Wanted: Gutsy Integrated Amp (In South Devon?)

[southall-1998]

I'm looking for an integrated amp that has good amounts of current reserve. Containing a substantial sized transformer.

Budget £300-£480 max!

Good working order please.

I'm based in Torquay, Devon.

WHY....PM me.

Thanks.

S.

[walpurgis]

I reckon I know just the thing Shane and it's less money than your budget.

The Topping TP60. It's very well made and pretty hefty. A few members here have these I believe and I've used one. The sound is big and powerful. Plenty of grip and punch and a sweet top end with no 'nasties' anywhere.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-Stock-TOPPING-TP-60-2-80W-TA-2022-Class-T-Amp-Tripath-Stero-Hi-Fi-Amplifier-/191585083431?hash=item2c9b5c6027:g:vxwAAOSw3xJVXcL d

This is a good quality amp and a bargain.

[southall-1998]

I reckon I know just the thing Shane and it's less money than your budget.

The Topping TP60. It's very well made and pretty hefty. A few members here have these I believe and I've used one. The sound is big and powerful. Plenty of grip and punch and a sweet top end with no 'nasties' anywhere.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-Stock-TOPPING-TP-60-2-80W-TA-2022-Class-T-Amp-Tripath-Stero-Hi-Fi-Amplifier-/191585083431?hash=item2c9b5c6027:g:vxwAAOSw3xJVXcL d

This is a good quality amp and a bargain.


I'll give that some thought, Geoff. But I'm still hankering for a bigger heavier transformer :)

S.

[walpurgis]

I'll give that some thought, Geoff. But I'm still hankering for a bigger heavier transformer :)

S.


If you like hefty mains transformers, look at the bigger seventies Harman Kardon and Trio vintage amps. They are dual mono. A big transformer for each channel. Sound is very good too!

[southall-1998]

Yes, I've always favoured amps with hefty transformers Geoff. I especially do like good grip in the bass!

Sometimes I enjoy cranking up the volume :)

S.

[walpurgis]

I don't concern myself specifically with power transformer size Shane. A good amp is a good amp and will have a transformer (or transformers) of the right capability.

The latest generation of professional amps are 'D' class and use switching power supplies, so they are very light, but deliver some enormous power and grip.

Check out the Crown products. Here's an example http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crown-Amplifier-2-X-300W-XLI800-/281859433321?hash=item41a021a369:g:ZdYAAOSwT4lWSwS l

[struth]

My 2 monos are D class. Dunno whats in them as I cant get them open but for the cash they are very good, and quite sublime with sensitive speakers. Ive got 4 of them

[struth]

Nice big Sony

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-TA-F700-ES-STEREO-INTEGRATED-AMPLIFIER-VINTAGE-COLLECTORS-EXC-CONDITION-/181939300105?hash=item2a5c6d6709:g:L-4AAOSwbdpWUdfV

[southall-1998]

Nice big Sony

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-TA-F700-ES-STEREO-INTEGRATED-AMPLIFIER-VINTAGE-COLLECTORS-EXC-CONDITION-/181939300105?hash=item2a5c6d6709:g:L-4AAOSwbdpWUdfV


I saw it! But really, I wouldn't want to risk couriering that!

S.

[pcourtney]

Hi Shane, try and get a Yamaha DSP-A2070 cheap, sub £100, built in 1993, get one off the bay or somewhere and have it serviced, stupendous amps for the money

Vince has a nice looking one for £75, collect from Taunton, ebay id 301805033320

I reckon Torquay to Taunton is only about 50 miles up the M5

if you don't like it, they always fetch over £100 when you come to resell it, at the very least it will tide you over, like it did me
for over 15 years, and I'm not parting with it now, can't find anything close to touch it for the money and plenty of dynamic
headroom when I play some full on classical vinyl - I just use it as a 2 channel stereo amp

Minimum continuous power per channel (RMS) : Main stereo 100 watts @ 6 ohms per ch

