Budget new amps vs more expensive old amps.

[bellio]

My Arcam Alpha 9 amp needs replaced due to a problem with the source selection switch. I may consider getting this fixed, but not sure how easy/costly that might be.

At one time this amp was £1000+ i believe, but that is going back many years.

My question is, would a fairly budget new amp (onkyo a-9010 or marantz pm6005 for example) sound far inferior to an older and previously more expensive amp like the Arcam ALpha 9? Or has there been advances in tech/pricing of componenets that would allow a cheaper moden amp to compete with more expensive older amps?

I will be pairng the amp with a pair of Monitor BX5's. Any suggestions for new or old amps under £300 that would work with these welcome.

 

[Ketan Bharadia]

I think the newer budget amps will probably sound a little clearer and more agile, but the Arcam is likely to have much more when it comes to scale and authority.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

My Arcam Alpha 9 amp needs replaced due to a problem with the source selection switch. I may consider getting this fixed, but not sure how easy/costly that might be.

At one time this amp was £1000+ i believe, but that is going back many years.

My question is, would a fairly budget new amp (onkyo a-9010 or marantz pm6005 for example) sound far inferior to an older and previously more expensive amp like the Arcam ALpha 9? Or has there been advances in tech/pricing of componenets that would allow a cheaper moden amp to compete with more expensive older amps?

I will be pairng the amp with a pair of Monitor BX5's. Any suggestions for new or old amps under £300 that would work with these welcome.

if you like the arcam then its worth getting fixed and would of thought the arcam would be better then the marantz but the arcam is still a very good amp for its age but the marantz is still a good budget amp for the money but see what it will cost to get the arcam fixed first if its to much try the marantz or a nad amp

 

[eggontoast]

My Arcam Alpha 9 amp needs replaced due to a problem with the source selection switch. I may consider getting this fixed, but not sure how easy/costly that might be.

At one time this amp was £1000+ i believe, but that is going back many years.

My question is, would a fairly budget new amp (onkyo a-9010 or marantz pm6005 for example) sound far inferior to an older and previously more expensive amp like the Arcam ALpha 9? Or has there been advances in tech/pricing of componenets that would allow a cheaper moden amp to compete with more expensive older amps?

I will be pairng the amp with a pair of Monitor BX5's. Any suggestions for new or old amps under £300 that would work with these welcome.

Spend £40-£50 on getting the Arcam sorted.

 

[the_master66]

Hi Bellio,

Personally I would stick with old amps for £300 you would get a choice of some tasty older gear such as

Cyrus 8vs, Arcam A85, Audiolab 8200a or 8000s, NAD C370, might even sneak a Naim Nait 5i...... etc etc.

Trouble is some of these are getting a little old (but most are built like tanks) I doubt amplifier technology has moved on as much as say DACs so would offer a better sound for your money.

I think the Arcam 9 was originally around £500.

I guess you need to listen to some of the more modern stuff and see what they sound like ....

Cheers

 

[TrevC]

I think the newer budget amps will probably sound a little clearer and more agile, but the Arcam is likely to have much more when it comes to scale and authority.

Or vice versa? :O)

 

[TrevC]

There are some stunning deals available on Yamaha high powered amps. I would buy new.

 

[philpot1001]

I dont think the budget marantz PM6005 would compete with the £1000 worth Arcam! Also the Alpha sound was lovely back in the day.

Tough call, but I would get the Arcam quoted for repair. At the end of the day if youre going to replace a £1000 amp with a £300 one, you wont get the same results in my opinon.

 

[TrevC]

I dont think the budget marantz PM6005 would compete with the £1000 worth Arcam! Also the Alpha sound was lovely back in the day.

Tough call, but I would get the Arcam quoted for repair. At the end of the day if youre going to replace a £1000 amp with a £300 one, you wont get the same results in my opinon.

I disagree. Electronics in general is so much cheaper these days. Look at colour TVs, modern sets comfortably outperform the old models at a fraction of the cost.

I would go for this. http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/yamaha/as201/yama-as201-blk

100w per channel, a MM input and a remote, you can't go wrong.

 

[Gray]

Someone posted these offers a while ago.

I've already re-posted them to someone else considering new amp.

Anyone remotely considering a new amp should at least rule out this half price pair first.

http://www.audio-express.co.uk/BRANDLIST.php?brand=CYR

(I've got no connection to Audio Express and have never used them - but I do own a Cyrus 8 amplifier)

 

[TrevC]

Someone posted these offers a while ago.

I've already re-posted them to someone else considering new amp.

