recomended amps advice

[Cosey Man]

i am looking to get my first proper amp , i like the idea of a valve amp as i have never had one .+ i have no real idea ,so i am dipping my toe as it were,, i am not ruling out transistor ones ether. just
looking around i have seen the following so far the first two are above my budget its up to 500/600 but i could spend some of my speaker funds if it was a better option .

if any one has some advice on any of the amps below or what other to consider & places to look besides ebay , that would be a great help in my quest :)

leak stereo 20 power amp
Upgraded and completely serviced by CLASSIQUE SOUNDS £875

ART AUDIO QUINTET EL34 power amp,very good condition, serviced £1250 may be a bit to fare ,in cost

GAMMA ACOUSTICS GEMINI integrated valve amp £325
Serviced and in very nice condition.

WORLD AUDIO EL34 integrated valve amp in very good condition, serviced, £325.

audion sterling el34 single ended amp e.t.s.e £450
not sure what single sided means

jim: :) right now my head is buzzing

[The Grand Wazoo]

These are all used amps & at least one of them looks to me like rather bad value for money. Why not give one of AoS member Green Home Dave's new amps a go?
Nice & cheap.
New.
Supplied by the designer, who resides in the UK & will stand by his product.
Comes with a guarantee.

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10536

[Ali Tait]

Yep, agreed. The WAD would be a good choice too.

[hifi_dave]

As would Glenn Croft's new Integrated.

[Cosey Man]

These are all used amps & at least one of them looks to me like rather bad value for money. Why not give one of AoS member Green Home Dave's new amps a go?
Nice & cheap.
New.
Supplied by the designer, who resides in the UK & will stand by his product.
Comes with a guarantee.

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10536

ill have a guess & say the bad value for money one is .

cheers for the advice & link Chris , ill look over their .

jim

[Cosey Man]

hifi_dave & Ali Tait .

ill goggle them ,thanks

jim

[chelsea]

As would Glenn Croft's new Integrated.

Have you any info on it?

[hifi_dave]

Might be some info on www.croftacoustics.co.uk but it is new and there may not be anything on it yet.

I do have it on demo.

[chelsea]

No hasn't been updated since last year.

Any idea on price?

[hifi_dave]

There are three - the Integrated P which has an integral MM phono stage at £1000. The Integrated L is a line level only at £850. Then there is the Integrated R, which is line level with various upgrades and slightly more output.

For styling clues, they look like the pre-amps but with speaker sockets on the rear.

[DSJR]

All Glenn's better (pre) amps have lovely new control knobs fitted (RS sell them) which to my eyes lift the visuals to proper top-end levels - lovely.

The sound of the new integrated is clean, fresh, alive and with Glenn's guaranteed wonderful airy soundstage (when it's there in the music of course). No old fashioned valvey-sludge and DEFINITELY no harshness whatsoever. neither is the sound as antiseptic as, say a Graaf can be if you get matching wrong. The Mos-Fet output stage may still not like silly, low impedance loads for all I know, but all manner of properly designed speakers can be used with it without stress.

By the way, Glenn's designs measure properly and offer proper stability too, so they're not run to within a millimetre of going unstable. For a more technical appraisal of the Series 7 power amp, upon which the integrateds are based, look at last August's HiFi News (I think it's that one), where a proper test was done with very favourable results I remember.

[chelsea]

ok thanks.

[wee tee cee]

Just a thought,before you spend a lot of money on an amp have you considered a temple audio bantum.I have both a art audio quintet pre/power and naim 5i in the house at the moment.I recently purchased a bantum and have been delighted at its abilities.I prefer it to both the other amps.It seems to work with my other components,cables and room better than anything I have heard.
I would never have believed a £100 amp/psu could produce these results.
There is a great thread on t amps running just now.

[Cosey Man]

thanks for the advice everyone , i have now got a leak 20 stereo , on the way , when it arrives ill get some pics up ,its going to be sorted by Paul, at classic , very nice help full chap just need to get a pre amp & speakers now ,so any suggestions , let me know :).

jim

[hifi_dave]

Croft Micro Basic, Micro 25 or Micro R.

A marriage made in heaven.

[DSJR]

I believe the OP is going to spend a total approaching the superior Croft on buying (already) and doing up the Stereo 20. Ah well, you can't put an ancient audio-head on younger shoulders ;)

[The Grand Wazoo]

I think its already been done up Dave.

[DSJR]

Ah well :) The Croft upgrade can still come later :lolsign:

[Cosey Man]

indeed , its possible .:)

jim

[southall-1998]

Just out of curiosity. What speakers does Glenn Croft use with his amps?

[spendorman]

Just out of curiosity. What speakers does Glenn Croft use with his amps?

My memory may be failing me, but I think that he may have bought a lot of Celestion HF1300 tweeters a while a go.

[hifi_dave]

Just out of curiosity. What speakers does Glenn Croft use with his amps?

Not sure what he's using just now but I know he likes Harbeth and stacked ESL 57's.

I'll find out.

[hifi_dave]

Confirmation rec'd.

Harbeth SHL5, Quad ESL57 and old style Spendor's - BC1, BC3.

[spendorman]

Confirmation rec'd.

Harbeth SHL5, Quad ESL57 and old style Spendor's - BC1, BC3.

He he, my memory must have been OK then. BC1/BC3, Celestion HF1300'S

[hifi_dave]

Stop press.

Glenn is working on triple stacked Quad ESL57's...:trust:

[spendorman]

Stop press.

Glenn is working on triple stacked Quad ESL57's...:trust:

Working on how to get them into the room!! lol

[aquapiranha]

The Gamma looks like a nice little amp, but I know that big ears have had that for sale for two years at least and I am not sure if that is an indication of it's popularity, or simply that not many have heard of Gamma, who produced some nice, bit (211) type amps in their time.

The WAD willalways be a good bet and the amp from Greenhome looks fab too.

[Cosey Man]

@ aquapirnaha , thanks ,but i have picked a leak 20 , after much research . just looking at some suitable speakers eg spender bc1 & harberth hl monitors mk 11 , still researching.

jim

[Cosey Man]

Croft Micro Basic, Micro 25 or Micro R.

A marriage made in heaven.

dave ill keep that in mind . cheers

jim