Power amp for £300

Mr_White · 26 Aug 2013 at 13:31

Hey there

I'm trying to find a good power amp for around £300 (pre-amp is taken care of) to drive some B&W 685 speakers, but the Americans seem to have a much better selection than I can find over here, the only thing I can find new within budget is the pro-ject amp box DS, the specs look good for driving these speakers but I can find zero opinion on it.

In terms of used I can only seem to find Audiolab 8000P or Arcam Alpha 8P and 10P.

So I was just wondering if anyone has some suggestions that I can look at around this price range? As everything else I can find that fits the bill I either can't find here new or used, or I'd have to get imported.

I've been looking at some Parasound amps, XTZ amps, Emotiva amps which all look good, but none available here.

Any input would be really helpful or if there are some suppliers I'm missing who have a better range etc.

Thanks

wonko · 26 Aug 2013 at 13:51

I'm well out of touch with modern kit but for used I'd add Rotel and NAD to the list of possibles.

Mr_White · 26 Aug 2013 at 13:54

wonko said:
I'm well out of touch with modern kit but for used I'd add Rotel and NAD to the list of possibles.

I definitely haven't discounted them, it's just that the used supply for the ones that fit the bill seems very slim, nothing on eBay past and present and none currently on any of the usual classifieds

wonko · 26 Aug 2013 at 14:03

It looks like it's in the wrong part of the country for you, but something like this if you can bear to wait ? (I've got one of these and it's a keeper

)

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/108839653/rotel-power-amp-rb991.html

lucid · 26 Aug 2013 at 14:15

Bad economic conditions - Supplies of used gear dries up as owners hold off upgrading. The result is very little in the way of trickle down.

Rotel - RB980 or RB981

Arcam/Audioloab you've already covered

Cyrux XPA

Musical Fidelity X-AS100

Linn LK120(?)

The Yanks have a bigger range because in American bigger means better (right? :rolleyes:

). Well in the UK we make stunningly good integrateds, so going pre-power was always the less popular option until one reached the dizzy heights of some fairly high-end gear. Cheaper pre-powers were more of a sideways shift so not particularly good value.

Having said that, a lot of American brands have been- or are- distributed in the UK. It's just that the prices put them a little above your target range. The most accessible might be Parasound.

Have a look at the Classifieds over at AV Forums, Wigwam and Pink Fish

Mr_White · 26 Aug 2013 at 14:58

The Cyrus is in good supply but I've not heard good reviews of them paired with the 685s, so I'm uncertain on that.

The X-AS100 looks like a great option with good power for the 685s, I can't seem to find the LK120 but there seems to be a few LK100 available at the moment, what do you make of them? They seem a little down on power for my liking.

I didn't know about wigwam and pink fish so I'll check what's on there as well, cheers

gregorius · 26 Aug 2013 at 15:16

Quad 606 (or even possibly a 909 if you get lucky) at that price. Stonking good power amps.

Jamauk · 26 Aug 2013 at 16:31

I'd go for an Audiolab 8000p (Pre-G serial number) and get it serviced by Kevin of the Audiocellar. Plenty of them going around on ebay, plenty of power to drive some difficult loads - I'm using one to drive some Linn Keilidhs in a Tri-amped Aktiv setup and it really is excellent, very detailed and controls the speakers well.

lucid · 26 Aug 2013 at 19:26

Mr_White said:
The Cyrus is in good supply but I've not heard good reviews of them paired with the 685s, so I'm uncertain on that.

The X-AS100 looks like a great option with good power for the 685s, I can't seem to find the LK120 but there seems to be a few LK100 available at the moment, what do you make of them? They seem a little down on power for my liking.

I didn't know about wigwam and pink fish so I'll check what's on there as well, cheers

I'm not sure it's wise to get too obsessed about minor differences in power figures. Current is more important. I have a 5ch Myriad power amp that's rated at 40W/ch. It stomps all over my AV Receiver which is supposedly 100W/ch I think.

Lowe · 26 Aug 2013 at 19:35

Curveball.

Behringer A500. Set the volume pots to max (to avoid an issue with distortion) and bam. 140w real world wats into 8ohms for about £150.

Mr_White · 26 Aug 2013 at 19:49

lucid said:
I'm not sure it's wise to get too obsessed about minor differences in power figures. Current is more important. I have a 5ch Myriad power amp that's rated at 40W/ch. It stomps all over my AV Receiver which is supposedly 100W/ch I think.

I'm just comparing across equipment on the same sort of playing field to try and see what'd be best suited rather than obsessing with just the wattage alone, as these speakers are somewhat power hungry

Lowe said:
Curveball.

Behringer A500. Set the volume pots to max (to avoid an issue with distortion) and bam. 140w real world wats into 8ohms for about £150.

Very interesting suggestion, looking into this now. Thanks!

9designs2 · 27 Aug 2013 at 10:13

There isn't a Linn LK120, there are quite old now LK100's... I would suggest the little newer LK 140 is worth a look..... LK85's would be cheaper but lack pack power and drive for a main system, they are great for say a small office system etc.
After that you'll be over budget in the Linn range, as some models are quite popular on the used market, ie Klouts.

Martynt74 · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:05

I bought one of those little Project boxes and to be honest its pretty decent. Not quite comparable with my old Avondale power amp but then not a lot was!

