Best Bet Amp <£150 S/H

I'm coming into this a little late, but you might also consider an Exposure X, which should be well within your GBP150 limit, and would match the Marantz nicely.

Way back when it was new I had an X, matched with a Marantz and Castle Durham speakers and it was a superb combination. All the oomph and response of Naim without the cost. (I currently own a Nait 5, but am not that sure it's too far ahead of the X!)

~ ~ Dave

 

It may be too late, but I have had a lot of the 2nd hand gear you mention, I had a Creek 4040 which I loved but it eventually met it's maker when it became more expensive to repair than it was worth. I replaced it with a Quad 33/303 combo which I run through Rega Kytes very similair speakers to yours, the main difference beiing they are front ported instead of rear. To be honest I wouldn't go back to the Creek, it was good but not as warm and rich as the Quad, but strangely it didn't offer as much detail either. If you like simple acoustic music it is definitley a Quad I'd go for. Linn Intek out next week as I picked it up at a reasonable price on Ebay, but I will be surprised if it knocks the Quads off of their perch. The other good thing about Quad is that they will service and repair any of their kit for £40 an item, excellent security with old devices.

 

Ok, after all the great advice and rumination the great ebay buying bonanza is over ... and I came in just £2 over budget including delivery!!!

So, we have for our hopeful delectation:

Marantz CD6000OSE CD player
Rega Elicit Amp
Rega Alya (latest)
Old, bog standard 79 strand

£402 all in ...

No listening tests done ... total gamble, but if it pays off I've saved a bundle! If not, watch out on ebay for this stuff ;-)

Now I need to find some replacement, decent speaker cable that's properly terminated and a decent interconnect. Dare I ask for any more advice?

Thanks for the help ...

Dave

 

Have a read of Cookie mosters bake off page mate.

They tried all sorts of budget cables. Wont tell you which ones came out on top - it'll spoil your fun chap!


have fun
Chris

 

Onix 22

I just got one of these off ebay for about 100 took it home last night and fired it up in place of my Lavardin in order to test it..

I'm surprised at how much like my old Exposures it sounds and for 100 quid I have decided it's a bargain, it sounds very good indeed.

The problem now is I'll have to get something better than the cheap sony CD player I was planning to use with it and I'll have to invest in some decent bedroom speakers.

Bloody Hifi.