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Can't Decide on Amp. Nad, Rotel, Rega

The advantage of the WiiM products (amp or not), among other things, is that they allow for EQ to be applied, so you can do simple room corrections. It also offers a proper sub-out to integrate a possible future subwoofer.

But I guess I like the idea of having an amplifier better. The idea of it, the whole "process" , turning it on and listening to music. I like "oldschool" :)
I don’t think the overall experience is very different. You can still have a box that you turn on, it just doesn’t contain any amps ;)
 
It makes me wonder, why people are buying amps and speakers, if they could go for active speakers?
It's a good question, that's been asked before, but is still without a good answer. There are lots of us still doing amp + passive speakers, we all have our own bespoke reasons, but a lot of us recognise that if we were starting again with what we now know we would go active.
 
It's a good question, that's been asked before, but is still without a good answer. There are lots of us still doing amp + passive speakers, we all have our own bespoke reasons, but a lot of us recognise that if we were starting again with what we now know we would go active.
 
92 pages and no conclusion?
Plenty of reasons just in page one of the thread, let alone the rest.

Don't expect one single nice clean conclusion. Markets are driven by the diverse views and needs of everyone in the market.
 
The advantage of the WiiM products (amp or not), among other things, is that they allow for EQ to be applied, so you can do simple room corrections. It also offers a proper sub-out to integrate a possible future subwoofer.


I don’t think the overall experience is very different. You can still have a box that you turn on, it just doesn’t contain any amps ;)
This feature seems really useful. Room acoustics has a big effect. So ability to "adjust" it is nice.
You even recommended it over the new Rega Brio. So it's music quality should be really good.
I wonder, I could buy that Rotel Ra 1062 for the price of wiim. You would recommend wiim over that Rotel?
If you wouldn't recommend wiim, I would have looked at it as some "new age toy"
Also, I will check if it has phono, as I plan to buy turntable
It's a good question, that's been asked before, but is still without a good answer. There are lots of us still doing amp + passive speakers, we all have our own bespoke reasons, but a lot of us recognise that if we were starting again with what we now know we would go active.
Got it! Thank you very much!
For my main room Ill go with amplifier, because I will experiment, later Ill buy some cheaper amps for something like 100eur, and see what is the difference in the music output. To see how amp can "change" the sound in general. And to hear for myself what it means "dark", "neutral" "punchy" , difference between mids, highs on separate systems.

Honestly, I never knew that active speakers is so good, thank you for telling this! I will buy them to use in another place.
Really helpful!

Wow, nice thread. A lot of reading awaits!
Thanks!
First things first. Room dimensions, how far from the speakers do you sit, what SPL do you like (use an SLP meter app on your phone), how much bass extension do you want at that SPL?
Thank you, really useful things!
Room is 24square meters. I will sit like 3 or 4 meters from it.
Spl, a new thing to me! I had to google what it is! I will check it, though need to read more to understand how to evaluate what Spl I like
For bass, it can be normal, "on time" bass, as much it suit classic rock music, metal. I do not think that I need bass which so strong that makes windows "vibrate". I don't know if this is what you were asking about bass, because I admit that I am a noob in this all music systems field

I didn't mention room, because I thought its not so important, as Im just looking for some decent budget amp, not some high end system.


Thank you for replies everyone! I really learned a new things from this thread! Im really grateful to you!
 
You can also take a special route for a great sound. :cool:

S.M.S.L RAW-HA1 + Speedwoofer 12s
 
I didn't mention room, because I thought its not so important, as Im just looking for some decent budget amp, not some high end system.
Aiyima A07 is a decent budget amp but is it sufficient for your needs? If you wanted clean trouser-flapping sub-bass then it would not. That's why I was asking for room size, distance, SPL and bass requirements.

I'm strongly in favor of choosing speakers first and then the amp because we can't really spec the amp requirements without them. And I'm also in favor of active speakers (I got my first set in 1985) if you are open to that.

But if you want to go ahead and buy a good amp asap and get good value then just buy the beefiest Yamaha integrated your budget allows. Then when it comes to getting speakers come back and start another thread and we can talk about sensitivity, tonality and such.

The WiiM streamers already mentioned are killer functionaly (I use one) and the Ultra preamp and amp are clean. If these fit your requirements, give it a go. The amp is 120 W at 4Ω and 60 at 8.
 
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If I were doing my system today, I'd likely choose a system with active speakers (probably KEF L60s, Genelecs, Neumanns or Mesanovics) rather than my KEF R11s and NAD C298. Dutch and Dutch would be considered if I could boost the budget. But I'm plenty happy with what I've got.
 
...I won't listen music very loudly, I most interested in the music ....
Or maybe I should look at some other manufacturer?
Nakamichi PA-5 series amplifiers have excellent Japanese build quality and technically impressive designed old amps (late 1980s). The PA-5's damping factor is 80 and into 8 ohm rated speakers puts out 100 watts per channel. Those spec numbers aside Nakamichis are well known providers of pleasing musical detail and you'd get that even listening at modest volume. Just looked on-line and see one used Nakamichi PA-5 now on fleaBay in the USA for $800 [ there are less (and more) expensive Nakamichi used amplifiers you can read up on ].
 
Nakamichi PA-5
I don't recommend vintage gear to ASR newcomers except if they are buying from a dealer who gives at least some warranty and they can trust to service it. Anyone able to do their own service on stuff like a PA-5 probably wouldn't as a question like OP's.

