budget hifi amp recommendations

[flyfisher]

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1351434735' post='1851131']
Time to get my old NAD 3020E out of the loft I think !!
[/quote]

I'd say so . . . complete waste keeping it up there. Plug it into something!

[Ian Savage]

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1351441011' post='1851230']
I always enjoyed the time said magazine lauded a very reputable brands £1000 DVD player as a wonderful machine etc etc. while it was later revealed to be nothing but a three year old supermarket own brand cheapo that they had previously derided inside the casing! Being sold for £1000.
Oh the stories I could tell
Mission speakers, now there's a story
[/quote]

As an ex-audio industry professional, it's quite gratifying to hear this as I'd been saying exactly the same thing for years! The number of times I had to talk someone I was spec-ing a system for out of buying whatever was *insert magazine name here*'s flavour of the month and into buying something that was exactly the same for a fraction of the cost...

[Ian Savage]

Baaaaaarrrrrr-gain....[url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/music-centre/1002230569#gallery-item-full-2"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/music-centre/1002230569#gallery-item-full-2[/url]

[musophilr]

[quote name='VTypeV4' timestamp='1351383484' post='1850774']
Not really budget but I do love my old Leak Stereo 20..

Maybe you could find one in need of restoration on the cheap?
[/quote]

I've got one of those! Brilliant things, and worth restoring properly not just on the cheap.

[Big_Stu]

I'm so old I can remember the days when Richer Sounds used to say they'd never sell combined (midi-type) systems OR sell anything other than hi-fi audio components.
I went in to one in Preston a few years ago to get a turntable fixed; they said it was beyond repair & tried to sell me a new Project t/t AND a TV instead. I went to another local hi-fi shop who said the t/t needed a new motor & fixed it for around £30 IIRC.
Though I would still recommend Richer for what they do as long as I knew what I was going there for, but ignore their sales pitches.

edit: While not a member I've had a site called Pink Fish media recommended for hi-fi enthusiasts who often sell on or swap high end hi-fi components. I know a guy who bought a full Linn/Naim system from there over recent years.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Big_Stu

[steviedee]

Picked up one of these, a Cyrus Straight Line, based on the Cyrus 3. In great nick and looks awesome need some cables to try it though.

Thanks for the info and advice everyone.

[url="http://www.cyrusaudio.com/product-archive/amps/straight-line-integrated-amplifier"]http://www.cyrusaudi...rated-amplifier[/url]

[Dingus]

That was ( is ) a fantastic amp! It's a true minimalist design to optimize sound quality, will sound great with your airport express , and what's more, if you ever want to use it in a proper hifi seperates system with a decent c.d player ect. it will easily be good enough for your future needs. The Cyrus Straight Line was a very highly regarded amp when it was current , and like all Cyrus stuff it is British -made and built to last. The case is made of a specific magnesium alloy specially damped against vibration to help make it sound as good as possible and the internal components will typically be of a very good quality. If you ever have any problems with it give Cyrus a call and they will probably still be able to help. Another benefit of buying British.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Dingus

[fatback]

Oh very nice.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

My goodness ! I feel,like its 1982 all over again. Great thread. Trouble is ,,I wish it was .

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Btw , Julian richer is a top bloke, very Richard Branson in terms of cred I think.met him a few times back in the 80s in the London bridge branch,)

[MilkyBarKid]

Sorry to go against the grain but I've got a nad 3020 somewhere kicking around and I think it's positively awful, I was never too impressed by cyrus either. I have a early 90's ion obelisk with Epos es14 speakers which I think was a magical combination - there aren't many amp/speaker combinations where you can actually hear the notes on a 5 string, rather than just a thump.

[Dingus]

[quote name='MilkyBarKid' timestamp='1351552347' post='1852655']
Sorry to go against the grain but I've got a nad 3020 somewhere kicking around and I think it's positively awful, I was never too impressed by cyrus either. I have a early 90's ion obelisk with Epos es14 speakers which I think was a magical combination - there aren't many amp/speaker combinations where you can actually hear the notes on a 5 string, rather than just a thump.
[/quote]

Another cult amp and a classic speaker design that is , I think , still in production today. . Richard Hay who was behind Ion now has a company called Heed that makes an updated version of the Obelisk.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Dingus

[steviedee]

Have to say I'm over it plugged the Cyrus into the airport express, dug out my old Celestions and it was the all about the 80s, the Blue Nile, Dave Sylvian etc excellent. I really think it'll get me back into listening to music properly again I'm very pleased. Definitely going to get the Fiio DAC that Dingus recommended and start ripping CDs using Apple Lossless.

It's also had the knock on effect of me actually getting the other front room together as opposed to using it to store various things after moving in a few months ago. So everyone is happy.

I just need some budget speaker stands (and so it begins)!

[bartelby]

Shame you're so far away I have a pair of Atacama Nexus 6 speaker stands you could have.
They're a bit too heavy to ship.

[musophilr]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1351542114' post='1852452']
My goodness ! I feel,like its 1982 all over again. Great thread. Trouble is ,,I wish it was .
[/quote]

Its still 1967, maaan!

