Bought the speakers...now for an amp.

[kritikon]

Ok, I just got some Jamo speakers over the weekend. I've already got a HiFI amp that I'm more than pleased with (an Alchemist Axiom, a few years old, but still going strong), but my studio amp is ancient and getting a bit jaded. Time for a new one. I might get a "studio" one, but TBH, I know my Axiom would be better than many "studio" amps, and a decent HiFi amp still has the benefit of having one volume knob. I could never understand why so many studio amps have dual volume control - Makes no sense to me. Why would I want one side louder than the other? I want to be able to set both sides exactly the same and one knob is the way to go. So I'll either buy a new HiFi amp and swap the Axiom into the studio, or buy a new HiFi one for the studio.


Same shop I bought the Jamos from had a couple or 3 that interested me. One was a Cambridge amp...can't remember the model, but it was the cheapest at NZ$600 (might have been $700?) which is 200 quid+. Cambridge has a good name, but the shop were trying to convince me that it's just a name (as compared to the other "names" they sell . They still reckon they're OK, but could do better. Now...I don't necessarily think they were just trying to sell me higher priced stuff, because although one of the guys (the younger one, of course) recommended the most expensive, the othe chap (the older one) recommended a Rotel one above the Cambridge, but also recommended the Rotel above a simila Rega one (which actually cost more).


First off...I know...demo them myself. I will, but the shop is in Nelson and I live near Wellington. Both in a different island - although I will be going back to Nelson in a couple of months, so I'll demo properly then. Didn't have a chance to last weekend. Spent too long demoing the speakers, so had to leave and keep the missus happy.

The Rotel one.

The RA/04 is the same as the 05 but without remote control (don't need that at all). It's 40 W/ch...not high powered, but I'm thinking, if I buy this for the studio, it's plenty - I just never blast out at high volume in the studio nowadays. But...if I buy for the HiFi and swap the Axiom - not sure if 40 W/ch is quite enough for the odd blast on the big speakers. There's also an RA-06 which is the same, but 70 W/ch. Cost more, but not an awful lot. The RA-04 sells for NZ$800 (260 quid or so). Seems reasonable. The other thing is - I know Rotel are known for their amps for many a year, and apparently they still actually manufacture most of their own parts. That gives me confidence that they build for quality how they want it rather than makeing do with sourced parts. The full link is
http://europe.rotel.com/series06/specs/ra05.htm

I also was tempted by this

Full link http://www.rega.co.uk/html/brio.htm

I can get this for NZ$1075 (350+ quid approx). Now, everybody must have heard of Rega Planar turntables...I even used to own one (a P1 or P2...can't remember now), and they were bloody good. Rega are the name in turntables, but I really don't know of their pedigre in amps. TBH, I didn't even know they made amps until now. . So...I like the look of it, I like the fact it's a no-frills amp. Nothing apart from volume knob and selector knob. No silly extras to get in the way of the signal. The Rotel does have a bypass switch to bypass all the extras it has. But I like amps that don't have Eqs etc. My Axiom doesn't and doesn't need it. Neither should any decent amp that isn't a toy. So that's points for Rega over the Rotel. The website states 49 W/ch (8 ohms) but the brochure I got says 38 W/ch. So at 49 Watts, it may be powerful enough for the HiFI, and let me use my Axiom in the studio. Whereas at 38 Watts, it'd more likely end up in my studio. And telling me different stats loses them points.


So does anyone have any experience of Rega amps? They're completely new to me. I know and trust Rotel, I know Rega make other good HiFi gear, but that doesn't necessarily mean they make good amps. Just fishing for info until I can get back down to Nelson and hear them in action.


I'll try to find which Cambridge amps they were selling (both salesmen poo-pooed Cambridge against Naim, Rotel and Rega), but again...I ain't going to trust the word of a salesman.

Sorry for the long post.

[kritikon]

OK...I think the Cambridge one was this...



Full link http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.p ... 0amplifier

It's 40 W/ch, although I notice there's also an SE version at 45 W/ch. It has lots of gizmos, but again, there's a bypass.

[BertKoor]

I got this one recently for the living room: Marantz PM-4001



2x40 Watts, bypassable EQ... Sounds really nice and transparent to me...

[djverne]

Kritikon Have one word for you and that is BRYSTON Check out audiogon.com or ebay. But if you really want bang for your buck check out flying moles DAD-M100pro amps. They cost about $700 per pair and are now used on PMC active speakers.
http://www.flyingmole.net/products/m100proseries.html
http://www.bryston.ca/b60_m.html

[kritikon]

OKleydokley...I'll check out audiogon. Marantz...I know somewhere that deals in Marantz, so I may check 'em out. I have a Marantz CD player that I'm very happy with, never heard their amps. Bryston - affordable or daft money?

