Amp inspiration plse...

Am looking to upgrade my Rotel ra-04 amp and have a pair of rega ela's mk1 speakers.
Any suggestions for a complimentary amp would be great.

Budget up to £500 (ish) second hand.
Am considering a naim nait5i (2nd hand maybe).

Thankyou in advance.

 

As usual, my suggestion will be a Cyrus 3 with PSX-R. Not the 3i, that is not as good.

I wonder if you might be able to find a second hand Cambridge Audio 840. that is also a lovely amp.

 

Hi Tenson, why the cyrus?

 

Because it looks superb, and sounds even better.

 

How about the cyrus 2?

 

I haven't really any experience of it, but its supposed to be nice as well. However, you are less likely to find a PSX for it as it doesn't use the current spec. The Cyrus 3 does, so you can upgrade it with the PSX-R.

 

Tenson dont you think the Cyrus with Rega's will sound a bit too bright? I have heard Rega speakers and thought them too high in the treble. Haven't heard Cyrus but some have said these are bright also. Perhaps the Cyrus you mention is better in that area.

 

The Cyrus 1, 2 and 3 are a bit warmer and better balanced than everything after for sure.

 

we probably all have different ears, cyrus sounds very arteficial and hi-fi to my aged ears....

 

The C2 is a very nice amp but knocking on 20 years old.

Most are therefore well passed their prime and unless you are prepared to delve inside and do little DIY servicing the C3 is the safer bet. Similar sound on both though the C2 has a much better phono stage. The C3 was born when CD had become firmly established so the phono stage is a bit of an afterthought.

Both work fine with Rega as any tonal balance issues (if they exist) will be tiny.

Having said all that, the Rotel you own looks none too shabby so this might be a sideways move.

 

I heard one of the modern-ish Rotel amps at about £300 a couple of years back and was very unimpressed. Wimpy sounding with a strongly forward balance. The Cyrus 6 sounded far far better to me and the other person with me, an the Cyrus 3 sounds better than that to my ears.

You could sell the lot and get active speakers

The new stuff yes, a bit.

 

Densen Beat 100.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cyrus-III-Amp...oryZ3280QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

You could easily get a Meridian 201 pre + a pair of 205 monos for under £500 and should be a very big step up from your rotel.

Don't know how well they'd match your Rega speakers but the meridians don't have a bright character.

 

I think thats the 3i.

 

For ref, I owned a Cyrus 2/PSX from new (long time ago).
I remember hearing a comparison with an older Nait, and wondering what I'd done blowing so much money on the Cyrus. IMO the Nait walked all over it. I think that it was a Nait 2, but could have even been a Nait 1.

 

the cyrus III is an excellent little amp, and a lot better than people give it credit for. It has fantastic imaging, and a genuinely enjoyable musical and toe tapping sound.

It's also a lot lot warmer and easier to listen to than a lot of the more modern cyrus amp, but has the benefit of the same casework and MC-BUS control system as the new products, so it can be easilly integrated with newer power amps etc in the future.

given what you can pick up a III and PSX for these days, they represent a total steal.

i would suggest also that the PSX-R should not be considered optional with this amp, as it has a huge impact on its power delivery, current and overall authority, as well as its ability to resolve finer detail. With a lot of cyrus products (cd players in particular) the PSX-R is a bit of a joke, but in 1994 the III was engineered to make the very most of the larger power supply in the PSX.

 

Thks for the input...I'm not a huge fan of cyrus but I might investigate.