Advice on an amp please!!!!

[tenerifediver]

OK Guys, I would appreciatea bit of help here. I am in the market for an integrated amp. Not too expensive. It will be relacing a nice but ageing Myryad Z140 into a pair of Moniotor RS6's. The source is a new Cambridge Audio 752BD Cd/BluRay spinner. My lounge is not too big (hence the one-box source) and as I live in Spain, high volumes are a no-no (well...mostly). I recently came home after spending a few years working abroad - enduring music through a laptop and logitech speakers - and felt that the Myryad was sounding too...'polite.' Does a 15+ year old amp really sound so lifeless now? It just seems to lack something. I know it's not the speakers or the spinner (having heard the Cambridge in a listening room with similar speakers).

I was hoping to go Cambridge again (buy British and all that) but am open to suggestions. Maximum budget is £500.

So.....what do you think?

Cheers!

 

[Ashley James]

Yamaha do a stunner for £229, I think it's 80 WPC and sounds as good as anything I've heard. They've always been at the cutting in audio.

 

[bigfish786]

Buy British.

Try to land a used Leema Pulse. They sell around the £400 mark.

also consider Creek and Arcam. Used or ex dem will give you more for your money.

 

[tino]

I was hoping to go Cambridge again (buy British and all that) but am open to suggestions. Maximum budget is £500.

So.....what do you think?

The new Cyrus One might be worth looking at (if you can stretch to £699) as is a used Leema Elements integrated amplifier (around £500) ... both designed and made in the UK.

 

[Al ears]

I was hoping to go Cambridge again (buy British and all that) but am open to suggestions. Maximum budget is £500.

So.....what do you think?

The new Cyrus One might be worth looking at (if you can stretch to £699) as is a used Leema Elements integrated amplifier (around £500) ... both designed and made in the UK.

And that makes them better does it?

To the OP, just go and audition some...... lots! ;-)

P.S.: the Cambridge is probably put together in China.

 

[tino]

And that makes them better does it?

To the OP, just go and audition some...... lots! ;-)

P.S.: the Cambridge is probably put together in China.

The OP expressed a preference for buying British hence the suggestions. The Cambridge equipment is as you say probably assembled in China even if it was designed in the UK.

 

[james_LR90]

http://www.nvahifi.co.uk/ap20-integrated-amplifier

I used to have one of these and it was an a little stunner. It easily saw off a friends Cyrus amp and he has an NVA system himself now. An absolute bargain at £400.

 

[matthewpiano]

The Yamaha Ashley refers to, the A-S501, is indeed an excellent amplifier overall and has plenty of power to control and drive a wide range of speakers. However, if you do much listening at low to medium volumes it is ruined by a poorly executed volume control which has a big jump in it around the 8 o'clock position. This is only circumvented by coming out of direct mode and using the variable loudness control to trim the volume from just above the point where it jumps, but the sound suffers.

 

[rainsoothe]

I haven't heard NVA stuff, but it's very highly regarded and should match MA's just nicely. I, however, hate the Yamaha AS-500 (which, I think, is the same as AS-501 as far as amplification is concerned). Bottom line is try to audition. If you're based in the UK, then NVA is a really safe bet, since you can audition at home, which is best anyway, and send it back if you don't like it.