Advice needed on cheapish silver amplifier

Hi there

I'm on a mission from God(my brother is like God to me) to find a decent, sub-£150.00 integrated amplifier in silver. The finish is more important to him than the sound - each to his own and all that - as it has to match the stuff that his better half already owns, but I'd like to find him something nice.

The models in consideration at the moment are:

SONY TAFE370
Cambridge Audio A5

and that's it. I don't have any knowledge of either of the above two amps but the price and the finish fit the bill, so any user feedback would be appreciated, as would suggestions and sources for possible alternatives. Secondhand is not an option for him, I'm afraid.

Rest of the kit is a Cambridge dvd player as a cd/dvd source, and some Mission bookshelf speakers(M71i's I think), and it will be used pretty much 50/50 split between music and movie duties.

Thanks for any help you can provide,

Goomer.

 

Shame he won't go second hand, as a Marantz 6010KI would eat either the Cambridge or Sony alive and is rather handsome in its champagne silver finish. The A5 is still quite a tasty little amp though, you could do much worse than that. Either the Marantz PM4400 or the new Cambridge Azur 340A might be OK too.

 

Thanks, PeteH, for the speedy response. You're right, it is a shame he won't go secondhand but he will not(or more likely, his g/friend) be persuaded otherwise.

I'll add the Marantz you mention and the Azur to the hunt list.

Thanks again,

Goomer.

 

Second hand would also get the rather stunning Audio Innovations Alto. I believe you can get it under £200 new from our friends at Richer Sounds, and the looks might persuade him.... Also it's supposed to be not half bad, if a little lightweight in the bass..

 

Thanks, Isaac - I'll mention it and see if he can stretch to it, but I have a feeling that £150.00 is his top whack because of housemoving costs.

 

the Marantz stuff is gold...

you may be able to pick up an entry Nad amp for £150 now they've started doing them in silver. somewhere like superfi may have something

other than that, just the Sony TAFE370/570 you mentioned really. I've heard the TAFE370 and it isn't a bad amp really- bit bland to me but not too shabby

 

Thanks Rory - I passed on the advice of people here to my brother yesterday, and he is now the proud owner of the Cambridge A5.

Very happy with it he is, too, so thank you to all for the tips.

Goomer.