I had a friend ask me for a recommendation of a current commercially available stereo amplifier. Something with reasonable power, say 100-200watts in a price range less than $1000.
I realized that for a long time now, I have not purchased or even looked at purchasing a commercial amp. I have either built my own amps, or modded/rebuilt amps from long ago.
So are there any commercially available stereo amps anymore? Or does everyone just buy a AV receiver and use whatever amps are in there?
Would a non-DIY person today buy anything new? Or should they just search ebay for hafler, adcom, SAE, etc. etc.?
Thanks, gabo
I realized that for a long time now, I have not purchased or even looked at purchasing a commercial amp. I have either built my own amps, or modded/rebuilt amps from long ago.
So are there any commercially available stereo amps anymore? Or does everyone just buy a AV receiver and use whatever amps are in there?
Would a non-DIY person today buy anything new? Or should they just search ebay for hafler, adcom, SAE, etc. etc.?
Thanks, gabo
Only thing I got from that link was that I could pay them $59.95/month for access.
thanks, gabo
Does he need that kind of power. He could get higher quality with a smaller amp given that budget.
dave
dave
Look at this thread.
Who makes half decent power amps these days?
They are talking about good amps for studio monitors, which should be in that watt range.
I'm getting annoyed the supply of class AB hulks from the 80's 90's has dried up on e-bay. (amp for parts or repair). What did they do, all move to facebook? (which I don't participate in, they'll have to pay a detective to get my birthdate). Or all class AB amps all went to the dump? I'm not messing with surface mount pcb's or class D etc. Those can all go to the dump as far as I care. $600 rework stations are not fun. I understand transformer amps are passe' for bar bands, carrying all that iron costs money. But there were some good switcher supply class AB amps late 90's early 2000's.
Who makes half decent power amps these days?
They are talking about good amps for studio monitors, which should be in that watt range.
I'm getting annoyed the supply of class AB hulks from the 80's 90's has dried up on e-bay. (amp for parts or repair). What did they do, all move to facebook? (which I don't participate in, they'll have to pay a detective to get my birthdate). Or all class AB amps all went to the dump? I'm not messing with surface mount pcb's or class D etc. Those can all go to the dump as far as I care. $600 rework stations are not fun. I understand transformer amps are passe' for bar bands, carrying all that iron costs money. But there were some good switcher supply class AB amps late 90's early 2000's.
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Yea, he likes to throw a party once in a while in a pretty large room. Would be nice if he had some corner horns or old voice of the theaters, but alas he has the typical of today 85db rated speakers.
So I think those are reasonable values.
I guess most people would say the typical Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, Marantz receiver. Maybe those are good quality these days. Specs mean nothing any more so I really don't have a clue.
Then as someone suggested, if you go to the music sites, sweetwater/guitar center/etc. they have QSC, Crown, Behringer, etc. Many of those have loud fans and I don't know how they sound.
I have found a few options, but unlike when I was young, I don't have a group of friends who has tried all the options and can give opinions on designs and sound. I find few magazines/sites that do much in the way of reviews, not real reviews with tests. A few very high end mags still around, but their reviews are generally of $30,000 amps 🙂 A few home theater mags/sites that review all the receivers/processors, but again it's more about features/bells/whistles and very little measuring of actual performance.
I guess I just need to get him to buy something vintage off ebay and find the time to refurbish it for him. Or sell him one of mine and I'll build something new for myself. I think I have most of the parts around the shop for a turbo F5 🙂 I stockpiled a few of the LSJ74/LSK170 matched pairs a while back.
gabo
So I think those are reasonable values.
I guess most people would say the typical Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, Marantz receiver. Maybe those are good quality these days. Specs mean nothing any more so I really don't have a clue.
Then as someone suggested, if you go to the music sites, sweetwater/guitar center/etc. they have QSC, Crown, Behringer, etc. Many of those have loud fans and I don't know how they sound.
I have found a few options, but unlike when I was young, I don't have a group of friends who has tried all the options and can give opinions on designs and sound. I find few magazines/sites that do much in the way of reviews, not real reviews with tests. A few very high end mags still around, but their reviews are generally of $30,000 amps 🙂 A few home theater mags/sites that review all the receivers/processors, but again it's more about features/bells/whistles and very little measuring of actual performance.
I guess I just need to get him to buy something vintage off ebay and find the time to refurbish it for him. Or sell him one of mine and I'll build something new for myself. I think I have most of the parts around the shop for a turbo F5 🙂 I stockpiled a few of the LSJ74/LSK170 matched pairs a while back.
gabo
Thanks for that thread, those are pretty much my thoughts exactly!! I'll go see if there is anything on that thread that is interesting.
gabo
This meets the criteria and people seem to like it. Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in California
This one made Stereophile recommended components, but is only 20w. Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in California
The latter i would really like to hear.
emotiva likely has one, and there are lots more.
dave
This one made Stereophile recommended components, but is only 20w. Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in California
The latter i would really like to hear.
emotiva likely has one, and there are lots more.
dave
If it were me, I would just buy one of the fancier, older AV receivers used for 1/10th of the budget. Just use it for stereo. If you watch the online classifieds, you will see the occasional, older, big power THX certified amps come up for sale dirt cheap. I'm a big believer in big power.
