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southall-1998_mk2
19-03-2019, 22:22
Anyone on here using IA-4? Thinking about getting one someday as an endgame amp.

I've had few A21a's in the past, and once had the HA-4 Masterclass headphone amp.

S.
hifinutt
19-03-2019, 22:33
Been reading reviews on these recently , there are a number on eBay. I notice the a21se sells in minutes . I guess it's because it's a bit cheaper but would have to listen to an 1a4 to be convinced.
Joe
19-03-2019, 23:32
I had one, very briefly, a few years back. Let's just say I wasn't impressed. Maybe my expectations had been raised too high by the rave reviews I'd read.
southall-1998_mk2
20-03-2019, 00:56
I had one, very briefly, a few years back. Let's just say I wasn't impressed. Maybe my expectations had been raised too high by the rave reviews I'd read.

Can you sort of trace back how you found the sound? For example, dull?

S.
mikeyb
20-03-2019, 08:15
I looked at reviews a little while back as one came up for sale near me, I did think about a home demo but once I'd read various reviews I decided there was better out there for the money, can't remember what it was that put me off, but there was something.

Only way to be sure in your system is to demo it.
Joe
20-03-2019, 08:21
Can you sort of trace back how you found the sound? For example, dull?

S.

Yes; dull, lifeless, uninvolving. In other words, exactly the opposite of what the reviews had said. In a different room with different speakers it might have been fine.
wee tee cee
21-03-2019, 16:16
Only ever been to one hi fi show in Edinburgh around 1989.

Cant say i was overly impressed until me and my mate wandered into the empty sugden room.

It was a masterclass or head master.....cant remember exactly,speakers were spendors.

The noise that system made stayed with me forever....vowed one day when funds allowed i would go class a.

managed to get there eventually!!
macspur
24-03-2019, 14:29
I owned the IA-4 for a few years and never found it dull. It was hooked up to Harbeth SHL5 at the time... vocals were very lifelike, the only problem I had and it meant I had to move it on, was that in my room it failed to control the base, so changed it for an Accuphase E350, problem solved... if you can home dem one, do so.