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budget hifi amp recommendations


steviedee
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Anyone recommend a decent, small, budget hifi amp to use with my airport express. Using some JBL creature powered speakers at the moment, which are fine but I actually have a decent set of speakers up in the loft that I might use. Any suggestions appreciated.

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[quote name='Dandelion' timestamp='1351192833' post='1848587']
I would start here ..

[url="http://www.richersounds.com/hifi"]http://www.richersounds.com/hifi[/url]
[/quote]


+1

Bought all my Hi Fi from them for a long time. Always exceptional value. I'd look at Cambridge Audio stuff, it's not overly expensive from Richer's and it'd top knotch.

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There are some fantastic bargains to be had on secondhand hifi amps. Hifi equipment holds it's value far less than bass equipment and for not too much money you could pick an amp from the likes of Audiolab, Cyrus, Nad or a plethora of other esteemed brands that will easily outperform current new budget models. You could try looking online or at the readers ads in the back of HiFi World magazine. Hifi is my other hobby, so if you want any advice on any particular items give me a shout.

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[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1351197693' post='1848695']
I remember back in the day, NAD 3020..serious budget amp. Shame I blew mine accidentally.
[/quote]

I've got a couple of old hifi systems that I use for playing my music (coincidentally, one of them via an Apple Airport) and one of them uses a NAD3020. I bought it second hand in the early 90s and it's still going strong.

The other system uses a Quad 34/306 pre/power amp that I bought in the mid-80s and is also still going strong.

So I'd definitely agree with the previous suggestion to look at older used gear.

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If one of these Temple Audio amps appeals to then try looking for a secondhand Cyrus amp. They sound great ( although the newer models sound better than the very earliest ones for digital sources like you want to use , but any Cyrus post -1990 will probably trounce one of these Temple amps ). If you want compact size then Cyrus shoebox shape is hard to beat.


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[quote name='steviedee' timestamp='1351194095' post='1848611']
These look cool t amps

[url="http://www.templeaudio.net/bantamgold.html"]http://www.templeaud...bantamgold.html[/url]
[/quote]

I have two Temple Audio Bantams, as long as you arent after massive volume they are really tasty little amps.

Other than that, yet another +1 for NAD....

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the t-amps have been on my wishlist for ages but for a bargain amp i'd go with Dingus' suggestion of a cyrus, they're very nice bits of british kit made not too far from where i grew up. i've got a bit of an eye out for a newer hifi amp to upgrade the arcam alpha 5 in my main system and a cyrus is on the list, however the list also contains audiolab, nad, naim, roksan and a newer arcam (and there are probably a few other makes that i can't currently recall)

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+1 for the Arcam.

Bought mine new in the early 80's, and it's still going strong. I recall comparing several at the time, and went for the Arcam in preference to the NAD 3020 (and the Mission Cyrus, which I thought made everything sound a bit like a disco...)

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[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1351197693' post='1848695']
I remember back in the day, NAD 3020..serious budget amp. Shame I blew mine accidentally.
Got Cambridge audio now, highly recommend .)
[/quote]
I've got one of those, still going strong, not a crackle anywhere on the pots, that's a NAD btw

Edited by PaulWarning
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