, the TagMclaren 60iRv represents the next evolution of the 8000S.

The Audiolab 8000S let me truly experienced the difference between the sound provided by A/V Receivers and quality amplifiers. You can really hear and feel the difference between the two. For home theatre, an A/V Receiver is fine, but for music, they just don't cut it. That's the realm of high quality integrated amps and preamp/amp combinations. If anyone has any questions about this unit, feel free to email me. I really think that if you can find a used Audiolab 8000S on the market, you should snatch it up, you won't be disappointed!

My Equipment:
Audiolab 8000S Integrated Amp
Athena Technologies AS-F1 speakers
Sony cdplayer (my next target for upgrade)
Ultralink 10gauge Audiophile series speaker wire
Mix of Ixos/AR/Monster cabling and interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Rega Mira, Creek 4330, Cambridge Audio A500, NAD

Just bought the 8000S recently. After auditioning a zillion other combination,time and time again in different combinations, the 8000S won me over in just
one listening session. It completely desintergrated my runners-up (ROTEL
980 Pre/Power Combination).

I will not repeat what the rest has already stated in detail. It is the dynamic
power combined with a nice soundimage and lot's of detail.

I have listened to the 8000S togther with :
* The HELIOS 2 intergrated CD player (brand new)
This french CD player is absolutely worth auditioning.
* ProAc Studio 150 Speakers (also detail beasts, need to be broken in though)