budget amp upgrade

[TIU]

I want to replace my old Cambridge A500 (£150 new) with a second hand bargain on eBay. What should I go for? Jap crap, Nad, Arcam? It doesn't need a phono stage or bi-wiring facility but I would like a headphone socket which is missing with the A500. I want something at 80wpc or higher for no more than £100. Or maybe I could add a power amp to my A500 to beef it up?

 

[ultrasonic]

Why not try a classic Cyrus 1 or Nait 1/2/3 although they may sound a tad bright with your MA's...

If you can stretch it, a Marantz PM6010Ki Sig will be a big improvement on the A500

Id say at £100 thee are bargains if you look hard enough but when you go up a notch into the £150-£200 there is a much wider range of bargains to be had, all IMO of course.

Cheers

Ultra

P.S i think secondhand MF X-series new and old can be had for around £200

although going for brands with an army of followers/sheep may mean that you will be caught up in one of those X vs Y threads...

 

[nixon_fiend]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hafler-DH-220-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ5875152722QQcategoryZ14973QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Ant]

quad power amp, 303, 405 etc

 

[nixon_fiend]

I just picked up this little beast.. will report on how it sounds soon as i get it (like anyone cares:nerd

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ONIX-OA20-Classic-British-Integrated-Amp-Collectable_W0QQitemZ5875600053QQcategoryZ3280QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Christ, my hifi was worth 2k in september.. now it's about £200

)

 

[Ant]

Not unliike Cymbol I would imagine, heard an Onix tuner and it was bloody amazing.

 

[nixon_fiend]

There's another onix on there.. but they only do 38w p/ch..

What are you driving that wants 80watts??

 

[Jezzer]

nixon_fiend wrote:

Christ, my hifi was worth 2k in september.. now it's about £200

)

So you have a MF system? :green:

 

[nixon_fiend]

Ant wrote:

Not unliike Cymbol I would imagine, heard an Onix tuner and it was bloody amazing.

Look like this one?

EDIT: lol Jezzer, i had an x80! but it's just chopping and changing. curiosity impels me to try stuff.. then the bank overdraft starts chaffing! So trying to find the best sound/price ratio! and for 90 quid i'll be happy if it works!! which might even be asking too much for a 25 y/o amp :-o .. gotta finish uni and get a massively well paid job

 

[Jezzer]

nixon_fiend wrote:

i had an x80! but it's just chopping and changing. curiosity impels me to try stuff.. then the bank overdraft starts chaffing! So trying to find the best sound/price ratio!

Yup... I know how you feel.

 

[TIU]

ultrasonic wrote:

Why not try a classic Cyrus 1 or Nait 1/2/3 although they may sound a tad bright with your MA's...If you can stretch it, a Marantz PM6010Ki Sig will be a big improvement on the A500

Id say at £100 thee are bargains if you look hard enough but when you go up a notch into the £150-£200 there is a much wider range of bargains to be had, all IMO of course.

Cheers

Ultra

P.S i think secondhand MF X-series new and old can be had for around £200

although going for brands with an army of followers/sheep may mean that you will be caught up in one of those X vs Y threads...

Thanks Ultra, I see this as a challenge, especially as BB has just bought a £300 cdp for £33.00! If there's nothing that tickles my fancy I'll have to increase my budget.

When buying a power amp what needs to be considered so it matches - amps/gain/impedence?

 

[paulfromcamden]

These can be had for about 70 notes

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/oldeworldehtml/claymore.html

I nearly went for one myself but plumped for the cyrus2/psx for much nearer £200...

I reckon you probably do pay a bit over the odds for the 80s classics on eBay - but there are loads around so you've a good chance of finding an auction ending at a funny time that no one else will be watching.

 

[TIU]

nixon_fiend wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hafler-DH-220-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ5875152722QQcategoryZ14973QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the link. I can tell it's Jezzer's old power amp so what's its history? It's an American brand and may go above my current limit.

 

[paulfromcamden]

That said I still reckon my cyrus was a steal for the same cash I paid new for my old Marantz

 

[TIU]

Any more suggestions of what to search for? There must be something cheap which is better than a Cambridge Audio A500. What about the older Nads?

 

[hifikrazy]

Although only rated at 38w im willing to lay good money that the Onix will sound bigger than that. Someone on here picked up an Exposure XX (i think it was that model - im sure he'll be along to correct me!) for about 100 notes and thats a pretty good deal. Mostly a question of keeping your eyes open. Never heard the Claymore, but always wanted to as they were highly thought of. The old Cyrus stuff is good, but quite a bit brighter than Cambridge amp.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Exposure-X-Amplifier-NR-One-penny-start_W0QQitemZ5877112236QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mostly a question of keeping an eye out for a bargain, which may take a while.

 

[White Pheasant]

turnitup! wrote:

I want to replace my old Cambridge A500 (£150 new) with a second hand bargain on eBay. What should I go for? Jap crap, Nad, Arcam? It doesn't need a phono stage or bi-wiring facility but I would like a headphone socket which is missing with the A500. I want something at 80wpc or higher for no more than £100. Or maybe I could add a power amp to my A500 to beef it up?

Might be worth 'doing a Biscuit' and browsing eBay.de.

Providing you don't mind the idea of buying from another country, there is agreat selection of used amps over there for that kind of budget(especially in the way of 'Jap crap'). Obviously not allthe sellerswill ship to the UK - just read the info on each listing - but £100 could buy you something quitebeefy from the likes of Pioneer, Akai, Sansui, Denon, Harmon Kardon etc.

 

[cjr]

turnitup! wrote:

I want to replace my old Cambridge A500 (£150 new) with a second hand bargain on eBay. What should I go for? Jap crap, Nad, Arcam? It doesn't need a phono stage or bi-wiring facility but I would like a headphone socket which is missing with the A500. I want something at 80wpc or higher for no more than £100. Or maybe I could add a power amp to my A500 to beef it up?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-TA-F570-ES-Esprit-Quality-Build-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ5878422186QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sony ES amp. 80W, 2 sets of speakers. Excellent amps.

 

[Jezzer]

I used to have one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Harman-Kardon-Harman-Kardon-HK-6500-Verstaerker_W0QQitemZ7597076460QQcategoryZ75964QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cost close to £500 in 1990. A brilliant amp with a punchy sound!

Here's another but with a higher 'buy it now' price:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Harman-Kardon-HK-6500-HIGHEND-Verstaerker_W0QQitemZ7573015042QQcategoryZ75787QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

As someone said earlier, plenty of bargains on German eBay!