I had to take my amp in for repair...thankfully it's still under warranty...but the dilemma I'm facing is what I do in the mean time? I don't have a backup amp, so I find myself listening to music through little things like mp3 docking stations. What do you do when a critical component in your system is out of service?
Have been considering this, but money is tight these days and I can't really justify it to the wife if I have alternatives.
Hlly Tamp-90 amplifier - Tripath 2022 chipset https://www.amazon.com/90W-TAMP-90-Class-HiFi-AMPLIFIER/dp/B001QZ9EXM
I hear ya there, but if it's a good enough deal, you might make money on the resale! Or we always hear about insane luck at goodwill and thrift stores. Could find an old vintage something for a song.
I did this. Found a NAD 7020 (based on the 3020 I believe) for about £50 I think. I used it for a couple of months, sold it for £60 when my amp came back. The best thing about it though was that I made good friends with the guy that sold it to me and we often spend time listening to music together!
I have an equally decent backup amp but also have Sonos speakers and an Echo show. Also have some decent BT headphones that I can use with my phone if the power goes out. You gotta have a backup plan
I have backup available. If my McIntosh MA 6100 has a problem, I have a Sansui 4000 receiver as backup, same for me goes for turntables, cartridges, headshells, and loudspeaker systems. I have 3 systems so have something to fall back on.
It might be best to avoid competing with your main system. Instead, pick up a Sonos Play (or One, or whatever the model is called now), or an Amazon Echo Studio (which I personally think now sounds better than the Sonos One. $200-$225 and you get perfectly decent streaming music free of charge through internet radio (e.g., Radio Swizz Jazz, or anyone one of thousands of other stations). It's a relatively simple and low-cost solution that is very listenable. When your amp is back, you'll still have the Soonos or Echo to use as an unobtrusive background system for music or news or whatever.
I actually keep a spare beater amp around for these situations. I have a 20 year-old Cambridge Audio Azur 840A that I had recapped for $100 that I use as a spare in case one of my tube amps needs to be serviced. You may want to see if you can pick up a cheap used solid state integrated to tide you over until your big amps get back. You may like the cheap solid state more than you think and ask yourself why you spent thousands of more dollars on a big iron amp when the cheaper alternative is perfectly fine. I digress...
What about headphones w/HP amp? EDIT: Your pre has a headphone jack, and should be able to drive low-impedance cans quite decently. Do you have a pair of decent cans?
I have some powered speakers I can hook my computer up to. But if I didn't have those I would be fine just listening through headphones on my phone or just do something else until it's fixed like read a book etc.
I have one of those powered 2 .1 systems with RCA speaker plugs, so I ordered a set of female banana to male RCA adapters so I can plug my Klipsch speakers into that and play my Pono through that system. Good enough until I get my amp back.
I am doing that now listening to my 1989 vintage 'Ion Obelisk 2' integrated (later version of the Nytech Obelisk). I am realising just how good this little amp is even though a recap must be way overdue? The MM phono stage was always good, but other sources through line are also very good. My Ls3/5a's seem to make the Obelisk work too hard so I switched to my rare Ditton CL5.5s, which are a good match. If the Ion amp fails I also have a nice little Arcam Solo mini CD/Tuner unit, and a tatty old Delta 90.2 amp, which is more brawn than brains, but it makes a noise if nothing else!
Learn to play an instrument - entertain yourself! or Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so use the time to take a sabbatical from serious listening, build some excitement and anticipation as you await the return of your unit, then experience some newfound (or rekindled) joy when you finally are "reunited" with your favorite recordings.
I have an older B&K amp should I ever need a spare.... I have a spare pre, tuner , BluRay.... I had some serious damage to my home in ‘12 that made me box up my gear for 6 months. That was brutal listening to a portable radio for that length of time. So having spares is good to guarantee you’ll have music, plus I like to rotate components every once in a while.