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Amps you can't cook an egg on?

Thanks all.

Well, Lyngdorf TDAI-1220 (curious about RoomPerfect and "digital amp") and Hegel H120 (curious about insane damping factor) sorted for 14 day home demo, Mr DPD just dropped them around. Waahay.

And, after reading around all your wonderful suggestions, going to try and demo Exposure and Rega too.

One of those lot should do the job, else I'll just buy more eggs.

P.S. I still can't believe how good the Neat Petites are. Single best audio thing I've ever purchased. The scale and weight of sound from these toy sized things makes no sense and it's tight punchy bass not woolly fluff. Midrange to die for and top end so open and airy yet smooooth. Gonna be a fun few days. Have a good one everyone.
 
Try some Japanese.... I can't believe how good the Denon PMA-2500NE is. Massively exceeded my expectations. I'm sure the slightly less powerful PMA-1600NE will be as good.
 
I have been through an amp change recently with my Amphion 3S. I tried the TDAI 1120 and it was OK but not special or better than my existing amp. Room perfect was not a revelation either.
I ended up with the Atoll IN300 which was head an shoulders above anything else I listened to. Detailed, massive soundstage, realistic vocals, control of speakers, fast deep bass, non fatiguing. Needs a good warm up but the results have been worth it on everything I have listened to. They deserve a bit more exposure out there. I tried the IN100 IN200 as well but the 300 was just right. The onboard dac is good too
 
Columbo said:
Thanks all. Two grand budget, for an integrated (with or without DAC)

Did consider a Simaudio 340 but mixed reviews?

Rega I've dismissed as supposed to have relatively narrow/focused soundstage?

That Norma looks interesting! On the list it goes for some research

Wouldn't that Sugden run hot?

Thanks again
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The Naim Supernait 3 is very good; well
I enjoy mine anyway. Neat use Naim when designing their speakers so it’s a very good match. There is one in the classifieds for £2,100, which is something of a bargain.
 
The Atoll is a good step up to my ears than a Supernait. The IN300 is like The Naims bigger better brother.
 
PerF said:
Not my experience, perhaps more or less depending on speakers connected ?
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You may be right there, have had mine running at low / mid volume the past 5 hours and it is very cool. Before I got it, I thought it would run hot, like a previous Brio-R did but seems to get barely above tepid with Talisman 2's. While I think on, think the Brio-R was with KEF Q3 speakers, I believe these might have been a tricky load from memory o_O
 
Plus one for davidsrsb Yamaha A-S amps. I've had the 500 and currently use 801. They have well ventilated cases but hardly any sign of heat emanates from them.
Consumption is around 17 Watts on idle. These amps have a neutral tonal balance whilst remaining very musical.

The Creek Evo, no longer currently available new, also come to mind.
Power consumption is around 7 Watts so very cool. Sound good.
I believe they use a SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) if anyone else can confirm?
 
Many hours of switching out connections back and forth and level matching later...

Current set-up: Schiit Aegir class-a biasing amp / Schiit Modi Multibit DAC / Schiit Saga+ Pre / Allo Digione Sig streamer. Sounds smooth, organic, beautifully engaging. Can listen to for hours.

Hegel H120 - Immediately cleaner sound, super clear. But after a while noticed my shoulders a little tensed. Just couldn't relax into it. Switched to the external Schiit DAC and A-B'd. The Hegel's internal AKM DAC was adding a significantly crisper leading edge. Not a subtle difference. Some people might like it. But for endless hours of music listening, nah. Not for me. The amp itself was decent if a bit sterile. Probably a bit overpriced at £2,400? Though if you've got pig of a speaker to drive then I can see why a Hegel might be a good option (Dynaudio/Kef folk seem to love the pairing). But yeah, no. Hegel Schmegel.

Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 - Tested the amp without Roomperfect. Not bad. Not bad at all. While it came across fairly neutral it wasn't as sterile/boring as the Hegel. It was super engaging. And zero listening fatigue. Plenty of goosebump inducing moments, zero fatigue, tight bass, solid mids, smooth treble, excellent sound staging. It's a great little bit of kit... the streaming set-up, the voicings, EQ options etc. And it doesn't cook eggs. I also tried it as a pre-amp into the Schiit Aegir and A/B'd. That smooth, organic'ness was back. If I hadn't already heard the Aegir I'd have probably been totally happy with Lyngdorf. But the Aegir can't be unheard, just a richer more organic midrange lushness. Bugger. Tinkering with RoomPerfect; initial impressions significantly cleans up room bass bloat that I didn't know existed. Still testing/figuring RoomPerfect out, could be a deciding factor.

So the Lyngdorf / Aegir was the very best combo but doesn't solve the initial problem of heat and puts me £2k out of pocket lol.

Pondering whether I'll be happy with just the Lyngdorf... love, love, love the simplicity of it and getting shot of 326 metres of cables. But would I miss that midrange? I dunno.

Also spent way too many hours researching all your amp suggestions (thanks) and the one I'd most like to hear is the Exposure, sounds right up my street. "Sweet", "Creamy", "punches well above price" etc.

Options I'm considering...

1. Stick with the Lyngdorf and have an easy life (might add a small sub as Lyngdorf sub integration is supposed to be world class)
2. Lyngdorf as pre/streamer/room correction + Exposure 3150 power amp (£1.5k)
3. Exposure 3150 integrated with external DAC streamer (quite like the look of the Zen gear, neat and tidy and good value)

Argghhh. This hobby. Someone tell me the answer please? :)
 
Bas V said:
Seems you're doing nothing with all the suggestions that were given (Naim, Yamaha, Marantz, JOB, Croft. ...), so just trust your own ears (which is always good advice).
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Spent many an hour pouring over reviews of the suggestions made here based on those reviews and what could replicate my Aegir (and prob/hopefully best it) the Exposure recommendation is the one I'm pursuing. Seeing if I can get a home demo on the integrated and/or power amp.
 
Colombo, you views on the Hegel and Lyngdorf mirror mine. I found them both too sterile for my liking. The IN300 from Atoll really is something special for the price, I can't praise it highly enough. If you want a soundstage you could almost walk into then this is worth a listen. Have a chat with Harrow Audio they were beyond helpful with their support. I am not a serial box swapper so I do try to choose something I want to enjoy in my system for some time. Before the Atoll I have had 2 amps in the last 15 years, a NAP 200 and Teddy ST60. The Atoll is better than both by some margin for my ears in short it rocks!. I listened to about half a dozen or so amps during my search but the IN300 was the only one which made me want to part with my money.
 
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