I came home from work today to find the kids had had a ‘disco’ in the lounge, resulting in my amp being frazzled! Horrible burning smell coming from it, LH channel not working and sod-all volume from the right so it looks like a replacement is needed!

It was nothing special (a Cambridge Audio A5), but I wondered if I should replace with similar CA or Marantz PM5004 or get an all-in-one Onkyo, Yamaha or Denon system.

Is there much difference in sound quality at this level?

Main source nowadays is Spotify and I run the Sky TV box through it.

It depends on what the balance of use is

I ended up with a Reciever and 5.1 speaker set as I realised I was mainly using it for tv and films. mainly for clearer voices

I’m happy but music is less good

I have the opposite dilemma. My CD player is playing up and I am just left with a decent amp. Plug my iPod in at the moment but am thinking of getting a wireless streaming receive, like an apple airport express and not bothering wight the cd at all.

For your situation I would definitely look at Denon’s mini hifi range, I think they do something cAlled a Ceol or similar which will stream from Internet, spotify, iTunes etc and act as an iPod dock. Seems flexible enough to work with non apple products. There systems are usually very good sound quality and certainly they are neater than a separate amp.

http://www.whathifi.com/review/denon-ceol-piccolo

Have a look at the link above. I think they are between £250 and £300, so a bit more expensive than just a budget amp. Other option is to go for an av receiver as above, thus can often now stream Internet radio and play music from iPods etc, as well as havin plenty of power/flexibility.

CA and Denon stuff is good at that price point …

Getting AV and great audio sound is always a challenge

Yamaha AV amps are pretty good TBH

Are the speakers bolloxed as well?

If your source is only Spotify, I’d go for the all in one. Is the kids’ disco likely to be repeated though?

[cough]

I have a NAD C350 amp for sale if you’re interested? Plenty of inputs, sounds fantastic AND has a very useful overload protection circuit(!) Mail in profile.

Although tbh, if you just listen to spotify then an all in one will probably work out better, depending on whether it can power your speakers ok.

Unless you’re massively fussed about surround sound, and have a sub, a decent stereo setup will always be better than a ~£500 AV system.

I used to have an Apple airport express connected to the NAD for Spotify streaming. Sound quality at 320 was no different to CD.

Are the speakers bolloxed as well?

Speakers seem fine.

I’m not really sure how she’s broken it – my only thought is she had the volume turned down on her iPad (we run a cable from the headphone socket to the amp), so then turned the volume fully up on the amp. She’s only ten so wouldn’t have thought to turn the volume up on the iPad.

Is the kids’ disco likely to be repeated though?

I doubt it! Its the first time she’s done it as she has her own little hifi in her bedroom.

Hi RicB

May be of interest – depends where you are and how much you want!

Have to be this

Edit and dont forget the speakers

£100 plus postage for the Amp- its in almost perfect condition.

I’m based in Leeds so happy to work something out

If you’re interested you’re best emailing me as I don’t check the forum at work

This –

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For the money, it’s a cracker. (with some half decent speakers)

Just do some research into remote controls first. Most use smartphone apps to control Spotify etc. some of the Apps, Marantz and Denon in particular (same company) are poor. Yamaha are much better but their amps don’t have Spotify built in

I demoed both the Denon M39 and the Yamaha CRX550 for the home office. Much preferred the Yamaha, it sounded much punchier (same speakers: Eltax Symphony 4.2SE).

Just my tuppence.

I’ve an Onkyo AV Reciever, sound is OK, very clear, but not very ‘nice’, I’m no Hi-Fi buff so cant describe it well but I prefered my old Marantz amp.

My dad’s got that denon above, it’s great, TBH I should have got that and plugged everything into the TV, then run a cable from the TV to the amp for sound (not got 5.1, just stereo).

Cheers All, and thanks RicB – I’ll have a think about the NAD – but this may be an opportunity to de-clutter!

I’m not really sure how she’s broken it

She hasn’t really broken it though, it failed.

We’ve had an all-in-one Denon for years, works well for music and came with good quality speakers. Don’t use it for TV etc as I’ve a surround-sound system.

Have a look at Lepai, good for very cheap by all accounts, considering loosing my Cambridge Amp from the lounge for one.

Have a look at digital tripath “T-class” amps, http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/85273-tripath-t-amp-faq-wiki.html

There’s load of choice on eBay under £50. I’ve got a TA2021. It’s tiny and great for what I need. They won’t have the power to go stupidly loud but that’s about the only drawback.

Another fan of those Denon DM39 boxes. Got one hooked up to some Acoustic Research speakers and it’s fab. Every bit as good as with the Arcam amp. If it was next to my telly I could feed it with the digital output too.

Thanks Rauiligan and Whizzo – but unless I went all in one I’d need at least 3 inputs.