Budget integrated amp needed

It’s great that there are so many good choices in this price range 

lavadio

1 posts

01-18-2022 12:23am

What Hi-Fi:
The three-time Award-winning Onkyo A-9010 is excellent value and one of the most musically satisfying budget amplifiers we've heard in recent years

So I bought it and it is incredible 

Yes! I have one in my bedroom system and it is excellent. I even tried it on Maggies and it drove them!

Rega. They respond well to minor tweaks and often impress.

For the bedroom, you’re probably not critically listening and the cheapest best option is an Aiyima A07. At 2-3 hundred, there are ChiFi options also at a smaller and lighter footprint than the larger traditional options.

At 5-6 hundred, a few more good options. I use and can recommend a Keces E40 integrated with 2 RCA inputs, a phono stage and a usb should you want to stream (CD quality only but competent). You can easily add a dac. It has a remote.

This is an alternative and in my opinion a better one than the two budget Rega offerings. Spend the extra money and get a nicer amp that performs better than most integrated under a grand, IMO. There are a couple of ChiFi options around that price as well, but perhaps a bit less power opting for a more class A bias, supposedly. One reviewer thought it sounded a more towards class A, it really is that good.  It has a smooth but detailed sound, reminds me of my Hegel h160 and I listen at non ear damaging levels, low to moderate, it can drive most speakers just fine and with authority. Company states low distortion and up to and if needed 15 amps per channel which is impressive.

Read the reviews. I think it’s great.

I think that you will have to buy used.  I'm putting together a system for some very un audio friends for about a thousand bucks.  When talking to a few local dealers about something at your price point, there wasn't much but one dealer, while we chatted, was checking out Craigslist and pointed out an Outlaw Receiver that's only available direct from the company otherwise he would carry it.  The salesman waxed poetic about this company. Three hundred bucks.  I checked it out and bought it. It's nothing short of fantastic, phono mm/mc is dead quiet, with plenty of power with features that a NAD owner could relate to.  I could recommend this over or at least as musically inviting as some much more expensive gear that I compared to over a month of listening.  And when I installed it in my reference rig over the holidays, I just left it in place.  Keep an eye out for one of these.