Cambridge Audio Azur 351A or second hand

[Skeapchate]

Hi

I'm on a limited budget and further to my previous post I've narrowed down my search for an amplifier to the Cambridge Azur 351A (£170) or Yamaha RN-301 (£219 - as suggested by CarlDW).

I have 4 x JBL Control 1 speakers and the plan is to stream via a Chromecast Audio.

Having trawled through this forum for the past few days it seems a used amp might be another option.

Any suggestions or would I be better off with either of the above.

Thanks

 

[radiorog]

Have you heard any of the amps yet? You really need to try and listen to them first. All I know is the 351a is a superb amp for the money. Comes reasonably close to amps at £650 and less IMO.

 

[Skeapchate]

Hopefully I can get to hear them tomorrow.

The 351A is a special offer at that price and there's only 1 in stock at my local Richer Sounds. I go away for 10 days the day after tomorrow so I might have to make a snap decision in the shop.

 

[matthewpiano]

You won't go far wrong with either of those.

 

[Skeapchate]

There's also the Monitor Audio Airstream A100 down to £199.

But as with the Yamaha I can't find any info if it will play nicely with Google Music via Android - not sure if Google want everyone to buy a Chromecast rather than use DLNA.

 

[Skeapchate]

Listened to the Cambridge Audio with some outrageously expensive speakers and it sounded amazing. Then I listened with some Control 1s. Clearly not as good but perfectly acceptable for what I need it for. And looks like I have something that will be fine for when the speakers eventually get upgraded.

 

[Blackdawn]

Hi in your position i would sell the four jbl speakers and get a pair or decent budget speakers. Looking at the specs the jbl do not have a particularly wide frequency response. Wharfedale diamond 220, Q acoustics 3020 would be worth looking at along with some speaker stands. If you dont have the money for new speakers you could get some decent standmounts secondhand