advertisement


Integrated amp for 40-something Apple addict creative type

Tryant

Tryant

pfm Member
Looking for some suggestions for a new integrated amp for a niece in Canada (her old Sima has given up the ghost). Sources are a Systemdek iix and music files from a Mac and iPhone via Airport Express. Speakers are old Castle Warwicks, which I think are rated nominally 8 ohms and 88dB. Budget up to around £1k for a new amp. I was thinking of a safe conventional solid state amp like an Arcam, Rotel or maybe the Quad Vena II. Needs to be simple, reliable, and have decent phono. Welcome ideas especially regarding the Apple side of this setup. Cheers:)
 
Quad Vena II is a good shout, I had one of the original versions, excellent amp. I would also look at the Audiolab 6000A, also has a phono stage & an internal DAC for listening to music files off a phone & laptop.
TS
 
Not a common choice in the UK I know, but I have a PS Audio Sprout100 ($699 US) and suspect she might like that. I play my iMac’s iTunes library through a USB connection to the Sprout100 (has an internal ESS Sabre 9016 DAC) which sits next to the computer, and the Sprout100 also has Bluetooth built-in so you can easily connect an iPhone, Apple TV, etc. The phono stage is also said to be very good (I don’t use mine).
 
Yamaha 803D receiver.Lovely amp that includes a great Dac, streaming capability, room correction, a dab/fm tuner plus a decent phono stage. Plenty of power also. A bargain at £500 or so.
 
Del monaco said:
Yamaha 803D receiver.Lovely amp that includes a great Dac, streaming capability, room correction, a dab/fm tuner plus a decent phono stage. Plenty of power also. A bargain at £500 or so.
Click to expand...

I'd second that. Good value for money and sounds decent. Had one in the lounge for a while.
 
Yamaha A-S801, Denon PMA-800NE, Rega Brio-R.

Maybe add a RPi streamer (RPi 3B+/4 w/ DAC hat) with moOde for internet radio, Airplay, Bluetooth, and playing a digital library off of a USB stick. Keep the streamer out of the amp or face early obsolescence IMO! :)
 
booja30 said:
Yamaha A-S801, Denon PMA-800NE, Rega Brio-R.

Maybe add a RPi streamer (RPi 3B+/4 w/ DAC hat) with moOde for internet radio, Airplay, Bluetooth, and playing a digital library off of a USB stick. Keep the streamer out of the amp or face early obsolescence IMO! :)
Click to expand...

Not sure she could deal with an RPi, but had the same thought about streaming amps and early obsolence. That Yammy and Denon were also on my original list. I have a feeling my niece would be happier with something less mass market Sino-Japanese even though those two are perfectly decent amps as far as I can tell. Sadly, I can't hand on my heart recommend a Rega (or a Naim or Exposure) amp despite my admiration of all three manufacturers. However, I suspect she'd totally love a Nait (if humming wasn't an issue and it had a built-in phono stage).
 
tyrant said:
Not sure she could deal with an RPi, but had the same thought about streaming amps and early obsolence. That Yammy and Denon were also on my original list. I have a feeling my niece would be happier with something less mass market Sino-Japanese even though those two are perfectly decent amps as far as I can tell. Sadly, I can't hand on my heart recommend a Rega (or a Naim or Exposure) amp despite my admiration of all three manufacturers. However, I suspect she'd totally love a Nait (if humming wasn't an issue and it had a built-in phono stage).
Click to expand...
Yamaha has a fine pedigree in hifi. Mass market? Many of the the products you mention are no longer as niche as they were and there is an argument that the likes of Rega and Naim are much more mass market than they used to be. Doesn’t really impact on the real quality of all of these devices regardless of provenance. I drive the Magnaplanars with mine. Really fine sounding.
 
Subito said:
Not a common choice in the UK I know, but I have a PS Audio Sprout100 ($699 US) and suspect she might like that. I play my iMac’s iTunes library through a USB connection to the Sprout100 (has an internal ESS Sabre 9016 DAC) which sits next to the computer, and the Sprout100 also has Bluetooth built-in so you can easily connect an iPhone, Apple TV, etc. The phono stage is also said to be very good (I don’t use mine).
Click to expand...

Interesting left-field suggestion. Don't know much about them. Not sure a wired connection to the Mac would work in her setup. Is there an audible difference between BT and Airport Express?
 
On the other hand the guy from PS Audio (Paul?) promotes a lot of accessories that seem magical. I think some people call it foo. It makes me unlikely to trust the traditional items they sell (e.g. amps).
 
Del monaco said:
Yamaha has a fine pedigree in hifi. Mass market? Many of the the products you mention are no longer as niche as they were and there is an argument that the likes of Rega and Naim are much more mass market than they used to be. Doesn’t really impact on the real quality of all of these devices regardless of provenance. I drive the Magnaplanars with mine. Really fine sounding.
Click to expand...

Depends how you define niche and mass market, but Rega and Naim are still generally perceived as quirky British hifi manufacturers.
 
FYI, there’s an important quirk to the Sprout100 that PS Audio and most equipment reviewers fail to highlight: it uses the digital volume control built into the DAC. The volume knob on the front panel just spins and spins, because it’s not connected to a conventional potentiometer or stepped attenuator. For my purpose (playing ripped CD songs and Qobuz songs through Audirvana into the Sprout’s USB DAC input), that’s fine. But any analog input signals (including vinyl and signals from an external DAC) are converted from analog to digital by an ADC within the Sprout, so that the signals can then be controlled by the digital volume control.

For some people that may be a deal-killer, and I would certainly understand why. I tried a Schiit Modi Multibit DAC, connected to the analog RCA inputs of the Sprout, to see if would sound better than the internal DAC, and it was a big disappointment. Only later did I remember the analog output of the Schiit was being re-digitized so it could be sent to the volume control. That may explain the underwhelming sound quality the Schiit delivered. (I connected it that way because I wanted to be able to do an immediate A-B comparison between the internal Sabre DAC and the Schiit.)

A Rega Brio or Rega io partnered with a nice external DAC would certainly be another option worth exploring.

Edit: The Sprout100 also has a Toslink digital input so it should be easy to connect an Airport Express to it.
 
tyrant said:
Depends how you define niche and mass market, but Rega and Naim are still generally perceived as quirky British hifi manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Naim moved into lifestyle products some time ago now so less quirky than you think and and mass market a la Sonos etc.. Rega just aren’t quirky. They’re well designed honest products that sell, nearer to Cambridge Audio just a little better engineered, maybe. They certainly aren’t niche or quirky anymore.
 
technarchy said:
Bluesound powernode or nad amp with bluesound board fitted would be a good shout imo
Click to expand...

I have the NAD C368 integrated amp with the Bluesound board installed, I'm very happy with it and the Bluos app is excellent

I'm hoping that with having the streaming side of things taken care of by a seperate easy to fit board it may go some way to future proof the amp

The board alone costs £399 which isn't cheap but I managed to get the amp on offer with free board from Sevenoaks

There's one on their site now half price, so offers do come up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top