New integrated amp recommendation

[paulharc04]

Hi , new to the forum, I am a casual music lover into most genres of music especially 70,s stuff ,mainly rock but generally anything. I have a project carbon turntable, monitor audio bronze speakers and was running with a temple audio harmony amp with a temple audio bantam gold phono amp. The harmony looks to have died as can't get anything through it, tried running tuner into it but getting nothing. Definitely no issue with rest of the kit so looking to replace it with something up and around £500 mark. Like I said I'm no expert and generally play music a couple of times a week and its vinyl 99 percent of the time so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[shadders]

Hi,
Temple Audio are a UK company based in Cheshire. Have you attempted to get the unit repaired ?

If it is their class D offering, i believe that they are based on the Texas IC solutions. Should be an easy fix.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[paulharc04]

Hi,
Temple Audio are a UK company based in Cheshire. Have you attempted to get the unit repaired ?

If it is their class D offering, i believe that they are based on the Texas IC solutions. Should be an easy fix.

Regards,
Shadders.

Thanks for your reply..not tried a repair was thinking maybe an upgrade as would like a headphone socket as well. Repair still in the back of my thoughts tho. Cheers

 

[Al ears]

Corrections needed, isn't it the Bantam Gold that is the stereo amp, the Harmony is the phono amp, or am I reading their website incorrectly?
if it is you simply need a replacement phono preamp

 

[Ceand]

Depends on your needs. If analogue only, then have a listen to the Rega Brio. If you need digital inputs as well then look at Marantz or if the budget will stretch a little, how about the Arcam SA10? Either way, try to get a demo if you can...

 

[paulharc04]

Thanks for the replies..it's definitely the integrated amp as the phono amp just has the one connector at the back and volume control only and it's definitely the bantam. Was looking at the marantz and Riga io and richer sounds were pointing me towards the Leak or the audio lab but my mind set is that I don't want to go over the top for an amp that I won't get the best out of due to the rest of my system not being as good hence the request for advice.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks for the replies..it's definitely the integrated amp as the phono amp just has the one connector at the back and volume control only and it's definitely the bantam. Was looking at the marantz and Riga io and richer sounds were pointing me towards the Leak or the audio lab but my mind set is that I don't want to go over the top for an amp that I won't get the best out of due to the rest of my system not being as good hence the request for advice.

as above then, it depends on what your sources are going to be if you don't need digital the Io should be fine and you could sell on your current phono preamp
Bit please clarify how you know it is the integrated amp that is at fault?
still confused as they show the Harmony as being a phono preamp, unless it is part of a range of amplification

 

[paulharc04]

Tried a tuner through the integrated amp and got absolutely nothing as well . If you have an amp with phono inc can you still run the pre amp through it? See what you mean re temple audio site..my bantam gold has speaker connections and 1 set of lines in/out which I run to the harmony which has 4 sets of in/out that I connect my speakers and any other kit ie.cd / tuner. It also has a selector on the front which is not the same as the one on their site .Forgive me for being ignorant but I thought the harmony was the integrated amp as it integrates other pieces of kit within the system as the bantam only has availability for 1 piece of kit. Thanks

 

[Al ears]

Tried a tuner through the integrated amp and got absolutely nothing as well . If you have an amp with phono inc can you still run the pre amp through it? See what you mean re temple audio site..my bantam gold has speaker connections and 1 set of lines in/out which I run to the harmony which has 4 sets of in/out that I connect my speakers and any other kit ie.cd / tuner. It also has a selector on the front which is not the same as the one on their site .Forgive me for being ignorant but I thought the harmony was the integrated amp as it integrates other pieces of kit within the system as the bantam only has availability for 1 piece of kit. Thanks

sounds very odd. the integrated amp normally has the speaker connections and multiple inputs, however in their case the Bantam Gold only takes one single device, the phono preamp would only have one output and one input, for the turntable itself. their current webpage shows the Harmony is a simple phono preamp with no controls on the front. Has it ever worked?
The one with the volume control is actually the stereo integrated amplifier in this case.
did you tI connect the timer to the one with the volume control?
Can you post a photograph of the connections on the rear of that Harmony?

 

[paulharc04]

Hi yes it worked for 5 years with no issues and really decent sound but went to use it over xmas and absolutely nothing, can get low sound through the bantam without the harmony connected , tried changing fuse but no difference. Have attached a couple of photos...back of harmony first.

 

[Al ears]

Ok, thanks. I can see what is going on now..... I think
The Harmony is a phono preamp for a turntable and I assume the front mounted knob is a switch and not a volume control. On the back it looks like it has inputs and outputs for both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil cartridges. Presumably, if you get a low noise out of the Bantam without the Harmony attached then the fault is with your phono preamp ( Harmony) and it is this you need to replace.
the confusion comes about when you called urban integrated amp, it isn't.
Do you have manuals for these devices as it isn't clear which are impulsive outputs on the Harmony?
Can you try tuner or CD player or something directly into the Bantam and see what happens?

