Stereo Amp Recommendations

[BaDToaD]

Can anyone recommend a decent Stereo Amplifier. I have a Yamaha AX620 surround amp that kicks serious arse for movies and TV etc but despite the reviews saying it's a competent music amp I find it flat and dull. In fact it's so bad compared to my old AKAI Stereo amp (may it R.I.P) that I wonder what the reviewers listened to prior to the Yamaha. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh as my mates and my girlfriend think it's ok but to me it just sounds lifeless.

I know Stereo Amps have dropped in price considerably and I'm wondering what sort of quality I could get for around the 100 - 130 quid mark. Power isn't a worry as all I want to be able to do is listen to decent quality at a reasonable volume so I don't need 100 watts per channel. Any parties I host I can push through the Yamaha in 5 channel Stereo mode (that's what it's called honest) The Yamaha kicks out enough power to be painfully loud.

 

[c0ncept]

Well, cambridge make a decent amp. I have the a1 which cost me 60-70 and its prettu nice (not surround or anything though). The treble is nice and crisp and the bass is deep and satisfying. Plus it can kick out some serious volume. I've never had to turn it up more than half, even at parties.

 

[BaDToaD]

Yeah I have been looking at the Cambridge A1 version 3 at richer sounds for 80 quid.

I know the A1 was the UKs best selling amp at one time and it has a lot of fans but what is it's midrange like? Everyone talks about it's bass and treble.

Richer Sounds also have the Denon PMA255UK at £100. It's the same power as the Cambridge A1 at 30 Watts per channel and gets some excellent reviews including What Hi-Fi best buy.

My Yamaha is 5x90 watts RMS and retailed at £450 originally (I got it for £250 as it was an old model) so I want to make sure I get a stereo amp that can out perform it musically but not grunt wise. I'm more interested in quality than cutting edge technology. I'll probably end up going in to Richer Sounds and listening to some but then I'll end up spending too much money

 

[c0ncept]

yeah, Richer Sounds is an AMAZING shop. The staff know their stuff and as for the prices...


When you planning on buying it?

And as for the midrange, I'll be honest its not fantastic but its serviceable, and for eighty quid its more than I expected to get.

 

[BaDToaD]

yeah, Richer Sounds is an AMAZING shop. The staff know their stuff and as for the prices...


When you planning on buying it?

And as for the midrange, I'll be honest its not fantastic but its serviceable, and for eighty quid its more than I expected to get.

​

I'm planning on buying it in the next week or two. TBH the Denon is looking rather nice for the sake of 20 quid extra but the A1 is good enough that I'd probably get one if the Denon is out of stock.

My next problem is going to be how to rig up a pair of speakers to two amplifiers so I can swap between them. I've found lots of ways to do the opposite, i.e one amp to several pairs of speakers. My Yamaha has an amplifier input but if you use it you are supposed to have the speakers disconnected from the yam which is logical enough I suppose but totally impractical for my purposes as far as I can see. The manual is a bit vague on how it all works too, probably because it's a European/UK only part of the spec. It kind of looks like it's been added as an afterthought.

 

[loz_the_guru]

Always always go denon. Ive never been dissapointed with any of tehir products. My denon home cinema receiver sounds 100 times nicer than my cambridge A1 amp, which i boguht from richer sounds. and the staff in my branch know absolutely jack shit. ebay is your best bet, IMO.