Exposure Four (1978)

The Exposure Four is one of the earliest models from Exposure Electronics, made in 1978. That was before the company became better known for its later partnership with John Farlowe of Naim Audio. Steve Jones founded Exposure in the mid-1970s, and he built this integrated amplifier in the "early days." It shows. The Four is a stripped-down, simple but brilliantly effective design. The fascia has a volume knob, a source selector and a power toggle. There are four inputs and a volume control, and that's it.

The record on this model is thin. All known facts trace back to a single source, an article in The Audiophile Man that described a restored example used in a demonstration system with Kudos Audio KS-1 loudspeakers. The original price was £127.50 in 1978, roughly £650 in today's money. The amp produced 35W per channel. The Exposure Three came before it and the Exposure Five followed it.

What little reception information exists is positive but measured. The Four "has a certain vintage charm; it sounds warm and engaging with a slightly rolled-off top end." It is not the last word in transparency or detail, but it sounds "lovely - smooth and unforced, if not the most dynamic amplifier" the reviewer had heard. Contemporary audio publications of the era focused mostly on hearing safety, noting that sound energy above 90 dB can trigger stress responses (Audio, January 1981, p.50). A fully restored example was listed at £1,495. The restoration included a full recap and service. The volume pot was scratchy, typical for an amplifier of this age, but cleaned up fine.

One note on the source. The fact sheet flags an ambiguous passage that reads as though the Four produced 35W "from four Naim NAP250 power amplifiers." That sentence contradicts itself for an integrated amplifier. The 35W figure is attributed to the Four in the same sentence, and this page follows that attribution, but the exact context of the original claim remains unclear.

Known specs:

- Integrated amplifier

- 35W per channel

- Four inputs, volume control, source selector, power toggle

- Original price: £127.50 (1978)

No frequency response, THD, signal-to-noise, dimensions, or weight figures are documented.