Question Best Amp of the Millenium

[oldtincan]

In order to keep myself occupied in middle age I have decided to try and find the best (affordable) hifi amp of the Millenium.... So from the last 20 to 30 to years or so. I have had several amps over this period, most now have been resigned to hifi heaven....but I still own a Denon PM720AE, a Yamaha A-S501, Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5, and have just purchased a Rotel A11 which is my daily listen. I have dug out my old amps and have today derived considerable enjoyment from testing them all (in my garage) in conjunction with some old, but beautiful sounding (and looking) Ruark Talisman ll's which I recently bought for less than £100 on ebay. What I am hoping to do is test affordable eBay amps, so second hand (BTW, affordable for me is under £500) then sell it on and buy and test another, or maybe keep 2 at a time for comparison purposes, then sell the least favourite out of the 2. Please let me know your thoughts, specifically your favourite amps which I may get for under £500 on ebay, or from anywhere else that sells second hand or reconditioned gear. Thanks

 

[clanking]

Is £500 the original retail price or the current eBay second hand price?

 

[nopiano]

I’ve a hunch your price is too high and era too wide to get anywhere. Many amps 25-30 years old are no longer quite like their original spec, as components age and deteriorate. And you don’t know if they’ve been repaired badly either. There are hundreds if not thousands of models from such a long period.

And what is ‘best’? The sound you like through your vintage Ruarks? Or can you measure them?

I must sound somewhat negative, so why not limit yourself to big sellers, and well known models? Like, say, the NAD3020, Marantz PM66 and Pioneer A-400?

 

[oldtincan]

Is £500 the original retail price or the current eBay second hand price?

eBay / second hand price

 

[SteveH72]

In my opinion, the best sub £500 amplifier I’ve heard is the Rega Brio. Astonishing music from such a small amp. Outperformed the Audiolab 6000A and Cambridge CXA60. Lots of amps I haven’t heard so could be missing something.

 

[James105]

In order to keep myself occupied in middle age I have decided to try and find the best (affordable) hifi amp of the Millenium.... So from the last 20 to 30 to years or so. I have had several amps over this period, most now have been resigned to hifi heaven....but I still own a Denon PM720AE, a Yamaha A-S501, Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5, and have just purchased a Rotel A11 which is my daily listen. I have dug out my old amps and have today derived considerable enjoyment from testing them all (in my garage) in conjunction with some old, but beautiful sounding (and looking) Ruark Talisman ll's which I recently bought for less than £100 on ebay. What I am hoping to do is test affordable eBay amps, so second hand (BTW, affordable for me is under £500) then sell it on and buy and test another, or maybe keep 2 at a time for comparison purposes, then sell the least favourite out of the 2. Please let me know your thoughts, specifically your favourite amps which I may get for under £500 on ebay, or from anywhere else that sells second hand or reconditioned gear. Thanks

I'd start with :

Kenwood 3020SE
Pioneer a300x
NAD 304
Arcam Delta 290
Audiolab 800

 

[skinnypuppy71]

Up the budget slightly (£600) and you can bag yourself a original Naim nate xs....nothing will come close for that money....oh oh, I might have to retract that, Roksan Caspian m1 can be had for the budget......not heard one myself but it was a firm fave for the What hi-fi team back then.

 

[Hawkwind16]

I've been buying and selling sh kit for years to find my 'ultimate system' - it's a complete rabbit hole. 'The Best' amplifier is down to personal preference, speaker match, and room so you can't answer that in any meaningful way.

Marantz/Cambridge Audio are the usual budget suspects. I agree though that it would be good to up your budget a bit and look at sh Roksan Caspian, Naim Nait, maybe Rega - where it starts to get really interesting.

 

[Al ears]

Along with those mentioned in the above post the Creek Evolution 50A should be considered

 

[matthewpianist]

Get the best Pioneer A400 you can find and spend the rest on music. £250 should get you a good example, serviced by someone who knows what they're doing, and it's a great amplifier.

Alternatively, seek out a pre-owned Musical Fidelity M2si. This would be more recent and is a bit of a bargain for the level of performance it offers.

Either would match very well with your Ruarks.

 

[twinkletoes]

The Pm7200 wouldnt be a bad shout, i loved mine. Has both class A and AB designs on board with a simple flick of a switch to activate and deactivate.

One of the best sounding amps I've ever had any price point.

a service might be needed but id hazard a guess it wont.

Depending on the speakers used Sugden made a great little half-width design back in 03/05 forget the model number/name. but got rave reviews and Sugden will happily service it for you as they do all there amp even those from the 60's

 

[JDL]

In order to keep myself occupied in middle age I have decided to try and find the best (affordable) hifi amp of the Millenium.... So from the last 20 to 30 to years or so. I have had several amps over this period, most now have been resigned to hifi heaven....but I still own a Denon PM720AE, a Yamaha A-S501, Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5, and have just purchased a Rotel A11 which is my daily listen. I have dug out my old amps and have today derived considerable enjoyment from testing them all (in my garage) in conjunction with some old, but beautiful sounding (and looking) Ruark Talisman ll's which I recently bought for less than £100 on ebay. What I am hoping to do is test affordable eBay amps, so second hand (BTW, affordable for me is under £500) then sell it on and buy and test another, or maybe keep 2 at a time for comparison purposes, then sell the least favourite out of the 2. Please let me know your thoughts, specifically your favourite amps which I may get for under £500 on ebay, or from anywhere else that sells second hand or reconditioned gear. Thanks

Have you heard the Marantz PM7200.
I think that was a real gem, available now on eBay for two to three hundred.

