I am open to suggestions..... Currently using a Cambridge a1 connected to a technics 1200 turntable and Marantz cd player. All about 20 years old, but I'm feeling the itch to upgrade the amp and speakers. Pretty sure on the speakers but not so sure on the amp.
(I know I'm best to match the speakers and amp at the same time, but I don't really get overly precious about my setup)
I've seen online some small valve stuff, the name escapes me but it was about 600 quid and got some amazing reviews. Actually it was this: https://www.blueaura.co.uk/v40-blackline
I'm guessing at 600 notes were not talking McIntosh beater stuff, but I'm also looking at solid state at that price too. Bluetooth isn't a deal breaker but phono stage is, and I can get rid of my Behringer preamp
but I don’t really get overly precious about my setup
Buy what you want then, it's not going to sound good.
Solid state- Yamaha A-S801,Audiolab 6000a or Rega Brio plenty of online reviews to be found.Big brands with dealer support etc
I took a risk and bought 2 Chinese tube amps off ebay for £300ish each(Yaqin and Reisong),both sound great and look fantastic but no phono stage as I didn't need one.There are "budget" Chinese tube amps with phono stage available though I can't comment on the quality.Dynavox (German/Chinese)are worth checking out too on Amazon and e bay.
If you do go down the tube amp route then the consensus is to use high efficiency speakers so depending on what you've set your sights on speaker wise this may limit your options.
You could try the above or your current amp with a valve pre or buffer to get a feel. Lots of cheap stuff on Amazon or UK stuff and like X-10D from musical fidelity you can pick up second hand / sell on without much loss if it doesn’t do what you hope.
I’ve given up on the faff and gone all in class-D after class D power / valve pre. All good fun to play around to get the sound you want.
Buy what you want then, it’s not going to sound good
Living up to your user name
All I meant was I'm not that bothered as long as it sounds OK, my ears aren't tuned enough to know if the frequencies should be higher or lower blah blah blah but j know shit when I hear it
Are you not bothered about any kind of casting/multi-rooom capability?
I currently use a Chromecast Audio plugged into my amp, but when the time comes to replace I'll definitely be looking at something that works with Spotify etc. to enable playing music around the house.
If you really aren't that fussed by the outright sound quality, then I would just decide on your budget & see what somewhere like Richer Sounds have on offer.
I bought my Dad a new amp a couple of years ago; he has a lot of records so it had to have a phono stage. We got a Yamaha amp for ~£200 & it sounds perfectly fine.
If your current set-up works fine though, I'm struggling to understand why you need to upgrade given that it doesn't sound like you are particularly bothered about improving things necessarily.
What about a minter PM66SE KI Signature?
I know it's vintage-ish but they are superb amps.
£200-250 will bag a good one.
Maybe investigate a second hand Naim Nait 5 (or 5i depending on budget)
I've had mine for 20 years and keep upgrading everything else and still happy with the amp.
I also have the flatcap 2 power supply, but I had that from new, so hard to know how much it's contributing.
You'd need the Naim Stageline for the phono stage, but mine has been flawless with my Rega Planer 3
Another option would be the Rega amps - as they tend to have phono stages built-in. A second hand Brio would be well within budget.
Personally, I don't tend to listen to online reviews too much - I've listened to quite a few youtube favourites that sound very ordinary. Shiit being one example. Best to demo if you can.
Most important question before recommendations should actually be: What speakers are you going for?
If you're not overly fussed then the best Marantz or Yamaha amp connected to the best Q Acoustics speakers within budget will do the job just fine.
I've had Naim integrateds and pre power, and rega integrateds but now using a cheap Cambridge Audio Azur 540a off ebay for £50 and I've never been happier, just sounds great.
Don't get hung up on "more watts is better".
Someone suggested the AS 801 from Yamaha. Used a 701 for a while and it's a great sounding amp I just can't get past the rectangular tone controls and them all being off at jaunty angles.
Onkyo 9150 worth a listen.
Speakers.... Hmm.... New Wharfedale EVO 4.2....Buchardt S400 what music do you listen to? What speakers do you have now?
What cart have you got on the turntable?
2 years ago I bought Yamaha R-N803D paired with Tannoy revolution xt 6f floor speaker set from Peter Tyson, all in for £999. This option in not available now but they're few other interesting options to choose from. This Yamaha is more of do it all stereo amp and sounds great. And yes - it does have phono input terminal. Yamaha MusicCast app a is great addition to it.
I’m planning on replacing my NAD 3130 amp and will probably get the Marantz PM6006 UK Edition. Will have a listen first but to be honest any decent quality amp sounds ok to my ageing ears. The NAD amp phono stage seems to have developed a fault otherwise I’d stick with it. Will be relegated to my new shed 😀
hamishthecat
The NAD amp phono stage seems to have developed a fault otherwise I’d stick with it.
Couldn't you just get an external phono stage & plug it into the aux channel, rather than ditch the whole amp?
Ideally you need to have a listen. Personally, from the above suggestions I would avoid Naim (personally don't like the sound and they are not cheap so it could be either an inspired choice or an expensive mistake) and I wouldn't touch the Q Acoustics speakers. Haven't heard any of their speakers that I like. Reasonable budget amp will be Audiolab 6000, Quad Vena II and Marantz. Currently Sevenoaks sound and vision have a couple of hundred quid off the Musical Fidelity M2si. For each of these though you need to be careful about the speakers you put with them. Heard the Audiolab 6000 with the accompanying 6000 CD Transport through Quad bookshelf speakers and it sounded superb. Heard it again with the new Wharfedale Evo speakers (can't remember which ones and it was horrible). Also, the Audiolab doesn't gel especially well with B&W (actually listened to the 6000 and B&W 705 s2 and it didn't sound particularly great. It does depend a lot on what you like the sound of, what music you listen to and what speakers you are going for
Couldn’t you just get an external phono stage & plug it into the aux channel, rather than ditch the whole amp?
I could, but it’s a big shed and needs a decent sound system...
Most important question before recommendations should actually be: What speakers are you going for?
been thinking about the Klipsch Reference R-51m - just not sure if i'm more swayed by the aesthetics than anything else
What cart have you got on the turntable?
At teh moment a Stanton 500-II - that's in line for an upgrade soon as well, most likely to an Ortofon Red (I know the blue is supposed to be better, but I've heard both and can't justify the price hike on the Blue) but I've also been sniffing around the Audio Technica stuff which gets very god reviews as well
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Naim Nait 5si would be my first choice - but obvs needs a phono stage.
https://www.audiot.co.uk/products/naim-nait-5si-amp-black-14442.aspx
Thats a good price too....