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Integrated Amp around £1,000

farfromthesun

farfromthesun

pfm Member
I currently have a Yamaha RN602 powering some Wharfdale Linton Heritage speakers. Sources are Technics 1200 MK7 - 50th anniversary edition with AT-VM95ML, Rotel 965-BX and various digital sources.

It doesn't sound bad at all, but I feel that it's quite loose sounding and sometimes lacking in drive, despite pretty much everything that I play being "driving" (lots of electronic music here). So wanting something well controlled and refined, with the ability to pump. :D

I was looking at the Roksan Atessa, and Rega Elicit amongst others, and am favouring the former at the moment.

Appreciate any suggestions or if anyone has experience of any of the above then it would be great to hear of it.
 
Are you looking at a new amplifier?
I owned a Rega Elicit, and loved it, but my Denon PMA850 kicked its ass!
A friend also brought round his Elicit R with the same result. He now has a PMA850 too.

I say this because I would look at this: https://www.hyperfi.co.uk/hifi-separates/denon-pma-a110-amplifier

It is above budget but you could look around. There is also the PMA-2500, which you can buy used for close to your budget. I think it would be a much better buy than either of the amps you mention.
 
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There are few revisions to the Rega Elicit, and I owned the Elicit mk2. From my experience, the Elicit is sweet sounding but it's a "soft" type of presentation. Everything sounds a bit more rounded at the edges and not very controlled in the bass. It's basically a warm, lush and slightly smeared presentation as opposed to your controlled and refined requirements, and the ability to pump. If you want controlled, refined, dynamics and drive, I wouldn't look at the Rega Elicit. It's more suitable for lullaby rather than electronic music. A bit of exaggeration there but I suppose you get my drift.

Perhaps used Exposure 3010 S2D as recommended by BB, or the Denon as mentioned above, or Naim Supernait 2 used but I'm not sure if you can get it at your budget.
 
2nd hand EWA Claymore, if you can get past the lack of remote. It had lots of slam and control with electronic music.

Edit: I have only heard the EWA updated version, not the original Inca Tech one so I cannot confidently recommend the latter, although one might be easier to find.
 
Look out for the Exposure others have mentioned, they seem to go for £800 or less when they do come up. That’s if they go at all: couldn’t sell mine at that price (not shilling here, decided to keep it in the end). Really nice amp, undervalued second hand IMO, I guess because a newer model was released.
 
I recommend a used Lyngdorf 1120. A couple on here at the moment.
Drive and grunt in spades and with superlative bass control with or without Room Perfect - at least IME.
Excellent on board phono stage too.
 
Big difference between a Yam 602 and an 803. Bags more power and control. Keep all the functionality as well.
 
I heard the Wharfdale Linton Heritage a while back and I thought they were great but the bass is not particularly tight. From what I've read that seems to be characteristic of the speaker. Wharfdale speakers have always been like that, they're a bit soft and slow sounding. I think the Linton is much better than some I've heard but it's still a bit that way inclined.

Yamaha amps tend to be a bit soft sounding too so maybe a better amp might help a bit but it's probably not going to do enough of what you want. You'll just have to try it.
 
When faced with a similar question a few years back I ended up buying a 2nd hand Krell integrated, a KAV 400xi which I think was something like £800 from a local dealer. It's a lot of amp for that sort of cash.
 
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