Should I repair my Creek 4330 or replace it?

That's a very reasonable suggestion, of course. I do love the Creek sound. But all their new amps are very expensive, sigh, and I don't really know what's what in their lineup. So I'm now toying with the idea of getting a (slightly) used Creek 5350 SE from ebay on the premise that it will sound like my beloved 4330.

Thoughts?

Yogiboy: my budget is, let’s say, $500 to $1000 for a new integrated amp. I’m also willing to try used gear even though this seems like jumping off a cliff. I don’t need any special features: the 4330 had everything I need (only one set of speakers, nothing optical, no phono, etc). Listening is almost entirely classical: symphonic, chamber, voice - pretty much everything.

Tgrisham: thanks, good to know. Which Von Schweickert speakers, exactly? 

Well, that's exactly what I'm asking. What nice integrated amps for under $1000 would you suggest snagging? 

Sounds interesting, thanks.

Thanks to everyone for responding. A very helpful discussion! In the end I couldn't bear the thought of tossing my 4330 on the scrap heap just because its volume control is on the fritz. So I sent it out for repair.

That said, let's take another step and focus this thread. I now ask everyone to vote for one (or more) of the following replacement amps, all in my price range. Btw, these will be paired with Epos ES11 speakers; I listen to classical.

1. Creek 5350SE (not the Evolution bearing the same model number)
2. Arcam A28
3. Music Hall A15
4. Musical Fidelity M2si

Thanks, Bill. Both the Teac and Rega look very interesting.

Here's my revised list:

1. Creek 5350SE (not the Evolution bearing the same model number)
2. Arcam A28
3. Musical Fidelity M2si
4. Teac AI-1000
5. Rega Brio 3

Any other opinions out there about this selection?

Thanks again, Bill. I completely agree with you about waiting for my 4330 to be repaired (I think it's just the volume control). It's on its way to California right now. But in the meantime, a person likes to dream about alternatives.

That A-18 looks pretty nice.

Bill, to answer your question about cabling (and other equipment): I am using Tara Labs Prism Biwire. Not sure about the interconnects, I bought them all a long time ago and went for good quality but not excessive expense. I have a subwoofer (Hsu Research VTF-2 MK 2) separately wired off the amp. The CD player is Njoe Tjoeb 4000. The tuner is Magnum Dynalab FT-101A, but I hardly listen to it anymore because there are no interesting classical music stations in the Washington DC area (end of small rant).

I'm back to answer my own original question. In the end, despite all the very interesting and helpful and enthusiastic advice, I decided to repair my Creek 4330.

If you've followed this thread you know that a local shop, HiFi Heaven, failed twice to fix the amp's problem. I next contacted Mitch Singerman and sent the amp to him for repair. He immediately diagnosed the problem (HiFi Heaven had "installed nonstandard parts causing additional failures" and was a "really bogus job") and fixed the amp. It sounds fantastic now, just like the amp I fell in love with 25 years ago.

I asked HiFi Heaven for a refund but got no reply. Now preparing my online review of their - and my - mistakes.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Here's my review of HiFi Heaven in Fairfax, VA.

HiFi Heaven might be the right place for some people. Not for me. I brought my Creek 4330 integrated amplifier in with a bad volume control (one channel had dropped out) even though I knew this wasn't an authorized repair shop for Creek equipment. That was a mistake I won't make again. Here's what happened next.

I paid for the repair and brought the amp home. After 10 hours of use, the same channel stopped working. I brought the amp back and Brett said he fixed a frayed wire on the volume control "caused by the technician." Hm, okay. Brought the amp home again.

A few days later the same channel went silent again. I asked Brett for his recommendation for an authorized repair shop. No reply this time or, for that matter, ever again.

After some research, I sent the amp to a repair shop in California. The Creek expert there tallied up everything HiFi Heaven had done wrong, writing that it was a "really bogus job" which "installed nonstandard parts causing additional failures." He removed the parts and fixed the amp. I sent Brett the invoice detailing these mistakes and asked for a refund. No reply. Frankly, I don't much care anymore. I've learned my lesson. My amp finally works and I won't make this mistake again.

Hi jafant,

The Creek expert is Mitch Singerman. His name kept popping up in my research as a trusted and reliable repair guy and so I got in touch and described my bad experience at HiFi Heaven. He was wonderful to work with and did a fantastic repair job for a great price. I totally recommend him.