2. amps-preamps
  3. 1367852224

Advice for a two channel amp

I would like to upgrade my amp. The one I have now is a Marantz SR5400, it's a 6.1 channel setup and the only great thing about it is the built-in DAC, which renders pretty great sound. What's not changing is the speaker set - Bowers & Wilkins 602 S3 - love the sound of these speakers. I want to upgrade to a two-channel amp and add a turntable to my set up. So, in essence, I'll be playing music mostly from my iPad 2 or my iPhone when it's just for background noise. And when I really want to tune everything out and put on a great record, I'll use the turntable. The speakers are rated at 85W, so anything from 100/ch is good. So far, I've only found the Nad amps to be quite good in my price range, but they are rather dull-looking and the sound is not quite as natural as I'd like. I am a big fan of the mid-heavy, natural-sounding setups - not too crisp, not too muffled. I wouldn't use an equalizer, or anything, just want a simple setup - amp, speakers, turntable and probably Sonos. That's it for now. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm still a bit of a novice in this whole thing :)
vladsky
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,668 posts
 
Check out Rogue Audio Sphinx,it has all the options you want.
truemaineiac's avatar
truemaineiac
249 posts
 
$1K for amp and turntable? So the integrated amp has to have a phono stage too?
liquid-smooth
48 posts
 
You can get a used adcom pre and power - make sure it's the later model with 4 no.s GFA-5400 power amp, as the earlier had problems of blowing up speakers when they fail.

Their pre amps have Phono stage - just make sure the model no. supports it just in case.

You can pick them up for less than $500, and you can get Rega RP-1 turntable with performance pack for $449 on amazon now (used white one)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004KSN0ZU/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1368992163&sr=1-8
liquid-smooth
48 posts
 
You can get a used adcom pre and power - make sure it's the later model with 4 no.s GFA-5400 power amp, as the earlier had problems of blowing up speakers when they fail.

Their pre amps have Phono stage - just make sure the model no. supports it just in case.

You can pick them up for less than $500, and you can get Rega RP-1 turntable with performance pack for $449 on amazon now (used white one)
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"$1K for amp and turntable? So the integrated amp has to have a phono stage too?"

A couple of things to keep in mind if you are approaching TT's from the perspective of a DJ. I believe most DJ style turntables take a different kind of cart. They don't get mounted to the headshell like most "non-pro" TT's. Also, I know some DJ TT's have a built in phono preamp. If so, you need to know if you can bypass it. If not, you'll be forced to use the internal one on the TT.
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