For $800 for power amp alone you have a lot of choices.
 
I would split budget into ~7:3, 70% for speakers and 30% for amplifier which has room correction capability.
I was and am beginner and most of advices i have got here were correct.
I'm convinced majority opinion here will help you to save your cost and efforts followed by efficient outcome.
 
Dear @AvailMail ,

Welcome to ASR.

Perhaps it is only my impression, but you seem to be "stuck" (I don't know why) in the notion that the right amplifier will bring some kind of MAGIC to your system and everything will sound magically wonderful.

You also seem to have a soft spot for the Rega Brio (I also don't know why).

I think you should be aware that amplifiers do not have a "sound".

Let me say that again:
Amplifiers do not have a "sound". Amplifiers are voltage devices.

You will not be able to distinguish between two solid state amplifiers, provided that:

(a) both amplifiers have enough power to drive the speakers
(b) both amplifiers do not operate at their clipping point (and hence do not distort)

When researching for an amplifier, what matters most is:

(a) that your amplifier has ENOUGH POWER to drive your desired speakers (for your desired loudness and distance from the speakers), and
(b) that it has the connectivity you want

Please focus on the above essentials and stop believing that some amplifiers have magical abilities like Harry Potter.

Amplifiers do not produce sound. Speakers do. Make sure you invest in good speakers.

Good luck in you quest.

GSP
 
Nakamichi PA-5 series amplifiers have excellent Japanese build quality and technically impressive designed old amps (late 1980s). The PA-5's damping factor is 80 and into 8 ohm rated speakers puts out 100 watts per channel. Those spec numbers aside Nakamichis are well known providers of pleasing musical detail and you'd get that even listening at modest volume. Just looked on-line and see one used Nakamichi PA-5 now on fleaBay in the USA for $800 [ there are less (and more) expensive Nakamichi used amplifiers you can read up on ].
Idle power consumption alone is around 300 W as far as I remember. There is really no need for such waste.
 
You can also take a special route for a great sound. :cool:

S.M.S.L RAW-HA1 + Speedwoofer 12s

Nakamichi PA-5 series amplifiers have excellent Japanese build quality and technically impressive designed old amps (late 1980s). The PA-5's damping factor is 80 and into 8 ohm rated speakers puts out 100 watts per channel. Those spec numbers aside Nakamichis are well known providers of pleasing musical detail and you'd get that even listening at modest volume. Just looked on-line and see one used Nakamichi PA-5 now on fleaBay in the USA for $800 [ there are less (and more) expensive Nakamichi used amplifiers you can read up on ].
Thank you!
Didn't now these manufacturers until now!
Going to take a look!
Dear @AvailMail ,

Welcome to ASR.

Perhaps it is only my impression, but you seem to be "stuck" (I don't know why) in the notion that the right amplifier will bring some kind of MAGIC to your system and everything will sound magically wonderful.

You also seem to have a soft spot for the Rega Brio (I also don't know why).

I think you should be aware that amplifiers do not have a "sound".

Let me say that again:
Amplifiers do not have a "sound". Amplifiers are voltage devices.

You will not be able to distinguish between two solid state amplifiers, provided that:

(a) both amplifiers have enough power to drive the speakers
(b) both amplifiers do not operate at their clipping point (and hence do not distort)

When researching for an amplifier, what matters most is:

(a) that your amplifier has ENOUGH POWER to drive your desired speakers (for your desired loudness and distance from the speakers), and
(b) that it has the connectivity you want

Please focus on the above essentials and stop believing that some amplifiers have magical abilities like Harry Potter.

Amplifiers do not produce sound. Speakers do. Make sure you invest in good speakers.

Good luck in you quest.

GSP
Thank you for heartwarming welcoming!
Yes, I'm little bit stuck on that .
Though I am not expecting magic, I just want to not buy a bad amp in general. For example, finding any amp in my budget and buying the most expensive one "because its the most expensive, so it will be the best"
I talked with a one guy, he said that he listened to nad and marantz and he didn't like the marantz. And reading forums, me too didn't somehow came to like marantz from reading peoples messages.
So with that in mind, I understood that amplifier will have some effect, it's not so big as speakers effect, but still I want to "check" before buying an amp
Regarding Brio, yeah I mentioned it many times
Reason is that I read forum, many people wrote that for about 600eur it's the best amp.
I was thinking to buy an amp for 350eur, but if I can get a better amp for 600eur, I am willing to add another 300eur to my budget for an amp and buy a better product. "Cheap Man Pays Twice"
Then I searched forum for "amp" "600" , and somehow Rega Brio was mentioned and recommended many times. That's the only reason why I have the "soft spot for Brio"
But then I thought, I didn't really check who wrote those messages, maybe they was "noobs" like me, who bought it as first amp and of course the sound was better than listening to music without a amp.
So I didn't went straight for Rega to buy it. So I started this thread
 
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I don't recommend vintage gear to ASR newcomers ...
Probably the most common concern with functioning vintage amplifiers is whether their capacitors should be immediately replaced or are going to need replacement . Some blogs have commentators stating gear over "x" years must be re-capped and yet others when they measured vintage capacitors they intended to replace found them fine.

Below is what one ASR technically competent member said in a recent ASR thread about capacitors. [I will add that buying well known brand vintage amps relatively recently used are a better blind bet on it having decent spec capacitors than buying one of the same brand which had been in storage for years someone came across among their father's old stuff.]

IMG_1148.jpeg
 
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