Integrated amp recommendations

[RGA]

To be fair though that is a UK site. So you should factor in that it costs more in North America. They gave the Bryston B60 a 3 star rating but that has more to do with the fact that the price doubled in the UK market and was twice as much as the Sugden A21a...no contest. Yet over here the A21a and the Bryston are about the same price...which helps the Bryston a great deal.

I have not heard the small Arcam's.

Why not buy a used rotel power amp and a good inexpensive preamp?

[noddin0ff]

As another suggestion, how about the Cambridge Audio Azur 540A? It runs $349 on Audio Advisor. 50 wpc into 8 ohms, 80 wpc into 4 ohms. Wireless remote, defeatable tone controls, two sets of binding posts, detachable IEC. Sonically, I don't know how it would compare against the NAD. The build quality looks better.

I've had the Azur 540A in my office for two weeks now driving a pair of Paradigm MiniMonitors v.3. The source is my humble Apple PowerBook G3 (Pismo) outputing via USB to a Griffin iMic. It's near impossible to find specks on the DAC in the iMic, It's obviously not the best but probably on par with most brand name consumer players. It took about a week to break in all components. I can't really do A/B comparisons, I have the Paradigm Reference line at home and some Titans so I'm fairly familiar with the limitations of these speakers. I'll give you my impressions on the Azur.

First, it looks great and is nice and solid. I have the black version. Its layout is simple, intuitive, and has the great big volume control, Everything feels good to the touch and visually the little pinpoint 'azur' indicator lights are totally cool and tasteful. The binding posts were probably the least satisfying part. They are not super solid; realistically though, you attach your wires and leave them alone so how solid do they need to be? The remote is very stylish and will switch inputs. It'll run other Cambridge components. The 540A has bass and treble defeat, balance, a/b speaker, and direct bypass. Again all the controls look and feel good. Oh, and a headphone jack I haven't tried yet.

A lot of people complain that Paradigms are bright. I actually prefer that sound, to me it adds detail to strings. Probably, I, like most men, don't hear high frequencies as well... With the Azur they don't seem as bright. The sound is a little less pushed, and more comfortable...like a good pair of shoes. This could be the amp, OR maybe the white noise from the air in the office could be hiding the bright edge a bit. I listen to jazz, classical, and alternative. Everything comes through just fine. The Azur seems confident without being pushy, perfect for the office. I couldn't justify a more expensive component, I really love my music, but how critical can your listening get in an office? There's more noise there than you think!

The price was right for me. The Azur provides more quality than a similar priced receiver. I looks real nice in the office. The power range is perfect. I think it was a good buy. I would characterize it as warm and confident, but I'm comparing it to my bias for a Yamaha/Paradigm combo.

2 cents

Noddin0ff

[Mike That Likes Music]

Topspeed,
I'm not nearly up to the level of product comparison that most of these guys are, but I'll throw my encouragement behind those in the Cambridge camp. I have an A500, bought from Audio Advisor for $295 (same deal as the erstwhile dean martin, I'm sure). I'm using it to drive a pair of JMLabs Chorus 710s. The Chorus' are 8 ohm speakers, rated to recieve 60W RMS and 80W peak, so I have no need to turn up the volume much. Even for my loud nasty rock 'n roll moments, it has oodles of power to spare.
Prior to my getting the Chorus' though, I was using the A500 to drive a pair of Mission bookshelf speakers. There was no model #, but they were the speakers that came with the old Denon/Mission systems. They were 6 ohm speakers rated at 75W RMS, 100W peak, and again I never had to turn the volume up above the 9 o'clock position to get anything I wanted from it.
As for characterising sound, my keyword is "smooth". Everything on the recording is evident, but even so-so recordings (of which I own many) sound pretty decent. So maybe slightly "forgiving" too.
One thing I do love about this amp is that it sounds wonderful at low levels. My old amp had to be going above conversation level before it would really start to sing. This one is great at every level and with every bit of music or film audio that has passed through it. Happy hunting.

Mike

[topspeed]

Thanks for the replies Noddin and Mike. How long have you guys had your units running now and have you had any problems? Because of Dean's experiences, I had pretty much written off CA and it has become a two horse battle between the NAD and Rotel RA02. As shallow as this sounds, I'm having a bit of trouble coming to grips with NAD aesthetics, or rather the lack thereof. Geez, do they make ANYTHING that looks good?? OTOH, I love the style of the CA and Rotel. Still, sound and especially quality overcome looks in my book any day of the week. This unit is going to be on for pretty much 12 hrs a day, 5 days a week and it has to up to snuff.

Thanks for the input.

