Upgrading my Amplifier… but which amp should I chose?

[admin_exported]

I have been updating my budget Hi Fi gear over the last couple of years and am now looking to update the amplifier. I have a Pioneer A400 that I have had for almost 20 years. Fully refurbished a few years back, it still sounds fabulous, but I feel it is getting time to try something a bit better. I have been looking a Rega Mira or Elicit, or Musical Fidelity M3i Integrated Amplifier, but have not been able to get an audition as I am a fair way from any decent Hi Fi shop. Anybody got any suggestions for what might sound good with this setup?
My source gear is a Rega Saturn CD player, a Thorens TD321 M2 Turntable and Cambridge DacMagic, with a set of Rega R7 speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

Rega Mira won't be a real step up. You should get a better partner for your excellent Rega Saturn. Rega Elicit and MF M3i are good choices. However, if you can afford, I suggest a purchase of integrated amps like Creek Destiny, Electrocompaniet EcI 3 Naim XS or Primare I31.

 

[plastic penguin]

Definitely try Leema Pulse or Roksan Caspian.

 

[the record spot]

What's your budget Kimster (and welcome to the forum by the way)?

 

[matthewpiano]

I'd definitely recommend trying a Creek. Really musical and involving amps. I've had so many amplifiers (including 2 Pioneer A400s, 3 Arcams, and a Naim) but my Creek 4330R is by far the best amp I've ever had.

Also try to audition the Sugden Mystro. I've heard it a few times and it is a superb piece of kit. If you can stretch to an A21 even better!!

 

[CnoEvil]

I'd definitely recommend trying a Creek. Really musical and involving amps. I've had so many amplifiers (including 2 Pioneer A400s, 3 Arcams, and a Naim) but my Creek 4330R is by far the best amp I've ever had.

Also try to audition the Sugden Mystro. I've heard it a few times and it is a superb piece of kit. If you can stretch to an A21 even better!!

+1 for the Sugden.

I haven't heard a Creek since the CAS4040 was launched in 1983, but given their pedegree, they are definately worth an audition....good advice by MP.

Cno

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't mentioned about Sugden A21 (Class A amp with 20wpc) because I don't know about your preferences. Would you be better off trading off power and dynamics by a subtler refined sound?

Sugden A21 outperform the listed models in relation to refinement, specially on mids and highs. However, it's undeniable that traditional class A-B amps have better dynamics and sound more powerful on botton end.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the welcome and all the good suggestions. Most of which are a little bit out of my range unfortunately, as my budget is only about 1000 pounds. The A400 must still be pretty good if I need to spend up that high to better it? Is there any thing worth considering in my budget range, or should stick with the A400 a bit longer? Whats your thoughts on the Roksan Kandy K2 ?

 

[Shanka]

Hi,

Have just seen Leema Pulse new in silver on ebay for £700, I have listened to this next to the Kandy and would consider this a much nicer option in looks and performance.

I auditioned listening to rock, reggae and classical and thought was a very classy performer and was on my final shortlist.

I would also suggest Naim 5i if you can live with the naim quirks, nice sounding amp and would be at least as good as the Kandy.

Good Luck

 

[plastic penguin]

Thank you for the welcome and all the good suggestions. Most of which are a little bit out of my range unfortunately, as my budget is only about 1000 pounds. The A400 must still be pretty good if I need to spend up that high to better it? Is there any thing worth considering in my budget range, or should stick with the A400 a bit longer? Whats your thoughts on the Roksan Kandy K2 ?

Yup, the earlier Pulses (mine) are available for £749 from Sevenoaks. It looks and sounds wonderful. Like Matthew I like Creek an awful lot as well as the Kandy, but alongside the Leema both do fall short in sonic and feature (Creek) terms.

 

[Anonymous]

I have not been able to find a Leema Pulse anywhere (online or not), only the pulse 11 for a lot more. However I may have found a second hand MF A-300 dual mono amp for sale at a more reasonable price. My question would now be, how would this amp match with the Rega R7's?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Kimster01,

I use the rega Saturn and had a Naim 5i-v2 with R5's which sounded excellent. I have just changed to the Primare i30 (for £899 ex dem) from SSAV and and Proac 140's from a local dealer and would suggest you try their web site and look under clearance and select amplifiers in catagory as there is a good selection including a Pulse II.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

It´s almost impossible to buy an amp based on other peoples choices. The only way is to make a budget and go out and demo, if possible a home demo. The differance in sound in the store vs your home can be very big.

Good luck.

oh.. by the way try the Unison Research unico valve hybrid, smooth as silk

 

[Anonymous]

:wave: Hi guys! New to this forum. Interesting and informative reading. Getting back to audiophile realm, very gradually. Used to have great equipment in the past, not anymore , so I´m starting from the bottom this time. I currently use a Hi-Fi Mini-Component system from JVC: EX-A10. Great sound for the size (my listening room is adecquately small). Yet, is time to replace the amplifier for something a little better. The EX-A10 speakers are small 3.5 in wood film woofers, and quite inefficient at about 82Db. They sound great, though. I also added an active Velodyne sub-woofer to complement the lack of real bass. The source portion is fine (DVD/CD Player) and I think the bottleneck today is the amplifier (Bi-Amp with bi-wiring at 30 W/c woofers and 20 W/c tweeters). I prefer tubes, but cannot afford anything over, say, US $700.00. My short list at the moment is this: Jolida 202A (factory modified), Yamaha A-S500, Onkyo A-9555, Marantz PM-6004, NAD C316BEE. Given your evident expertise, can I ask for your opinion as to which would be a better replacement for my amp? (By the way, I would prefer an amp enabling optical (toslink) input from my digital source (like the current setting). Sorry I made it this long, I thought info would help you provide a more adecquate reply. Thanks a million for your kind support. Cheers! P.S.: Cannot demo listen whereb I live, need to buy based on analysis.

 

[tino]

I've seen Leema Pulse II brand new for £675, and ex-demo Pulse III for <£700.

eBay is not necessarily the cheapest place to look!

 

[spockfish]

Just try the new Rega Brio R. It's a stunning amp and in it's price segment I think it's hard to get better.

Of course I'm biased ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks to Tino & Pockfish for the valued suggestions. Did some research on both the Brio R and Leema Imp. III/II. Hard to tell without listening, indeed. I presume the other alternatives in my list are not up to these two, right? Another potential alternative I learned about today is the Creek Evo. One consideration is how good would these be with the described (relatively insensitive) speakers from the EX-A10, as described in my original post. Also, I don´t really care for the phono capabilities, nor necessarilly the remote, both accessories pushing the price up. I go for musicality and soundstage depth and width, along with a transparency not competing with the intrinsic gifts of the music, especially in jazz and classical genres. Have you ever tried tubed amps? These days is less of an ordeal to find "affordable" alternatives from old China (Calin, Jolida, miniwatt, other). Hi-Fi is a game of the weakest link, as Steve Deckert puts it (Deckware), and I´m already sensing the need to chase sinergies by design with the CD player (i.e., the Marantz 6004 series, other). I will continue on my quest for a little while longer

and would greatly appreciate further suggestions. Cheers!