McLaren A150B (not Tag-McLaren)

Many would not have heard of the McLaren brand of amplifiers from NZ. I certainly didn't till I was looking to setup a proper hifi set of my own when living in Auckland, New Zealand in the late 1980(s).

Please do not confuse the NZ McLaren brand of amplifiers with the Tag-McLaren series which was basically Audiolab UK with better quality components and finishing.

The 1st McLaren I encountered was the A150 (70W per channel) integrated amplifier at a electronics shop then located near the bottom of Parnell Rise (around 1990). Was not too impressed by it's abilities.

The 2nd McLaren model I came across was the A150B (hifi dealer's home on the North Shore) and it's reproduction was much improved but had a upper HF cutoff. The reproduction was quite decent for a 75W integrated amp driving the Celestion SL6s properly.

For my then available budget, it was a definate shortlister along with the Onix OA20.

Pix of McLaren A150B from AudioNZ