In '02 I bought an ATC SIA150 for £800, a very good and well regarded award winning amp.
Later I changed to an ATC SPA2, more expensive and slightly more refined, for about £2k.
There are loads of very good and competent amps out there, but probably being kept for that reason.
I think to dismiss class D out of hand is a mistake, and there are many who are very happy with them. I am using class D driven high end speakers ATM, and think they are OK, surely they would not sabotage an expensive speaker with poor performance amps.
I couldn't agree more about FB, and even twitter, both theatres in which people create images of themselves often quite unrelated to the underlying realities.
Later I changed to an ATC SPA2, more expensive and slightly more refined, for about £2k.
There are loads of very good and competent amps out there, but probably being kept for that reason.
I think to dismiss class D out of hand is a mistake, and there are many who are very happy with them. I am using class D driven high end speakers ATM, and think they are OK, surely they would not sabotage an expensive speaker with poor performance amps.
I couldn't agree more about FB, and even twitter, both theatres in which people create images of themselves often quite unrelated to the underlying realities.
+1. Given he wants power vrs quality, the better Class D would be very suitable.
Thinking of the amps i have, the largest is a 150w dual mono, then 2 4x100 into 4Ω class D which each cost less than $200 to build (i use them for subs, most people would find them fine full range — one has a built in buffered PLLXO for biamping). A 100w (specified) into 8Ω, probably less into 4Ω. That one cost $10.
All the rest (and there are more than a few) are less power (4-70w). My main amp is 18w very high quality, back up is 8w and really decent/dirt cheap.
dave
And the Winner is!
Just an update on this. First, a big thanks to everyone who offered suggestions and help. As always, there is great advice to be had here at diyaudio.com.
And special thanks to Dave (planet10) for his suggestion of the Emotiva amps. My friend settled on the Emotiva A-300. This looks like a modern update to the classic old amps of the past.
A basic two channel class A/B amp, 150 watts/channel into 8 ohms. Reasonably good specs, MSRP $399.
I'm guessing it will provide many years of great service. Thanks again for everyone's help and I learned something in the process.
gabo
Just an update on this. First, a big thanks to everyone who offered suggestions and help. As always, there is great advice to be had here at diyaudio.com.
And special thanks to Dave (planet10) for his suggestion of the Emotiva amps. My friend settled on the Emotiva A-300. This looks like a modern update to the classic old amps of the past.
A basic two channel class A/B amp, 150 watts/channel into 8 ohms. Reasonably good specs, MSRP $399.
I'm guessing it will provide many years of great service. Thanks again for everyone's help and I learned something in the process.
gabo
Sorry if I'm late to the party, but...
What kind of friend are you? Build him some!!! (Or at least facilitate...?) 😀
Seriously, though: I am currently working on helping a good friend design/build some cabinets for his Altec 604E speakers - it's a "labour of love" for us both, it seems...
But will be worth it in the end, I'm sure.
Glad you guys found a solution!
What kind of friend are you? Build him some!!! (Or at least facilitate...?) 😀
Seriously, though: I am currently working on helping a good friend design/build some cabinets for his Altec 604E speakers - it's a "labour of love" for us both, it seems...
But will be worth it in the end, I'm sure.Glad you guys found a solution!
For less than a kilobuck, I'd be looking on the used market. See if you can pick up a used Bryston or MC2 amplifier. The later has fans, but they're reasonably quiet.
If you insist on new, I've had good experiences with Schiit products. They don't try to pack a bunch of useless features into the thing, so more of the budget goes into good analog design rather than a bunch of stuff you don't want.
If you insist on new, I've had good experiences with Schiit products. They don't try to pack a bunch of useless features into the thing, so more of the budget goes into good analog design rather than a bunch of stuff you don't want.
Sorry if I'm late to the party, but...
What kind of friend are you? Build him some!!! (Or at least facilitate...?) 😀
Seriously, though: I am currently working on helping a good friend design/build some cabinets for his Altec 604E speakers - it's a "labour of love" for us both, it seems...
Glad you guys found a solution!
Hahaha, he's not THAT good of a friend!
One of my earliest projects was in the mid-70s, I was a high school kid, and bought some Speakerlab corner horns (Klipsch horn clones). Which I proceeded to modify about 10 times before I eventually sold them in about 1995.
Thanks, the Emotiva he chose is the same, no useless features, just an old school style analog design. I don't have the schema, so I'm hesitant to say "good analog design," but from the reputation of the company and a few reviews I'm guessing it might qualify as "good." I did see a square wave output that looked quite good, so they are doing something right.
gabo