What amp for Kef Cadenza?

[MunkeyMan]

Hi, I've recently got into wanting a decent sound and I need a little help.

I currently have a nice pair of recently acquired 1974 Kef Cadenzas with new resonators, but I'm driving them with a very low-end newish Sony amp, so I don't think they're getting what they deserve. I'm using chunky Gale speaker cable and Cambridge Audio red interconnects.

I'm looking to spend around £50 (a bit tight, I know!) on a half-decent second hand amp, age no object - there's just so many of them! What ones would you recommend?

I mainly listen to rock/soft rock and acoustic music played from a Yamaha CD player - it won't be used for HT at all. The room is about 3m by 5m, and unfortunately since it's a terraced house I can't listen to it very loud. Thanks for the help in advance.

[Pat D]

Here are the specs for the Kef Cadenza. They appear to be rather insensitive, 96 dB with 15 watts works out to be about 83 dB with 1 watt, and with since they haven't recommended a big amplifier, you wouldn't want to play them excessively loud.

http://www.kef.com/history/1970/cadenza.asp

They don't give the size of the woofer but I imagine it's 8 inches. The crossover to the tweeter is 3500 Hz, which is rather high by todays standards, and it means that the off axis dispersion between about 1000-3000 Hz would not be very good. Definitely a listening window speaker. But with careful placement on stands and away from side walls, some of the old Kefs can sound very good in the listening window.

I imagine your Sony receiver has enough power for you.

[MunkeyMan]

Thanks for the help. The Sony is 30w per channel, but the midrange is a bit muddy and the bass is lacking compared with other amps - I tested the speakers with the significantly more expensive Cambridge Audio one downstairs, and there is a huge difference.

I was hoping for better sound quality rather than more power, and I'm guessing this Sony isn't top of the range!

[basite]

you could try to look for an old marantz, or an old kenwood or so
if you're lucky you might find some very good stuff for a few pounds...
your budget begs for vintage...

Good luck,
Bert.