Suggestions for a reasonable Solid State Amp / Speakers combo [Archive]

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Frankyc2003

05-08-2015, 14:19

Hi All,

Being in the process of downsizing and moving home, I would love to get you guys opinions on a budget SS amp / Standmount speakers reaping massive VFM and sound enjoyment!

My experience has been with valve amps for quite a while now, but something more family friendly and compact needs to replace all of my existing system.

My total budget for the combo is around the £500-£600. I already have my RPI and IQ Audio DAC+, one TT (don't know which one I will keep out of my 3) and loads of cables…

An onboard Phonostage would be a great plus!

Thanks a lot for all your enlightened suggestions

:cool:

struth

05-08-2015, 14:46

if you can get past the "pro amp" badges and the fan noise whi h is not audible during music then the ProArt monos i am using are one of the best bargains around. Ousted my wad valve amp.

Frankyc2003

05-08-2015, 14:58

Do you mean these guys?

http://www.ttec.com.tw/pp7060.htm
How long have you had them for if I may ask?

:)

struth

05-08-2015, 15:24

Do you mean these guys?

http://www.ttec.com.tw/pp7060.htm
How long have you had them for if I may ask?

:)

yes thats them Franky. Ive had a set for 3/4 months. been so impressed that ive bought another set of a guy on the bay. £100 for 2. they are excellent as monos or as individual stereo amps. using one of the newest ones upstairs with a set of jmlabs standmounts. it sounds lovely and for 50 pounds an amp you cant go wrong. try to get efficient speakers as they are d class i think. the jms are amazingly 92. and they work well with the imfs ive got on sale too.theyre fairly efficient too. downstairs im using 2 as monos with full range speakers and im very happy

hayche

05-08-2015, 16:18

Regal brio r used for around £300. £300 left for speakers

Frankyc2003

06-08-2015, 06:22

Pieoftheday

06-08-2015, 15:57

Thanks Grant And Howard for your advice. I would need a pre with the proarts which is fine, but I am seriously trying to cut down on the number of boxes here.
Anyone has any thoughts on Marantz gear here.
Vintage or recent? Maybe some 'champagne' in the rack?
Thanks again

i had a marantz pm8003 for quite a while, fantastic build and could go very loud, i hated it, it worked best with some MA rs6 speakers and i still hated it,seemed to suck the life out of everything, i persivered for ages telling myself i must wrong, i wasnt, did i say i hated it? having said that they dont pop up 2nd hand very often so appen im wrong:mental: jim

DSJR

06-08-2015, 16:12

I was going to be boring and suggest a Cambridge integrated plus Q Acoustic speakers - their amps are all but bomb proof and NEVER sound horrible and the speakers seem better than cheap B&W's or Monitor Audios..

As I said, the above is a safe option. I rather like Grant's approach above - and haven't these amps got gain controls on them? If you need two inputs, a Tisbury passive will do the job for not much and if you need more inputs, there's always the NVA P50...

struth

06-08-2015, 16:14

Frankyc2003

06-08-2015, 16:42

Thanks for these,

Yes a Passive preamp would work fine, I am not intending to use more than 2 sources (RPI + Vinyl).

I heard once a very nice Marantz PM6004 fed with FLAC via a streamer into some KEF Q300, and it did sound dynamic and transparent (to my surprise)…

But that would be pushing my budget a bit.

Ok, those mono amplifiers might be just the ticket Grant then. Did you get them from Ebay?

dougmon

07-08-2015, 00:47

Thanks Grant And Howard for your advice. I would need a pre with the proarts which is fine, but I am seriously trying to cut down on the number of boxes here.
Anyone has any thoughts on Marantz gear here.
Vintage or recent? Maybe some 'champagne' in the rack?
Thanks again

I once had some more recent Marantz gear (about 10-12 years ago, I think) and I found it to be fairly bright-sounding.

On a realistic budget, I've always liked the Denon stuff, but again, that was 10-12 years ago. I recall selling my Denon receiver so I could buy some "hi-fi" stuff, and I remember regretting it.

As far as speakers, I simply have no advice at all. Sorry.

hermit

07-08-2015, 11:27

There are a couple of nice bits of restored vintage kit in the classifieds here:

theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?39190-FS-IMF-Super-Compact-Speakers-(restored)

theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?39859-FS-Quad-303

Add a Tisbury passive pre, a Schitt Mani phono stage and you're sorted :)

walpurgis

07-08-2015, 11:51

My usual recommendation for a great sounding little system at not much outlay is, Denon PMA-350SE amp and Mission 780SE (1st series) speakers. These punch way above their weight!! This is a highly effective combination.

Jason P

11-08-2015, 16:18

Another vote for a Brio-R. Cracking little amp (sounds much bigger than it ought to) with a decent MM phono stage. £300 should get you a nice SH one.

Frankyc2003

11-08-2015, 17:08

Thanks all for your suggestions.

Little bit of an update after messing around with a friend this weekend. I have now a Marantz PM6005 plugged in the system.
My friend very kindly lent it to me for a few weeks so that I can get my head around its sound.

So far, so good.
I found it very, very dynamic. Plenty of energy to enjoy. A very solid bass plenty of definition.
A little tweaking was needed on the crossover of the Tannoys to accommodate the high level of energy in HF.

Obviously it certainly doesn't have the sweetness and beauty of the 300B, but to be honest, if push comes to shove I could live with its sheer musicality and its get up n go attitude to music.

Like everything in life it's all about a balanced trade off…

Soon, I will have to make a decision though, and the Rega Brio has alway been on my list 'to hear', so I suspect it will have to happen.

:cool: