Snell E/III Advice Please

[glenann]

As per the title I have acquired from a friend a pair of, rather battered, Snell E/III speakers. I love the Snell’s as I’ve owned a couple of pairs in the past at various times. I’ve just refoamed them and so I’m looking for any advice as to what amp I can use with them.
I have little funds at present, so I’m looking for something decent on the cheap if that even exists. I did think about some of the older Quad amps, or maybe something like a Croft. In keeping with the low budget theme, my source is a Pi2 with an Iqaudio DAC+.
Any input from anyone would be very welcome please.

Thanks all

Cheers

[Jazid]

As per the title I have acquired from a friend a pair of, rather battered, Snell E/III speakers. I love the Snell’s as I’ve owned a couple of pairs in the past at various times. I’ve just refoamed them and so I’m looking for any advice as to what amp I can use with them.
I have little funds at present, so I’m looking for something decent on the cheap if that even exists. I did think about some of the older Quad amps, or maybe something like a Croft. In keeping with the low budget theme, my source is a Pi2 with an Iqaudio DAC+.
Any input from anyone would be very welcome please.

Thanks all

CheersIf it were me I'd be all over that Almarro EL84 amp in the classifieds. Snell Es are a pretty easy load and valve friendly. If that's too pricey I'd look for a 20-25W output 1980s mosfet amp, or a T-amp. £100 should be more than adequate for excellent sounds.

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[Scooby]

I really like Sonneteer amps with Snell speakers. It would be good if you could grab a listen to one,

[glenann]

Thanks for the comments. Would a T-Amp really do the job? If so which one? I’ve thought about Sonneteer before but never heard one. There’s a Croft 7 in the classifieds, would that be any good and if so, could I use a cheap passive with it?
Sorry seems like a lot of questions...

[hifi_dave]

Croft 7 would do the job but by the time you've added a pre, you are knocking on the door of a Croft Integrated.

[walpurgis]

I’m looking for something decent on the cheap if that even exists

Yes. It does exist!

The Denon PMA-350SE. You can pick one up for less than £100. Plenty of power and quite remarkable sound quality for a cheap amplifier.

I've had a few of them and tried them driving my big Tannoys instead of my usual Class A power amp and always been astonished at how well they do.

The PMA-350SE is very transparent and clean sounding and it has a lot of grip. The 50 watts available should be more than enough.

The 'SE' is the audiophile model without tone controls and not to be confused with the basic 350.

I'll bet somebody here on AOS has one knocking about that they'd sell cheaply.