Best Amp for £1500?

[iRog]

Hi

I'm looking for a bi-wirable integrated amp or pre/power combo up to about £1500.

Any suggestions?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Hi there,

It's your lucky day. Well, it will be in a week's time - our next issue, out next Thursday (winging its way to subscribers this weekend) features a pre/power Group Test, with pairings from £1550. It also includes a panel on integrated amp alternatives at this price.

Brands in the test include Cyrus, Naim, Myryad, Quad and Roksan.

 

[iRog]

Thanks Clare - I'll check it out

cheers

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="iRog"]

I'm looking for a bi-wirable integrated amp or pre/power combo

[/quote]

Just to note that any amp can be used with biwiring cables - you don't need two sets of speaker outputs for each channel. Sorry if the stuff below is teaching Granny to suck eggs, iRog, but it may be of some use to other readers...

Most amps have combination terminals like this



for the speakers, so you could use spade connectors like those below left for the bass cables, and banana plugs like those below right for the treble, both into the same speaker connector at the same time. The spade goes into the slot, and the collar screws down to clamp it, while the banana plug pushes into the hole on the end as usual.



If you don't want to do this, or happen to have an amp that will only take banana plugs, you can get your biwire cables made up in 2-to-4 configuration, where two conductors are fitted into each plug at the amp end, but there are four - two positive and two negative - at the speaker end, as seen below.

 

[Razz]

Hi,

From what I've listened and after having read hundreds of hi-fi reviews for the past ten years I can say that at this price the amplifiers worth considering before anything else are Primare's I30 and AVI's integrated amp. Another integrated to consider at around 1,250 quid is the Glen Croft Integrated - a hybrid valve-MOSFET design - with stunning reviews on some forums. (By the way is there any reason why the Croft products are almost never reviewed in WHF?)

The pre/power combinations are better than integrateds for sure, but they tend to be (much) more costly. Thus integrateds seem to be more convenient price-wise. At this price level I would personally go for an integrated. But let's see what the future review in WHF brings...

Razz

 

[iRog]

Thanks Andrew

[quote user="Razz"]at this price the amplifiers worth considering before anything else are Primare's I30 and AVI's integrated amp. Another integrated to consider at around 1,250 quid is the Glen Croft Integrated [/quote]

Razz - Ive never seen any of these around Sydney but I'd be interested in your pick of the more mainstream brands?

cheers

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Razz"]
Hi,

By the way is there any reason why the Croft products are almost never reviewed in WHF?

[/quote]

None at all, AFAIK. The Precession 1 and Polestar 1 were tested in the June 2007 issue and described as 'a truly great buy'