Looking for a budget Hifi amp

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153645960482911]

Hey,

I'm new to the hifi world. I had an old Pioneer SA5500 and now my old rotel RA611 broke down. I'm tired of buying old amps that die on me after a few years, so want to go for a new amp. My budget is €400 (about £300). I have old speakers from Audio Professional. They were bought in the early 80s, were made in Belgium back then and weren't cheap. Apparently they were sold with Luxman amps back then here in Belgium. I want to change them when I have more money. It's important for me to have 2 pair of speaker outputs. I wanted to buy the Onkyo A9010, which had a great review here What's Hifi, but only has 1 pair of speakeroutputs. I like a warm sound, without losing the clear highs.

At the moment I'm looking at the following amps:

Marantz PM 5005: This is my top pick at the moment. Marantz is known fot it's warm and musical sound and I can get this one for €300. Marantz seems to still have a good reputation on build and sound quality. The PM6005 had a great review on what Hifi and has 5 watts more and a digital input, bit this doen't interest me. I'm not sure if the 5005 sounds the same as the 6005 though.

Denon PMA-720AE: This one is also well within my budget, I can get it for €229. The Denon also got a good review, but has a tight and snappy sound, but according to what hifi doesn't loosen up with more laid back music. I do'nt know if I would hear this as a newbie.

Onkyo A9030: the bigger brother from the A9010, but lacks in punch and attack in the low frequencies. The Marantz PM6005 was better at this, so I thought the PM 5005 would be a better option.

I'm going to try to test the amps, but I don't know where I could test them. Any advice would be helpfull.

Thx!

Timothy

 

[knaithrover]

Out of all the amps you've mentioned I would go for the PM6005. The 5005 is capable but the 6005 is its big brother for a reason... Another amp to mention is the NAD316BEE if you can get one within your budget that is. Brilliant amp for the money

 

[slice]

I agree with the prvious post that the marantz 6005 is likely to be better than the 5005.

If you are uk based Richer sounds are selling the last of the 351 cambridge amps for £149.....they were originally £250+ and had decent reviews.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153645960482911]

Thanks for the reply. I can get the NAD316BEE within my budget, but I see it has only a connection for one pair of speakers.

What Hifi's review isn't more enthousiastic about this, than about marantz of rotel budget series, but I take it you had better experience with this?

 

[slice]

I once had a marantz cd5003 and was very underwhelmed in partnership with my pm6002. I still use the Marantz pm6002 which I am very satisfied with, though I have preferred it with my current cd player yamaha cd s300 which is on the assertive side, which possibly balances the marantz warmth. Generally I suppose I just get the impression that Marantz start getting serious in the 6000 series, and its where they make most sales. I haven't heard the cambridge, just thought it looked very good value at the current price given the price reduction, and, from memory, decent reviews.

 

[slice]

Just for anyone watching I have had to send the above post 3 times to beat the spam filter which is very irritating.

 

[radiorog]

Also the NAD 326bee is a superb amp.

The Cambridge 351a is also good. The NAD I feel is probably better sonically.

 

[gasolin]

what speakers do you have?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153645960482911]

I have Audio Professional A 40s. These are old speakers from the early 80s, made in Belgium. I got them from my wife's parents and in the day they cost a lot of money, but they are quite old now. The are 40 watts and were supposedly sold with Luxman amps back then in Belgium. The plan is to buy other speakers when I have more money.

I see you have a PM6005, do you like it?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153645960482911]

I can get the NAD 316bee here for my budget. The marantz gets a better review. I like a warm sounding amp, and I've read that the NAD's are more clear sounding?

I find this search very difficult, especially since I don't know here where I can test all these amps under the same conditions.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Timothy

Although discontinued NAD's C370 is also worth considering.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Blackdawn]

I would suggest buying the most powerful amp you can afford, due to the fact you would like to run two pairs of speakers. The vast majority of the budget amps would be ok at low volumes but would probably struggle at mid-high volumes. If the speakers are really sensitive and easy to drive you may not have a problem though. The Pioneer A30 is very good and under rated.

 

[Al ears]

I think a lot of posters have missed your requirement for these. The Pioneer has these though.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153645960482911]

Thanks for this suggestion. I've looked at the Pioneer A30 and found it very interesting. My father used to work for Pioneer here in Belgium in the 80s. He still has a really good real high end Pioneer amp which I've always liked this amp very much and my old SA5500.

I'm not planning on using the different speakersets together, so the power maybe is less important.

 

[knaithrover]

Thanks for the reply. I can get the NAD316BEE within my budget, but I see it has only a connection for one pair of speakers.

What Hifi's review isn't more enthousiastic about this, than about marantz of rotel budget series, but I take it you had better experience with this?

Whoops sorry missed the 2 sets of speakers requirement. Forget the Nad, a Marantz PM6005 would be my suggestion.