 

[Freddy58]

I have to admit that I struggle with this notion that amps sound of anything. Ultimately it’s the speakers you’re listening to. Yes, the amp will have an effect when it comes to controlling the speakers, but actually sound of anything? An amps duty is just to…amplify isn’t it? And where does this leave the purist that just wants ‘uncoloured’ sound? Yes, I realise this might be a can of worms, but I’d like it if someone can explain it to me.

 

[plastic penguin]

Creek Evo2 would be my vote. My current first gen Leema Pulse is even better but rarely come up for sale.

 

[oldtincan]

In my opinion, the best sub £500 amplifier I’ve heard is the Rega Brio. Astonishing music from such a small amp. Outperformed the Audiolab 6000A and Cambridge CXA60. Lots of amps I haven’t heard so could be missing something.

Totally agree, got one and its the best I've heard, and only £149 on ebay!

 

[nopiano]

Totally agree, got one and its the best I've heard, and only £149 on ebay!

Bargain! What others did you try?

 

[oldtincan]

Bargain! What others did you try?

That's it up to now, the garage is a bit cold this time of year, but I do fancy trying a Marantz next, but I'll probably try to go through all of em in time....problem is I love buying them, but hate selling them - currently got 5 amps - a Denon PM720AE, a Yamaha A-S501, Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5, Rotel A11 and the Rega Brio, and 6 sets of speakers! All have there own pro's and cons...But really impressed with with the Rega, best of the lot, and currently only really tested with Wharfedale 9.1's, which are a good speaker for the price and Monitor Audio Bronze

 

[JDL]

I have to admit that I struggle with this notion that amps sound of anything. Ultimately it’s the speakers you’re listening to. Yes, the amp will have an effect when it comes to controlling the speakers, but actually sound of anything? An amps duty is just to…amplify isn’t it? And where does this leave the purist that just wants ‘uncoloured’ sound? Yes, I realise this might be a can of worms, but I’d like it if someone can explain it to me.

I believe one has no choice but to admit that out of the hundreds of integrated amplifiers available there are undeniable differences in the 'sound' that you hear from your speakers that has to be put down to the differences in amplifiers.
After all, they do of course have the same function, but amplifier designers use different components, different designs, etc, etc. The outcome of these differences is variations in what's delivered to the speakers.

 

[Gray]

I do fancy trying a Marantz next

Try the PM66 OSE KI and you'll be glad you did.

(For the money I got for my mint condition one - I wish I'd kept it - if only for use just as a phono preamp).

 

[plastic penguin]

That's it up to now, the garage is a bit cold this time of year, but I do fancy trying a Marantz next, but I'll probably try to go through all of em in time....problem is I love buying them, but hate selling them - currently got 5 amps - a Denon PM720AE, a Yamaha A-S501, Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5, Rotel A11 and the Rega Brio, and 6 sets of speakers! All have there own pro's and cons...But really impressed with with the Rega, best of the lot, and currently only really tested with Wharfedale 9.1's, which are a good speaker for the price and Monitor Audio Bronze

Problem is a garage isn't the best place to test a hi-fi, it's too reflective. Can you not find a room in the main house?

 

[oldtincan]

Problem is a garage isn't the best place to test a hi-fi, it's too reflective. Can you not find a room in the main house?

The garage was convenient in the summer, but I agree it's not ideal, so, I am actually just clearing the spare room and may use that....just ordered a Marantz PM6007 From Peter Tyson - via eBay - £279, brand new, free delivery, 2 year warranty; bargain! But I definitely need to setup a decent room for testing / messing with this lot!

 

[gasolin]

Rega brio R or Audiolab 6000a ?

 

[plastic penguin]

The garage was convenient in the summer, but I agree it's not ideal, so, I am actually just clearing the spare room and may use that....just ordered a Marantz PM6007 From Peter Tyson - via eBay - £279, brand new, free delivery, 2 year warranty; bargain! But I definitely need to setup a decent room for testing / messing with this lot!

Pity you can't have the hi-fi rigged in the living room. You can have the amp connected to a DVD or Bluray and the TV. We do, and although it's only stereo, it sounds so nice watching a film or your fav TV show through the amp.

 

[Al ears]

I believe one has no choice but to admit that out of the hundreds of integrated amplifiers available there are undeniable differences in the 'sound' that you hear from your speakers that has to be put down to the differences in amplifiers.
After all, they do of course have the same function, but amplifier designers use different components, different designs, etc, etc. The outcome of these differences is variations in what's delivered to the speakers.

Agreed, if all amplifiers were simply 'a straight wire with gain ' then they wouldn't impact on the overall sound. Unfortunately none are....

 

[Friesiansam]

I was going to say it's a bit soon for this, given there are still 977 years left of this millennium, before I read the OP...