[bladesmith]

hey, I just signed up...

I need some advice...hope this is the right place..

First, a little back ground..I got started in 1985 listening to a Denon IA and Denon tuner, Teac reel, Yamaha turntable, and some AR speakers. I would buy vinyls, record them straight to my reel and then put them away forever..I thought it was a great system. I really enjoyed it. Over time I got busy with life and it all faded into the background..

Now I would like to get back into a  descent system..I have been researching and everything has changed, I find it a bit complicated.

I need help buying an Integrated Amp, I would like to spend between 1000 and 1500 dollars..

Any help would be appreciated...

thanks...

[JLM]

Welcome aboard 

[MaxCast]

welcome to AC.
here are a couple
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=91447.msg951681;topicseen#new

What speakers will you be using, size of room, how loud do you like to listen.
There are a number of manufacturers here at AC that make integrated amps.  If we know more about the system and requirements you will get better recommendations.

[Ericus Rex]

You can get a used Rogue Tempest for that kind of money.  There was one for sale here on AC a couple of months ago.  It might still be available.  It is a tubed unit though, don't know if you're into that.

Welcome!   

[timind]

Welcome to A/C.
The questions from Maxcast need to be answered for specific recommendations. However, here are a couple places to see what's available on the used market. http://buy.audiogon.com/cgia/fsb.pl?inta and http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=103.0
Good luck.

[bladesmith]

About 20X20 room..

I have some Focal 706V speakers, which seem ok for now..

I would like to get  about 100 to 120 wpc, I hope it aint pushing my amp budget. I would like to go amp/preamp instead of going integrated if that is possible.

I like it loud pretty loud , maybe 100 to 150 wpc if possible..

[MaxCast]

AVA has a couple power amps on sale that would fill that big room with sound.

[JohnR]

If looking at new, the Virtue Sensation may fit the bill - you can ask about it here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=152.0

Odyssey Audio have one called the... um... Cyclops! Ask about it here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=10.0

In tubed amplification, Vista Audio have a couple in your range, ask Boris about them here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=123.0

[srb]

If you are looking at used as well, prefer solid state, and also want full remote control, the Parasound Halo P3 Preamplifier / A23 Power Amplifier (125W/ch @ 8 ohm, 200W/ch @ 4 ohm) is a good quality nice sounding combo in the ~ $1000 price range.
 
Steve

[JLM]

Realize that we listen to dB's and the relationship between dB and watts is logarithmic, so you have to increase wattage ten-fold for the sound to be twice as loud.  In other words, going from 100 to 150 watts can barely be heard.  On the other hands:

1. Be aware of "wimpy watts" (cheap pieces with small power supplies, or watts measured under only the most ideal circumstances) versus "real world watts" (full frequency ratings, able to handle low impedance loads, big/heavy caps/transformers).

2. Along with that, "tube watts" are roughly double solid state watts (pure class A being the exception).  This is due to beefier power supplies and tubes being able to "soft clip" (accept overload much more gracefully).

3. Better to feed a speaker (tweeter especially) too much clean (undistorted) power than a clipped (amp overload) signal.

4. Speakers sound best when the amp has a commanding grip (plenty of power) on it.

So a good 40 watt tube amp will kick butt compared to a cheap 200 watt solid state amp.

Lots of good brands here at Audio Circle.  Also check out audiogon and ecoustics along with the referenced review sites.

If you're happy with lots of watts, good reliability, mid-fi sound, and good prices check out Emotiva.  There's also high watts/dollar available via Chinese importers, but buyer beware.

[JLM]

Don't know how those focal speakers sound, but the numbers are pretty average for small standmounts.  Adding a powered subwoofer would help add deep bass, take load off the  integrated you're looking for, and open up the mid/bass of the Focals.

So to avoid long speaker cable runs, look for an integrated with subwoofer output.

With a powered subwoofer a 40 watt integrated should work fine.

Here's a recent summary of recommended integrates:  http://bit.ly/gzZBn7

[tesseract]

bladesmith - welcome to AC.

I really like the clean presentation I get from my passive pre Exposure 2010S.

[bladesmith]

ok, so I made a decision and bought a JD1000RC. This should get me started.

Amp is quiet, until I hook up the audio from my local (cable box) cable company, then I seem to get some noise, which I will deal with later.

For now I need some advice on getting a good cd player, any suggestions/experience...?

thanks...

[JLM]

CD players are really getting to be old school.

If you have any video interest, consider a universal player.  The current Oppo models are hard to beat.

If not, and you obviously have a computer, simply consider using it as the basis of a music server.  You can organize files as you like, have finger tip access, and broadcast throughout the house wirelessly.  Dedicated machine and software recommended.  The current Apple mini is recommended, but any can do.  You'll want to add a USB cable and DAC (digital analog converter).  Look around for comparative USB DAC reviews.  Prices run roughly $200 - $4000 but the technology continues to improve rapidly.  Rip to a separate hard drive (and back up to another kept off site) as some users end up with TBs of files.  Another route along this line is to add a Sonus or Squeezebox in place of the USB DAC, especially if you want to use the server for multiple systems in your home.

[richidoo]

Welcome to AudioCircle bladesmith. Cable is a notorious source of ground loop. That means the voltage of the ground on the cable is a couple mV different than the voltage of your house ground, which causes hum in the stereo. Solve it with this:



http://www.jensen-transformers.com/iso_vid.html
http://compare.ebay.com/like/360191526561?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

There is a cheaper version at Partsexpress but it doesn't last long and it doesn't sound as good as this one.

Nice amp, congrats.

[2gumby2]

What is your budget for a CD player? Marantz has some nice offerings and I am extremely happy with my Arcam FMJ CD37 and Sony SCD-XA5400ES CD players.

[bladesmith]

Looks like I need a DAC that will accept a cd/universal player and also my computer.

Back to researching again...

Thanks for the input about the noise isolation.


(Again, thanks for all the input from everyone, I am going to get a good system together sooner or later..
I can't wait to finally be listening to some quality tunes again.....)