Advice on new power amp

[sburrell]

I've decided the Denon power amp I'm using isn't that great. I'm becoming happier with the speakers since I adopted Mark Grant's interconnect and got myself some speaker stands, so I'm going to keep them a while longer. Can anyone recommend a nice Naim Nait 2-esque power amp I should buy for not much more than £100?

By the way, am I right in thinking all Naim power amps use proprietary connectors and wouldn't work with my Beresford?

Ta chaps.

[StanleyB]

Can anyone recommend a nice Naim Nait-esque power amp I should buy for not much more than £100?

By the way, am I right in thinking all Naim power amps use proprietary connectors and wouldn't work with my Beresford?

If you only got £100 to spend, then the Naim connector issue won't be an issue.
There is a phono to Naim adapter, which Naim owners have been using to connect the DAC to their NAIM.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

i have posed a similar question at the end of this thread

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...?t=4344&page=3 (stan ?)

stan is right though you are unlikely to find a naim amp for £100! you are also likely to get something a lot better than naim if you dont have much to spend!

[Mike Reed]

Can anyone recommend a nice Naim Nait-esque power amp

Ta chaps.

The Nait's an integrated. Do you mean power amp or integrated amp?

If the latter, for that money a Cyus Two could be found, and improved upon later with the addition of a Cyrus power supply. Great performers, neutral and with excellent manufacturer back-up (in Huntingdon, I believe).

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Cyrus of course hve the disadvantage of a what hifi following holding the prices up

[tubehunter]

A&R Cambridge A60 is a very good cheap secondhand buy

[sburrell]

The Nait's an integrated. Do you mean power amp or integrated amp?

Sorry, when I said "Nait-esque" I was referring to the sound. A Nait 2 was my first amp, and seeing as I'm not liking the Denon I thought, "go back to what you know."

Before the thread gets entirely derailed because of my wee error , let me just clarify that I am looking for a power amp. It's to be used with the DAC's variable out.

@Tubehunter: Like the wooden veneer on that integrated though!

[Rare Bird]

A&R Cambridge 'SA150' or 'SA200' then if you want a power amp (& with wood)

[DSJR]

You don't see them very often, but the A&R power amps listed above are like bigger and more "solid" sounding A60's. Their Myryad descendants would be a lot more expensive though. Even a valve classic like a Rogers Cadet III now fetches nigh on £200..

Quad 303? Easily serviced and with loads of update capability with improved difficult load drive and higher current output possible when fully sretched, the capacitor coupling gives a looser and slightly "plumper" feel to many of the directly coupled tranny amps I've heard by comparison. The only shortcoming at the end of it's life was that the design was optimised for speakers dipping no lower than 6 Ohms - I understand that Tannoys from the late sixties-early seventies were nominally 11 Ohms..

[sburrell]

The Quad 303's upgradability is certainly a selling point. That's one of the reasons I decided on one of Stan's DACs. Only minor niggle is it uses 4-pin DIN for input, so I'd need an adapter or a new cable, and to be honest, I can't be bothered with the hassle and extra expense. However, on my interweb travels I did notice that some people have modded theirs to RCAs, so I'll keep my eyes out for such a one.

A quick look through some of the used stock at various hifi stores did turn up a few A&R Cambridge SA150s and SA200s, but they were all sold. I think the price was right though. I'll just have to try and get in there sharpish, keep my eyes peeled.

Tomorrow I'll nip into Retro Reproduction and see what he can offer me, and if nobody minds I'll list them here and ask for opinions? Ta chaps.