Let's talk about Amstrad hi-fi

[editor]

I've just written a piece about a of Amstrad hi-fi I owned. It looked amazing but sounded fairly shite.

Behold the audio majesty of the 1970s Amstrad Integra 4000 Mk II amplifier

Anyone else own Amstrad gear?

 

[editor]

Look at this thing! It looks like it should have been on the set of Space: 1999

 

[editor]

 

[editor]

I never knew that they'd released a (crap) Portastudio with a bustin' soundtrack:

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Were they the inventors of the midi system designed to look like a stack of separate components, but actually just a big, empty box with a turntable on the top and all the actual kit taking up a thin wedge behind the frontage? It's the sort of thing that one can imagine Sugar coming up with, but the example that I owned was from Saisho (Dixon's own-brand label, faux SE Asian).

 

[Belushi]

I had one of their terrible midi systems as a teen. I don't think I ever saw an Amstrad product that wasn't shit.

 

[hot air baboon]

Were they the inventors of the midi system designed to look like a stack of separate components, but actually just a big, empty box with a turntable on the top and all the actual kit taking up a thin wedge behind the frontage? It's the sort of thing that one can imagine Sugar coming up with, but the example that I owned was from Saisho (Dixon's own-brand label, faux SE Asian).

...technically referred to as the mug's eyeful...

 

[ringo]

Great hi-fi turntables you have loved

 

[elbows]

Were they the inventors of the midi system designed to look like a stack of separate components, but actually just a big, empty box with a turntable on the top and all the actual kit taking up a thin wedge behind the frontage? It's the sort of thing that one can imagine Sugar coming up with, but the example that I owned was from Saisho (Dixon's own-brand label, faux SE Asian).

I do remember being quite surprised at the amount of free space in ours when I took the back off.

And lets not forget the classic story of when they made their first one that included a cd player. Legend has it the cd sounded worse than the record deck, so they made the record deck worse so the cd seemed better in comparison! Not actually sure if that story is true, but the esteem I hold Amstrad in makes it easy for me to think it plausible.

 

[rhod]

Love the packet of fags and ashtray nonchalantly adorning the 4000 in that press ad. What was the marketing angle behind that, I wonder? Amstrad amp as trusty family heirloom rather than boffin box?

In the era of Apple minimalism it might be difficult for younger readers to appreciate the mind-set of gadget buyers in previous decades. Sugar (for all his manifest faults) understood this completely. In other words, the more buttons, sliders and useless functions the better. LEDs and VU meters added to the "cool factor" for the casual (very casual) HiFi aficionado. Silver and wood grain effects were all the rage in the 70s, to be usurped pretty rapidly by black and smoked grey in the 80s.

Amstrad's ultimate contribution to audio excellence came with their tape-to-tape machine, of course. As we know, this product single-handedly killed the music industry.

 

[Supine]

Like pin stripe jeans, amstrad hifi should remain forgotten in the 80's

 

[Libertad]

Love the packet of fags and ashtray nonchalantly adorning the 4000 in that press ad. What was the marketing angle behind that, I wonder? Amstrad amp as trusty family heirloom rather than boffin box?

B&H, the choice of the discerning punter.

 

[TopCat]

Were they the inventors of the midi system designed to look like a stack of separate components, but actually just a big, empty box with a turntable on the top and all the actual kit taking up a thin wedge behind the frontage? It's the sort of thing that one can imagine Sugar coming up with, but the example that I owned was from Saisho (Dixon's own-brand label, faux SE Asian).

I owned one. It cost my parents loads and I had to keep it and act grateful.

 

[TopCat]

I do remember being quite surprised at the amount of free space in ours when I took the back off.

And lets not forget the classic story of when they made their first one that included a cd player. Legend has it the cd sounded worse than the record deck, so they made the record deck worse so the cd seemed better in comparison! Not actually sure if that story is true, but the esteem I hold Amstrad in makes it easy for me to think it plausible.

I proper laughed reading this.

 

[editor]

I've added a few updates to this article.

Behold the audio majesty of the 1970s Amstrad Integra 4000 Mk II amplifier -

I spotted this old Amstrad amp in the window of a Cardiff comic shop recently, and was instantly reminded of the bitter-sweet times I had when I owned one. With its futuristic Space 1999 lines, I thought the future had arrived when I unboxed it. Sadly, the performance was still deeply entrenched...

www.urban75.org

This video captures the crackling sliders very well