Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this sort of question has been asked a
million times before.

matt

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?



There are those here who will tell you they will all sound the same. I don't
*know* that, but I suspect they will - worry about your speakers more and
match the best amp to them you can. Speaker/amp pairings in *your* room are
the secret to success, AFAIAC....

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?



There are those here who will tell you they will all sound the same. I
don't *know* that, but I suspect they will - worry about your speakers
more and match the best amp to them you can. Speaker/amp pairings in
*your* room are the secret to success, AFAIAC....

Keith's advice is the same as mine (and I am one of those who will tell you
that they will probably sound so close as not to be worth worrying about).
Buy the 'speakers that you like the sound of first, then find a suitable amp
to drive them with. As to the three you mentioned, I would avoid the Sony,
for no better reason than their after-sales support is dreadful, and if you
need a repair, you may be waiting weeks for it.

S.

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?



There are those here who will tell you they will all sound the same. I
don't *know* that, but I suspect they will - worry about your speakers
more and match the best amp to them you can. Speaker/amp pairings in
*your* room are the secret to success, AFAIAC....

If they all sound the same, on what criteria would you judge one to be "the
best"?

Also, if they all sound the same, how come most of the regular posters who
say they all sound the same have equipment that costs far in excess of £150?

Not wanting to start a fight - just curious!

Andrew

"Andrew Virnuls" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?



There are those here who will tell you they will all sound the same. I
don't *know* that, but I suspect they will - worry about your speakers
more and match the best amp to them you can. Speaker/amp pairings in
*your* room are the secret to success, AFAIAC....

If they all sound the same, on what criteria would you judge one to be
"the best"?

Also, if they all sound the same, how come most of the regular posters who
say they all sound the same have equipment that costs far in excess of
£150?

Not wanting to start a fight - just curious!


:-)

OK, you make me Devil's Advocate here because I don't use SS amps (at least
I don't think I do - see below :-), but I happen to agree that, taken on a
like for like basis in similar price bands, it's damn near impossible to
tell amplifiers apart these days. (Not valves - different story altogether).
Although, I can't speak for so-called 'high end amps because I've never
really heard them, but at 20K and up who the hell has??

The important factor with an amplifier is how well does it work with
('drive') your speakers. Some amps will quite simply sound and work much
better than others, mostly down (I believe) to tricky **** like the
impedance matching, damping factor, current delivery, power supplies &c,

The important thing to realise is that is the speaker that has the
*requirements* not the other way round and before you look at amps/speakers,
it is the room which will place the most important restrictions on what you
may use.

The place to start is with any reasonable amp (begged, borrowed or stolen)
of not less than, say, 30 wpc possibly from eBay (there's plenty of people
here who will advise if candidates are chosen) and try and find the best
speaker match to the room. Bass is usually the let-down - people think they
need lots of it and usually end up muddying the overall sound picture with
'room boom' &c.

On eBay right now there are 678 amplifiers, the first one I have had
experience of is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cambridge-Audi...QQcmdZViewItem

and I would recommend it to anyone starting the whole selection process.
It's a fine little amp, if not broken, IMO...


This one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...keTra ck=true

I will BUY, if the price stays anywhere like it atm!!

(In fact I am now the current high bidder, so I hope no-one here does the
dirty on me!! ;-)

Once a pair of speakers proves themselves 'stand out' you then try different
amps with it until a *synergy* is perceived. This can take a lifetime or it
can happen with the first amp you try. Forget quick, 'snap decision' A/B
testing, it tells you nothing - buy gear in tandem so that you have two (or
more) of everything until clear winners emerge. Then and only then do let an
amp go and re-invest the money in the next stage.

When it's hard to split amps by the sound you are getting, the 'bells and
whistles' (phono stage, tone controls, number of inputs, blue LEDS, how nice
the knobs feel &c..) will probably be the deciding factor.

It's a palaver, it's time-consuming, it's expensive, it's *hobby audio*!!
:-)

One thing I can tell is that if you are *really* interested in getting the
best possible sound (ie venturing into separates, as the OP states) you will
never do it by rushing out and buying all of the list that different people
will give/recommend to you.

My 2p only....

wrote in news:1139320427.344297.223060
@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this sort of question has been asked a
million times before.


Well, What HiFi are currently going mad over the Cambridge Azur 340A ...

runs out door grabbing coat ...


--
Cessna172

In article , Andrew
Virnuls wrote:
"Keith G" wrote in message
...



