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Budget power amp options for the discerning listener

There happens to be a large number of power amplifiers on FB marketplace near me. Eastern MA has lots of gear and everyone seems to want to downsize...

Sub-$300 power amps: NAD, HK (non-Citation), B&K, Carver, SAE, lower-end Rotel, Adcom, Hafler, Yamaha, and Kenwood.

Stretching to $400 to $600 has some startling results along with some more common names: Perreaux, Bryston, Belles, Linn, better Carver, better Hafler, a Nakamichi PA-5... the list goes on and on..
 
Very good value for money - Sonance 2120T and 260. 120 and 60 WPC. 2 ohm stable. Priced around $100 or so. Very conservative design.
 
One that flies under the radar is the Sherwood S-6040CP Mos Fet 100wpc dual-mono power amp. Of course, it has skimpy speaker connectors and probably needs a recap as would my other vintage choices. Hafler DH-200/220, Soundcraftsmen PCR800/ PM860 (needs a sub), Dynaco ST-410, among many, many others I can't think of. Also, there's a ton of professional power amps to be had for cheap, some of which sound quite good, but many of which have noisy fans and odd connection types you'd have to live with.
 
ccrnnr9 said:
Curious why? Particularly for someone like me who is primarily a moderate to low level listener by most stereo enthusiast standards. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the purpose of a protection circuit.
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Looking for a higher powered amp seems not really aligned with a self-proclaimed low to moderate level listener.

Is there a specific phenomena you've noted that suggests more power is the answer to whatever it is?

60W to 100W on paper sounds like a pretty big increase but in reality it's not much of a performance jump. Buys you only ~2dB more headroom.
 
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If willing to try new and high-performance and easy to handle and ship, consider the Fosi Audio V3 Monoblocks. 120wpc into 8 ohms, 240wpc into 4 ohms, stable at 2 ohms, will fit in the palm of your hand, objectively will outperform almost anything you would consider in the used big-box amp world. I've owned a bunch of standard Class AB boxes from Adcom, Marantz, NAD, Niles, Sonance, Pioneer, Cambridge, yada yada and am currently running v3 monos in my main system and I will never again own a big Class A or Class AB amp. They are that good. You can get them brand new for $270 or lightly used for <$200. I'm not sure how anyone is still able to sell (and pay to ship) big box amps in 2025.
 
I will echo @DavidTT having gone to two Fosi ZA3s running in a dual mono configuration along with their ZD3 DAC. I had been rotating between NAD 7100/7600 receivers, and a Denon PMA 750 in a 2.0 system. It was an easy decision to put my vintage stuff in mothballs. Plus, you can roll the op-amps to your hearts content with the V3 Monos and ZA3 amps. The total lack of noise, clarity, separation, overall sound quality of my ZA3s are incredible. Especially so at their price point. I am now free from all the hassles of using my vintage gear while having noticeably better performance.
 
I'd look at Kenwood m2 or m2a. Both have a protection relay.

I have one and it sounds fine with my Maggies.

No idea if it fits your budget.
 
The problem with old amps is that the electrolytics will need to be replaced. As for cheap old amps that truly sound good, the BGW 250 series rules the roost.
 
I can recommend vintage NAD amps. I have a pair of 2700 THX and a pair of C270. Both amp pairs are very powerful and they work well with many speakers including my Vandersteen 2ce Sig II 30th anniversary, Kef 107, and few pairs of vintage JBLs.

I would recommend that regardless of which vintage NAD amp you choose that you have it serviced and recapped. There are some very good reviews of the 2200 out there. The 2600A and 2700THX are basically later versions of the 2200 so you can expect similar performance from them once they have been serviced and upgraded. Most vintage NAD amps are very good performance for the money.
 
DavidTT said:
If willing to try new and high-performance and easy to handle and ship, consider the Fosi Audio V3 Monoblocks. 120wpc into 8 ohms, 240wpc into 4 ohms, stable at 2 ohms, will fit in the palm of your hand, objectively will outperform almost anything you would consider in the used big-box amp world. I've owned a bunch of standard Class AB boxes from Adcom, Marantz, NAD, Niles, Sonance, Pioneer, Cambridge, yada yada and am currently running v3 monos in my main system and I will never again own a big Class A or Class AB amp. They are that good. You can get them brand new for $270 or lightly used for <$200. I'm not sure how anyone is still able to sell (and pay to ship) big box amps in 2025.
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You're that guy that takes an Ariel Atom around Nuremberg and then proclaims it's better than any Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari, yada yada yada without actually driving any of them ... no need to.

We get it. You prefer small and new. Not all of us do. Your opinion here is as relevant as any of the rest of ours, but it's just an opinion. There's a lot more to a power amplifier than wpc. "Big iron" amps got that name because the power supplies have been designed to power reactive loads, not purely resistive ones. There a big difference. That's where the money is spent and where the weight comes from.

OP - which Bryston?
 
Namlook said:
You've basically cursed any tech who needs to work on this. Ugh, never again.
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Yeah. That is the thing. Great if it works. Not so great if there is an issue and you need to find someone to work on it.

My roommate in college had one along with some EPI A240s. Great combination. Sounded good.
 
