Hi, I would like to replace my vintage Harman Kardon PM645 power amplifier with something new. Interested in rock music, electronic music and classic music also! I also want to be able to offer bass sound. Music from CD and turntable mainly (i use a separate phono preamp), very rare to hear streaming from Spotify etc. I have read about Cambridge audio CXA81 but any other advice would be well acceptable. Thks
What speakers you have now? The Harmon Kardon has great numbers for a lower power amp. I don't think you'll get much better sound unil you go up a little more in price. If you don't need a lot of inputs maybe you'll love the TEAC 505 integrated. The hypexNcore sounds great and can deliver for Electronica music. Or maybe a new NAD with hypex purifi
How much power do you need and what speakers will you be driving with it? FWIW: As a fellow European, I’ve also been looking for a power amp in that pricerange about a year ago. But it seemed there wasn’t much to choose from… Eventually I decided to pony up some more dough and got a Parasound A23+ (€2100). Sounds great and easily drives my speakers.
Yep better to spend more upfront than spend less and waste time and money trying to correct the mistake.
Not because I personally have it, but Quad's power amps such as 909 (or older 606, if it's refreshed) and the power amp that replaced 909 (the name escapes me) are incredibly good amps for the money they cost and a used 909 wold be below your budget. I'd always buy these in a heartbeat, true bargains and work very well even in context of much more expensive systems. Stuff like NAD, Harman Kardon, Yamaha etc. don't even come close and I wouldn't even look at cheaper Teac stuff, class D stuff and similar. If you fon't need as much power as 909 gives, power amps by Sugden and Exposure are great and used should fit yout budget.
I'd go integrated and used, this looks like a potential great deal Vincent SV - 237 MK Hybrid Stereo Vollverstärker wie neu, 3 Jahre Restgarantie | eBay
Avoid class D amps like the plague if you want deep bass. Nothing is worse for electronica and the lowest two octaves of bass IME. It’s likely your current HK amp is capable of better bass than many class D options. The aforementioned Parasound is a better choice. The Marantz PM14S1 is also good if you can find one within your budget. That Vincent linked above is probably nice as well. Given your current speakers, I wouldn’t choose anything less than a class AB amp of 75WPC into 8 ohms.
Thank you all for your opinions, which I found so much helpful! Current speakers : Infinity RS 3001 (44HZ-22KHz, 6 ohms two way) vintage also! Have to read about all you mentioned above! Your opinion about these speakers and their usability for contemporary power amplifiers will be very appreciated. Unfortunately as I am now face a very serious health issue, I can't invest to a high value HI-FI.
FYI, not interested in separate pre & poweramp, just on power amplifier. Power needed, i think no more than 80w at 8Ω.
So you would need an INTEGRATED poweramp?! Because you can't do much with just a power amplifier.... Look for a Parasound Hint on the 2nd hand market.
Sory to mention but 2nd hand for Parasound Hint integrated in my place (Greece) is almost absolutely rare to find!
I like the Elex-R as well. It’s a bit on the warm side, very musical and has decent current capability.
And it should be in budget for the OP. Currently selling for £750/€840 in the UK since the Mk4 version came out.
To try to cut through some misconceptions in the OP's post. What the OP currently has is an integrated amplifier (pre-amplifier and power amplifier in one box). In order to replace it, OP, you will need either: 1. An integrated amplifier (hence some of the suggestions above), or 2. A pre-amplifier and a power amplifier.
What I am looking for is an amplifier (1 piece only) that can be offer me good sound quality (warm and bass friendly) to my system, but please limit will be 1.100 euro. (The reason I am only searching in euro, is because of the huge import taxes I should have to pay if I order from USA, Canada, U.K, or everywhere else outside Eurozone. Thank you again all