There are those here who will tell you they will all sound the same. I
don't *know* that, but I suspect they will - worry about your
speakers more and match the best amp to them you can. Speaker/amp
pairings in *your* room are the secret to success, AFAIAC....

If they all sound the same, on what criteria would you judge one to be
"the best"?

Also, if they all sound the same, how come most of the regular posters
who say they all sound the same have equipment that costs far in excess
of £150?

Not wanting to start a fight - just curious!

The answer is that Keith's comment "they will tell you they all sound the
same" is an oversimplification. :-)

Many amps may 'sound similar-to-indistinguishable' - but which ones do, and
to what extent, will largely depend on the conditions of use.

Obvious example. If you want very high sound levels from low sensitivity
low impedance speakers in a big room then you may find that one amp clips
but another does not. But the same pair of amps may be similar or
indistinguishable at lower levels with some other speakers...

So largely a matter of context.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

"Andrew Virnuls" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?



There are those here who will tell you they will all sound the same. I
don't *know* that, but I suspect they will - worry about your speakers
more and match the best amp to them you can. Speaker/amp pairings in
*your* room are the secret to success, AFAIAC....

If they all sound the same, on what criteria would you judge one to be
"the best"?

Facilities, build quality, manufacturer's reputation, looks, price, any or
all of those.

Also, if they all sound the same, how come most of the regular posters who
say they all sound the same have equipment that costs far in excess of
£150?

Several reasons, but if you look at the list above; facilities, build
quality and looks all cost money to produce. The manufacturer's reputation
will be enhanced by good after-sales support, marketing etc which also cost
money, so the good stuff costs more. Given that all manufacturers will
charge as much as they can for a product, the good stuff also sells at a
premium. A small £ 150 integrated amp will be much like any other £ 150
integrated amp, but if you want more power, facilities, etc, then you need
to pay a lot more than £ 150.

Then, there is the volume pricing:- If a manufacturer wants to sell a
product at the £150 price level, they will necessarily need to make them in
large quantity, probably in the far-east. On the other hand, a manufacturer
at the high-end will be manufacturing in much small quantities, and won't be
getting the benefit of the large-scale production, so has to charge more,
even proportionately more. Finally, there what I call the Audio-Note
syndrome. Take a design which anyone could make for £ 500, hype it to the
skies and sell it for £ 10,000. You only need to persuade a few people to
buy it, and you've made your fortune.

S.

Not wanting to start a fight - just curious!

Andrew

"Cessna172" wrote in message
.217...
wrote in news:1139320427.344297.223060
@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Hello all,

I thinking of venturing into the world of hi-fi seperates and I'm
starting by looking for an amplifier. I don't have a great budget for
this, around £150, therefore I have narrowed my choice down to the
following:

Cambridge Audio AZUR 340A
Sony TA-FE370
Marantz PM4001

I can find a bit on the net about the CA amp but not much about the
others.

So what I was wondering is if there is much to choose from these
models, or at this price range am I likely to find that they are all
much of a muchness?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this sort of question has been asked a
million times before.


Well, What HiFi are currently going mad over the Cambridge Azur 340A ...

runs out door grabbing coat ...


--
Cessna172

The cynic in me says that's a good enough reason to avoid it...........

S

"Keith G" wrote in
:

The place to start is with any reasonable amp (begged, borrowed or
stolen) of not less than, say, 30 wpc possibly from eBay (there's
plenty of people here who will advise if candidates are chosen) and
try and find the best speaker match to the room. Bass is usually the
let-down - people think they need lots of it and usually end up
muddying the overall sound picture with 'room boom' &c.


Yes, don't get caught up with bigger is better - it may not be.

On eBay right now there are 678 amplifiers, the first one I have had
experience of is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cambridge-Audi...lifier_W0QQite
mZ5861343993QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and I would recommend it to anyone starting the whole selection
process. It's a fine little amp, if not broken, IMO...

YES - I will agree with Keith here. I started out 4 years ago with an amp
very similar to that from Cambridge and very nice it was too. I had it for
a year then 'upgraded' - I am still upgrading and still searching!


This one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...343175&fromMak
eTrack=true

I will BUY, if the price stays anywhere like it atm!!

(In fact I am now the current high bidder, so I hope no-one here does
the dirty on me!! ;-)

Class A? I had better bid on it ;-P

--
Cessna172