 

[paulharc04]

No manual sorry . Can get sound through bantam via tuner. So if I replace the harmony which is the pre amp do I connect CD player to this then as there are no connections on the bantam?

 

[Al ears]

No manual sorry . Can get sound through bantam via tuner. So if I replace the harmony which is the pre amp do I connect CD player to this then as there are no connections on the bantam?

You can't. You can only connect one device to the Bantam
the Harmony is a preamp for the turntable ONLY.
Personally I would sell the Bantam or keep it as for a second system and buy a replacement stereo integrated amplifier that will allow you to attach both devices , or more, at once.

 

[Roger_A]

You can't. You can only connect one device to the Bantam
the Harmony is a preamp for the turntable ONLY.
Personally I would sell the Bantam or keep it as for a second system and buy a replacement stereo integrated amplifier that will allow you to attach both devices , or more, at once.

Looking at the Temple Audio website and the photos posted by the OP, I think you'll find that the Bantam is a single input integrated amp and the Harmony has a phono (MM or MC depending on which you've bought) plus two straight through inputs so it is effectively converting the single input Bantam to a phono plus two line level input amp. It seems a strange way to do it unless it's just to keep each item to small size though I suppose it does have the advantage of providing a dedicated power supply for the phono preamp.

 

[paulharc04]

Hi thanks for all your help really appreciate it. Just a quickie..what is the point of the bantam? could you not go through the harmony only for turntable if it wasn't broken? Sorry also for the limitations of my unit now what price range would you think I should be looking at to compliment the rest of my system. Thanks

 

[Al ears]

Looking at the Temple Audio website and the photos posted by the OP, I think you'll find that the Bantam is a single input integrated amp and the Harmony has a phono (MM or MC spending on which you've bought) plus two straight through inputs so it is effectively converting the single input Bantam to a phono plus two line level input amp. It seems a strange way to do it unless it's just to keep each item to small size though I suppose it does have the advantage of providing a dedicated power supply for the phono preamp.

I missed that, yes it could have two unamplified line inputs but, from the photos, cannot tell which is which, possibly the two furthest from the earthing point?
However their website makes no mention of this at all.
Suggest OP tries attaching the CD player to each in turn starting with those far right, or better still ask Temple Audio
However, if it is completely U/S, he may not get any output from either.
I would be checking inside to see if it is something as simple as a fuse.

 

[Al ears]

Hi thanks for all your help really appreciate it. Just a quickie..what is the point of the bantam? could you not go through the harmony only for turntable if it wasn't broken? Sorry also for the limitations of my unit now what price range would you think I should be looking at to compliment the rest of my system. Thanks

You have to have the Bantam as it is the stereo amplifier, the Harmony is only a preamplifier that brings the very weak signal from the cartridge on your turntable up to line level. Any further amplification of that signal is done by the Bantam.
plus you would need it to connect your speakers to....
what sort of budget do you think you might be able to afford?

 

[paulharc04]

Hi thanks again for the replies..I tried tuner through all inputs and got nothing but worked fine through the bantam..got nothing to lose opening it up and trying internal fuse. Probably going to upgrade anyway as would like a CD player. Many thanks again for all the help.

 

[paulharc04]

You have to have the Bantam as it is the stereo amplifier, the Harmony is only a preamplifier that brings the very weak signal from the cartridge on your turntable up to line level. Any further amplification of that signal is done by the Bantam.
plus you would need it to connect your speakers to....
what sort of budget do you think you might be able to afford?

Around 500 pounds..would like a CD player at some point also but generally will be playing vinyl.

 

[Al ears]

Hi thanks again for the replies..I tried tuner through all inputs and got nothing but worked fine through the bantam..got nothing to lose opening it up and trying internal fuse. Probably going to upgrade anyway as would like a CD player. Many thanks again for all the help.

if fuse isn't the problem you might look into this...

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However you would also need a cheap phono preamp to connect the turntable.
I think for £500 you are best getting a complete new amplifier that has an inbuilt MM phono stage.
Something like the Rega Io should be sufficient depending on your speakers

 

[paulharc04]

Thanks for that..appreciated

 

[paulharc04]

if fuse isn't the problem you might look into this...

HiFi Forsale - Fast Search - find Second Hand HiFi Bargains | Used HiFi | ExDemo HiFi & AV Equipment

Live Search find the hifi your looking for fast on www.hifi-forsale.co.uk

www.hifi-forsale.co.uk

However you would also need a cheap phono preamp to connect the turntable.
I think for £500 you are best getting a complete new amplifier that has an inbuilt MM phono stage.
Something like the Rega Io should be sufficient depending on your speakers

Speakers are monitor audio bronze..looks like this is the way I am going to go re the new amp. Thanks for all your help and time .

 

[Al ears]

Thanks for that..appreciated

others to shortlist would be Marantz PM6007 or Rotel A11 which have a bit more power than the smaller io, however I would say the io would be sufficient with your speakers