Anyone remotely considering a new amp should at least rule out this half price pair first.

http://www.audio-express.co.uk/BRANDLIST.php?brand=CYR

(I've got no connection to Audio Express and have never used them - but I do own a Cyrus 8 amplifier)

I would rule them out because they aren't budget.

 

[philpot1001]

I dont think the budget marantz PM6005 would compete with the £1000 worth Arcam! Also the Alpha sound was lovely back in the day.

Tough call, but I would get the Arcam quoted for repair. At the end of the day if youre going to replace a £1000 amp with a £300 one, you wont get the same results in my opinon.

I disagree. Electronics in general is so much cheaper these days. Look at colour TVs, modern sets comfortably outperform the old models at a fraction of the cost.

I would go for this. http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/yamaha/as201/yama-as201-blk

100w per channel, a MM input and a remote, you can't go wrong.

my 20 year old Denon still gives amps a run for their money nowadays, i ended upgrading recently but the differences were not night and day.....its frankly an illusion in my opinon that people think latest HiFi technology trumps old 90's stuff. It just simply doesnt. In the same vain Im still checking out new speakers to upgrade my missions and walking from the stuff thats about at the minute.

If i had an Alhpa 9 and someone replaced it with a PM6005 i would be gutted.

 

[keeper of the quays]

My Arcam Alpha 9 amp needs replaced due to a problem with the source selection switch. I may consider getting this fixed, but not sure how easy/costly that might be.

At one time this amp was £1000+ i believe, but that is going back many years.

My question is, would a fairly budget new amp (onkyo a-9010 or marantz pm6005 for example) sound far inferior to an older and previously more expensive amp like the Arcam ALpha 9? Or has there been advances in tech/pricing of componenets that would allow a cheaper moden amp to compete with more expensive older amps?

I will be pairng the amp with a pair of Monitor BX5's. Any suggestions for new or old amps under £300 that would work with these welcome.

?

 

get it fixed...if your satisfied with the sound you have? Or get another pre loved one..i had selector probs with my mf b1...wasnt too expensive to get repaired...bout £70

 

[Gray]

Someone posted these offers a while ago.

I've already re-posted them to someone else considering new amp.

Anyone remotely considering a new amp should at least rule out this half price pair first.

http://www.audio-express.co.uk/BRANDLIST.php?brand=CYR

(I've got no connection to Audio Express and have never used them - but I do own a Cyrus 8 amplifier)

I would rule them out because they aren't budget.

You may not have noticed that I (deliberately) did not describe either of those two Cyrus amps on sale at Audio Express as budget amps, even at half price.

However, the original poster mentioned the Marantz PM6005 in that context and we can agree that at £299 the Marantz is considered by many to be THE budget amp.

Far be it from me to tell anyone what I think is a budget amp - I never would - it depends on each person.

But I can say that whatever you or I think, as it happens, many others would actually describe £399 (the price of that Cyrus 6a) as 'budget' (Though to be clear I didn't describe it as such - merely that prospective amp buyers should rule it out . . . .and note that you did, good for you.)

 

[TrevC]

I dont think the budget marantz PM6005 would compete with the £1000 worth Arcam! Also the Alpha sound was lovely back in the day.

Tough call, but I would get the Arcam quoted for repair. At the end of the day if youre going to replace a £1000 amp with a £300 one, you wont get the same results in my opinon.

I disagree. Electronics in general is so much cheaper these days. Look at colour TVs, modern sets comfortably outperform the old models at a fraction of the cost.

I would go for this. http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/yamaha/as201/yama-as201-blk

100w per channel, a MM input and a remote, you can't go wrong.

my 20 year old Denon still gives amps a run for their money nowadays, i ended upgrading recently but the differences were not night and day.....its frankly an illusion in my opinon that people think latest HiFi technology trumps old 90's stuff. It just simply doesnt. In the same vain Im still checking out new speakers to upgrade my missions and walking from the stuff thats about at the minute.

If i had an Alhpa 9 and someone replaced it with a PM6005 i would be gutted.

Modern stuff easily trumps old stuff in terms of power output for the price, although sound quality will be about the same when used within the amplifiers' power capability. A 100 watt per channel remote controlled Yamaha at £150 is astonishingly good value. As for noticing the difference sound wise I doubt it.

 

[bellio]

"Spend £40-£50 on getting the Arcam sorted."

From what I have read it's not as cheap or straight forward as that.

But yeh, I think i will try and get it fixed before I buy anything new.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Someone posted these offers a while ago.

I've already re-posted them to someone else considering new amp.

Anyone remotely considering a new amp should at least rule out this half price pair first.

http://www.audio-express.co.uk/BRANDLIST.php?brand=CYR

(I've got no connection to Audio Express and have never used them - but I do own a Cyrus 8 amplifier)

I would rule them out because they aren't budget.

