integrated amp, pre-amp power amp brands

[thebigduck]

I've been looking at purchasing a new or used integrated amplifier, or pre-amp/power amp combo. I'm having a hard time figuring out what the quality brands are and where to purchase them. I have a limited budget (around $500) for the int. amp or pre/power combo. I'm looking at powering a pair of decent bookshelf speakers (something around a Paradigm Monitor 5) so maybe 50 watts of quality power give or take.
I've heard many brands discussed but I don't know how they compare or where I can even buy them. Jolinda, NAD, Marantz, Denon, Arcam, Niles, Cambridge Audio, Audio Note, Audio Refinement, Prima Luna, Creek, Rotel, Yamaha, Harmon Kardon, Sunfire, Onkyo to name a few, but I don't know which of these are actually any good and if I can afford them, used or new. So far I've found a couple that look interesting, the NAD C320BEE and Cambridge Audio Azur series. Used or new doesn't matter too much as long as I can get my hands on one and it sounds good. Help me out a bit to narrow down my shopping list.
The guy at my local audio store told me to avoid the Japanese equipment, stick with the British and American stuff. Is there any truth in that, are there brands I should avoid?

[magno@mac.com]

...They offer some of the best bang for the buck you will find and they don't try to wow you with lots of buttons and whiz-bangery like so many of the Japanese makers do. From what I've gathered they are also very generous with power. If I had only had $500 - $1000 for my integrated I would have gone NAD -- no question.




I've been looking at purchasing a new or used integrated amplifier, or pre-amp/power amp combo. I'm having a hard time figuring out what the quality brands are and where to purchase them. I have a limited budget (around $500) for the int. amp or pre/power combo. I'm looking at powering a pair of decent bookshelf speakers (something around a Paradigm Monitor 5) so maybe 50 watts of quality power give or take.
I've heard many brands discussed but I don't know how they compare or where I can even buy them. Jolinda, NAD, Marantz, Denon, Arcam, Niles, Cambridge Audio, Audio Note, Audio Refinement, Prima Luna, Creek, Rotel, Yamaha, Harmon Kardon, Sunfire, Onkyo to name a few, but I don't know which of these are actually any good and if I can afford them, used or new. So far I've found a couple that look interesting, the NAD C320BEE and Cambridge Audio Azur series. Used or new doesn't matter too much as long as I can get my hands on one and it sounds good. Help me out a bit to narrow down my shopping list.
The guy at my local audio store told me to avoid the Japanese equipment, stick with the British and American stuff. Is there any truth in that, are there brands I should avoid?

[anamorphic96]

I've been looking at purchasing a new or used integrated amplifier, or pre-amp/power amp combo. I'm having a hard time figuring out what the quality brands are and where to purchase them. I have a limited budget (around $500) for the int. amp or pre/power combo. I'm looking at powering a pair of decent bookshelf speakers (something around a Paradigm Monitor 5) so maybe 50 watts of quality power give or take.
I've heard many brands discussed but I don't know how they compare or where I can even buy them. Jolinda, NAD, Marantz, Denon, Arcam, Niles, Cambridge Audio, Audio Note, Audio Refinement, Prima Luna, Creek, Rotel, Yamaha, Harmon Kardon, Sunfire, Onkyo to name a few, but I don't know which of these are actually any good and if I can afford them, used or new. So far I've found a couple that look interesting, the NAD C320BEE and Cambridge Audio Azur series. Used or new doesn't matter too much as long as I can get my hands on one and it sounds good. Help me out a bit to narrow down my shopping list.
The guy at my local audio store told me to avoid the Japanese equipment, stick with the British and American stuff. Is there any truth in that, are there brands I should avoid?

You could actually buy a brand new NAD C320BEE for 399. Probably one of the best inexpensive integrated amps out there along with Cambridge Audio and Rotel.

Here is a recent review.

http://goodsound.com/equipment.shtml

[Pat]

To get an idea of what is on the market take a look at the used stuff at www.audiogon.com
I've bought from there a couple times and generally electronics sell for "about" 1/2 of what they cost new.

[kexodusc]

I've owned a few NAD pieces over the years, including 2 integrateds, the 3140 and the 3020. The 3020 was the original piece that really made NAD. These 2 units are over 22 years old and still work great.

A word of caution though, the 320BEE has been heavily criticized for having a few design issues (resulting in bad imaging, almost like channels out of phase) and a lot of NAD fans I know try to steer people to the next available model (C352 I guess). My own brief demos with these units have been great, so I suspect it's just quality control thing. You can search the archives here or search google for more info on the specifics. I haven't heard much about it lately though so hopefully they've corrected whatever the issue was.

I agree with Pat, Audiogon is a great place to look for quality used gear.

The Cambridge Audio pieces are really nice too for the money (and for awhile had their own quality issues, guess we get what we pay for). I know more than a few people here decided to go that route and have been very happy with them.

Whether you go with separates or an integrated is up to you. I think for the most part you won't notice any differences at this price range. You'll get a bit more flexibility with separates, but I prefer integrateds because of space concerns. Besides, with pre-outs you can always add more power later.

[Mr Peabody]

It will also depend on what type of sound you would like, is your emphasis detail or would your prefer something leaning toward the warm and fuzzy. PrimaLuna and Jolida are tube integrated amps and will give you a certain sound. Audio Note is also tube but I doubt if you can afford one, even used. I like Arcam integrated amps, you may be able to find something used in your range. I find Arcam fast and detailed with amazing speaker driving capability. They drive speakers that would kill most other integrated amps with the same power rating. I typically would not recommend mass merchant brands like Denon or the others you mentioned. Except, the Marantz PM7200 at around $500.00 has me curious, it is switchable from pure Class A to Class A/B but I have no idea what it sounds like. I'm skeptical about Class A at that price. Creek is also a very good British amp. I prefer Arcam or Creek to brands like NAD. I haven't heard much Cambridge but they are coming on strong as a good bang for the buck unit. Rotel has units in your price especially used. I find them pleasant but too laid back for my taste. If you were interested in tubes brands like Cayin or Antique Sound Labs may have integrateds in your price range.

I agree Audiogon is good. Ebay is another place but they seem to be getting more press for rip offs. I like checking www.spearitsound.com "used & demo" link. They have some Citation separated you could get for around $500.00. Citation is higher end Harmon Kardon and pretty well respected in the 70's and 80's. The guys there are usually pretty helpful as well.

[tjoeb]

In the budget area, the PrimaLuna's certainly the way to go! I've got mine now for 15 months and no regrets. Outperforms lots of integrates costing up to 2500 Euro!

greetz!

[JohnMichael]

My vote is for the Cambridge Audio Azur 640 A. I am still very pleased at the quality of sound for the money. The amp has worked flawlessly for 7 months of daily use.