Integrated amp question(UK sourced)...

Your famous(infamous) oap asking yet another question(having received so much good advice to date)..Looking for an integrated amp up to about £350.00 to replace my venerable Arcam Alpha,which still works well,but probably lags far behind what is available for a budget amp these days.
What do I want? A Good phono stage above all,and possibly an onboard dac(or the facility to connect one)...power not critical,as the family listening room would not allow "full on" delivery,but powerful enough to provide a good listening experience at low to medium volumes. The amp will drive a pair of Bowers and Wilkins floor standers,and partner a Cambridge audio cd player and dab/fm tuner.
Any suggestions more than welcome before I get sucked into another Richer sounds visit without exploring other options!

 

Of the ones I've heard, the Yamaha RN500 fits the bill - Network, Net Radio, 2 x coax, 2 x optical, good phono, 3x line (if an external DAC is how you want to go) - enough power, and sounds really good.

I also see that you have an Onkyo DAB in your kit, so @Brother_Rael might be able to help you out, as he has very good things to say about one from them that might fit your bill.

 

Look forward to some advice from the named gentleman..thanks!

 

I would have suggested the Onkyo TX8050 network stereo receiver, but while I thought it sounded excellent, the phono stage wasn't its strongest hand. It did offer excellent connectivity though and sound was hard to fault.

 

@frimleygreener - I've just double checked the phono stage on the Yamaha, and it's surprisingly close to my Slee 2 SE in quality

 

How about a Rega Brio-R? It's a little above your budget but it's a lot of amp for the money, and the phono stage is very very good.

 

How about a used Audiolab 8000A?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/ctg/Audiolab-8000A-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier-/110918165

No DAC stage, but it does have a switchable MM/MC phono stage from the days when the quality of the phono stage mattered. The tone controls are very gentle, should you need to use them. I used to use the 8000C/P pre-/power combination many years ago. Nice sounding amp. at the time.

 

I still have an Audiolab 8000A in reserve. Was considered good for headphones. It cost around £600 in 1996 or so. I used it with B&W P4 speakers.

If you are really keen on vinyl could you invest in a good phono amp and connect it to a line-in on your current amp? You could also, if necessary, buy a separate DAC.

 

This is what I do....but my current amp is a vintage Arcam Alpha..and good as it was in its day,I am pretty sure that things have moved on since then.....

 

If you want a new amplifier, consider:

http://www.whathifi.com/marantz/pm6005/review

or one of the amplifiers higher in the Marantz range.

 

Every time I save enough money to replace my venerable' Arcam Alpha 6' one of my cats manages to have a medical problem that somehow comes out costing as much as I have saved
I am convinced that my venerable old amp has powers beyond amplifying a signal and is in cahoots with said moggies in order to retain it's place in my Music room.
In my humble opinion you may need to spend twice as much again in order to get the sound quality you have been used to.

 

If you are accustomed to and like the overall sound of Arcam amps after the time spent with your Alpha, have you considered looking at say, a secondhand Arcam Diva A65/A65+ or A75/A75+? Arcam are very reliable and generally include good phono stages in their amps too as far as I've heard. Arcam amps have a reputation for being a bit 'flat' and un-exciting but I have never found this to be the case as a long-time A85 user.