The speaker load is a very important consideration here. Solid state and tube amps are great choices but paired with the right speakers. I have Line Magnetic and Rogue tube amps paired with easy to drive speakers with higher sensitivity. I also have a Musical Fidelity M6 500i that drives lower sensitivity speakers. All of them are good integrated amps. But not really interchangeable.
Budget integrated amp?
Friend's amp is having issues and he asked me what was "good...for around $1000 new". Like me he is deep in the middle of the Pacific, actually deeper than me because he is on the Big Island of Hawaii, out in the desert/volcano area. I suggested the Schiit Ragnarok 2 which I have only read about but is on sale and has both good writeups and a 5 year warranty and is American made. Also, the Marantz PM6007, a few Rotel amps I read about that are on deal at Crutchfield (which ships to Hawaii free) and the Outlaw RR2160, which I have heard at another friend's. He is an older boomer like me and wants something like his old Marantz 2252B. I told him that those dont exist anymore. For those of you who might have head some of these am I giving him good ideas and have I missed anything substantive. He is not oriented to used and is on a tight budget. He is running both a CDP and an iFi streamer. Suggestions?
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I can’t explain nor will I denigrate the Yamaha nay sayers but Yamaha makes some of the finest musical instruments and audio gear on the planet. Which is amazing considering they make other gear like motorcycles. Which btw have the tuning fork logo on them. I have a Yamaha RX A3080 AVR that is by no means a great example compared to some of their 2 channel offerings, that shares my main speakers with my 2 channel rig. I listen to the onboard streaming and DAC for background / casual listening and I am often surprised at how good it sounds compared to my 2 channel integrated at 10 times the price. |
Aloha, I live on the Big Island and am much more familiar with the realities of owning electronics in this environment than most. The combination of heat, humidity, volcanic emissions and salt are not like anything anywhere on the mainland. Thing corrode and fail here that would never have those issues in other areas. For that reason alone I would avoid the smaller esoteric brands. They simply lack the resources to design and test in these extremes, and in addition, service, if needed means shipping to the mainland - a couple hundred dollars anyway. That all said, I would put my money on a Marantz. A PM7000N, which is a 60/90 W/ch streaming amp with superior build quality and a full feature set, including phono, analog, digital, Ethernet and WiFi, as well as bass management for proper subwoofer setup. This is available for under $1000 from Crutchfield or Amazon, so you anavoid the hefty freight bill. Sound Quality wise, Marantz is one of the few mainstream companies who tunes their gear by ear, selecting compnents for sound quality. Marantz house sound is slightly warm, with solid bass, good dynamics and a notable lack of midrange and high end harshness. Or, read the reviews from Absolute Sound or What HIFi or any of the othe magazines who listened to it and awarded it top honors. I know your friend has a streamer already, he can keep it or compare it to the Marantz and sell it to offset the other costs. My second choice would be the NAD 368. It has a bit more power, but lacks a few other features.. You don't mention what speakers he'll be driving, but either will drive al.ost anything on the market, maybe not quite as loud .like 2-3 dB less) as a 100-200 w amp. |
@akg_ca while it would be beneficial to know the speaker, the op has given us some important information to consider. He has been using a Marantz 2252B and would like to replace it with something similar - which does not exist anymore. Well, we know the 2252B is on the warm side of neutral, great build quality, and about 52 watts. My suggestion of Musical Fidelity M2si took this profile into account. It was not a blind offering as you lectured above. The MF M2si has very good build quality, the controls are metal and not plastic, it is slightly on the warm side of neutral with a touch of richness in the mids and bass with very sweet top end; and is around 76W into 8 ohms. |
Every component and brand within its class has its own bespoke sonic signature . TAKEAWAY: That approach also applies at the budget-class strata requested herein. Whats been blindly offered up so far are just conflicting and highly biased personal favourites that provide negligible assurance of ever optimally working in HIS system (emphasis added)
assurance |
I went through the same dilemma I tested Yamaha, Creek, Rogue and Vincent Audio amps Creek was easily the best and Yamaha by far the worst. Rogue the 2nd worst. From Crutchfield, I would get a NAD. I don't the know the Rotels. I would trust Denon too. The good thing is it cost $15 with Crutchfield to try for 60 days. After my search I decided to stick with used (Moon or Hegel) but I don't know how to listen to them yet, before buying or I will just go with the Creek. You also have https://www.underwoodhifi.com/ in Hawaii? Not that I see anything on their list to buy |
To me Yamaha makes some of the worst sounding amplifiers I've ever listened to. I like the NAD C316BEE V2. Class A/B analog integrated at 40 watts/channel that can hold its own against 100 watts/channel units. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_745C316V2/NAD-C316BEE-V2.html?tp=34948
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would he be open to something like this: Dayton Audio HTA200 Integrated Stereo Hybrid Tube Amplifier 200 Watts. This fits "budget". I have its little brother. |
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I would definitely consider Schiit and Rotel on the basis of my experience with them on other products in their line and reviews. Get no more functions than required. If it is integrated amp, then just preamp/amp. I know this sounds superficial, but after fifty years pursuing the high end… if you get it down to two models or so, buy the heaviest one. It is likely to sound the best. |