Hi-Fi - Audiolab
A well set-up hi-fi system can sound incredible and dramatically improve your enjoyment of music. We specialise in proper hi-fi separates and matching these to suitable hi-fi speakers and pride ourselves on offering expert advice by phone or e-mail and in our showroom. Our carefully selected range of hi-fi equipment includes many industry award winners and spans between great value products, exclusive Audio Affair hi-fi offers and some of the finest music systems available.
You can browse our range of Hi-fi Separates, which includes hi-fi amplifiers and music "source" components, like hi-fi streamers (for enjoying music over the internet and stored on your home network), DACs (for the best sound from your Mac or PC), media servers (for storing music including high res files) and CD players. We also sell a range of one-box hi-fi systems like the Naim Uniti range - just add speakers!
You can also browse our range of Turntables & Cartridges to view our range of turntables, phono cartridges and turntable phono stages (pre-amps) or select Vinyl & Accessories to browse our range of music LPs and turntable essentials and upgrades.
We pride ourselves on good service. If you need any further advice on a new hi-fi system or upgrade for your existing system, please call or e-mail us.
Audiolab is a leading brand in hi-fi offering high-end performance at reasonable prices. Several models from the current 6000, 7000 and 9000 ranges have received excellent reviews and/or industry awards. See also our Audiolab packages
Since its founding in 1983 by Philip Swift and Derek Scotland and its launch of the original 8000A amplifier, Audiolab has been designing products in the UK that demonstrate audio engineering at its best, the range features products born from fervour for music intricately engineered by a team of hi-fi specialists.
In 2010, Audiolab launched its cutting-edge full-width 8200 Series, fusing the brand's ethos of minimalistic, well-built ergonomics and crisp, clear sound with an advanced performance-led design. One year later, the M-DAC arrived seeing in the new, compact LAB Series flanked by the Q-DAC and M-PWR. Since the launch of these series, Audiolab has gone on to win more coveted awards in UK hi-fi publications than any rival brand of top-performance audio electronics. The 8300 series improved upon the 8200 blueprint and refined each component with HD audio technology, better efficiency and enhanced aesthetics.
Audiolab also revisited the iconic 8000 range thirty-five years later with 6000 range, designed for modern audiophiles seeking premium-grade performance, build and functionality at an affordable price. More recently the 7000 range improves upon the 6000 range and flagship 9000 range are the most accomplished products Audiolab have ever made.
The range also includes the M-DAC+ which exploits the brand's experience in industry-leading and multi-award-winning DACs, ideal for listening to music via computer through headphones, or as part of an amplifier - speaker system. The range also now includes the DC Block products, designed to reduce interference and provide a cleaner power supply for your valuable hi-fi separates.
Audiolab consistently strives to achieve excellence in the quality and sound of its products whilst staying true to the philosophy of its founders in creating well-engineered parts that afford high performance sound quality with excellent value for money.
Traditional hi-fi speakers (either bookshelf speakers or floorstanding speakers) are passive and require a separate hi-fi amplifier. The most popular type of amplifier is an integrated amplifier (a single box designed to be the heart of your hi-fi system, connecting to all of your music "source" components like hi-fi streamer, CD player etc and to your speakers).
Generally however, the most desireable and best sounding type of amplification though is to have a separate power amplifier (which connect to your speakers) and pre amplifier (which connects to your music "sources" and the power amplifier). By having these two boxes rather than one combined box (hence the word "integrated"), each box is designed specifically to perform that part of the amplification and by splitting these duties up, each section benefits from this dedicated design, separate power supplies, and sometimes better components, resulting in better sound quality through your speakers.
Whatever your choice and budget for amplifier and speakers, we have a range of equipment to suit. We also sell a range of valve amplifiers, which offer a warm, rich sound and a heritage of hi-fi listening that is as endearing to look at as it is to listen to. This valve amplifier range also includes in itself both "integrated" and "pre" / "power" valve amp models.
As mentioned, our range of music "sources" is also comprehensive. Hi-fi streaming has gradually taken over CD players (although we still offer CD players and dedicated CD transports which can be connected directly to a DAC). Streaming music didn't used to be taken very seriously in the hi-fi community back in the days of mp3s and highly compressed audio viles, but with the advent of better content available online, using a hi-fi streamer is now a serious option as a music source and can even sound better than a CD player if you play and collect high res audio files.
The popularity of turntables for playing vinyl has also massively increased in past years (beyond that of CD players) but please note that your hi-fi amplifier must have a "Turntable" (or sometimes labelled as a "Phono") input to be able to play vinyl on your turntable, as the output level from most turntables is lower than that of other music "sources". If your amplifier doesn't have this input (or even if it does), we recommend using a high quality turntable pre-amp, referred to in hi-fi circles as a phono stage. We also sell a full range of replacement phono cartridges and other turntable essentials to get the best sound from your vinyl.
If you would like further advice, please call or e-mail us or visit our Birmingham showroom and one of our hi-fi experts can assist you. Don't forget to browse our full range of speakers and our Audio Affair exclusive offers as well.