Post by cj66 on Aug 16, 2019 6:00:40 GMT 10
In my early days of the HiFi ladder I purchased a British amplifier, during the UK hay days of such, namely an Inca Tech Claymore.
At time of purchase it was on its last revision (ISS 6).
It was a glorious upgrade from my NAD 3020B, absolutely everything was superior by the spades. At the same time I had also ordered a better turntable than my then Dual.
This also sparked the need for better speakers and so the hapless listener had been snagged, years of box swapping was to follow. 
However, the amplifier withstood many upgrades around it, everything I heard as a potential upgrade was decidedly meh, especially the integrated designs.
Eventually, through retail connections and a healthy dollup of good luck I had the opportunity of obtaining a multi box amplifier that finally saw off the Claymore, full retail back then would have been in the order of 1500GBP, against the 350GBP that the Claymore cost.
More upgrading followed of course, until interests and priorities changed and I sold off the entire kaboodle.
A few years later the need for a humble Hifi returned and I went through several amplifiers especially, newer types that were "better" failing to impress. Eventually I picked up another Claymore ISS6 and everything was right with the world, expected standards returned but not immediately.
I purchased the amp very cheaply as fixer-upper, most of this was within my ability except for a gain fault I couldn't work out. That lead me to searching and finding the the amp's designer, Colin Wonfor. Long story short, this very pleasant and accommodating gentleman accepted the amp for a check up and returned it, sorted.
Since then I've followed Colin's on line presence and have been able to fit desinger-approved upgrades to the amp, these have risen the performance very noticeably and I really hate to think at what retail cost a modern, full and worthwhile upgrade would come. (There is a current Claymore designed by Colin and selling under the EWA name for 1,200GBP)
Three cheers for the Inca Tech Claymore, a wonderful little amp that lays waste to many a giant!
