Stereo amp w/ headphones jack and BT

[Yorking]

Hi,
Looking for a good stereo amplifier w/ RCA and bluetooth imputs, and a good headphones output
They will pair with a DT 770 PRO (80ohm) and two bookshelf HK infinity Primus series (P163 )

I am a musician setting up a (small room of 4m2 or 43sq feet) for both listening and music accompaniment - initially looked at Cambridge CXA81 (bit expensive and big for me) and Fosi Audio T20 (dont really think cheap tubes would be good, guess they will be on the noisy side)

Any tips would be welcome ! for budget i am looking for 100 - 500 USD

TKS!

 

[landco]

In the world of modern transistor amplifiers there are no "good" or "bad" in terms of sound reproduction they are all the same. There are models with different functionality, how do I know what you need? You ask a strange question

 

[twinkletoes]

Hi,
Looking for a good stereo amplifier w/ RCA and bluetooth imputs, and a good headphones output
They will pair with a DT 770 PRO (80ohm) and two bookshelf HK infinity Primus series (P163 )

I am a musician setting up a (small room of 4m2 or 43sq feet) for both listening and music accompaniment - initially looked at Cambridge CXA81 (bit expensive and big for me) and Fosi Audio T20 (dont really think cheap tubes would be good, guess they will be on the noisy side)

Any tips would be welcome ! for budget i am looking for 100 - 500 USD

TKS!

Welcome. For that sort budget I think you’re going to struggle on the new market, I think the secound hand market will be your best friend but even then I think you’ll struggle especially at the bottom end of your budget.

There are plenty of amps out there with headphones sockets but they tend to be an afterthought on most integrated amps. Bluetooth is easy to sort with a good quality BT receiver and they can be very cheap had.

I think if it were me I’d find a nice cheap second hand “dumb” amp like an old rotel 930 and get a dac with a headphone output, these tend to be cheap as well not sure if topping or sml have options I think schitt audio do. Probably cost around the 250-300 range. Maybe!

Good luck

 

[Timbot]

Hi,
Looking for a good stereo amplifier w/ RCA and bluetooth imputs, and a good headphones output
They will pair with a DT 770 PRO (80ohm) and two bookshelf HK infinity Primus series (P163 )

I am a musician setting up a (small room of 4m2 or 43sq feet) for both listening and music accompaniment - initially looked at Cambridge CXA81 (bit expensive and big for me) and Fosi Audio T20 (dont really think cheap tubes would be good, guess they will be on the noisy side)

Any tips would be welcome ! for budget i am looking for 100 - 500 USD

TKS!

You could consider a NAD D3020 v2. Those speakers look efficient so should be easy to drive in the small room you describe. It has a separate headphone amp built in along with the connections you stipulate (plus more connections should you wish to use them.

I'm afraid I'm not really up on the headphone amp and whether it would be suitable for your headphones but I'd be surprised if there was an issue. I think it would come within your budget but apologies if not!

 

[Fandango Andy]

Hi,
Looking for a good stereo amplifier w/ RCA and bluetooth imputs, and a good headphones output
They will pair with a DT 770 PRO (80ohm) and two bookshelf HK infinity Primus series (P163 )

I am a musician setting up a (small room of 4m2 or 43sq feet) for both listening and music accompaniment - initially looked at Cambridge CXA81 (bit expensive and big for me) and Fosi Audio T20 (dont really think cheap tubes would be good, guess they will be on the noisy side)

Any tips would be welcome ! for budget i am looking for 100 - 500 USD

TKS

Firstly 43sqft by American standards isn't that a closest rather than a small room 🤣, sorry!

Don't know what's available there or how prices compare. But assuming it's similar to the UK, rather than compromise on a not so good amp with all the kit, get a decent amp and add Bluetooth separately. WiiM mini is predominantly a streamer but also has Bluetooth for £89. Or you could just get a Bluetooth receiver for half that.

As for amps, Merantz, Sony, and NAD all do good entry levels amps with headphone output for about £300.

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

Assuming you are in the US (North America at a minimum) would it be worthwhile looking at the Schiit Audio products as you could probably put a half decent unit together in that price range (albeit with a generic BT adaptor or a WiiM mini or the like.

Or, as has been suggested, go the second hand route.

 

[Yorking]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

I am actually from Brazil, but frequently traveling to europe (will be there by april for work in france and italy) - so second hand might be hard to find since i usually have little time and get amazon delivery direct to the hotel

The room is indeed small (2m x 2m) - its just a small home studio with some accoustic isolation for me to play (saxophone) and listen (speakers and headphone)/record - thats why i was thinking about an all in one small box system, since i dont need that much power (40w-50w should be enough) and dont have much space.

As for the bluetooth receiver + amp idea, then the DAC would be inside the BT receiver correct? woudnt it be the main concern? (i mean, bad DAC might make the whole system sound bad) - would it be good to pair the WiiM mini with a Marantz PM6007?

At the same price point as this WiiM mini + Marantz PM6007 combo there would be:
Cambridge AXR85
NAD D3020 v2 that @Timbot wrote about

a bit cheaper there is the Yamaha R-S202BL

Or going china for LOXJIE A40 (read on some reviews that it is decent, anyone here ever tried?)

 

[Gray]

In the world of modern transistor amplifiers there are no "good" or "bad" in terms of sound reproduction they are all the same.

I have to wonder how many amps you've listened to in reaching your decision that they all sound the same.

My own comparison of 3 class A/B transistor amps (same price, same spec, into the same speakers from the same source) gave unmistakable sound differences.
The sort of differences anybody would notice.

 

[Fandango Andy]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

I am actually from Brazil, but frequently traveling to europe (will be there by april for work in france and italy) - so second hand might be hard to find since i usually have little time and get amazon delivery direct to the hotel

The room is indeed small (2m x 2m) - its just a small home studio with some accoustic isolation for me to play (saxophone) and listen (speakers and headphone)/record - thats why i was thinking about an all in one small box system, since i dont need that much power (40w-50w should be enough) and dont have much space.

As for the bluetooth receiver + amp idea, then the DAC would be inside the BT receiver correct? woudnt it be the main concern? (i mean, bad DAC might make the whole system sound bad) - would it be good to pair the WiiM mini with a Marantz PM6007?

At the same price point as this WiiM mini + Marantz PM6007 combo there would be:
Cambridge AXR85
NAD D3020 v2 that @Timbot wrote about

a bit cheaper there is the Yamaha R-S202BL

Or going china for LOXJIE A40 (read on some reviews that it is decent, anyone here ever tried?)

DAC in WiiM mini is OK but not great. If you are just using it for Bluetooth it should be fine. However if you are streaming an upgrade to an external DAC such as SMMS SU-1 would be a good idea.