Mr_White · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:24

Marvt74 said:
I bought one of those little Project boxes and to be honest its pretty decent. Not quite comparable with my old Avondale power amp but then not a lot was!

Do you have the Amp Box DS or something else? It seems impossible to find any opinion on them, I think it only just came out this year so that might be part of the reason. I'd be interested to hear some more of your thoughts as it looks like a nice little package and the form factor is highly appealing to me and as such would be my preference on that reason alone if it's up to the task, but it's a complete unknown!

9designs2 said:
There isn't a Linn LK120, there are quite old now LK100's... I would suggest the little newer LK 140 is worth a look..... LK85's would be cheaper but lack pack power and drive for a main system, they are great for say a small office system etc.
After that you'll be over budget in the Linn range, as some models are quite popular on the used market, ie Klouts.

The LK140 seems to go for around £300 if you keep an eye out, I gather I wouldn't go far wrong with one of those?

I'm having a problem looking past Lowe's suggestion with the reviews the A500 seems to have, and some very interesting blind tests involving it!

Martynt74 · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:32

I think i bought mine about a year ago, i believe its the Amp Box SE

http://www.audiblefidelity.co.uk/Pr...BXSTERSE.htm?gclid=CMuZnobQnbkCFa7JtAodL2wAXw

I was certainly suprised by the quality it made but i'm quite a fan of the little Project units in general and i needed something small like this. Now though its just sat in a cupboard doing nothing. Its a while since i had it connected up but it handled my Shahinian Compasses pretty well, certainly added a whole extra level compared to the Rotel integrated i was previously using although its hard to tell if that was due to also using my Densen pre amp which i love.

I'd say you could borrow mine to try out but postage costs both ways would be about £30 i'd have thought and you'd probably get better value just ordering one and returning it if it wasn't your cup of tea.

Mr_White · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:38

Marvt74 said:
I think i bought mine about a year ago, i believe its the Amp Box SE

http://www.audiblefidelity.co.uk/Pr...BXSTERSE.htm?gclid=CMuZnobQnbkCFa7JtAodL2wAXw

I was certainly suprised by the quality it made but i'm quite a fan of the little Project units in general and i needed something small like this. Now though its just sat in a cupboard doing nothing. Its a while since i had it connected up but it handled my Shahinian Compasses pretty well, certainly added a whole extra level compared to the Rotel integrated i was previously using although its hard to tell if that was due to also using my Densen pre amp which i love.

I'd say you could borrow mine to try out but postage costs both ways would be about £30 i'd have thought and you'd probably get better value just ordering one and returning it if it wasn't your cup of tea.

Driving those speakers certainly seems very impressive from a box that tiny! I may have to roll the dice on trying out the Amp Box DS if they're as capable as the specs make them sound.

Do you know if the DS is the replacement for the SE? as they only seem to have the DS on their website now and the DS has some extra heft in terms of wattage, so if the DS is the replacement for the SE which you had a good experience with, I'd be keen to dive in.

Thanks very much for the offer

Like you say though, probably just easier to grab one and then DSR it if I really hate it.

Martynt74 · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:48

Yeah i was hugely impressed by what it could do. On a similar level (and cost) you could get the Firestone Big Joe power amps which seem to have a pretty good following from what i've read.

One thing to note is that whilst the box itself is tiny (i put a pic in the sticky at the top around last June of mine), it has a whacking big external PSU. Think Xbox 360 style and add a bit on. It probably helps the sound having it external though.

Mr_White · 27 Aug 2013 at 14:04

Marvt74 said:
Yeah i was hugely impressed by what it could do. On a similar level (and cost) you could get the Firestone Big Joe power amps which seem to have a pretty good following from what i've read.

One thing to note is that whilst the box itself is tiny (i put a pic in the sticky at the top around last June of mine), it has a whacking big external PSU. Think Xbox 360 style and add a bit on. It probably helps the sound having it external though.

Well thanks for your feedback, really helpful!

I trust the PSU cables aren't moulded and I can hook my own up if I need some extra length to tuck it away somewhere? It's looking like I might be going down the pro-ject road!

Martynt74 · 27 Aug 2013 at 14:10

I can't remember to be honest, i could get some pics tonight if you want (and i remember)

From memory its a standard kettle plug into the psu brick and then a funny looking lead into the back of the amp like this. You could use an extra long kettle lead but not too sure how easy you could diy your own of the lead to the amp

Lowe · 27 Aug 2013 at 14:12

For £150 quid the A500 is the kind of amp that you can buy, and not worry about too much if it's not what you expected. Compared to other aspects of a system, the amp is arguably a minor point when it comes to overall tone. Until you're looking at serious, serious money a system of a thousand-ish quid is unlikely to show up a huge difference. Amps are generally designed to provide a flat response throughout the audible range, so other than the aesthetics of how it looks (which being kind it isn't great), it's a great amp. It's overlooked since it's marketed at more prosumer users and because there's a bad review that pops up showing the distortion issue. But, ramp the output to full so the gain circuitry is bypassed (which when using a power amp you should do anyway) and away you go...

Hell for your budget, you could buy two and bridge them for daft power...

For the record, I've got two driving my front and rear PMC's. One died within 6 months (channel drop out) but was replaced without issue and it's been fine for 2 years since.