Creating a stereo setup, what amp should I buy?

[tuff]

Agree with JayaRaa, get a stereo amplifier like the Yamaha's AS200 or Norge amplifier and start enjoying the music. In time you shall figure out which direction to go to.

 

[powerslave]

Boss are you planning to buy PM7005 in Bangalore ? After reading the horror stories about kind of post sales support Indian dealers provide I am thinking if it is better to buy from likes of AP/Lyrita for they obviously build these things so it follows they can repair too . Coming to likes of Marantz or NAD may be a trip to SE country like Thailand and OR Malaysia will turn out to be much cheaper and you might get a higher model for same budget . As for warranty we all are hung out to dry either ways . I personally hate to give business to people who don't know their stuff and are merely in it for margins because when these things will fail they won't help us for "A" they won't know the issue and "B" they would rather invest time in scouting for a new customer rather than help an existing one due to margins.

 

[vinyl]

Boss are you planning to buy PM7005 in Bangalore ? After reading the horror stories about kind of post sales support Indian dealers provide I am thinking if it is better to buy from likes of AP/Lyrita for they obviously build these things so it follows they can repair too . Coming to likes of Marantz or NAD may be a trip to SE country like Thailand and OR Malaysia will turn out to be much cheaper and you might get a higher model for same budget . As for warranty we all are hung out to dry either ways . I personally hate to give business to people who don't know their stuff and are merely in it for margins because when these things will fail they won't help us for "A" they won't know the issue and "B" they would rather invest time in scouting for a new customer rather than help an existing one due to margins.

I was recently thinking of buying a Marantz PM6006 amplifier, but dropped the idea. Technical issues may not come up, but if it does come, then it will be followed by horrific post sales support. I even thought that if something goes wrong, then instead of sending it to MZ Audio, I will get it repaired locally, whatever may be the costs, but without spares nothing can be done. Instead of enjoying listening to music, I will be having a big headache.

Norge and Lyrita fully support their customers. Sonodyne is another very good brand, but due to their own attitude and also due to lack of adequate customers since some years, they have gradually moved away their focus to commercial installations, and though they have products for the residential sector, for some reason they are not bothered about their individual clients. There is also another company Torvin based in Chennai, but I have no idea how their products are.

Both Lyrita and Norge, import things from outside, but only that which has to be imported, and the rest of the things are made here in India.
Lyrita products are tube based and are very good, but their products are massive and need to streamlined taking into account present day space constrictions. Norge products are solid state and are also very good, but they need minor improvements. Solid state MNC amplifiers are more than 200% the price of Norge, but the difference in audio quality is hardly 5% or at the most 7 to 8%. Norge products are real value for money, but with minor improvements, this gap of 5 to 8% can be removed and price rise will also be very nominal.

Forum members should give feedback to Lyrita and Norge audio to make the minor improvements.
I do not know what audiophiles think, but as a musician I can say that no amplifier, whatever be the price tag, is not perfect, and IMHO, rather than shelling out tons of money on MNC brands, for home listening, it is far better to stick to Indian brands and enjoy the music without any headache.

 

[mpw]

There is a Rega pre power on sale on the forum. These will be a nice buy I think.

 

[Kartik]

Considering your Sources, I would suggest a receiver with ample number of HDMI inputs for your DTH, Bluray, Pi, etc. Any reason not to consider a Receiver?

If you are anywhere close to Whitefield, you could get your speakers to my place and listen to a Marantz Receiver to get an idea.

MaSh

I have read that for the same price an amplifier will have a better sound quality. Besides I won't ever be adding rear speakers so a multi-channel receiver will only help in HDMI decoding and surround sound formats decoding. Since my Blu-Ray player can downmix to stereo I think I will be OK on that front.

For about two years I was considering a receiver (first a Marantz, dropped because of pricing, then a Yamaha because of features), now I realized that at home we might probably listen more to music than watch movies so music reproduction would be the first priority.

 

[Kartik]

Boss are you planning to buy PM7005 in Bangalore ? After reading the horror stories about kind of post sales support Indian dealers provide I am thinking if it is better to buy from likes of AP/Lyrita for they obviously build these things so it follows they can repair too . Coming to likes of Marantz or NAD may be a trip to SE country like Thailand and OR Malaysia will turn out to be much cheaper and you might get a higher model for same budget . As for warranty we all are hung out to dry either ways . I personally hate to give business to people who don't know their stuff and are merely in it for margins because when these things will fail they won't help us for "A" they won't know the issue and "B" they would rather invest time in scouting for a new customer rather than help an existing one due to margins.

