wanted: Retro Amplification [Archive] - The Art of Sound Forum

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Gmanuk101

10-02-2012, 12:54

DSJR

10-02-2012, 13:14

The DL4 is still a great speaker, despite its apparent age, as most technology at this price level has been to make speakers cheaper rather than "better" per se - IMO

The DL4 deserves the best amp, from any era, you can give it. A ton isn't much at today's inflated prices, but an A&R A60 or Creek 4040/4140 may be gettable still for this money. I think the others from the next step up - Onix and Incatech & similar, would be nearer £200 or so and as for Naits, anyone would think these are made of gold or something - underpowered as they are in real terms.

You might also find something by Rotel (one of the bigger BX's) and HK (HK650?) at this price too..

Gmanuk101

10-02-2012, 13:31

cheers Dave! will check all that out now.

worrasf

10-02-2012, 14:12

my spare room as a nice pair of Celestion DL4 MK2 speakers (old but still sound great).

and I am looking for a Retro amp from the 80s to power them.

Trawling ebay as we speak but a bit lost..so little helping hand would be appreciated.

This will replace the CA sp103 "amp" I have at the moment....

Must have phono stage as I've a SL1210mk2 also.

Budget £100 max

ciao, for now.

thanks

G

How about this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Luxman-L3-Integrated-Amplifier-/190636771948?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_Amplifiers&hash=item2c62d64a6c#ht_1168wt_966

or this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Armstrong-621-Amplifier-/300659399020?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_Amplifiers&hash=item4600b2596c#ht_1631wt_966

or this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-NAD-3020-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier-Superb-Sound-Worldwide-Delivery-/320846254984?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_Amplifiers&hash=item4ab3ed5388#ht_1182wt_966

Steve

Gmanuk101

10-02-2012, 15:45

wow!! cheers!

watching those carefully! heard good things about the NAD :)

greenhomeelectronics

10-02-2012, 16:20

You could have a look at www.greenhomeshop.co.uk , we have a few amps at under the £100 mark that may well interest you. If you speak to me nicely I might even do a deal for you:cool:
Dave.

Gmanuk101

12-02-2012, 08:18

You could have a look at www.greenhomeshop.co.uk , we have a few amps at under the £100 mark that may well interest you. If you speak to me nicely I might even do a deal for you:cool:
Dave.

Hi Dave

Many thanks for the reply. I do like the look of the Rotel RA1000 you have, but 'am a little unsure. I know that a textual description of the sound would not do sound waves justice, however the sound I am wanting to achieve is warm,rich and 'comforting'.

If this amp can achieve it at lower volumes the we may be able to do a deal?

Again thank's for taking the time to reply.

Graeme

dowser

12-02-2012, 12:43

I have an A60 I will be selling soon. Not A1 cosmetically, but recently serviced and bias reset - sounds good. I can arrange some photos if you're interested?

Richard

nat8808

14-02-2012, 01:17

In my opinion, if you buy secondhand on ebay (for example) then you can sell on later for the same price.. no money is risked.

In which case you get to try lots of things out.

My current amp was a £79 win on eBay - Higher Fidelity which was an expensive make in the US (can't find info on my amp anywhere) - ok, it was listed as needing repair as it distorted on one channel but lucked out and it was just a fuse feeding one side of the class B amp rails. It didn't seem a risk as I knew that someone was also bidding just a few pounds lower than me. If I re-listed, the same people and others would bid up the price to the same level and I'd get my money back.

Because of the 'price discovery' aspect of eBay, as long as you don't get into bidding wars (use a sniper) then you can sell on again without much risk.

The fun (well, for me anyway) is the trying things out. Trawl through ebay and you'll eventually find odities that instict tells you are good quality - judge by quality of casing, binding posts etc.

In the past, £100 has bought me an 80's era Cambridge Audio C75 preamp with A75 power amp and some Epos 14 speakers. They were in terrible cosmetic condition (for example the Epos cabinets have been turned black with marker pen!) and I had to pick up in person but they all worked and sounded fantastic.

nat8808

14-02-2012, 01:24

Here's one to watch (just wanted to post the first thing I found up). Ends at an odd time in the morning midweek - best time for best prices!

Marantz PM55 SE (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARANTZ-PM55-SE-SPECIAL-EDITION-AUDIOPHILE-AMPLIFIER-/290667709373)

But of course, use this just as an example (probably will go ballistic now! :lol: ) as now that I've given it some attention on here it may attract people looking to profit etc or at least push it to an average price for these.

nat8808

14-02-2012, 01:50

Another one for you at the other end of the listings - newly listed and a buy-it-now:

NAD 304 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220953889422)

Past history of the seller says that they will accept just £60 for it:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NAD-Amplifier-304-HI-FI-Integrated-Amp-/320841433052

obviously the buyer on that one pulled out of the sale, maybe the seller not willing to ship abroad.

Small research says that in some countries in mainland Europe (Germany for example) NAD 304s can fetch around €250....

Buy it, don't like it then sell it as an auction with good photos with worldside shipping. No risk (all things being as expected) and possible profit to increase the value of your next amp budget!

Gmanuk101

14-02-2012, 17:10

does the NAD have a great phono stage?

seoirse2002

14-02-2012, 17:25

nat8808

14-02-2012, 18:13

does the NAD have a great phono stage?

I must say that I don't know.... Try a few searches around the web and see what you find.

At under £100 a great phono stage is relative..

nat8808

14-02-2012, 18:18

Have a look at this:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180818727620?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2 Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570 .l1313%26_nkw%3D180818727620%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

I have one myself and really love it,and as Dual make Turntables the phono stage is great.

A lot of people make turntables, Hitachi, Aiwa, Sanyo, Technics etc etc and I wouldn't automatically rate any of their phono stages.

NAD made a turntable or two too. Not well reviewed - their strengths were in the electronics.

In my mind Dual always made budget turntables with the quite popular 505 being horribly plastic.

All IMHO of course.

Audioman

14-02-2012, 23:04

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotel-Inegrated-Amplifier-RA-930BX-930-BX-Fully-Working-/150752432916?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_Amplifiers&hash=item23198b9314

This is worth a try. Splendid amp and good match for Celestions. Includes a passable MM phono stage. You might want to look out for one in better shape though judging from the description.

nat8808

08-03-2012, 16:44

this is probably all over now, most likely you have an amp?

Just wanted to also recommend some Rotels too. I've had a 840BX (very similar to that above) as a reliable back up for testing things (like new speakers I don't want to risk on my expensive amps) and always sound good and with a phono stage too (MM).

Could do worse than the models before that too, the silver Rotel 820s and 840s that Stan Curtis designed for Rotel. I think the silver 840 had nice volume meter things too.

Denon PA250s (might not be "PA" but P something) pretty good for about the £10 - £40 they fetch these days!

Or an 80s Cyrus 1? ~ £50 - £70

The Black Adder

11-03-2012, 09:29

PM sent

Rare Bird

11-03-2012, 10:25

Denon PA250s (might not be "PA" but P something)

:lolsign: close Joe

PMA 250