Second Hand Amp Advice

[HermanMunster]

Hi,

So my second hand Arcam AVR300 died last night, I was using it to power a pair of Kef reference series model one speakers and a Kef Sub. Sources are mainly either a Chromecast audio or a Sonos bridge.

I’m totally ‘out of the loop’ when it comes to Hifi in the last ten years and haven’t any idea what’s any good. I’ve always bought Arcam previously and have been very happy with it but am open to other brands.

Has anyone any recommendations for a second hand amplifier around the £500 price range? Or being a Sonos user, is their new AMP worth considering?

Thanks in advance.

 

[HermanMunster]

History has shown us that Arcam AV gear has proved to be a bit flaky. DVD era gear was okay-ish, but not up to Japanese standards of reliability (Onkyo excluded). Blu-ray-era and later hasn't been such a happy story. Software issues as well as some hardware problems have been common.

I would think very carefully whether buying something newer in an Arcam AV receiver is a wise move. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to have been the same issues with the Hi-fi gear.

What you choose from Arcam, or any other brand, is going to hinge on how well it will integrate with your existing gear. The sub is going to play the biggest part in this.

Some subs have inputs for speaker-level (high level) signals as well as the line-level (low level) input. 'Low level' is signal via a single or a stereo RCA phono cable.

Where a sub has only a low level input, then whatever amp you're looking at will need either a dedicated subwoofer output, or a stereo pre-out connection. However, if the sub has a high-level input, and presuming that you're able to- and happy to- have speaker wires hooked up for that connection, then you can choose from a much broader range of plain stereo amps as well as AV gear if you need to go in that direction.

Kef Reference Model One have a bit of a reputation for sounding smooth and big with a wonderful midrange and very wide dispersal. However, they also have a reputation for being a bugger to drive. They're a 4 Ohm load, and the speaker has an internal bass speaker coupled to its own cavity. Given lots of power then the bass from them is wonderfully tight, pretty deep, and fast. But without big slugs of current, the bass never really gets going. To get the best from these speakers you'll need something with a decent amount of current delivery and leaning toward a faster and more agile presentation.

Much depends on the budget. Big power costs big money. Where money is tight you might want to start with Rega. I don't know without researching whether they have the sub/pre-outs, or how they are with difficult loads, but Rega might be a good place to start. Perhaps a Rega Mira. Rotel is a possibility, but might sound a bit tame and not so tight with bass control. Exposure is said to be a good match. The 2010s or s2 variant could be a really nice partner.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

So i'm now thinking of the Riga Brio, Cambridge Audio CXA60 or CXA80. From the reviews the Rega would seem to be the better amp, but it's features are very basic. The CXA range would seem to have more features (subwoofer output, digital inputs and eight speaker terminals). I'll organize a listen to the Rega, but nowhere near me stocks the CXA range.

Do you think that the CXA60 would be a good match for my speakers?

Thnaks

 

[HermanMunster]

Full story: I had an Arcam Xeta One, back in the day, with Tannoy 611 speakers and a full surround sound setup including a Kef Subwoofer. Over the years I've moved away from full surround sound to a soundbar as it's more convenient. I now use the HiFi just for audio. The Amp eventually failed and I replaced it with an AVR300 purely due to it being a bargain and available on short notice. I later upgraded my Tannoy 611 to some second hand Kef reference ones. The AVR300 has now failed and here we are.

My revised max budget is around £700 for either a new or second hand Amp. I thinking that I need to listen to the Amps, but that's hard to do with used amps. There does seem to be a massive choice in used 'proper hifi' but i'm totally unfamiliar with how the different brands sound.

I was originally looking and second hand Arcam FMJ A32 or better but your comments about the latest generations of Arcam products have put me off.

I'm now thinking in terms of what I could audition at home.

On a side note, I'm not particulaly wedded to the idea of keeping the Sub.

Thnaks

 

[HermanMunster]

Thanks for all the advice.

I've managed to get an Arcam FMJ A32 of 'the bay' which I think will be an improvement over what I had, plus it's under my original budget