The Best Amp for the Price of Dirt

You know, I think that if you're going to dip into the economy pro-audio supply, a smarter bet might be the SLA1, SLA2, or SLA4 from ART Pro Audio. They are a little more money, but they are more solidly built, have far more rigorous specs (s/n of at least 100 dB, damping factor >100), and have a claimed stability down to 2 ohms. A fellow A-goner who has an SLA2 as well as amps in the $5K to $10K range, wrote me that his SLA2 gives at least 85% of the performance of the really expensive amps. He only cautions that the SLA series requires a long break-in to get there, and he recommends disconnecting the fan and front panel lights.

You can get the SLA1 at 100wpc for around $219, and the SLA2 at 200wpc for $299. The SLA4 is 4x100 wpc and seems like a bi-amper's dream at $439.

Johnnyb53, What I ment , are you into analog and if so what analog rig would you recommend. I used the term record player to denote an all in one (turntable,arm & cartridge). Any ideas to share?

09-12-08: Crem1
Johnnyb53, What I ment , are you into analog and if so what analog rig would you recommend. I used the term record player to denote an all in one (turntable,arm & cartridge). Any ideas to share?

Oh, absolutely. I got a turntable in March 2007 and started listening to vinyl again for the first time in over 20 years. I was so smitten by the sound and the way LPs drew me into the music that I added aftermarket tweaks to the turntable, and this past May bought a Cambridge Audio 640P phono stage. That touched off a flurry of upgrading, resulting in a new cartridge, new speakers, and finally, buying the Onkyo integrated amp.

My turntable is a Technics SL1210 M5G direct drive turntable. I have added the kabusa.com tonearm fluid damper, have upgraded to a more rigid and non-resonant headhsell (Sumiko or LPGear ZuPreme), and Audio Technica AT150MLX MM cartridge, which--at $250--is one of the best-sounding cartridges available under $1000. I added threaded brass cones to replace the springy feet that came with the turntable and put that on a cutting board isolated by a couple of silicon gel keyboard wrist pads.

Out of the box, the Technics direct drive turntables bring a lot to the party. They are ruggedly and heavily built (about 27 lbs.) to very close tolerances, and the speed consistency and rumble levels are better than any belt-drive turntable under $4K.

The tonearm wire on the stock model leaves a lot to be desired, and makes the turntable sound unnecessarily dark and closed in. The SL1210 M5G, however, has higher grade, OFC copper and sounds much airier and more extended. The tonearm is built to very high precision--the bearings are polished to a tolerance of 0.5 micron and the bearing drag is specified as 15 mg. In addition, for a mere $150 you can update this tonearm to work well with a wide variety of cartridges by adding the tonearm fluid damper offered by http://www.kabusa.com.

In fact, KABUSA also offers a Cardas tonearm rewire for $169. I'm sure that it's better wire than comes in the SL1210 M5G. Kevin Barrett (KAB) also performs a multi-point inspection of all Technics SL12x0 turntables and re-machines or corrects anything out of spec (for no additional charge) before he ships it to the customer.

I would recommend getting an SL1200 MkII from KABUSA and add the tonearm rewire and fluid damper. This would come to $794. He also has a wide range of cartridges available at really good prices. His prices on Goldring MM cartridges are particularly low. He could mount, align, and balance the cart as part of the order if you want an all-in-one unit.

Johnnyb53, Thank you for your recommendations. Are there others out there with hands-on experience with recommendations ??

09-12-08: Crem1
Johnnyb53, Thank you for your recommendations. Are there others out there with hands-on experience with recommendations ??

Certainly. If you ask your same question (and add your listening and operating criteria and budget) on the Analog discussion page here at Audiogon, you'll be overwhelmed with suggestions and answers.