Good point that. I don't expect dealers to provide any support at all but hopefully service centers are available in India. I read a thread on service woes for a Yamaha (not sure if that was a receiver or an amplifier) but don't know if the same holds good for Marantz and others. Will search the forum for service experience with AP.

Yes, looking to buy in Bangalore.

 

[Lazer]

Considering your Sources, I would suggest a receiver with ample number of HDMI inputs for your DTH, Bluray, Pi, etc. Any reason not to consider a Receiver?

If you are anywhere close to Whitefield, you could get your speakers to my place and listen to a Marantz Receiver to get an idea.

MaSh

Dear Kartik I would suggest you to get an Integrated amplifier as per your budget.You can choose Denon or Marantz.I am not sure about your speaker condition.To enjoy the music like rocks you must have good combination of gears.

 

[Naturelover]

Lyrita... products are massive and need to streamlined taking into account present day space constrictions.

Lyrita integrated amps are (WDH in mm) 360 x 520 x 200 and 360 x 400 x 140. The dimensions are inclusive of the tubes. Wonderful products.

 

[vinyl]

I'm a HiFi newbie who is planning to create a stereo setup for listening to music and wondering what amp to buy. Here are my requirements

Music genre (in order of preference): Classic rock, jazz, Old Hindi film songs, Hindustani classical (Carnatic classical at a later date too)

Source: Raspberry Pi with HiFiberry DAC+, Volumio, FLAC files, MP3s sometimes. Streaming from YouTube and other online sources if I can manage to set it up. No CDs as I plan to rip all my CDs (small collection numbering around 150 or so) to FLACs and store the CDs.

Secondary sources: Blu-Ray player (multi-channel downmixed to stereo) and Plasma TV (for sound from DTH STB).

Speakers: An old pair of Sony bookshelf speakers (fronts) that came as part of a Sony 5-DVD player system. 100 W, 8 ohms, no efficiency rating. Haven't heard them for more than 10 years so not sure if they still work. I did get a sense of that Sony system being bright and fatiguing for extended listening, don't know if it was the speakers or the entire system.

Budget: Around 50K. If the speakers don't work and I need to buy a new pair of bookshelfs I would have to reduce the amp budget to 35K and add more money for speakers.

Room size: Approx 12 x 18 but L shaped. Listening area around 10 feet away from the speakers.

Top requirement: Non fatiguing sound for extended background listening or extended serious listening for a couple of hours. But non fatiguing should not mean mushy sound with details missing.

I'm not sure if I should start small with something like a Marantz PM500x/PM600x or something else. Can the good folks here please provide your suggestions?

I would advise you to get a Norge 1000. I personally have two of them and fully satisfied. But of course, I now intend to sell off one them, as I now want get a Lyrita tube preamp and a Norge 1200 power amplifier. I want to have two setups, one fully solid state with one Norge 1000 and another hybrid with a Lyrita tube pre and solid state Norge power amp.

 

[Kartik]

What I'm realizing is that without auditioning amplifiers I may end up buying something I may not like. Especially since I've been hearing most of my music on cheap earphones and headphones, TV, sat+sub computer speakers or a iPod doc. As such I'm not sure what kind of sound I would really like. So I'm chickening out for now in terms of buying an amplifier until I get a better grip on what I would like to buy.

I did, however, buy an Allo Volt+ amp to check things out (cheap enough to do that) and figure out what I would like. So now I have a Raspberry Pi with a HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro playing FLAC files to the Allo Volt+ amp which feeds my Sony speakers that were scrounged from a 15 year old DVD HT system. Wonder of wonders, the speakers still work! The sound was disappointingly thin until I closed all doors leading into my L shaped hall and the sound improved a little bit (not so thin anymore).

I will also begin to audition amplifiers locally and contrast their sound with my system to get to understand better what I would like.

Thanks all for your help. Hope to be able to resurrect this thread in a few months.

 

[Rajeshh]

@Kartik Considering that this is going to be your first serious Stereo setup, & that you have a budget of 50K.
My suggestion would be to keep things simple and get a solid state integrated with a built in DAC + a nice pair of bookshelves.
I would strong suggest that you consider the Marantz PM6006 (36K on Hifimart) & the ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2 (28K on Ooberpad). If you negotiate hard, you might get it even lower & fit into your budget.
Ive briefly had the ELAC UB5s with the PM6006 and really enjoyed it. Super value and great sound, it will definitely fit your tastes in music.

 

[thampi]

onkyo a9010 amp is a good option q accoustics 3020 is also a good option