Hello! I'm new. I've got a cambridge audio azur 640. I play vinyl rock (modded rega planar 3). I'm looking for a significant upgrade to my amp and want to get one that won the beat amp awards around 10-15 years ago because i reckon that will be good value for money, they will still be sxcellent amps but will probably be on ebay for not much money these days. I'm thjnking of 500-1000 pound bracket, new back then. How can i find these lists, or can you guys recommend me a good amp? Or even sell me one?!! I will need speakers too - currently Kef q65. Need something worth at least 500 i should think. Again, old is fine.
Best amps from a few years ago
- Thread starter Vizzage
- Start date
Yup would certainly add a nice Sony ES. You can get a 670ES for around £200, and the 770ES for around £250-£300. I have had both and they are cracking amps, especially the 770ES, oodles of power, nice and smooth even at high volumes and a decent in-built phonostage.
Not so old but you can get a nice Denon PMA-2000AE for around £500, quite similar in presentation to the 770ES, beast of an amp.
Not so old but you can get a nice Denon PMA-2000AE for around £500, quite similar in presentation to the 770ES, beast of an amp.
Yup would certainly add a nice Sony ES. You can get a 670ES for around £200, and the 770ES for around £250-£300. I have had both and they are cracking amps, especially the 770ES, oodles of power, nice and smooth even at high volumes and a decent in-built phonostage.
Not so old but you can get a nice Denon PMA-2000AE for around £500, quite similar in presentation to the 770ES, beast of an amp.
Not so old but you can get a nice Denon PMA-2000AE for around £500, quite similar in presentation to the 770ES, beast of an amp.
Yes, or the ESD with onboard DAC. I can vouch for the latter as I have one. Excellent amp. Add to this Harman Kardon's Citation Series amps if you can find one, or the HK6550 / 6850 which are also popular (just not in the UK where we don't seem to go a bundle on their gear). Sansui AU-717 would sit near the £2k bracket these days I think. Maybe £1500, either way, excellent amp, but make sure you land a good one. They're old now, need lots of TLC but dual-mono amps, and they'll sit, comfortably with the likes of Leema's Pulse, Exposure's 3010 or HK's 990 amps. They're all £1000+ amps at release.
Plenty of others out there, just wait for the crowd to add a few!
Plenty of others out there, just wait for the crowd to add a few!
The original Audiolab 8000A perhaps?
Recently listened to a 20-year old Naim Nait driving ProAc Tablettes. Brilliant stuff.
Recently listened to a 20-year old Naim Nait driving ProAc Tablettes. Brilliant stuff.
Excellent stuff chaps, wow my eyes are being opened - i haven't investigated this stuff since the 90s!
Arcam Alpha 10 / NAD C352 (PD version) / A bit younger but e Cyrus 8VS2...
all fantastic amps; all 5 star award winners. The Alpha 10 especially is a stonking amp and still puts a lot of newer and current amps to shame IMO. Effortless sound with bags of power and can withstand multiple speaker upgrades...
all fantastic amps; all 5 star award winners. The Alpha 10 especially is a stonking amp and still puts a lot of newer and current amps to shame IMO. Effortless sound with bags of power and can withstand multiple speaker upgrades...
Things like the nad 370 and the arcam alpha 9 - are they going to be much better than my cambridge audio azur 640?
matthewpiano
Well-known member
- Nov 23, 2007
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I would agree wholeheartedly with the recommendations for some of the bigger Denon amps, particularly the PMA2000AE or PMA1500AE - both wonderful amplifiers. I'd also suggest keeping an eye open for a Harman Kardon HK990 (quite rare).
Those old Sansui amps are fabulous but, as RS suggests, do be careful about condition and bear in mind some servicing work wouldn't go amiss if you do pick one up.
Those old Sansui amps are fabulous but, as RS suggests, do be careful about condition and bear in mind some servicing work wouldn't go amiss if you do pick one up.
What's this like?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Denon-PMA-SA1-Flagship-from-DENON-High-End-Reference-rrp-5500-onkyo-/110996829135?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item19d7ed33cf
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Denon-PMA-SA1-Flagship-from-DENON-High-End-Reference-rrp-5500-onkyo-/110996829135?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item19d7ed33cf
Vizzage said:
Cant be bad, if the PMA-2000AE is anything to go by, then it should be pretty darn good!
Vizzage said:
Whats that got to do with an amplifier costing 500 to a grand 15 years ago?
regards
Good comment, thank you. I think I got carried away!
Anyway I ended up getting the Talk Electronics Hurricane 5 and two Tornado 4 monoblocks. Am I allowed a 2nd question? If so, which speakers should I get for it? Currently I've got some old KEF Q35 speakers, which I suspect won't do my amp justice. In fact I don't even know if the wattage or impedance would be a good or safe match, so your advice on that would also be appreciated! But I'm looking for some well matched speakers that cost around 1-2K some years ago and I guess will be up for sale for 500 quid - ish. The Talk Electronics is meant to be quite forgiving and neutral so I don't need something excessively boomy or light, or at least that's how I understand it to be.
Anyway I ended up getting the Talk Electronics Hurricane 5 and two Tornado 4 monoblocks. Am I allowed a 2nd question? If so, which speakers should I get for it? Currently I've got some old KEF Q35 speakers, which I suspect won't do my amp justice. In fact I don't even know if the wattage or impedance would be a good or safe match, so your advice on that would also be appreciated! But I'm looking for some well matched speakers that cost around 1-2K some years ago and I guess will be up for sale for 500 quid - ish. The Talk Electronics is meant to be quite forgiving and neutral so I don't need something excessively boomy or light, or at least that's how I understand it to be.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
- Apr 28, 2008
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I'd also add Arcam DIVA A85 or Roksan Kandy MKIII. Both are around 10 years old and both are superb. And they both come with a dedicated phono stage for TTs.
Musical Fidelity XA2. One of my biggest hi Fi mistakes was changing this for a Roksan kandy k2.
The MF owned the Roksan.
The MF owned the Roksan.
Although not the same I have a Talk Electronics Storm 2 amplifier. A good and underrated brand and good all rounder. Also forgiving for poorer recordings. Speaker wise I'm using a Musical Technology Kestrel which is rather nice. Some choices I had tried or other people I have read about would be Tannoy or Castle speakers. I would recommend against Dali Lektors for this amp (just don't seem to gel).
I have a Denon PMA720AE which is still very good. 80's amps seem to have more power than modern products?
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