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Little amps that can

Conan

Conan

Loop digger
I am a great believer that each amp has its sound signature therefore amps sound different.
I have see people spending thousands of pounds in gigantic amplifiers and then settling down with an old middle of the road amp.
I admire little amps that can deliver the goods.
I recently bought a Creek 4140s2 and this little amp sounds amazing for what i paid.
Does anyone have experiences with little cheap amps (say 《£100) that represent an amazing vfm?
 
Not as cheap as £100, but a Linn Majik at around £250 is a nice thing... I’m about 20 minutes drive from you, I have a couple here if ever you want to hear one... I use one of them with Royd Sapphires which I know you’re a fan of!
 
My brother gave me his old Rotel RA-820AX just before lockdown, I think it was only about £120 back in the late ‘80’s, similar era to the Creek I believe.

It really is very good indeed.
 
The NAD C316BEE I bought ex-demo 6 years ago for less than £200 always impressed me when I give it an airing. I used it for 5 months with my Harbeth P3ESR and it was great.
 
Another vote for the Rotel 820. A school and student mate had one bundled with an 80s CD player, maybe a Phillips 104 or something, and a very nondescript pair of bookshelf speakers, for something like £300 and it always impressed me. His dad had a "better" hifi in the lounge, a Mission Cyrus etc, and however much I tried to enjoy it the little bedroom system was more fun.
 
Got an arcam in the system at the moment , only cost 250 quid.. brilliant bargain at that price and very engaging to listen to .
 
@CJ14 is the man, his tiny EWA Q-20 doesn't sound very tiny and takes some beating.

I've just bought another of his on eBay, a forty years old Inca Tech Dirk. Can't wait!

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The AR Cambridge A60 is a bit more punchy and lively than your actual Creek which is a bit laidback if that’s the signature you’re looking for.
I had a Creek like yours and I had to get rid of it because the transformer went down and the repair was too costly for me. The sound was very good though so I was a bit saddened by this situation.......
I still have the A60 though and despite I have a Naim kit that’s worth 100 times its price, I just keep it as I don’t want to have any regrets selling it over time.
On the very affordable amplifier side, I would also have a look at a Arcam Alpha 7 or something similar as they sound pretty good for the price.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
Not as cheap as £100, but a Linn Majik at around £250 is a nice thing... I’m about 20 minutes drive from you, I have a couple here if ever you want to hear one... I use one of them with Royd Sapphires which I know you’re a fan of!
Click to expand...

I remember when the Majik first came out and didn’t get great reviews but when I heard one I thought it sounded pretty good, probably a bit underpowered but still sounded sweet and something of a bargain these days, always preferred the the look of the LK series kit.
 
I had , Cyrus 1 (£60) Naim Nait (£40) Creek 40?? (£60) Pro-ject (older 90's model) £70 Rega Brio (£35) Though this was all in the late 90's and early 00's.
Other small amps that I've been very impressed with have been the Rega Brio R and Sugden A21a, though these wouldn't be priced at under £100.
I think all these amps sounded good and represented good VFM.
 
Arcam Delta 60 at about 50 quid these days.
Better than the old A&R and comes with an MC stage.
I’ve used it with my old ESL panels and I can say it is a very neutral little thing.
No tone controls, however.

A Nait at £ 40, dream on!
Definitely something I’d like to listen to again.
 
I had one or two Inca Tech bits and the first Dirk was made in 1979, not many folk took note of it because of it,s size, it was to be used with the FMT and give eight line input stages.
A few were run in Bi-Amp along side Claymore,s and Paul Miller used three to demo A Class, A/B Class and B Class operation at a hifi show, a great demo. Thanks Paul.
 
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