Amp Needed Budget £200-500

New member here and liking what i am reading

Just recently received a pair of Dali Lektor 2's for my birthday, currently using a date TAFE530R (doesn't sound too bad but i know i can buy a much better amp)

So some suggestion ansd by all mean i'm open and probably will considered older amps first!

Let me know if you have any suggestions, as i want to get a decent amp and add a nice cd player and perhaps a T.T. In the near future. Just thought i would start somewhere, but i realise i'm not going to find a md208 or a plinius 8150 but hopefully one day i can get one of these or perhaps something better?

anyways good evening and i await your suggestions

Btw i am based in the U.k. if that helps for suggestions.

 

Whenever a question like this gets asked I recommend a Cyrus 3 (not the 3i), and if you want to spend a bit more add a PSX-R (that still holds good resale value). Every time I hear this little amp it puts a big smile on my face, it just does a lot very right and looks good too.

I used this amp to demonstrate a pair of £1,500 monitors (the Kensai in my signature) at a hi-fi show last year and it did a grand job, with many people saying it was one of the best sounds of the show.

 

Had a quick look at that particular amp, Looks like a nice piece of kit and there are a few going for quite reasonable prices too. so that suits me fine to be fair, in terms of cd players to compliment that, would you look at something like the 840c from cambridge or is there some bargain to be had in that department too ?

Thankyou for taking the time to make a recommendation too, i think in the end i'll end up upgrading speakers, but one step at a time

Cerebral

 

Amp Needed Budget £200-500

Valves....

but factor into your costings the need for new valves evey 6 months or so....

but valves do it for me.

 

Seconded on the Cyrus 3 which is a little gem.
As you are also thinking about adding a TT at some point it's worth mentioning that the Cyrus has a built in phono stage.

The matching CD players are also great, though go for a fairly recent model as the early ones are starting to suffer transport failures by now.

The Cambridge 840C is a superb cd player, but to be honest, if you don't require the dac input versatility the little 640C at £299 runs it bloody close. I was quite shocked at how good the 640C sounds for the money.

 

Thankyou for all the replys, well i can safely say that i'm pretty much sold on the Cyrus 3 ( thanyou for that guys/girls!) i would love to get a valve amp at some point but i feel a solidstate at this point in time would sound much better then what i have!

in to the cd players, the reason i ask is cause a friend is moving soon and has offered me the 840c for £299 with 4 years warrenty left, which for me represent great value and if i can source a good condition Cyrus 3, then i feel i have made a very good system

The main reason i like the 840 is the dac Capabilities, as i have lots of mp3( blame in on my iphone and westone 3's) and having heard it round my friend house through his 840c/MF 3.2/Dali ikon 6's i really liked the improvements it offered.

I did look at the beresford dac for this but as far as i am aware the 840c has a better dac inside if i am correct>?

Anyways i'll see how i get on looking for a Cyrus 3

 

At £299 the 840C is a great buy, they are about £800 new I think. If you want a little box to match the Cyrus 3 amp then Cyrus do make some very nice sounding players, but as Rob said the older ones (DAD7, DAD3) can go wrong; I've had a share of problems with this recently. If you get something more recent like a CD7(Q) or CD6 then you are probably quite safe.

I don't think there is much to gain from spending more on CD players once you reach a certain level. An 840C or a CD7Q are about the point you hit serious diminishing returns.

 

Thanks for all the input, it's been most appreciated, I guess i'm so used to the portable side of audio, that i need some time to get a good system in place. I've always liked the look of Cyrus, so i was glad with the recommendation. I think i will eventually get upgraditus to be fair, (it's whats driven me from £10 headphones to one that cost me £340) I really like the lektors, i originally had my heart set on the Ikon's but i actually found that i prefered the sound of the Lektors ( wierd i guess but i just found the Ikon's sounds a little withdrawn and the bass was quite as tight and seperate as the Lektors) so overall i can't wait to pick up the amp. Now just to look for one in good condition that isn't plague by ebay's overpriced ones with buy it now!

Anyways anybody have a good recommendation for speaker cables, i'm currently using Xhs503 stuff, which i managed to blag off richer sounds when i got the speakers there, is it fairly decent stuff ?

Again thankyou for the advice and i'll now have a look for some Cyrus 3's hopefully Miley 'bloody' Cyrus doesn't come up this time

Cerebral

 

I'm strongly of the opinion that cables make little difference, and you certainly don't need to spend much to get perfectly good ones. I'd keep what you have. Better to spend on music!

 

If you get upgraditus just add a PSXR power supply to the amp. It's very much the icing on the cake but good value compared to most external supplies.

I'm sure you'll find a C3 soon, though as Simon says, be careful not to go for the less common 3i.

 

could do a lot worse than this too...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAIRN-EZO-480...0|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

got a mf E100 very good condition boxed no marks, for £350.00
delivery £20.00,
nando

 

Yes, its a sweetie! Bit worrying that the seller really knows very little about any of the kit he sells -all sems to be listed with the standard splurge.

I watched a few items from this guy whilst I was looking. Cairn was on my wish list.

I do not personally feel qualified to make any direct recommendations however....

Good luck!

 

yeah, the review on that link above is from Earl of Sodbury from hifiwigwam (he just nicked it!)...tho, I wouldn't disagree with it...

 

vaves... fatman ?
nando

 

I seem to have track down both a cyrus 3 and a cyrus 7 so that might be of use, btw thank for all the nice advice. Nando i'm literally near hammersmith, so i might be interested in having a lookie at the amp if that seems reasonable? I had heard the the E100 had a few issue's. The Cairn also look very interesting, at the very top of my budget, does that model have the balanced input's on it? Also in term of PSX, are they available relatively freely for the cyrus equipment?

Thankyou very much for all the advice guys/girls

I think i am going to read alot more at the same time too, never know the speakers may well get upgraded in a year or so

Cerebral

 

Plenty around second hand, plus they are still in production.

 

yep - the Cairn does have balanced inputs...

 

The Cyrus 7 is a nice amp too, my second favourite Cyrus amp after the 3. Its a little more clinical I think, but not overly so. Be aware though, it has no phono input for your TT.

Not many girls on this forum by the way Surprising 'eh?

 

For Now i think the Cyrus 3 looks like the sure fire option, I've managed to track down one for £150, which seems to be in good condition, but photos will be upcoming i'd guess.

is there much differance between the 3 vs 7 ? apart from the model number?

I think, if the cyrus doesn't satisfy my craving, then perhaps i will look at the Cairn, But i think the price i've found the amp for is good and the Cairn on ebay is perhaps a tab expensive, considering these have gone for £350-400 in a few sales that i've tracked down. In terms of the power supply i think i will see how the Cyrus perform if i get the forementioned one, then if need be it's there

Do you know if the headphone out will power my Hd650's well ?