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Budget Amp with Optical DAC

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to figure out what amp to get. My budget is 300-400 and I'm trying to drive a pair of Usher S520s (that sound fantastic by the way). This is my first foray into amps and I could definitely use some help.

My source is going to be through a TOS link so I need some kind of DAC. I wasn't sure if there were amps out there that have this integrated other than A/V receivers. I would ideally like to get something with tubes but I'm not sure how reasonable it is with my budget. Someone recommended the Jolida line but then I have to get a dedicated separate DAC (which I wouldn't mind as long as it's within my budget).

I like listening to classical, alternative rock, and electronic music, and I have the Ushers in a mid to large room.

Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated!
yuntai37
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,756 posts
 
I'm not sure you could find one for $400 but a Peachtree Audio Decco would give you an internal DAC with Toslink, coax and USB input, a tube preamp and a 50 watt/channel amp.
loomisjohnson
1,905 posts
 
i know music hall makes a 2 channel receiver w/ digital ins and an inboard burr brown dac, but might be outside your budget. within your budget, if you don't want to go with an avr, you're probably gonna be stuck with a solid state amp (e.g. nad or yamaha) and an inexpensive dac (e.g. amc or entech). you should do nicely with such gear.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
I just saw a music hall mambo on here for either 399 or 499? This would fit your bill perfectly. Built in DAC is very nice quality. This is an integrated amp. The power is 50 watts of class A power. Although it's not tubed, class A tends to sound warm and smooth like tubes without the hassels.
yuntai37 OP
2 posts
 
Thanks for all the responses so far!

Do you think that 50 wpc is enough? Someone suggested that I go up to 100 wpc to make sure that I have enough headroom since integrated amps don't do too well when you turn them up...
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