powerful 300-400 quid amplifer for Mordaunt short mezzo 6

[admin_exported]

I guys you have all been so helpful to me in the past when buying the speakers i knew you would have some better ones in terms of amps.

I have a Cambridge audio Azur 640a amp linked up to the mezzo 6's at the moment and it is not really cutting the mustard, i have read that the mezzo 6's need some power to get them going and i want as much power and volume in reserve as possible for house partys etc... the cambridge audio says it is 75watts per channel, it is ok but before i feel the speakers can take more, and the amp distorts and cuts out before anything really exciting happens.

as the speakers are rms 150 watts how powerful an amp can i get away with, and what is a cheep and decent one that i could get for the money, or find on deal if slightly over?

also many amplifers disguise and over estimate their output powers and this often has little reflection on volume, with distortion levels and resistances being involved.

would anyone be able to offer some ideas please?

many thanks, Clover

 

[smuggs]

i have the same problem in that i went through a stage of wanting classy amp but the same £400 mark i found there is not alot around brand new. im atouch bias cause i own one but have you thought down the second hand route cause you may be able to pick an arcam alpha8 and an arcam alpha8 power amp for around £300-£400 and that would have the guts just not sure if MS go with arcam someone may help. then in the future arcam do a very good service on there old amps for around £150 they go to town and its said to be good for another 10years after i am in the middle of sorting out weather to bother getting mine done as it looks brand new.

i would say dont go down the more power the better cause imo its not always true.

i demoed a pair of mezzo2's with 2 amps one being a nad which i think was 65w per channel and a higher rms what ect against a cambridge audio 640a in richer sounds and which i think that is 50w anyway the one with less watts per channel was moving the cones more and had a faster bass. i had only just got into hifi 2 years ago and was in left confussed . the salesman was not full of answers as to why. i was after gutted that a hifi shop knew nothing then the next day when i rang B&W and monitor audio which were the 2 speakers i liked i asked why richer sounds did stock them they said the staff are not trained. But i must stress that after i have bought a dac-magic, 3 cables a cheap £100 eltax sub and a stand and they are very friendly. Sorry i was going to say you need to cart your speakers around and demo amps to really get a good idea what sound and price you are looking at.

all the best

 

[lcd4ever]

I have the Mezzo 6's partnered with a Roksan Kandy K2, this amp is more than a match for the unruly 6's keeping the top end tight and LOADS of bass, the Kandy is 100W per channel, it is however way more expensive than you want to pay even at its current reduced price of £750, if you know where to go it can be had for £675.....or even cheaper on e-bay if you can get an ex-demo model.

 

[plastic penguin]

clover.hdc:

I guys you have all been so helpful to me in the past when buying the speakers i knew you would have some better ones in terms of amps.

I have a Cambridge audio Azur 640a amp linked up to the mezzo 6's at the moment and it is not really cutting the mustard, i have read that the mezzo 6's need some power to get them going and i want as much power and volume in reserve as possible for house partys etc... the cambridge audio says it is 75watts per channel, it is ok but before i feel the speakers can take more, and the amp distorts and cuts out before anything really exciting happens.

as the speakers are rms 150 watts how powerful an amp can i get away with, and what is a cheep and decent one that i could get for the money, or find on deal if slightly over?

also many amplifers disguise and over estimate their output powers and this often has little reflection on volume, with distortion levels and resistances being involved.

would anyone be able to offer some ideas please?

many thanks, Clover

If you want power for your MS Mezzo 6 then look no further than this link.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musical-Fidelity-A300-Dual-Mono-Integrated-Amplifier-/200576424445?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item2eb34959fd

It's the only MF amp I've ever heard and it's a beast. I think it's 200 watts per channel. I wasn't over impressed on my system but it could be just the ticket for you.

 

[Anonymous]

For once I'm not going to go with NAD; I heard the NAD C355BEE with the Mezzo 6's and just didnt like the sound at all but that was just me

The NAD amps are more than powerful enough to drive the Mezzo's so a demo may be worth a look

The Roksan Kandy LIII integrated or Arcam Alpha 10 integrated would be a good option as well. The MF A3 amp that Penguin suggested would drive them superbly too...

Powerful amps are easy enough to come by; just look at eBay for NAD C370's etc...

 

[Anonymous]

thank you for your help..

would this 200 watt amp not be likely to blow or cause some damage to my speakers if some idiot turned it right up, at a party etc. is there any protection system?

thank you

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your ideas, smuggs... i like the idea of the arcam alpha 8 power amp but, would i be able to pair this to another pre-amplifier?

thank you

 

[Anonymous]

clover.hdc:
Thank you for your ideas, smuggs... i like the idea of the arcam alpha 8 power amp but, would i be able to pair this to another pre-amplifier?

thank you

Yup...

I think Smuggs was suggesting buying an Arcam Alpha integrated and pairing it with its matching Alpha 8P power amp

This would be good but the Arcam Alpha 9 or 10 integrated amps would work very well on their own; even better if you can find their matching power amp as well

Definitly see if you can demo the NAD C356BEE integrated; it's a superb amp and will drive the Mezzo's with ease

When I heard the Mezzo's they were new so more than likely needed a good running in period to sound better; they were a bit flabby and sharp for me (but they were new so that'll more than likely have been the issue)

 

[plastic penguin]

clover.hdc:

thank you for your help..

would this 200 watt amp not be likely to blow or cause some damage to my speakers if some idiot turned it right up, at a party etc. is there any protection system?

thank you

All speakers are blowable regardless of amp/speaker power. I'm afraid there isn't much you can do about it.

 

[Anonymous]

how would this work you all reccon??

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROTEL-RB-870BX-Power-Amp-ROTEL-RC-970BX-Pre-Amp-/320657515193?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item4aa8ad62b9#ht_500wt_1156

problem is that it says should be matched to speakers 4-16 ohms which i find all old amps seem to say. this can mean a bad match with new speakers often..