£350 of amp enough to get better sound???

[atkins4725]

Hey fellas,

I'm wanting to buy an amp to get better sound from my speakers and have been looking at the CA azure 650A as this will match the 650bd in my set up. The question being...... Will £350 get me a noticeably amount of improvement with regards to the sound. I'm currently using the SONY 3500ES receiver.

Thanks in advance, Rick

 

[Anonymous]

i would say that a stereo amp will give a big improvement to music , i certainly found so when i added one to my setup , much better ...

choices ? im not too clued up on this , but id check out the marantz pm6003 .. very good imo..and only around £280..

 

[atkins4725]

Cheers for the reply. I'll have a look at the Marantz you mentioned. I seem to have picked up a bug for CA stuff for some reason but will go have a listen to both, cheers 🙂

 

[the record spot]

if you'd consider 2nd hand, £350 opens up some nice older kit, Linn, Exposure etc.

 

[Blackdawn]

and the NAD C355 BEE at £299 in silver new at RS.

 

[matthewpiano]

Another vote for the Marantz PM6003. Excellent amplifier - better than the 650A in my opinion.

 

[smuggs]

i would not say its better than the ca650 but it goes with most stuff where the ca650 i found sounds quite harsh at top so you really need to know you stuff when matching cables and speakers. The marantz is almost free to partnet with most £350 cd player and i cant see it sounding bad with any speaker.

You have to ask does the look play a part.

Just watch out cause richer sounds are good but tend to push ms with the ca stuff and i feel that sounds a touch bright which at first fools you into thinking that it has bags of detail.

 

[smuggs]

the other route would be to save up a bit more over the next few months and cash in on the sony and try and get a £1200 av amp non 3d now in a sale around xmas for £800 if you grab a good deal that could give a £350 stereo amp a run for its money.And you would keep it all on 1 system if that appeals just a thought.

 

[the record spot]

Cyrus 3 with PSX-R? £270 on Ebay. Linn Majik 25th Anniversary Edition - £300 (from Emporium Hi Fi, decent Ebay shop). Try Gumtree as well, you'd be surprised how much good stuff comes up on that and often for giveaway money.

 

[atkins4725]

Cheers for the reply smuggs,

I did consider this when purchasing the receiver I have now, just couldn't bring myself to pay out a grand on the day. I'm more than happy with the SONY for watching movies and to be honest, I'd rather spend more cash on a dedicated stereo amp knowing I'll be getting much better sound for the money.

 

[Cypher]

Another vote for the PM6003.

I used to own the PM4001 and PM7001 amps and didn't like them that much. But the PM6003 is something else, a fantastic amp for the money.

 

[Anonymous]

I got a mint boxed NAD C370 for £250 second hand. You can probably get one for £200 easy enough. Cracking amp for the money!

 

[cheyworth]

http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/nad/c355bee/nad-c355bee-tit

A good deal?

 

[xtsili]

Check out the YAMAHA AS700 as well. It is a powerfull amp which made me happy - I bough it recently and I can say it is value for money.

Apart form WHFI' review you might check those out as well - one is in German by I hope you can cope with it more or less

http://www.hifitest.de/test/vollverstaerker/yamaha-a-s700_1280.php

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/yamaha/yamaha.html

 

[Anonymous]

I have listened to the 650A with the Kef IQ5SE and they go very well together. Better IMO than the PM6003.

The 650A's superb imaging and dynamics will enhance those qualities in your Kef IQ5SE.

Don't forget you have the return option at Richer.