Grundig Fine Arts V1 integrated amplifier

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Not the best but a great amp

Shure was a gem. In fact i think it's better than the bigger brother the V2 wich wasn't as delicate with music.
Despite the fact that it's almost unknown in the Hi-Fi community the Portuguese engeneers done a great job with this amplifier. In fact all the FineArts range of this time was designed and built in Portugal (V1,V2,V3 amps CD1 CD2 and CD3 cd players and T1 T2 and T3 tunners and i think a cassete player also but not shure about this).
The amp is built like a brick. It's solid and even has some pilars inside to support the weight of other components 'on his shoulders'. It's tall so it has a lot of air inside wich is good, but even after hours of hi volume music it doesn't even get warm. In a review the tester even shunt the output to make the amp use his protection circuit and it carried on playing ok.
When you change the font the output rele disconects and re-conects so that no pop apears. It also has a stanby function to keep it hot n'ready to play.
The components used are good and even has an Alps motorized pot for the volume (yes, it has a remote control that can also control other FineArts components of the time).
The good thing is that it plays well. Very well if i might say so since i've had one for many years.
There are treble and bass pots hiden under the lower part of the am but they can be bypassed.
The speaker connectors accept any kind of cables and are solid also.
On the back are also 3 AC plugs so that the rest of the system can be turned on and off by the amplifier.
It a very well thought amplifier. Too bad it didn't get the recognition it deserved and Grundig closed the portuguese division a few years later. :confused:
 
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A very well thought amplifier

Hallo asounds,
I think that by that time Philips owned Grundig brandname and hifi products of both companies shared a common electronic design.I own a Philips FT880 tuner since 1990,made in Portugal,with a very good sound and superb functionality.Is it also designed locally?Philips' 7XX hifi components series state "made in Europe" and have only cosmetic changes from similar Grundig products.Are they made in Portugal too?I also own a FA761 amp and FT741 tuner,reliable and decent sounding.Only flaw so far is a tendency for lettering on the facia to fade away.
You are right,it's a shame that european companies shut down production units in Europe throwing away engineering tradition.
 
Grundig in portugal was a industrial complex in Braga wich combined 4 companyes in the same place: Fehst Components, Delphi, Grundig and Blaupunkt.
I didn't knew that Grundig and Philips shared the designs but it's possible since Philips was a major shareholder in Grundig raising it's share percentage from 1984 until 1993 when it took full control and then selling it in 1999.
Other brands used Philips interiors like Marantz (specialy CD players) wich was also a Philips subsidary in the 90's.
I don't know if the Philips hi-fi components were designed in Portugal but the Grundig ones were since i know several people that worked there.
Here's a picture of my amp:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

It had a problem when i bought it (with the treble button) that was fixed under warranty and never had problems since. The only thing made to it was the quiescent current adjustment that i've made myself some time ago and that was it. I've increased it since the amp has a huge heatsink and so it has no problems with overheating and sounds much better in this way (it works in pure class A to about 1.5W now. From there on works on AB).

About the closing of the production in europe by almost all the brands it's a complete stupidity.
Philips closed the production facility in Ovar city after 67 years. They only produced remote controls in the last years and chaged the production to India or China... Then they complain that the consuption in europe is getting lower. What the f**ckl...if people don't have were to work they can't earn money and can't spend it duhhhh!!!
Americans have a great pride in the 'Made in America' and we considered them arrogant and dumb by thinking this way; but looking at the way things are now in europe who's the stupid after all??? Stupid politics/administrators!!!
 
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This is what I mean when I am talking about cosmetic changes(check out the arrangement of the amplifier's controls and buttons).Interesting idea increasing the bias,I will try it,since there are no overheating problems.About european economies you are right,except one point:same things have happened in too many european countries and it is difficult to accept that so many politicians in charge are that stupid.
 

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Politics are all the same. They try to get as many money and favors for friends as they can while they are in top places. They dont care for improving production conditions in their countries also Like we say in Portugal: 'The one that comes next then closes the door'. Administrators also look only for imediate profit and want to cut costs as much as possible. But you're probably right too.
Let me know how the amp improved.
If you can google for a text called 'put a tiget in your amp'. It's about increasing the bias.
 
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