You may not have noticed that I (deliberately) did not describe either of those two Cyrus amps on sale at Audio Express as budget amps, even at half price.

However, the original poster mentioned the Marantz PM6005 in that context and we can agree that at £299 the Marantz is considered by many to be THE budget amp.

Far be it from me to tell anyone what I think is a budget amp - I never would - it depends on each person.

But I can say that whatever you or I think, as it happens, many others would actually describe £399 (the price of that Cyrus 6a) as 'budget' (Though to be clear I didn't describe it as such - merely that prospective amp buyers should rule it out . . . .and note that you did, good for you.)

i hate the word budget amp myself as it looks like your got a rubbish amp but £299 can be a lot of money to someone who has not got much money to spend on hifi i started on the marantz pm6005 amp and its very good amp for the money but when i got mine they were £350 for the amp and £350 for the cd player that's £700 before your got your speakers the money soon mounts up so £700 and some dali 3s say £350 , cables £50 = £1100 that's a lot of money so yes budget is not really budget when your spent that kind of money

 

[Vladimir]

I dont think the budget marantz PM6005 would compete with the £1000 worth Arcam! Also the Alpha sound was lovely back in the day.

Tough call, but I would get the Arcam quoted for repair. At the end of the day if youre going to replace a £1000 amp with a £300 one, you wont get the same results in my opinon.

I disagree. Electronics in general is so much cheaper these days. Look at colour TVs, modern sets comfortably outperform the old models at a fraction of the cost.

I would go for this. http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/yamaha/as201/yama-as201-blk

100w per channel, a MM input and a remote, you can't go wrong.

Yamaha A-S201

Maximum Power (4 ohms, 1kHz, 0.7% THD, for Europe) 140 W + 140 W

Maximum Power (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 10% THD) 100 W + 100 W

 

[eggontoast]

"Spend £40-£50 on getting the Arcam sorted."

From what I have read it's not as cheap or straight forward as that.

But yeh, I think i will try and get it fixed before I buy anything new.

If it just needs the input selector refurbishing it should cost no more than £40-£50, if they are charging more, they are ripping you off. It's about an hours job.

 

[knaithrover]

The Arcam A85 is a brilliant buy at around £300 second hand, they were almost 3 times that new...always a few on fleabay

 

[lindsayt]

Modern stuff easily trumps old stuff in terms of power output for the price, although sound quality will be about the same when used within the amplifiers' power capability. A 100 watt per channel remote controlled Yamaha at £150 is astonishingly good value. As for noticing the difference sound wise I doubt it.

TrevC, can you please enlighten us by telling us what old amps you've compared to what modern amps and what sonic differences there were between them?

 

[pyrrhon]

My Arcam Alpha 9 amp needs replaced due to a problem with the source selection switch. I may consider getting this fixed, but not sure how easy/costly that might be.

At one time this amp was £1000+ i believe, but that is going back many years.

My question is, would a fairly budget new amp (onkyo a-9010 or marantz pm6005 for example) sound far inferior to an older and previously more expensive amp like the Arcam ALpha 9? Or has there been advances in tech/pricing of componenets that would allow a cheaper moden amp to compete with more expensive older amps?

I will be pairng the amp with a pair of Monitor BX5's. Any suggestions for new or old amps under £300 that would work with these welcome.

I really like the rega elicit 1. I even prefer it to my main system wich I paid 10x more. Plus its smooth enough to match monitor audio with its slightly forward tweeter.

 

[matthewpiano]

Yamaha's budget amps do offer a lot for the money, but they are still flawed. In particular the volume control is poorly executed, with a very definite point where the level jumps dramatically from one volume to another. This makes it very difficult to set the right low to medium volume level. This is a characteristic on the A-S501 I own which has carried over from the A-S500 I once had, and I've come across it on other models too.

Sound wise, there is no doubt for me that the Pioneer A400 I have is significantly better than the A-S501, with more clarity and focus across the frequency range, better organisation of the sound, and more convincing dynamic performance. This is a budget amp from over 20 years ago and yet it still comfortably out-performs most affordable amps on offer today. Overall, I also rate it more highly than my Rega Brio-R.

Obviously age does bring different risks, and my A400's volume/balance pot has required significant cleaning to eradicate a problem with one channel intermittently cutting out. Having done that, it is currently sitting in my system in place of the Rega, and as long as it continues to behave, it will stay there.

 

[itsme]

Hi Matthew, did you try the variable loudness knob, witch let the user use more of the volume scale?

 

[itsme]

Hi Matthew, did you try the variable loudness knob, witch let the user use more of the volume scale?