Spec me a Sound System (Amp....)

PinkFloyd

PinkFloyd

PinkFloyd

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Joined
21 Sep 2005
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Bradley Stoke, Bristol
Hi all,

What I'm basically after here is a nice amp, to which I can connect numerous devices as inputs, and have it all pumping out through the same set of speakers.
Having a remote would be damn nice, and being able to connect a sub up to it in the future is also important.
Main priority is sound quality for listening to music.

If you start looking into amps that support surround do you start dramatically effecting overall sound quality? Because being able to have surround for games would be nice, but its not as important as high quality music. (As I could always just have a separate stereo etc. for some rear speakers for the odd times I feel like some surround gaming)

As to a budget, I'd like to keep it below £200 for now, but if I get big gains from going over that price that justify the cost then I'm game :)
 
I'd stick with the stereo amp. Should be able to get a Rotel RA-02 for under £200 second hand (possibly new too). This has a remote control which is why it springs to mind, I have the RA-01 (non remote version) and find the sound quality good if slightly bright. The bass is tight and well controlled and despite is being "only" 40WPC, it will go very loud with my speakers (much louder than PC speakers with many times the supposed power). I'd reccomend silk/textile dome tweeter speakers with this amp to reduce any possible harshness.

Anyhow, that isn't the only option, its just not that many amps has remotes at your price level. Definately look second hand is my advice, amps are much cheaper S/H and will sound just the same as new ones :)
 
You will definitely want separate surround and stereo systems if you care about music.

NAD reliably make good cheap integrated amplifiers IME, but there are a whole host of amps and manufacturers out there.

Have a look here - some of the prices on this page will probably have fallen.
http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/bgintamps.html

Stick with newsgroups, forums and hi-fi world.
What Hi-Fi (and this goes for all the 'What' magazines) is basically some adverts with adverts that look like reviews attached...
 
Marantz PM66-SE is a nice solid amp, has a remote and regularly goes for under £100 used. Agree with the comment about the RA02 being a bit bright, let mine go for that reason. Definitely some Nads with remotes for under £200 used, check out Arcam too.
 
Just bought a NAD C320BEE amp for £180 delivered. Excellent amp, well worth considering. Also has a remote too.
If you have the time, pop into a decent hifi shop and ask for a demo-best way to judge any piece of equipment as opinions can be very subjective.

m
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Got numerous amps I want to check out now, will pay a visit to a hifi shop and check out some systems. Think I've already decided on the speakers I'm going to go for :) - a set of Eltax Monitor 3's. (good choice?)
 
Cambridge Audio A5 is quite nice quality for the £130 brand new asking price. Would give you more money for speakers too :D
It has 5 inputs, although no remote.

To quote the above mentioned Hi-fi World
'Cambridge A5 £150 Sep 02 A bargain in almost every respect. So good, you will hardly notice the lack of a remote control. Sounds more expensive than it really is.'
 
PinkFloyd said:
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Got numerous amps I want to check out now, will pay a visit to a hifi shop and check out some systems. Think I've already decided on the speakers I'm going to go for :) - a set of Eltax Monitor 3's. (good choice?)
Click to expand...
I would go with something else TBH. They're not easy to setup with the downfiring bass port and the built-in spikes. They come with shoes for the spikes but they would always rock about at least a bit. I ended up removing the bottom half of the spikes (which just screw off) and then you're left with 4 little flat feet, but this reduces the distance from speaker to surface and can reduce the bass. Plus even on the feet they weren't steady and I had to put cork pads on the underneath of the feet. Also with the down firing bass port they won't go on most hi-fi speaker stands.

They sound decent though. Not especially refined, but at least they are clear and neutral and don't colour the sound.

Never used them but Kef Cresta 10s are the same price without being so tricky to setup.

Might be better to split your budget 50/50 between amp and speakers rather than get a decent amp and budget speakers.
 
Oh that's a shame, they looked a nice set of speakers, not being able to go on speaker stands wouldn't have been a problem, as I imagine I would have put them exactly where my current speakers are, either side of my monitor :)
Disappointing that they rock though, those Kefs do look nice, and from the place I was planning on ordering this from (pretty sure its a competitor) they are a tenner cheaper than the Eltax's. Has anyone here tried the Kefs?

As to going 50/50 on the budget, when I start looking at around a £100 or less for the amp the output wattages start going down to around 50W, which isn't very usefull to me if I have a 100W speaker - or am I missing something here. Will that literally mean I can only go half as loud as the speaker is capable of?
 
Certainly not :) . I have 120W speakers with 40W amp here. For a small budget like this you can look at 25-30WPC amps, providing you don't try to use it extremely loud such that the amp clips (I seriously doubt you will). More important is speaker sensitivity, higher sensitivity is always a good thing.

Some interesting points. A 50W amp is twice as powerful as a 100W amp, correct; but fed into the same pair of speakers, the 100W sounds a mere 10% louder since our hearing is logarithmic. An amp needs to have ten times the power to sound twice as loud. I mentioned my setup with 120W rated speakers and 40W amp, the speakers are 90db sens and at half level it is very loud in a bedroom, can hear it clearly downstairs with all the doors shut :)

I strongly suggest buying an older second hand amp and spending more on the speakers (which should be second hand too for the best value). I saw a Rotel RA971 amp go for about £70 the other day, it was £300 new. It will be massively better than a new amp at that price point (my brother has one, I know its good) :)
 
What do you mean by the amp clipping?

Excellent news on the volumes, despite the fact I did physics I completely forgot about volume being logarithmic!
Gives me more options on what amp I might get :)

One thing I have seen quite a lot when going through the specs of amps is a feature called "Phono Stage" - which is essential for connecting a Turntable.
Hopefully I'm going to be getting my dads old turntable soon, am I not able to connect that up with normal phono plugs or will it completely depend on the turntable?

If I buy the whole thing second hand I'll probs buy the same spec as what I would have new, and put the money aside for spending on other things (ie a DAB tuner - those things are still so damn expensive :()
 
Clipping is a type of distortion. If it occurs at an amps output stage, it can damage the connected speakers. You will hear it though and are unlikely to turn an amp up that high anyhow :)

A turntable can be connected via an external phono amplifier if needed :) . The phono amp is sometimes integrated is all.

It is often the opinion that DAB's are not worthwhile, but this is only what i've read, i'm sure some people here will know more about it :)
 
For that budget, you're looking at second hand stereo integrated amplifiers, and standmount speakers. You're not going to get quality av amplifier plus floorstanders. Pickup a NAD or Rotel amplifer, and some Kef or B&W speakers.

Avoid the junk from RS, Eltax, that sort of thing.
 
Old Mission speakers are still very nice too. Not the most bassy, but the Mission 751s I have arent the loudest, but they provide one of the clearest, nicest soundstages I've heard for a long time...shame I use them with my PC almost, not a proper hi fi seperates system to see what they can do. Have heard some of the newer models arent so hot though, and are what drove then out of business. Where possible, try listening to the different brands of speakers, because they all have a 'flavour'.
 
Looks like I'm going to have to do some testing!
*plans visits to hifi shops :D*
Can anyone recommended any places here that AREN'T competitors to ocuk?


Primary use will be sound from my pc, but bit by bit I'll be building a full system as and when I have the money.
 
Best go on avforums, oc sell hi-fi speakers so all hifi retailers are classed as competitors.

That won't stop you finding competitors though will it?
 
OcUK don't seem to sell any Hi-Fi speakers anymore. I suppose we can say the names of suitable Hi-Fi retailers since they would no longer be competitors? There are 3 main ones I can think of that should let you demo, but AV forum can tell you anyway, just in case :)
 
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