Getting started, need amp recommendation


I recently tossed out my 15 year old Pioneer speakers and stepped up to a gently used pair of Paradigm Mini Monitors. BIG improvement! Needless to say, these are a bit more revealing of the (lack of) quality of my other components. Next on the chopping block is my old Kenwood receiver. I have been looking into units from NAD, Rotel, and the Acurus DIA-100. In the sub $400 price range, has anyone got a recommendation for a used integrated amp or possibly receiver for a newbie with mini monitors? This is my first foray outside Circuit City-level of components, and I would appreciate some guidance. I like the detailed nature of the Paradigms, but I can imagine that a bright sounding amp could get a little annoying with them. Maybe it's just the contrast with my previous speakers that I hear.
Thanks!
exp_gort
You will probably get your share of posts here. I suggest you make use of the Audiogon search engine. Each time you see an amp that might interest you, enter it into the discussion search engine and you will visit many threads with lots of commentary on your question. Many threads will lead you to other products which, in turn could use another search.

You will probably need to decided if you want to stick with a receiver or go with seperates. Then comes the ever-running tube vs. solid state(I am a "tube" guy, myself)

Good luck, and have fun.
If you can get by w/o a remote look into the Jolida 301 int. amp. Don't let the size fool you. (Wonderful sounding. Pre-amp stage uses 2 ECC 83 tubes) If you decide to go w/a
solid state int. amp the NAD C-350/Marantz PM series would be fine choices. Another possible choice would be a Kora "Explorer" hybrid int. amp. (A dealer is selling a demo @ a very reasonable cost. Down to Earth Audio in Salem, Va. 24153.) Good Luck!
While this might fly in the face of a lot of "audiophiles" that will read this, i would suggest taking a look at this
Yamaha M-80 or this Yamaha M-80 listed here on Agon. While this is strictly an amp without a means of multiple source selection, it does have input gain controls. This would allow you to directly feed it a signal from a CD or DVD player and adjust the volume using the amp's gain controls. Obviously, this means that you don't have a phono section or any way to select various inputs if you have multiple sources, but this is a good amp at a good price.

For those that aren't familiar with it, it is a true dual mono design i.e. a separate iron core ( non-toroidal ) transformer for each channel. It is quite capable of driving difficult loads and may be one of the very best sounding "mass produced" amps that ever came out of Japan at a reasonable price. Obviously, anything at this price point can easily be improved upon, but in a side by side shoot-out, one of these amps absolutely "wasted" a Bryston 4B in every category possible. The amp has plenty of power for most uses, reducing the risk of out-growing it should you change to lower efficiency speakers or "really want to rock" with what you already have. As a side note, Paradigm speakers typically work best with higher powered amps of at least pretty reasonable current capabilities.

As things progress, you could look for a good but fairly priced used preamp should you need source selection and / or a phono stage.

As to the bad things about this amp, i absolutely HATED working with the "binding posts" on this amp. As one can see from the photo's that the seller has posted, the connections are not like normal "binding posts". If you are using bare wire connections, it might not be a big deal though. Other than that, i do have a copy of a review of this amp complete with test bench results. If someone purchases this amp and wants a copy, they can drop me an email and i'll see what we can work out.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced integrated amp complete with phono stage, take a look at this Kyocera unit. For those that aren't familiar with Kyocera, they are the same company that makes the "high end" CEC belt drive CD players / transports and similar models for Parasound. The name Kyocera comes from Kyoto Ceramics, as this is the parent company to Cybernet. Cybernet is one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world and produce products for other companies under many, many different brand names. Sean
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PS... I have NO affiliation with the sellers of these items or any other items currently on Agon.
There is an Outlaw Audio 1050 receiver for sale on audiogon, it's listed around $400 but does state obo. If you: click on bluebook on the audiogon main page, click on o for outlaw, click on outlaw audio, click on 1050 receiver, you will be able to read a ton of mag. reviews on this receiver. It will not make your Paradigm's sound brite and is one of the best bang for buck receivers you can find in your price range.