Minimum dynamic power per channel: Main Stereo 160 watts @ 6 ohms per ch


loads more rubbish about the amp on the net, this chap seems to have researched what is so good about this 20 year old amp

post no 12
http://www.hifivision.com/surround-amplifiers-receivers/20613-yamaha-dsp-a2070-2.html


what is dynamic headroom? Below is a great explanation as found on axiomaudio.com website:

“To better understand amplifier dynamic headroom, we need to look at dynamic range, and how we experience it in everyday life. On a hike in the woods, most of us know the soft rustling sound of leaves in a tree produced by a gentle breeze, a sound that measures perhaps 20 dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at most. And at one time or another we've experienced the sound of an orchestra or brass band in a concert hall at 100 dB SPL (or more), or of an amplified rock band at 120 dB. Those levels represent the extremes in dynamics that our ears can routinely register. If we were suddenly transported from that idyllic spot in the woods (20 dB SPL) to the rock concert (120 dB SPL), our ears would register a dynamic range of 100 dB …... To give you some perspective on music playback in the home, "quiet" music would fall in the 75dB range, whereas "quite loud" music would measure about 85dB SPL at your favourite spot on the couch.

For purposes of illustration, let's take an example of listening to a recording of a solo concert-grand piano of Chopin Piano Works at average levels of 96 dB, using a pair of loudspeakers at a distance of 12 feet. Lets assume that we need 10 watt per channel of amplifier power to reach 96 db, a modest demand for even the least expensive A/V receiver or small amplifier. If the pianist on the CD was playing Chopin's Grand Polonaise, however, and one of those spectacular chords in the bass octaves of the piano comes along, your amplifier and speakers will suddenly have to produce levels of 106dB SPL without distorting, because Chopin's piano works have sudden and extreme changes in musical dynamics. Since for every 3db increase in SPL we need two times the power, getting from 96 dB to 106 dB will require ten times as much power again (10 x 10) or 100 watts per channel.

But if it were a real-life orchestra playing at full tilt, and you wanted to reproduce the illusion in your living room of standing next to that grand piano, then peaks of 109 dB would be required. The goal, remember, is real-life reproduction of that grand piano, so now we only need 3 dB more (subjectively "somewhat louder") to hit 109 dB in the living room. But twice as much power is required for a 3dB increase (100 watts x 2 = 200 watts) per channel. All of a sudden our A/V receiver or amplifier has run out of power!

Of course, it's just a brief peak, lasting perhaps 200 milliseconds (one-fifth of a second), but the amplifier must have sufficient reserves of power to properly reproduce that momentary peak without distorting. If the amplifier has 3 dB of dynamic headroom, it will make it, and output the required 200 watts per channel for a fraction of a second, with no clipping and no distortion. But the truth is that most A/V receiver amplifiers have little or no dynamic headroom, so the receiver runs out of power, the distortion rises, and audible distortion intrudes, ever-so-briefly. The piano then "sounds too loud," to our ears because of the nasty distortion components, so we turn down the volume just short of our goal, because our amp didn't have enough dynamic headroom to handle the instantaneous peak power requirement.

How do we get that dynamic headroom into our amplifier? To answer that, we need to look at power, and how an amplifier outputs power in watts. Power in watts is the product of voltage, and current, flowing into a resistance (the loudspeaker). Voltage is the driving force, like water pressure in a hose, and it works with current, which is analogous to the rate of water flow. If the hose has greater diameter--or the speaker has less resistance to the flow of electricity, in which case it would be 4 ohms or less, rather than 8 ohms--then the amplifier voltage pushes more current through the output transistors and produces more "power." ....

...Nevertheless, that power has to come from someplace, and in amplifiers it's supplied by the transformer (which connects to your wall outlet) and by capacitors, which store up the reserve electrical energy from the transformer in "joules." According to Axiom electronics R&D engineer Tom Cumberland, the source of good dynamic headroom in an amplifier "comes from having a transformer with a high-flux core -- the higher the flux in the core, the more efficient the transformer is. That will give you lots of sustained current and instantaneous current, which is then dumped into the power-supply capacitors. So the better & bigger the transformer and the better and larger the power-supply capacitors, then the better the dynamic headroom is.

