MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Just after something to drive a couple of Kef Q5 floorstanders I have lying around gathering dust. Will be in the bedroom, at the moment just for connecting up a phone for music streaming, but if I can persuade Mrs FO that it isn't a stupid boy thing I can imagine getting DAB radio and maybe CD player separates too. I can't assume anything though, and this may be a short-lived experiment, so don't want to spunk £hundreds on a fancy amp which ends up never being used.
Seen a Cambridge Audio A1 on eBay for under £45. Any good? If not, what else is reasonable for around the £50 mark?
I've a NAD314 currently doing nothing that would fit the bill if you're anywhere local to Northampton
Given the weight of decent hifi amps and th budget I'd suggest local collection whatever you go for to avoid spending the same on postage as the amp itself!
That would do nicely. Unfortunately I'm in deepest, darkest Fife so not exactly close.
Have a look at some of the tripath stuff. Allegedly very good for the money, not massively powerful though.
Tripath SMSL they do a 50 watt version (I have a 35 watt version connected to a jongo bluetooth/wifi thing)
I'd look for second hand on ebay. Plenty of stuff being got rid of, as everyone swaps over to SONOS type stuff.
My Dad's got a Cambridge Audio amp & it's pretty good; been reliable too so far - it must be 10-12 years old, I think.
took delivery of one of these (see link) recently. Stunning performance for the money. I compared it to my (ageing) Arcam Alpha amp, and it held its own comfortably. That was connected to a couple of different pairs of speakers, but both small 'bookshelf' models. Like said above, they do a 50w one too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017W13OR0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Avoid anything with Steepletone on the front panel.
Have a look at AV receivers on Ebay. Loads of good quality stuff going cheap which don't have HDMI connections.
You can probably pick up an Arcam AVR100 for less £100 and that will be very good with music.
If you want super cheap get something that is local and "pick up only". Loads go for £20 - £30.
I have a Cambridge Audio A1 and have always been very happy with it.
Spend a just a little bit more and get one of the Denon or Yamaha or Onyko shoebox-sized systems. You'll get your CD and DAB already, nice and unobtrusive unlike a stack of full-size hifi separates in the bedroom.
I picked up a lovely Teac H300 Mk2 system from eBay. Less than £100 for Amp and DAB tuner. Smart, small and well made. Full size separates are a bit big for a bedroom.
Also bought a Yamaha 'all in one' CD/DAB/Amp for about £50. (but bought an earlier one that had a faulty volume control)
Some real bargains to be had on eBay on old hifi - I think a lot of people are replacing hifi with Sonos type kit.
A fair bit of stuff is from cash converters type places - I reckon for the best quality/price make sure you're buying from an individual. There's also stuff at high fixed prices - the Teac I bought lots at fixed price for c£100 for the amp alone but they never go for that much when sold at auction.
We've got one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Topping-TP20-MK2-TA2020-Digital-Amplifier/dp/B00828UTE4 on my bedside table, connected to an old DAB radio that lives under the bed, and a line in switcher to a chrome cast audio.
takes up very little space, sounds pretty good through the q-acoustics bookshelf jobs at the end of the room.
A bit higher than your budget I know, but the TEAC 500 reference series amps are very good, compact and look really nice - GBP100 ish on ebay (I bought one for the bedroom system, and it's migrated to the living room replacing an Audiolab 8000s).