2. amps-preamps
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Which amp?

Here is the story, about 2 months ago I got a bug up my butt and decided to sell all of my crappy gear on Ebay and add a little extra scratch in and find better used stuff. I went in thinking "just replace the stuff with better names and I will be satisfied" WRONG! Now I am getting caught up and think that I could do alot better without breaking the bank. I bought a Adcom GFA 535 and a Marantz AV600 thinking they would sound better that the Sony integrated amp that I sold on Ebay, they did, but not good enough. So I am looking for a better budget oriented good sounding amp.

The two amps I have had my eye on are the Parasound HCA 1200 and the Acurus A-200. I don't want to make any more totally irrational decisions again, so please stop me if I am about to. If there are any other amps for around $350 that are comparable or better please let me know. I would love to go higher end, but I am already tying to explain to my wife why I need new gear anyway. Oh well, thanks in advance, Jason.
jasonh37
jasonh37 OP
15 posts
 
First off I listen to just about everything besides, country, and rap. Right now My preamp is a Marantz A600 my speakers are Mordaunt Short 904's 2 ways, I had to get rid of the Bose 601's I have had for years and these sound way better. Right now the system is lacking in the low end, I don't know if that has to do with the amp, phono cartridge, preamp or a combination of them all. The room size is approx. 12'x 16', I am just looking for full sound not necessarily volume, and definitely not hollow like it is now. By the way I am using a Planar 2 with a Audio Technica CN5625AL, The cartridge is temporary, I will be replacing with a Denon DL103.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
Not sure how sensitive your speakers are,but a Monarchy SM70 can be had in that price range. These are very sweet sounding pure class A amplifiers.
pummy
14 posts
 
I agree with Gmoodl- The Monarchy SM-70 is potent, punchy, sweet, and harmonically rich, especially when used as monoblocks. A pair should cost you $500-700.
veroman's avatar
veroman
299 posts
 
NAD. solid performers, great values. many great used models around. always a good start to hi end gear. sell the pre and get an int amp if you like. NAD offers many options for adding mono amps down the road and has a pretty good phono stage too. my 2 cents. $350 is just right for lotsa choices...even new!
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