Better Integrated Amp?

The speakers are the component that'll give life (or not) to your music... it is crucial that you find a pair that suits your taste BEFORE buying an amplifier... BTW, you are lucky... UK has many great electronic company, as Tannoy (speakers), Rega (turntables), Sugden (amplifiers), Spendors (speakers) and many many others... If you are willing to buy used, you could basicly double your purchase power... good luck with that!

Okay based on what all of you’ve said I think I may be able to stretch my budget a little bit, probably only a few hundred pounds extra but it might make a difference. I’ve also found a website which offers massive savings when you buy an amp and speaker set together which is looking like a really good option for getter better equipment affordably.
The speakers that this bundle and extra cash opens me up to are: Q Acoustics 3050i, Dali Oberon 5, Wharfedale Diamond 12.4, Yamaha NS-F350, Fyne Audio F303, KEF Q550 and BowerWilkins 603. Amp wise I could choose between a few but the two that stand out are Marantz PM6007 and Yamaha A-S501. Like you guys have said though, I’ll disregard picking one for now until the speaker side is sorted.
This seems to be a significant improvement on my previous options and at a very small change in price, what do you guys think?
Speaker wise I haven’t been able to look at all in detail just yet, I’ve heard good things about the Dalis, the 603s are the most expensive to buy separately but obviously that’s not always an indicator of quality - I haven’t looked too deeply into these yet - and Wharfedale and KEF seem to be a strong brand name. The website also says that I can request quotes for other speakers they have listed as part of a speaker amp deal but these seem to be the top speakers there.

If there is a way, check Monitor Audio. They often offer good performance for relatively little money. They are serious brand, too and are originaly from UK, i think.

I checked for offers with monitor audio and there is the Monitor Audio Bronze 200 and 500 (6th gen) available

oliverben5672,

I mention Monitor Audio simply because I am very familiar with that Yamaha 501 amplifier and Monitor Audio Silver 200 (I think that is how they are called). Not current model, though. A friend of mine has it and he settled on it after Marantz and a few more that I forgot. That combination is not only good for money, it is, in fact, very pleasant to listen to. Never fatiguing, no matter what kind of music you throw at it. Of course, it has to have some, relatively minor, shortcoming and that was bass. Once he bought SONY subwoofer at the thrift store ($12, for real), there is nothing to improve anymore unless he decides to really invest much more money. He uses Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, or digital sources. Even DAC in Yamaha is decent. Sure, separate DAC is much better, but for a starter it is good. As others have said, use it with your phone, computer, whatever else, until you are able to upgrade. You may simply not be in a rush.