Hands up, who liked Audiolab’s 8200 series? If feedback is to be believed (and it always is!) the 8200 series was incredibly popular, so the odds are it’s quite a lot of you! Well, the bad news is: the 8200 series and all of its wonderful separates are being discontinued. But the good news is, it’s all being replaced by something that moves everything up a scale: the 8300 series! we’ve already talked about the rather amazing new M-DAC+ (a continuation of the rather legendary M-DAC) so now it’s the 8300A (the integrated amp)’s turn to shine!
Available in both black and silver (separately listed, just in case you’re interested!) this is to be the only integrated amp in the series, so you know it’s going to be good. It has been completely redesigned from scratch, but boasts a lineage that goes all the way back to the original 8000A.
“[The 8300A is]miles ahead of what was already an industry-leader. Higher power, an additional phono stage and new Audiolab styling means the amplifier is more stylish and more versatile than ever. Most importantly it’s new, ultra-efficient circuitry and streamlined components create a listening experience which brings new definition to your favourite music.” ~ Audiolab
It seems that Audiolab really did listen to the needs and wants of bonefide audiophiles when designing this amp. It’s powerful, delivering 2 x 70 watts of power into 8 ohms. It also features five line-level inputs, a phono input (and a brand new phono stage) one balanced XLR input and a direct input to use the 8300A as a power amplifier give you a great variety of connection options. Two pre-outputs can be connected to power amplifiers for bi-amping, whilst twin sets of speaker terminals in parallel can easily handle bi-wiring speakers.
So yeah. It’s pretty impressive. And now we can’t wait to get our hands on the next separate in this range: the 8300CD!
Interesting in experiencing the most recent integrated amp to blow us away? Give us a shout! We can’t wait to show it off.
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It seems to fit the bill perfectly. The alternative I am considering is the Musical Fidelity M3si. The 8300a appears to have XLR inputs, which for an amplifier at this price range is unusual and very welcome. This would enable my old M-DAC to link perfectly with the 8300a using the very best connections.
I wonder how this system would sound: Audiolab 8300a, (with M-DAC), Pro-ject Xperience Basic+ turntable (not sure about pu cartridge), Marantz UD 7007 universal blu ray player and Roksan K2 TR-5 speakers. Any thoughts would be most welcome.