Recommendations for stereo amplifier ?

[Graham Maynard]

Hi All,

Like so many other enthusiasts I build my own circuits and link them together, but they do not end up being particularly user friendly and respectable looking.

I have decided this time around to buy a reasonable and current integrated stereo amplifier and then modify it to my own requirements.

As I still have over 2000 7" vinyl singles from my 60's and 70's disco days and many of them have still not appeared on CD, I wish to digitally archive them.
Therefore it is essential that any amplifier I buy will have a standard phono input plus separate bass/treble controls or equaliser circuitry. A pre-amp output would also be useful, but this can obviously be retro fitted.

The amplifier would not need to be powerful because I already have other power amplification, but I would like it to be clean sounding, decently serviceable within its own right, and also have a remote control.

I quite like the look of the Musical Fidelity X-150, but as with anything else of decent quality or pedigree it does not these days have any tone controls.

So far I like the looks of the Rotel RA-02, and I note that there is an Arcam A65, but searching for such an 'old fashioned' specification is not easy in today's market place, and thus I am asking if any members would have other recommendations for an amplifier I could work upon.

Cheers ............ Graham.

[Netlist]

Hi Graham,
Not wanting to influence your decision to use an integrated amp to do your recordings but why not use a good phono preamp connected to a good soundcard in a computer. Cooledit (now Adobe Audition) is worth every penny.

/Hugo

[savenger]

I agree with Hugo. Done some vinyl and tape archiving like that. You can "master" it then with software, remove clicks and do many other things afterwards. Quite time consuming job you got ahead (if you gonna do all your records, i would suggest much coffee and even some beer).

[Graham Maynard]

Hi Hugo,

That was indeed my first thought, but I cannot find a phono pre-amp with tone controls that will make best sound from 30 year old pop singles.
I want to hear and adjust before I record, rather than try to modify the files later, so I am now considering driving a soundcard from 'pre-amp out' sockets that are normally used for driving slave amplifiers.
Indeed I intend to also cut out the 47k/250pF nominal phono input components and fit a dual gang potentiometer plus dual gang RF tuning capacitor to further optimise initial transduction.

Yes it will be some job Savenger, but maybe more than the vinyl would be spinning if I sipped the beer.

I now see that there is a Marantz PM7200 that offers plenty of input adjustment and interconnection. Also a KI version.

While on this topic; I have two older P3/500MHz computers and my son has a fully AV-3.2GHz-RaidXP. One of mine is W-98, one W-Me. Neither see all of a 'C' drive bigger than 30GB. Would XP on one of the old computers see the full contents of a bigger drive, say using stacked external drives via USB2 cards already fitted, or would BIOS still get in the way. ?

Cheers ............ Graham.

[destroyer X]

Hello Graham, this is very interesting...but....my God!, will be a hard work.

I have a suggestion, not top performing, but some idea, not tested already.

Make a low noise flat amp, with those burr brown chips... stereo unit and connect it to an equalizer..... the equalizer output to your PC, can be the ME that likes those things.

Have some program alike Easy Hi Q, from Roemer Software, the one i used to record conversations with my family in the south of this country, (i use 16K sampling and 3 minutes around 480K....but only good to voice)

This program have a freeware that you can download, the limit is 3 minutes, maybe you can make some fade in and fade out, and also you can select 4 musics each Vinil Record.

The program can use your computer audio mixer, if you need to enter the music title with voice, and can be switched to line in, or microphone and mixer output, of course.

Adjustments can be mono or stereo, and goes from 8K to 320K...where you have a fair rate of 96K....CD compatible recordings are around 200K...you can have more than CD...and much less to...output is MP3, if you can tollerate that codification

Of course the 3 minutes limit imposed can be changed buying the program.....or.......rack?...brack?....you know!

So, 4 musics each Vinil, 2000 units, you have 8000 musics that you can multiply by 3 minutes (more or less)....24000 minutes recording and not counting the time deciding adjustments and making test recordings and making short playbacks (when reproducing, the Windows Media Player can equalize your reproduction, and also you can make the recording in 320K, equalize the MP3 recording playback and send it again to new recording in lower sampling rate...results may be reasonable as i am making this here.

Well, finishing, your 24000 minutes will be multiplied by 700K each minute (96K, a fair adjustment), this will produce 16.8 Gigabytes that will be reasonable to complete a 20 Gigabytes HD.

Six monthes recording, working 4 hours each day, and spending 3 minutes recording and 3 minutes with adjustments and beer.

40 mililiters of beer each 3 minutes working, will result in 320 litters of good beer, around 1.6 liters each day.

Hepatic Cirrosis guaranteed, and will died before listen all your recordings...better to exclude the beer!

Well, Graham, if you decided to go ahead with beer, please, ask my adress and they can sent me the HD when you find God!.

If you go to Coffee...will turn brown colored and may have some heart attack.

Better wait a little bit more, as those recordings may appear someday.

To masterize, in a decent way.....lets see....hummmmm, you may be younger than 23 years old..... because, life will be not enougth long to finish.

regards...hehe.

Carlos

[destroyer X]

Image here:

[destroyer X]

But you can make millions of 3 minutes recordings!

The whole program is 7.3 Megabytes to download.

Adjustment image, this is 1 from 3.

[destroyer X]

Other adjustment example:

[destroyer X]

Singing that music that tell:

- I will survive!

hehe....good!

Carlos

[jacco vermeulen]

Graham,

25 years ago i built my first loudspeakers because i ended up in the shops with solid brand speakers way over my budget.
First i planned to buy a decent integrated amplifier once my loudspeakers were finished.
The beginning of the story of how i got deeper and deeper in DIY insanity.

I desired putting my record collection on CD from the day a Philips employee constructed the first converter and software to turn analog recordings from a record on a CD through a personal computer.
A large portion has been put on CD, maybe one day i will even buy the program

My question:
why a current model if you intent to fondle its insides?
I turned to building it myself, as most integrated had a tadd over a few faulty details.
From your posting i read that you intend to use the amplifier between your record player and PC.
In my view, to acquire a proper digital recording, you need a quality amplifier from the input, phono stage, volume controll, line amplifier and the outputs.

Just a suggestion, why not look for a quality chassis with a decent powersupply model, preferably non-contemporary, clean it out and put quality circuits in them with at least an Alps volume attenuator?
Then tweak the recordings digitally, the stuff i collected sounds horrible on the original record.
Magix has a professional product.