Which amp to buy with Castle Knight 2s?

[admin_exported]

Hello,

At last my life appears to be settled enough to once again buy some decent hifi. Havent had any for years so I suppose i am a bit of a novice.

I have just bought some Castle Knight 2's and a Marantz cd6003 but my ancient Samsui Au-2200 doesnt really do them justice, plus one of the channels is not working properly.

Can anyone recommend a decent amp to get the best from these. My budget is up to £500.

I listen to metal/classical/folk/acoustic, loads of stuff, I want a warm balanced sound. My lounge is carpeted.

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm jealous of your speakers. I don't have any experience of them myself but using the word 'warm' as a requirement for an amp makes me think of valve amps. This one was on the this site recently. http://www.whathifi.com/news/icon-audio-revives-the-spirit-of-leak

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for your reply Anima,

I have no experience of this amp, and its right at the top end of my budget, I guess I need to go and try some out, anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[CnoEvil]

The Rega Brio R may be your best bet.......but give it a listen first.

 

[Blackdawn]

The valve amps are a nice idea but at only 15w its not going to be much power for those speakers.

In general there are not many amplifiers priced at £500. But you could try -

Yamaha as700, Onkyo's Stereo network receiver (has internet radio/FM/AM and digital inputs, Sub and phono connections etc) Marantz PM7004, Arcam A18.

I would be most interested by the Onkyo receiver (because of the flexibility and connections) or possibly the Marantz.

Have you already got some good speakers stands for the Castles? If not, you may want to use some of the budget for those.

 

[Jason36]

Would have said the obvious choice would have been the Marantz PM6003 Amplifier.....It will work very nicely with the Marantz CD Player.

Up until about 6 months ago I was using a PM6003 Amp with Castle Richmond 3 Speakers (before they went belly up and AIG bought the rights). This combination sounded really good.

 

[matthewpiano]

The PM6003 is a great amp and should work well with the Castles, although an audition would be sensible. For what it's worth, I used to have an Arcam A18, and I'm much happier with the Marantz.

 

[Anonymous]

I went to the demo place (Sevenoaks Sound and Vision) and tried the yamaha as500, the marantz pm6003 and the arcam a18.

The Marantz was nice but the treble had to be way up as the sound seemed a little bass-y. Same with the yamaha, so I have decided the arcam is the way forward. It sounded great and had a really balanced sound, even at low-ish volume. Which, let's face it, as I'm in a flat will be most of the time.

Now all I need are some floor stands for the Knight 2s. Any suggestions as to which ones and where to get them from?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Blackdawn]

Hope you enjoy the Arcam. For stands (depending on budget) you could try:

Atacama SL models Atacama Nexus 6i Atacama HMS2 Soundstyle Nexus Z2i Partington Broadside Partington Super Dreadnoughts

The top plate doesn't have to be the same size as the speaker but to get a more sturdy stand would be a good idea. Also I have found filling with atabites to really help add more weight and stability. Blu-tak is a good way of attaching the speakers to the stands without causing any damage, reduces vibrations through to the stands and makes them harder to tip off the stands. Hope this helps.