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1351602790' post='1853114']


Its still 1967, maaan!
[/quote]

Ha ha ha ,) ,)

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='steviedee' timestamp='1351592845' post='1852918']I just need some budget speaker stands (and so it begins)!
[/quote]

Ain't that they truth!
The aim where possible is to have the tweeter at ear height, assuming you're seated when listening.
Richer do a few budget stands of various sizes. I had the hollow metal frame ones, fill them with sand & then enough water to just make it damp - some prefer to use lead-shot which some hi-fi shops sell for that purpose. I did the sand option & sealed it with blue-tack to stop it drying out. If "other half" permits you could try isolating them on concrete garden slabs - especially if they're on a wooden floor.
I've got floor-standers now, on blocks of slate I bought from a roofing place before they split them.

[jimbobothy]

How about one of the first Class A transistor amps, the Sugden A21 (Mk1 or Mk2). A pretty good combo when paired with some Heybrook Optimas

[steviedee]

Cheers Bartleby and Stu, I was thinking of plant stands or this looks cool http://www.ikeahackers.net/2010/06/vika-curry-speaker-stand.html , though the stands in Richer sounds are 39 quid.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='MilkyBarKid' timestamp='1351552347' post='1852655']
Sorry to go against the grain but I've got a nad 3020 somewhere kicking around and I think it's positively awful, I was never too impressed by cyrus either. I have a early 90's ion obelisk with Epos es14 speakers which I think was a magical combination - there aren't many amp/speaker combinations where you can actually hear the notes on a 5 string, rather than just a thump.
[/quote]

I have a Musical Fidelity B200 and a pair of ES11s at work, with an MP3 player as a source. Remarkably good, even now.

[Matt P]

check out [url="http://www.tnt-audio.com/int.html"]http://www.tnt-audio.com/int.html[/url] they have a diy section with stands etc, i've been using a flexy rack for years now and it's fantastic, i'm currently building a modified uprated version using thicker shelves and bigger threaded rod (and more space)
they've got 2 different speaker satnd options but these look pretty good and should be dirt cheap to build

[url="http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/stubby_e.html"]http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/stubby_e.html[/url]

matt

[gafbass02]

Just posted this in a thread on mission speakers in 'for sale' but thought it might be better here..

It's worth mentioning that not everything that carries the mission badge is quality.
The mid/late 90's 700 series had some utter dogs that even the mission rep used to openly admit were 'cheap junk' (big mark up for them though)

They were appallingly built from very substandard materials and would fall apart at the drop of a hat.
Many times I picked up a mission 703 only for the front baffle to tear clean out the top of the cabinet, which was made of a sort of cardboard like material that seemed much weaker and more brittle than the other budget speakers.
They would flex, bend and creak, many had terrible leaks around the poorly attached baffles that would vibrate and 'fart'. Sometimes vibrating the front clean off the speaker. The glue just didnt hold.
We had huge, huge piles of them DOA to go back. We even got warned to stop moaning about them as we were upsetting mission ?!!? such was the problem.
Despite this thanks to epic backhanders the series always did well in a 'certain' hi-fi magazine and people would regularly wave the five star review in your face and call you a liar before proudly stomping out clutching their half glued, cardboard and plastic speakers, often only to return a few hours or days later with them in bits.

Often they would be so blinkered by not wanting to face up to the fact that their beloved magazine was a tad 'iffy' (in those days, dunno about now) combined with the propensity to always assume the salesman is a liar that they would go through three or four pairs before (sometimes) finally grudgingly admitting they were junk.

But mission held us over a barrel, 'sell them or else!' It was the 700's too if I recall.
The M series that came later were a lot better, apart from having nasty binding posts that would snap off at random.
Some were very nice though, like the 773's.

I was never a fan of their odd tweeter positioning though. But their older stuff was very good back in the day.

Edited November 1, 2012 by gafbass02

[Dingus]

If I remember correctly, those Mission 700 series were a very different dessign to the 75 series and 77 series , and had a completely different design drive unit and cabinet. They were as you correctly point out, bloody awful sounding speakers designed for the burgeoning trend towards rave and indie music where kids wanted big and loud speakers at an affordable price. They had front-ported cabinets to enhance the bass response and ended up sounding boomy and recessed in the midrange. Perhaps ( or almost certainly, in fact) the marketing strategy you describe was a major contributing factor to Mission going "tits up" ( a technical term I learnt at business school) despite having enjoyed a preminant position in the world of speakers for so long.

It's such a shame because as you rightly point out, the made so many terriffic sounding speakers over the years . such as the 753, 752, 751 ,780 and even the 760i that had such a fine and enjoyable sound ( providing you could live with the Mission sound with that bump in the treble) that gave a taste of the high-end to the common man . I think they began to lose their way a bit when Henry Azima who was the real driving force behind the companys sonic and commercial success went his own way . It was him who designed the Cyrus stuff as well.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Dingus

[gafbass02]

Exactly that. Just awful junk. Such a shame, I'm out of touch these days so no idea if they are pulling it back.

[Dr.Dave]

My old Cambridge Audio amp and Tannoy 6 speakers are still working as good as new - both from Richer sounds in Leeds when they had the tiny shop.