[djverne]

The flying moles are a third the price of Bryston and perform just as well. They can be ordered from anyware in the world and put out a solid 120watts a piece. They are very transparent, nuetral, dynamic, and consume very little power. I had four of them before I got into debt and used them to power PMC speakers. How much are you looking to spend on a amp? This is for the studio right?

[djverne]

Bryston has a 20 year transferable warranty too by the way. This may be what you need and you should be able to snag one off ebay or audiogon for under $900, they pop up every couple of days http://www.bryston.ca/2blppro_m.html

[bleebsen]

I'm on an old NAD (7020e), and wouldn't miss it. had to replace some caps, though...

[kritikon]

I checked out Audiogon, and it appears to be a US site? Certainly all of the items for sale I looked at were shipping only to US +/- Canada. A shame, as there's some nice stuff going for decent prices there. I won't be buying something that expensive sight unseen from a website in a different country though.

Having said that, I've found a couple of reasonable dealers closer to home. There's one in Wellington that sells all the usual Naim, Cambridge, Rotel etc. TBH, NZ$1000 will be my cutoff. Not that I don't think that there may be improvements at the stratospheric price range, but not enough to be worth it to me.

It might be for the studio...but as I mentioned earlier, if the amp is right, I may swap my old Alchemist amp into the studio and use the new one for the HiFi. In fact, when I checked up on the Axiom...it's only 30W/ch (I thought it was more than that!) so almost anything I'm looking at will have more power. So most likely, the new amp will be for HiFi, not studio.


I'm going to have to go along and demo some amps locally (at least I've now found 2 decent dealers in town). It seems Cambridge have had an awfol lot of good reviews - delivering quality above their price point. I notice almost all HiFi mags seem to rave about Cambridge recent amps, but always have some bones to pick with more expensive ones - which says to me that the expensive ones might be better, but are overpriced, whereas Cambridge deliver for the money. TBH I'm not into the real audiophile bracket - I was reading some HiFi forum after following some links, and have to say there was some complete bollocks being talked about. All kind of stuff about balanced/unbalanced connections and how home stuff should be using pro balanced connections. Some truth in it all, but there was no real idea of why pros use balanced in the studio - more like "the pros use it so it must be good". Unbalanced is perfectly OK for short connections as used in HiFi, or indeed in pro studio gear. And some of the other nonsense I read about cables. I've never seen any studio that goes into a fraction of the obsession with cables or connectors.

Anyway...I digress. Suffice to say, I'm not prepared to spend real audiophile money for ever-decreasing gains in quality. Unless I get overseas stuff shipped direct, I suspect I'll be limited to Cambridge, Naim, Rega, Marantz, Rotel, NAD and a few other mainline quality brands. If I can't find something decent out of that lot, there's something wrong...


Thinking about it, I blew my last speakers on the Axiom by being dumb. 30W/ch is not really enough, but 40-50 W/ch should be enough so even another stupid move on my part won't blow anything. I can't see me ever needing to turn up anywhere near full on 50W/ch And 30W/ch is plenty for the studio on nearfields.

I'll check out Flying Moles though..never heard of 'em.

[kritikon]

I checked out the only NZ importer (that I can find) for Bryston. $7600 for the 4B amp, which seems to be the cheapest they import.







That one is definitely not on my list. Although interestingly, they also import Manley and Eventide. I didn't know Manley have licensed Pultec gear! http://www.syntec.co.nz/product.php?pro ... 867&page=1

A Manley-improved EqP-1A. Sweet.

[djverne]

Cambridge would be a great choice out of the few you mentioned than, but take a look at those Flying Moles if you can, they way less than 4 pounds a each so shipping is almost nothing and they have a Japanese site

[djverne]

WOW New Zealend is expensive!!!lol

[kritikon]

oh yes indeedy. Well...it's expensive for electronics and stuff. Other stuff tends to be cheaper. I can certainly eat and drink and live alot cheaper than I could in the UK. HiFI, studio gear etc...you should see some of the prices for real studio gear . You almost can't buy any kind of diddy little mixer for under $1000 new. Synths...$3000 and above. S/w is OK, cos I buy international if I can (and then manage to miss paying GST so it has it's bonuses).

[djverne]

I'll buy the stuff and sell it to u for cheap, well cheaper than what it would cost you to buy it there!!