Integrated Amplifier to Get Someone Started

Listening to THE KING (Nat King Cole) via my Yamaha a-s801...love it!

 

Bookmark Cambridge Audio's ebay store, where they sell refurbs. Currently, they have the AXR100 receiver for $425. The slightly less powerful AXR85 was on sale cheap there a few weeks back. The $350 new AXA35 integrated was offered at $250-75 a while back. The AXR100 had nice reviews from Zero Fidelity and Andrew Robinson on youtube. Robinson's wife prefers it to the Yamaha 801, and she's a Yamaha fan.

Items for sale by cambridgeaudiousa | eBay

There should be some deals on NAD 316BEE's or used C320, 325, 326s in Canada, I'd think.

The IOTA VX SA3 has been well regarded. Zero Fidelity has a vid comparing it and the AXR100.

IOTAVX SA3

 

I think going to a dealer (if possible) and giving your budget is the way to go. There are brands like you mentioned plus Rotel, NAD, Arcam, and Caimbridge that may also fit your bill.

 

Rotel A11 Tribute (Black)

 

I'd say go to some thrift shops and yard sales. There you will find AV Receivers from the last 20 years for next to nothing. Buy one or two for $20-40. They won't have a phono amp which is probably a good thing. You just need it to drive your speakers. Check ebay for 2nd hand phono amps for $30-60. Speakers are all over the second hand stores and yard sales. Look for some name brand bookshelf speakers and if they're asking $100 offer them $40. Then search out a TT repair guy in your area. Not a guy in a store somewhere, unless it is off the beaten path and junky as hell. Otherwise it should be a guy with a full time job that enjoys working on them. He'll have some refurbished entry level turntables that he'll sell you. Get an old consumer level turntable for $200-300. It will be better than any $400-500 new table on the market. For somewhere between $290 and $450 you've got a good starter stereo. It will be an adventure putting it all together and over the next few years you can gradually upgrade until you have something that anyone not a wealthy audiophile would be proud of. I'd start upgrading with the speakers, then amp, phono amp, cart, turntable. But that's just me. Others will strongly disagree.

 

Another vote for Yamaha, either 501 or 701.

 

I'll throw in a curveball, check NAD D3020 or D3045. Both are compact, have phono input and bluetooth for streaming. Safe and Sound has a factory refurbished D3020 for sub $400. I love my D3045 in the office.

 

Teac AI-301DA-X

 

Give the Sony STR-DH910 a try if you want just the basic 2 channel amp. I had one paired with the Klipsch RP600M and it sounded excellent. You can't get much cheaper that around $150 for a brand new amplifier. Some people have even said they preferred it over some $400 - $600 amps.

 

If they like vintage a used Nikko integrated such as a TRM 500 shouldn’t set them back much at all and IMO they sound quite nice. Plus they look really cool . They’re not as cheap as they were 5-10 years ago but can be found affordably (meaning, under $200-$250) with some patience.

 

For really cheap, just look on Kijiji for someone selling an old Technics or Yamaha amp from the 80s. Should have built in phono stage. If you can get a Technics Class A amp it will likely sound good. I got my first amp for vinyl setup for $50 and it lasted me 7 years (until I recently blew it by accident). I say an amp from the 80s (or 90s) because will be cheap but likely have a more modern character to it, meaning clean sound, than a cheap amp from the 70s, which could have more of a distorted/warm sound. That's cool too if that's preferred.

Then, if the person gets into the vinyl, the next step would be an upgrade to a dedicated phono stage, of which there are many affordable options on the market. It took me a few years to get to that step - everyone is different.

 

That looks suspiciously expensive. I'd love to find one of those at a yard sale.

 

That’s totally cool.

 

It could happen. I got my second one at a flea mkt. ,in box, recently refurbed by the seller for $120. That was 10 years ago or so though and prices have probably doubled or tripled since. IIRC, there were quite a few produced so your chances aren't impossible.

 

I have read that response in one way or another since I got into this hobby. “Can’t go wrong with a Yamaha”. So far, I have found it to be true.

 

That was my first amp. I was running Klipsch 160M and that combo produced a nice sound. The Yamaha 501 integrated amp I finally purchased was a major improvement.

 

If new lots of love for the yamaha 501 here.

If secondhand try and find a Cyrus 1 or 2 - should be no more than £250 serviced (replacement caps) and has probably one of the best phono stages of any small integrated amp of the 80s.

If the Cyrus is too minimalist (only volume and balance) then some of the NAD, Technics or Marantz of that era have more knobs to play with.

 

I wasn’t speaking about the entire brand, just the A-S line. I heard the R-S201 receiver and didn’t like it at all.

 

Tripled?

No.........

Those things go for close to 900 USD fully restored now.

Vintage audio ain't what it used to be, (financially speaking, at least).

 

I'm going to make the assumptions (a) you want something available new, not a ticket to cruise all the local garage sales, (b) you really mean it when you say you don't need a phono preamp, and (c) three-hundred-odd dollars is more dollars than is comfortable for a student budget. I'd consider one of these:

Home

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Dayton Audio DTA-2.1BT2 100W 2.1 Class D Bluetooth Amplifier with Sub Frequency Adjustment
Dayton Audio
Part #300-3831
Model: DTA-2.1BT2]

I have no direct experience with this particular model, but I've had other amps from that stable, and they've offered tremendous value for the money. This one would get you up and running with (I would expect) very respectable sound for just a hair over $100. Others, with lower power ratings, are available from the same source for even less. Take the power per channel claims with a healthy pinch of salt, by the way; they tend to be wildly overstated for little Class D amps like this. That said, even cutting the claimed output for this one by half, you'd still have ample for a simple, small starter setup, and I'm pretty confident it would sound better than the thing I started out with when I was in college. Speaking of which, another advantage: these amps are so small, they will easily fit in any high schooler's bedroom or college student's dorm room.

 

Last time I checked a Marantz 1060 was around $500 more or less. There's always ones that sneak under the radar. A few years ago I got a working 2216 for $70 and a free 2230 w/wood case that needed a tune up.

 

There’s a big difference between the r-s201/2 and the A-S501, yes, but I compared the r-s201 a similarly priced Sony receiver and thought that the Sony sounded better. The 201 just wasn’t that great for its price point.

 

That’s a great looking amp.