[southall-1998]

Thanks Peter. Will keep a watch on the Yamaha!

S.

[pcourtney]

hope you get it for £75 Shane, it's a great amp to compare other amps to, a great benchmark to be sure

I know about 5 or 6 other owners of the 2070 in the UK, all happy campers, they even have a good phono stage, and drive
my 6 ohm 100w speakers 91dB sens Power Handling of 400w with great authority, am updating an old Goldring Lenco GL75
at the moment, can't wait to spin some bass heavy vinyl on that 50 year old table:-)

http://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/yamaha/ns-300.shtml

[Rothchild]

Yeah, I'll second the tip on one of those 90's Yamaha AX range amps, big transformers and heatsinks and plenty of grunt. I had the bottom of the range 396 model happily driving a big old pair of goodmans with 12' bass drivers for quite some time - I originally bought it on the same sort of principal you've described, I went to the shop an physically picked up every amp I could afford and just bought the heaviest one (on the grounds that it had the biggest transformer)!

This looks good: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-AX-590-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier-/121823321759?hash=item1c5d3c5e9f:g:kD4AAOSw7FRWVHy o

[jandl100]

The Topping TP-60 is a bit of a smoothy - too boring by far for my excitable tastes!

I've a 130wpc Restek Challenger on my spares shelf, but I want to hang on to that until next year's Wam Scalford Show.
They usually go for around £400 and are a stonking bargain, imho.

Here's a nice pic of Rob's (Hoops) old one ...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8193181458_b780313213_z.jpg

[southall-1998]

Has anyone tried the Onkyo A-9755?

S.

[rossman]

I still have my Rega Elex-R up for sale. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?41422-Rega-Elex-R-for-sale I would consider a reasonable offer if it is of interest to you.

[southall-1998]

I still have my Rega Elex-R up for sale. http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?41422-Rega-Elex-R-for-sale I would consider a reasonable offer if it is of interest to you.


Not really what I'm looking for, Paul.

Thanks.

S.

[southall-1998]

Still looking,

S.

[awkwardbydesign]

If you can find one of these, you will have over 100w/channel, lots of it in class A, and a preamp with MM and MC phono stage! I use mine as a power amp. And it has a big transformer. It weighs 30kg!
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/jungson-ja88d-09.jpg Jungson JA88D (09) Don't get the earlier model, no phono and apparently harsher sounding.

[Arkless Electronics]

I'm looking for an integrated amp that has good amounts of current reserve. Containing a substantial sized transformer.

Budget £300-£480 max!

Good working order please.

I'm based in Torquay, Devon.

WHY....PM me.

Thanks.

S.

Just thought I'd point out that these are generally yet another hi fi myth.... They have very little to do with bass tightness etc. Yes if you have inefficient speakers with a really awkward reactance and like things really loud then they matter but, for most people with average speakers who can only get away with "domestically acceptable" volumes, they are largely irrelevant.... as is power above around 30WPC.

[Jason P]

An XTZ integrated would fit the bill, if you can find one secondhand. Fab grunty Class A/AB amp with lots in reserve, a great MM/MC phono and a very reasonable DAC onboard. And a very sweet, beguiling sound to boot.

[southall-1998]

In 3 weeks from now. My budget will increase to £875 max!

I now have my mind set on the ATC SIA2-150 MK1 integrated. They sell for anywhere between £650+ second hand. I'm willing to pay at least £780 for a decent example.

The newer polished looking SIA2-150 MK2 will unfortunately be out of my budget.

If someone has the above SIA2-150 MK1 integrated, and is willing to accept a deposit for the time being. Please PM me.

Remote and original packaging would be essential.

Thanks.

S.