Yer man from Fell Audio – grandson of Peter Tyson – was interviewed on R4 at lunchtime today.
It’s nice to see a UK-designed and UK-built brand take off, but it is a crowded market (Audiolab, Rega, Creek, et al).
They do an integrated amp with phono, line and digital inputs (and, unusually, a Class D power amp) for £600, a £500 CD player (or £1000 as a bundle) and a £500 streamer is imminent (again, a crowded market and the App user interface makes or breaks the success of the hardware).
I wish them well, but it is a competitive world out there and I’m glad I’m approaching the end of my career and not at the beginning of it.
Interesting…. I’m a Rega groupie, as you may know, but I’m always keen to see what other brands are out there who may be inclined to price their offerings at a rather more sporting level.
(minutes pass, the Duck Duck Goes and the website is located)
Ah, I see there is no MC phono input option – that’s a shame!
A pedant writes: Carlisle, not Carsile.
They’re probably a good match for another champagne product on a lemonade budget, the range of speakers by Fyne Audio, just up the M74 in Bellshill.
The folks at Fyne Audio used to work for Tannoy, before Music Tribe (parent company of Behringer) bought Tannoy in 2015.
I was recently sorely tempted by a pair of Fyne Audio speakers that someone just round the corner from me was selling for next to nothing. It was only the realisation that I’ve now pretty much run out of rooms in my house to put systems in that made me come to my senses. I’m going to be downsizing quite significantly in the coming months too, which is going to present a number of challenges. What do I keep and how do I get rid of the rest?
Ther are two ways to shift stuff: via your local dealer (only really if you’re buying something from them) or on eBay. My local shop has an eBay store, which tells you something.
Better getting rid of heavy stuff locally with Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree in the UK (no shipping costs)
Ever since I bought my first “decent” hi-fil separates when I started working over 30 years ago, I’ve been a UK amp / speakers guy – I’ve been using an Audiolab amp and Monitor Audio speakers all along. May not be the greatest individually, but for my ears it’s been my ideal combination and I’ve always been happy with the sound (I like the “neutral” sound of Audiolab and the clean mid range of Monitor Audio).
Whilst I often browse the Hi-Fi mags / online and look at some of the other products, I’ve never really been tempted by any other brand (although a friend has a Meridian system which blewcme away – but way out of my price range)
Another UK amp/speakers guy here – although I’ve mostly taken the second-hand route. I’m now something of a Croft/Quad/KEF groupie.
“I refuse to be tempted” says a chap with ten sets of headphones and other multiple bits of audio detritus. Although I may be in the market for some new amplification later this year. The Roksan Caspian 4g has been giving me come hither looks. I thought about a two box solution but I haven’t got the rack space available, unless I start looking at ‘shoebox’ amps…
When I upgraded to a Planar 6 with their MC cartridge about a year ago, I looked somewhat idly at the matching Rega amp, but it didn’t seem to offer anything my Cambridge Audio amp already delivers.
And there was one feature that was lacking which really decided it for me – the Rega amp only offers the ability to drive one pair of speakers.
I asked the guys in audio-T about amps which can do this, and they told me there was only one amp (can’t recall the brand – a Japanese one I think) which they recommended that offered this facility.
As I’m a fan of the sound my Cambridge delivers, I didn’t follow it up, but it left me wondering why this feature is so rare in quality hi-fi amps these days; after all, my old faithful JVC AS-5 – nowadays attached to this PC – does that job with aplomb.