What used amp to match Tannoy Mercury F1 customs?

[admin_exported]

I am now looking for a used stereo amp up to £100 that would go with my Tannoy Mercury F1 Customs using QED Classic cable..music is varied but centres mainly around hard dance, trance, techno, drum'n'bass, metal and other charty stuff.

Someone had mentioned the Kenwood KA-3020 SE amp.

Any others out there that will go well with the Tannoys?

 

[Dougal1331]

The Kenwood would do the job nicely. Also look out for Rotel 9xx series, from the 930AX upward. Fantastic amps with lively sound- I've owned a '930 and a 971BXmk2- and you can pick them up for bargain prices, and many of them are upgradable with the corresponding power amps, such as the RB971.

If you haven't already, try and get a decent interconnect too...

 

[Anonymous]

Dougal1331:
The Kenwood would do the job nicely. Also look out for Rotel 9xx series, from the 930AX upward. Fantastic amps with lively sound- I've owned a '930 and a 971BXmk2- and you can pick them up for bargain prices, and many of them are upgradable with the corresponding power amps, such as the RB971.

If you haven't already, try and get a decent interconnect too...

Ok cheers...what about the Audiolab 8000a?

 

[Dougal1331]

The Audiolab is a great amp, but bear in mind it did receive criticism for being a bit analytical and bright. Might be a bit toppy in the wrong system. If the price is good it'd be worth a try, but I think one of the others would give you less of a 'laboratory' sound, and be more enjoyable. I listen to a lot of dance music myself and I think the Audiolab with small speakers would probably result in earache, the extent of which would depend on the sonic character of the source equipment...

Just my opinion- I'm sure others would disagree!

Possibly a Pioneer A400 might tick some boxes- plenty of power and can be had pretty cheap nowadays, but avoid the A400X!

That said, I just sold my NAD C350 for £84 (gnash, grrr...) so if you can find one of those you'd be laughing!

 

[Anonymous]

Dougal1331:
The Audiolab is a great amp, but bear in mind it did receive criticism for being a bit analytical and bright. Might be a bit toppy in the wrong system. If the price is good it'd be worth a try, but I think one of the others would give you less of a 'laboratory' sound, and be more enjoyable. I listen to a lot of dance music myself and I think the Audiolab with small speakers would probably result in earache, the extent of which would depend on the sonic character of the source equipment...

Just my opinion- I'm sure others would disagree!

Possibly a Pioneer A400 might tick some boxes- plenty of power and can be had pretty cheap nowadays, but avoid the A400X!

That said, I just sold my NAD C350 for £84 (gnash, grrr...) so if you can find one of those you'd be laughing!

Im erring towards a Kenwood KA 2030SE but have put a bid on a Azur 540a amp...at the moment i dont have a CD player just a basic Toshiba 190e DVD player to go with Tannoy Mercury F1's and the amp...

 

[Anonymous]

What about the marantz PM6003? will they be a good team? thinking to buy a secondhand one for less than half price

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to contradict previous advice but please don't buy an Audiolab 8000A without listening to it first. The one I had in the mid 1980s was probably my worst hi-fi mistake. It produced a deep, wide stereo image but it was unexpressive and had poor timing, robbing music of emotion. Great sound, shame about the music...

It's possible that at some point the 8000A was significantly improved but the last new ones I heard, in the early 1990s, were no better.

 

[matthewpiano]

Buying anything without audition is risky but I'd say that Cambridge 540A is the pick of the amps you have mentioned. It should drive the Tannoys well and will stand a future upgrade to the speakers too.

Another amp that would be a fairly safe choice is a NAD C320BEE. Plenty of current and good quality bass which would suit your musical tastes. Probably a better match to your music than the Cambridge in some ways.

The Audiolab is certainly one to avoid if you can't audition because it divides opinion massively, and I'd say the same about the Pioneer A400. The A400 won't work very well with the Tannoys and its very very fussy about partnering equipment. Great amp in many ways, but a bit of a risk IMO (trust me, I just went down that road).

 

[tonky]

I disagree about the pioneer a400. It's a good amp which performs out of its price bracket. I have played it through tannoy mercurys, JBL 20t and epos es14 speakers and it sounds just great. It does most things just right. It can sound strained when pushed but then so do most 50 watt or less amps.

Now an effortlessly powerful sounding amp is the cambridge 840A v2 - just lovely - but obviously pricey.

tony k

 

[Dougal1331]

Good call on the Cambridge 540!

 

[Anonymous]

Will CA 540 better than Rotel or anyother?

 

[Anonymous]

The 540 would be a good amp to drive the tannoys. I had the 640, and you might be able to find one either from richer sounds clearance section on their website, or from e bay.

The rotel is very good with them also, but does not have a remote, so if you don'twant to get up, then it is not for you ;-)