2. amps-preamps
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Integrated amplifier recommendations, Please

Hello everybody. I am new to your board but have browsed the site countless times and from what I have read, I will value your input greatly. I have gotten the kids through college and now it's my time to play. I am a music enthusiast and have had and still do have a bunch of equipment that I use. It's not bottom of the line stuff by my standards, but it's time to move up.
I have never owned a dedicated amp/pre-amp or an integrated amp and I would like to start out by getting a decent used integrated, middle of the road, under $500.00 if possible. I have been doing a lot of looking on the web and it seems like NAD or Adcom might be a safe bet.
Am I on the wrong track?
Music interests are Jazz, Classical, Knopfler, Ambient and Floyd.
Speakers: Infinity Ref Five, Pinnacle, DIY..Looking to upgrade here too.
I thank you all very much in advance!
mtpockets1311
willland's avatar
willland
846 posts
 
Mtpockets1311,

I do agree with Sfar's suggestion of the Onkyo A-9555 being a nice amp but I think there are some good economical choices from NAD.

For $195.00,you can't go wrong.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatran&1299144677&/NAD-C325BEE-Integrated-Amplifi

If you feel you need some more power down the road, just add an outboard amp and use the NAD as a preamp.

Bill
usblues
1,217 posts
 
Anthem,possibly old Mac stuff,good luck,B
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I think you need to decide on your speaker upgrade first, as that will dictate the amp you might need. With some speakers you might be fine with a better quality, but lower powered amp, with other you may need more watts that 50. That being said, I would look at the NAD, Arcam, and Rotel brands for an integrated in our price range. A little further up the price point used, I would look into Creek and Naim - for SS integrateds. The Peachtree mentioned has received some good reviews lately, but I have never heard it. If you are going to choose the amp first, I think you should consider a 100 watt SS so you are not limited in your speaker upgrade down the road.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
if you fancy the slightly laid back "british" sound, you might also consider integrateds from Creek or Rega.
evilfij
12 posts
 
I ended up with a receiver so I could go with home theater in the future and use it as a preamp. If you are just doing two channel I would consider a vintage fisher tube based integrated amp. Nothing sounds that good at the price they are available provided you can live with low wattage.
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