I’ve been given an old Acoustic Research turntable, which is a lovely big lump of wood and I already have a pair of floor standing Wharfedale Denton speakers. Can anyone recommend an amp that will match these two aesthetically and aurally for not too much money please?

S/h or new?

If its S/h then try and find an Audiolab 8000A, it even has a phono stage

An Arcam Alpha 10 if you want something older, the phono stage is optional though so watch out for that. It can be easily retrofitted though.

S/h or new?

Either richmtb. I’m clueless tbh, but would like it to look nice and sound ok. Phono stage? (Is this the Not the Nine o’clock News hi fi sketch? 😃).

Yamaha have some lovely looking retro receivers with phono stages. Can stream music too and all the connections you could need.

The cartridge on a turntable has a much lower output then the normal line level form say a CD player. The amp needs a phono stage to boost the input signal to a higher level so you get output at a decent volume.

Yamaha have some lovely looking retro receivers with phono stages. Can stream music too and all the connections you could need.

Is another good suggestion. I actually recently swapped a load of Audiolab stuff for a new Yamaha reciever after the power amp lost a channel. I’m impressed by how good it sounds and it can also do everything you’d expect of a modern amp, like stream and connect to wireless sources

Thanks rich and YoKaiser, makes sense, I’ll look at Yamaha.

Regarding the Yamaha suggestions above, we bought my Dad a Yamaha amp when his Cambridge Audio amp packed up a couple of years ago.

We needed one with a phono stage & there seemed to be several Yamaha amps that fitted the bill.

Not really had a proper listen to it, but it sounds pretty good from what I have heard & seems to be built like a tank. Definitely worth a look.

There are tons of second hand NAD amps kicking around these days, most of which should come with phono stages depending on how old they are.
If you look at NAD just check the output – some of their cheaper amps have very modest output (my 3020i is only 20w per channel) & older speakers general need a bit more oomph to drive.

In the great tradition of recommending what you have, there are a few Mission Cyrus amps on the old ‘Bay. Simple, clean, great quality, with phono stage, and somewhat awesomely, Mission/Cyrus can still service/source spares for these three decades on. Mine is the Cyrus One, bought in 1990 with alloy case and integral heat sink. You’ll get a working one for around the £250 mark. The Cyrus Two was slightly more powerful with an option to add a PSX power supply. Note the One doesn’t have a headphone jack, if that’s important.

Have a quick read of this https://www.whathifi.com/features/old-amplifier-vs-new-amplifier-which-is-better

More great advice, thanks. That What HiFi article is most illuminating and I think I’ll go for either the Audiolab or Cyrus. As always it’s another open can of worms, I really hoped to do this a bit more cheaply, but there’s a few on the bay, so I’ll keep my eyes peeled. Cheers everyone.

Watch old amps where the capacitors dry out. They can be fixed easily by someone who can solder.

The Cyrus two is much better than the one if you afford it.

Watty, I’ve just sent you a pm regarding an Audiolab 8000A which I should probably sell. Please ignore if it’s of no interest.

Replied 😉

Cyrus 2 and PSX 👍👍

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F293373503784

Trouble with nad is it looks a bit (imho) rubbish. And cyrus is half width so might also look weird. I say that as a cyrus owner. With an old wooden turntable I’d be tempted by something like linked, silvery vintage.

That Rotel would be perfect, but the rust is a bit off-putting, looks like it’s been stored somewhere damp!

A good a&r a60 would be an absolute corker too.

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