wtb amp for speakers

Sphinxvc, the badass that he is, is giving me a pair of 30 year old british speakers. However, I need an amp to power them. 89db/w. Not looking to spend too much as my focus is on headphones.

 

You need my overpriced Ragnarok.

 

Hopefully not too far over your budget, but this is what I'd buy: https://www.audiogon.com/listings/t...ii-mint-2016-02-23-amplifiers-10952-monsey-ny

 

british people are weird.. i think i never owned one thing british(thank junebus)...nah, just kidding(or am i?)...anyhoo, i guess it comes down to your budget. if really don't mind and don't need brand spanking box smell fresh new, then, going used locally is a start to look around on what interest you. power needs it is all personal dependent so, can't say how much power you actually need.

 

my budget, at the most, is in the hundreds not the thousands XD

 

Check out Emotiva. They usually have refurbs available if you call them. I don't know that they're the last word in SQ, but the bang for buck is probably pretty good.

 

My recommendation was ridiculous, though I still love it. These two options are pretty good.

 

crown class d amps are good as well. use to own xls 2500 and it sounded nice and clean to me. they also have the headroom to spare if needed, exceeds their power ratings, and are reliable from my experience. they also handle very low impedances with ease. if i was going class d i would go crown route. even the smallest one, the xls 1000/1002 will exceed its 215wpc@8ohm rms rating for long time no problem.

i had xls 2500 driving pair of large recapped altecs and thought it sounded great. has good clean sound with no edginess or grain to it.

 

Mainly looking into modern stereo receivers and adcom gfa 5xx. If the speaker thing sticks, I'll get something nicer in a few months.

 

Do you mean the category, or the brand?

 

Knowing the speaker's spec, room size and preferred music would help.
My 2cents:
- Vintage integrated: there are a few that are nice but hard to spot on the sh market. If you don't have a friend to service\refurbish them for you it could be expensive.
- About the adcom series... I've had the 585 and 535mk2 (stil own for the garage setup) and I heard the 555 with passive preamp. Not very bad but not very nice either. A nice tube pre would improve a lot, but too much money to advise anyone to go down that road. Again... given the age they could use a refresh in the psu's caps.
- Never heard a cheap class D who moved my heart and I've heard a lot of those chips. On the chip side the hypex ucd400 are not pure evil (read enjoyable) with wise matching.
- Pro amp... went down that road... lots of power... really nice sensation of control but after a few cheap pros I really felt some kind of contempt for the lack of resolution. I've had\heard at home some yamaha 250w, T.Amp 600w and crown 200w class D, apart 100w, old 220w carver pm (and also the tfm though maybe it is not considered pro). I thought adcom are of another planet compared to these cheap pro amp (with the sole exception of the carver). And adcoms, as nice as they are for the low price are far from be considered excellent regarding resolution.

In your shoes I'd be in the shadow in the sh market waiting for a nice int amp 10\15 years old top and drop a few hundreds over it.
Hope this helps.

 

I found a little sansui 300 for $40 that is right around the corner. I'm going to give that a shot for now and go from there. When I decide to buy something a bit more serious I can repurpose it as decor XD

 

Here it is, so far works with my headphones with loud hum in left channel. Don't have speakers to test with yet but not going to be too upset if it doesnt work out.

 

200w crown is bottom model which is 1000. the xls 2000/2500 is bit different. besides more power, better s/n ratio it uses better mosfets and better texas instrument chip for dsp functions. i wouldn't call them cheap in a way either since they pretty pricey(paid close to 700 brand new for my xls 2500).... i don't know why all the hate for class d in general. those things driving those well known jbl m2's master reference monitors everyone likes..basically class d type power amps. the mark levinson no.53 is nothing but, a crown k2 in a new shell with slight modifications(like just bigger filter caps) or the i-techs which are the replacements for the k series which are class I tech which is nothing more then different type of class d...it's like a class a/b version of d(uses a bias for the negative and positive outputs) and no one complained they lacked resolution or refinement... just saying.. i never had issues with mine and was skeptical at first but, they're not bad like everyone puts them out be. i just use amps no matter output topology design...



im only bias when comes to class a/b amps in a way. i like amps with t-03 outputs. why think i stayed with crown buying the xti 4002. it uses 32 t-03 outputs which is pretty beast and i knew it'll handle heavy loads no problem. amps with banks of t-03's from my experience seem to handle stress better especially driving under 2ohm loads... all my amps i kept and receiver(sansui 5000x) all used t-03's and never failed. only amp i kept and loved that didn't use t-03's but, large toshiba high current transistors were my h/k 770 dual-mono power amp. probably favorite little power amp and the h/k 775 monblocks are amazing as well. always like older hk low negative feedback designs.....but, anyhoo, enough of that...on subject...

that sansui do well. if can look for 5000x or so. probably best of sansui right next to higher model g-series.. the au-xxx series is good too if can find them working order and good price. just don't get it mixed with the au-dx/xx series. had an au-d7 at one point.. kept it for like an hour and decided to put it up for trade. liked my sansui 5000x lot more. as mentioned above here, the hk 700 series are pretty under radar still. the hk 770 dual-mono power amp or hk775 monoblocks are probably best of harman kardon offerings besides the citation models but, can get lucky and find a nice citation power amp for couple hundred here or there if patient.

for older pro amps, if go that route...while some suggest replacing some stuff, some of that is true but, not as bad as old receivers or integrated designs. lot of the older pro stuff can handle the test of time. you have some peavey cs800's can find for couple hundred or cheaper, crown dc300 for about 150-200 bucks, crown psa2 for about 300-500 bucks, older crown macrotechs as well for pretty good used prices...just don't go for the 5002 unless have 30a socket in the house lol...older crest amps fly under the radar pretty much except the big ca8 and ca10's, bgw is good to look for, aragon and ashly too. lot of ashly pro amps are mosfet designs and lot people like them. aragon amps are really nice but, can be hard to find and pricey sometimes depending location cause they're popular with krell heads cause lot of aragons are considered baby krells to most people....crown ce2000 are good amps as well and can be found for under 200 in most cases.. qsc usa amps are good and some of the original mx series. never used the modern qsc stuff but, only reason is cause to me seem crown gives more per dollar for my purposes...

well,anyhoo,besides long unnecessary rant, enjoy that sansui. left hum is might multiple things from not grounded properly inside chassis, connector maybe, filter caps,ect. it also might need a bias and dc offset adjustment if it never did. 40 bucks is not bad. could get a lot worst for that price.