I use a NAD 2200PE with my Kef 105s and I think it sounds wonderful. I crank it up very loud when the grand kids are here. Never clips. Peter at Quik Audio completely refurbished it. I highly recommend him. I like it so much that I bought another one awhile back to keep as a spare, or to experiment with bridging. Although I see no need to bridge it, I am always fiddling just to experiment. At some point I would like to send it to Peter to refurbish when funds allow. I have read stories about NADS not being reliable, but I own five pieces of NAD gear and never had any kind of problem. I recommend the 2200PE. It will drive anything and sound terrific. ( from my own personal experience anyway) Good luck in your search
 
damacman said:
You're that guy that takes an Ariel Atom around Nuremberg and then proclaims it's better than any Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari, yada yada yada without actually driving any of them ... no need to.

We get it. You prefer small and new. Not all of us do. Your opinion here is as relevant as any of the rest of ours, but it's just an opinion. There's a lot more to a power amplifier than wpc. "Big iron" amps got that name because the power supplies have been designed to power reactive loads, not purely resistive ones. There a big difference. That's where the money is spent and where the weight comes from.
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Many of us here have similar opinions of these new high value components from Fosi, and other brands. It is not just that they are affordable, small and put out a lot of power. They are are noise free, very transparent with very good detail, soundstage and separation. Irrespective of their size and price, they produce excellent overall sound quality and do so driving a number of new and vintage speakers. Add in that they can be tweaked to personal taste by easily swapping op-amps and they have a large degree of customization that just isn't available with many other amps regardless of price range.

I am not saying that these newer class D amps are for everyone, However, they are proving to be more than enough for many, many audiophiles who have used very good conventional gear (especially vintage pieces) prior to trying one of these new components. Most of us here that took a chance trying them and frankly we didn't expect much in return. However, once we went though the vetting process, nearly all of us were quite surprised with their performance. So much so that they replaced the perfectly good working components they were using previously. A big advantage for me is that I am finally free from the worry of one of my vintage components failing (and they always will) and going through the hassles of getting it repaired. Assuming I can find someone to do the repairs. Also, my dual mono amps, DAC, Windows computer and its external blue-ray disc recorder take up less volume than my Denon 2910 DVD player.
 
Ellymay said:
I use a NAD 2200PE with my Kef 105s and I think it sounds wonderful. I crank it up very loud when the grand kids are here. Never clips. Peter at Quik Audio completely refurbished it. I highly recommend him. I like it so much that I bought another one awhile back to keep as a spare, or to experiment with bridging. Although I see no need to bridge it, I am always fiddling just to experiment. At some point I would like to send it to Peter to refurbish when funds allow. I have read stories about NADS not being reliable, but I own five pieces of NAD gear and never had any kind of problem. I recommend the 2200PE. It will drive anything and sound terrific. ( from my own personal experience anyway) Good luck in your search
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IMO, the PE series from NAD are excellent components. I have a 7100PE, 7400PE and 3240PE. Lots of power and headroom with the PE versions.
 
ccrnnr9 said:
In my price range at the moment there's also an Adcom GFA 545II for ~$200
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Not sure if it still available, but I would recommend Adcom, as some others have. I have NAD and Adcom power amps. With my system, the Adcom sounds more neutral, and I like the snappy sound of the power on rocker switch on the Adcom. With the Adcom, when you turn it on, you know it's on. With the NAD push button, sometimes I wonder if it was really turned on, or turned and turned off again. Maybe just a personal preference.
 
OldJBL said:
Many of us here have similar opinions of these new high value components from Fosi, and other brands. It is not just that they are affordable, small and put out a lot of power. They are are noise free, very transparent with very good detail, soundstage and separation. Irrespective of their size and price, they produce excellent overall sound quality and do so driving a number of new and vintage speakers. Add in that they can be tweaked to personal taste by easily swapping op-amps and they have a large degree of customization that just isn't available with many other amps regardless of price range.

I am not saying that these newer class D amps are for everyone, However, they are proving to be more than enough for many, many audiophiles who have used very good conventional gear (especially vintage pieces) prior to trying one of these new components. Most of us here that took a chance trying them and frankly we didn't expect much in return. However, once we went though the vetting process, nearly all of us were quite surprised with their performance. So much so that they replaced the perfectly good working components they were using previously. A big advantage for me is that I am finally free from the worry of one of my vintage components failing (and they always will) and going through the hassles of getting it repaired. Assuming I can find someone to do the repairs. Also, my dual mono amps, DAC, Windows computer and its external blue-ray disc recorder take up less volume than my Denon 2910 DVD player.
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And, completely understood. I'm a big iron guy, you're not. That's what makes the hobby interesting. When I start pushing big iron in every Class D amp thread, I deserve to also be reminded that my opinion is just that ...
 
damacman said:
And, completely understood. I'm a big iron guy, you're not. That's what makes the hobby interesting. When I start pushing big iron in every Class D amp thread, I deserve to also be reminded that my opinion is just that ...
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I am not promoting that everyone should switch to these new, high value components. Heck, I own five vintage integrated amps and receivers. I concede that many of us who have made the switch to Fosi, and other makes of, newer class D amps, DACs, pre-amps, etc. are a little over zealous at times. One good thing is these new high value components will have a positive impact on the low to mid tier offerings from other audio companies by making them more affordable and capable.
 
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If it’s big iron you are after at an affordable price, consider professionals amps. Some serious iron is available under the radar. Just be careful: many of those amps were used in demanding environments and may be a little creaky.
 
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