[dean_martin]

I didn't give up on CA. I've found that putting together a good system often comes with some inconvenience. As long as you get good service, it's often worth the minor disappointments. Here are some of my experiences. I have an AMC cd8b cd player. The first unit I received from audio advisor had problems reading discs. It would come up "no disc" on the first try just about every time I loaded a disc. I sent it back at their expense, received a new unit, no problems since. I've already described my prior experience with a CA cd player - the D300. I got this fixed under warranty through audiolab and wouldn't trade it for anything in it's price range. It's the perfect complement to my NAD integrated and NHT SuperOnes in my bedroom system. In my main system, I blew an Acurus A100 power amp the first time I tried it. I got it repaired through Mondial/Klipsch with no problems since. When it blew, it took out the midrange driver in my left Acoustic Energy speaker. I had had the AEs for almost 2 yrs. I called audiolab (where I bought them) and they got it fixed under warranty. I added a Pro-ject turntable for my main system after my old Dual died. It immediately produced a hum in one channel. After trouble-shooting according to Sumiko's recommendations, I sent it back. They attempted a repair and sent it back, but they didn't fix it. It had the same problem. Then, they sent me a new one.

After these experiences, the CA A500 with the hum problem was only a minor inconvenience ("patience, grasshoppa"). Audio Advisor gave me a good deal on the Azur 540A as a replacement. Newer model, but less power for $4 more. We received it yesterday. It looks so much better than the old A series. It has a headphone jack and its remote is probably the coolest of all budget component remotes. My son and I stayed up later than usual last night listening to Grant Green's "Idle Moments." When I turned it off to tell him good night he said, "Hey! What are you doing? Can I borrow that cd?" All is well.

[noddin0ff]

Personally, I give the good looks award to the Azur. It also has the lower list price. I was also considering Parasounds Zpre and Zamp separates for the small footprint... to add another option to the mix. I didn't audition any of the above. Just went with reviews and ordered the Azur online. I like it, had it almost a month. On some of my better recordings the sound is really really nice. My impressions haven't changed much, warm. comfortable, confident. I did see this comparative review between the NAD and the Rotel if you like (links below). Also a link to a What Hi Fi Azur review and finally, I have a pdf of a Hi-Fi Choice Feb 04 review of the Azur that I can't find the link for.If you send me an email at *my username below* @yahoo.com and I will forward it back to you. It makes a brief statement of preference for the Azur..."The Cambridge has a more weighty sound than much of the similarly-priced competition from brands like NAD and Rotel, which don’t have quite the same finesse in terms of building tension." For whatever that means...Nothing like completely subjective and vague opinions to clarify an issue. :-)

http://www.stereophile.com/amplifica...85/index1.html
http://www.stereophile.com/amplifica...85/index2.html
http://www.everestaudio.com/reviews-cambridge-audio.htm

Have fun!

Noddin0ff

[topspeed]

Thanks for your impressions and links. I take a look.

[psonic]

greetings,

here's a good site for refurb NAD amps with 1yr warr, like c320bee for $279.... the c370 may be good for your 2 8" drivers also...

http://www.yawaonline.com/amplifiers.html

[noddin0ff]

a thread from another forum where NAD and Cambridge are discussed

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/10807.html

noddin0ff

[topspeed]

Well, I just ordered the Azure 540a & 540c cd player from my dealer that sold me the VSA's. I'm taking a leap of faith here as even AudioAdvisor admitted there were quality problems with the previous gen 300 & 500a(?) Cambridge integrateds. They told me that the new Azure line has completely different transformers which is where the qc problems manifested. I'm also intrigued by the Wolfson dac's (as oppossed to the Crystal dac's in the 300) in the new 540c. While I originally thought all dac's should sound the same, I've found thru experience that this is indeed untrue.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and opinions as once again, this place proved an invaluable resource. I can't believe how hard it was to pick an integrated for a simple office system but I guess that shows how fanatical (or is it deranged?) we call all be when it comes to this crazy hobby. Bottom line, I simply couldn't pass up the deal my guy gave me: $530 for both. It would have been $700 thru AudioAdvisor. Tough to pass up, no?

If anyone's interested, I'll post impressions after break-in, which in my office will take about 3 days after everything comes in.

Thanks again and have a great weekend.

[Geoffcin]

Well, I just ordered the Azure 540a & 540c cd player from my dealer that sold me the VSA's. I'm taking a leap of faith here as even AudioAdvisor admitted there were quality problems with the previous gen 300 & 500a(?) Cambridge integrateds. They told me that the new Azure line has completely different transformers which is where the qc problems manifested. I'm also intrigued by the Wolfson dac's (as oppossed to the Crystal dac's in the 300) in the new 540c. While I originally thought all dac's should sound the same, I've found thru experience that this is indeed untrue.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and opinions as once again, this place proved an invaluable resource. I can't believe how hard it was to pick an integrated for a simple office system but I guess that shows how fanatical (or is it deranged?) we call all be when it comes to this crazy hobby. Bottom line, I simply couldn't pass up the deal my guy gave me: $530 for both. It would have been $700 thru AudioAdvisor. Tough to pass up, no?

If anyone's interested, I'll post impressions after break-in, which in my office will take about 3 days after everything comes in.


Thanks again and have a great weekend.

Congrats dude!

I'm sure your going to love the new equipment. Keep us up to date on how it sounds. and also how it changes as it breaks in.