Needs to be under £200, pref. cheaper 2nd hand, black, well-made in metal and able to drive Mordaunt-Short 914 speakers whilst being precise with sound, having powerful base and delicate tweeter, dynamic enough to cope with Maria Callas as well as Slayer’s “South of Heaven”. BTW No Cambridge allowed 🙂

I reckon I would looking for a 2nd hand Cyrus of some sort. Probably a 3 for that price but great amps

Naim Nait 3

or something similar.

I suspect someone is taking the p*ss just a leetle.

Either that or you’ve swallowed a pile of What HiFi mags and think all that guff means something….

Edited with a 😀

Well, I’ve killed my Marantz 6010SE Amp and can’t afford a new PM6002. I listen to stuff from Maria Callas and Gorecki to Metallica, Slayer and Behemoth with a dose of Einsturzende Neubauten in between so a clear, powerful and punchy sound is needed. What Hi-Fi love Cambridge Audio but I don’t so no, no swallow-up there.

try and get hold of a Primare?

Rega? I’ve got one of the original Brios – bought before the mags reviewed them & fell in love – it rocks! 😀

Consider one like this? In good nick, £70.

In which case, a Nait would be ideal. But then they’re ideal for all sorts of stuff…. Don’t forget the naim (Nac?) speaker cable…

Heard very good things about the Cambridge Audio amps from Richer Sounds. The 340A SE falls just into your budget, and should do you fine.

Get a second hand rotel from the auction site.

Cracking little amps

Get a second hand rotel from the auction site.

Much as I can highly reccomend Rotel (I have one from years ago, it’s great), picking up a 2nd hand amp can be a minefield. You may get lucky and get one in mint condition, hardly been used, you may get one that needs a good service. And if you get one that needs a good service, it’ll cost £100 or more to service it most likely, negating any cost savings in the first place!

Pioneer A400 off ebay, they were fantastic back then and no reason to be any worse now, failing that a Rotel RA-01 (again from ebay) no idea whats current these days

Arcam A85

picking up a 2nd hand amp can be a minefield

True. You’re probably on safer ground with an older higher end model.

Naim, for example, will still service anything they’ve ever made.

I have an Audiolab 8000A you can have for £100 posted.
😉

Oh, and don’t forget s/h Regas. And, depending on age, you might find a s/h Creek or Exposure.

Have a nosey at the pinkfishmedia classifieds section (it’s like the STW of hifi…).

A used Sugden A21a – delicious, sumptuous, natural pure class A sound!

A good mate of mine uses NAD of some sorts and I don’t like the sound. Good for U2 and Queen but imprecise otherwise. Rotel 4-series is a bit better, will check Arcam etc.

You should be able to get a Quad 34/306 combo second hand for £200 ish.

Not maybe the last word in detail, but they just sit there and make music. Very listenable.

Solidly built and quad have a pretty efficient service/repair dept.

I was impressed enough with mine that I’ve since upgraded to a 99CDP/909 combo that wil hopefully last me the next 20 or 30 years