HiFi amp, what do I need?

gusman2x

Sorry, I know I've asked a similar question before, but I'm looking to pick up and build a basic separates system. Let me start by saying that I am not bothered about superior audio quality at the moment. Since my old Sony Mini HiFi packed up 2 years ago, I've been listening to music from either a Mac's built in speakers, or through a £5 set of portable speakers. Any step up will be massive.

So, I want to be able to connect CD, Turntable (phono?) and some sort of WiFi receiver. Am I correct in saying that for the CD and WiFi, it'll be RCA connections?

I saw this amp local(ish) to me, and wondered if it would be able to give me what I want.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-JVC-A-K11-Stereo-Amplifier-/182446632723?hash=item2a7aaaaf13:g:-ksAAOSwo4pYX~zr

It has 5 inputs (are they all RCA?), but one of them is a REC for the tape, so does that make it only 4 input?

Thanks

robgilmo

For 50 quid you could do a lot better than that.

BloodEagle

Spend a bit more and get a marantz pm6005 or 5005 2nd hand - great stereo amps with really good phono stages 

TheBigDipper

The thing that will push the price up is needing wifi support (I'm assuming to stream music?). Lots of older, great value kit won't have it. Neither will that JVC amp on eBay.

Do you really mean wifi or do you mean an inbuilt FM/DAB radio receiver?

randella

TheBigDipper said:

The thing that will push the price up is needing wifi support (I'm assuming to stream music?). Lots of older, great value kit won't have it. Neither will that JVC amp on eBay.

Do you really mean wifi or do you mean an inbuilt FM/DAB radio receiver?

I read it as though the OP already has a wifi receiver with a line out, in which case a normal input on any amp will be fine as long as you have the right connectors.

I might be completely wrong of course, it has been known

gusman2x

Thanks all.

I do not currently have a wifi receiver. I basically want to be able to play CDs, Turntable, and stream from my phone. Cost wins over quality (to some extent) currently. 

TheBigDipper

gusman2x said:

Thanks all.

I do not currently have a wifi receiver. I basically want to be able to play CDs, Turntable, and stream from my phone. Cost wins over quality (to some extent) currently. 

OK, then the low cost option to get streaming is to forget wifi and use your phone to receive the data and convert it to analogue, with a cable from your headphone socket to the amp. Not wireless, nor great quality, but inexpensive. Lots of streaming sources are pretty low quality data streams anyway. 

robgilmo

You have a Mac, you can use the headphone socket on the mac to connect to an aux input on a hifi amp then stream to the mac and listen through the hifi, simples. A much cheaper option.
I use my PC running through my HiFi and can stream to and from it from any device in the house.

gusman2x

The Mac isn't going to be in close vicinity to the HiFi. Running the iphone/pod straight from a cable is an option.

So what type and number of inputs would I need on an amp to run CD, Turntable, and a iphone>rca input?

What amps around the £50 mark would get me there?

Every day's a school day!

robgilmo

You need an amp with a Phono mode so it has a built in pre amp for a record player, also CD inputs and auxiliary or tape inputs for the iPhone.

A few options on the bay from a quick look, there are probably a lot more so its worth having a look, or gumtree.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-A-107-Amplifier-with-Phono-Stage-2-/192111486813?hash=item2cbabca75d:g:oW4AAOSwfVpYrjis

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-A-107-Amplifier-with-Phono-Stage-1-/192111486502?hash=item2cbabca626:g:zYIAAOSwr~lYrjcQ

gusman2x

@robgilmo thanks man. So, is an integrated Amp basically one with Phono?

DaveMon

How about an amp with built in bluetooth? Stream directly from mobile devices without wires.
 Or something like Sonos/Cambridge portable speakers?

thermionic

I think integrated in this context means the preamp and power amp are in one box.

If it doesn't have a phono stage you can buy standalone box that will plug into a standard input (aux or tuner for example). These go up to stupid money but I think Behringer do a reasonable one.

As for WiFi, surely the solution here is a Chromecast Audio?

ICBM

That JVC probably isn't too bad, but you can do much better for under £50 as robgilmo said. JVC is a decent brand, as are Sony (despite what I said in the other thread!), Panasonic, Pioneer, Akai, Technics, Rotel, Yamaha and a host of other Japanese brands from the 80s - what you need to look for is a very simple amp with analogue controls. They tend to sell for anywhere between about £20 and £50 in fully-working order and decent condition.

A similar pair of speakers, or UK brands like Wharfedale or Celestion shouldn't cost much more - but check for blown tweeters and bass driver edge surround problems, both of which are common.

I use a Pioneer SA-540 amp and Wharfedale Laser 30 speakers, which cost me £50 each - new in 1984! They'd be about half that now probably. I had to replace the tweeters in the speakers the sprung cable clamps on the amp at some point but otherwise it's all still working as it was when I got them.

boogieman

DaveMon said:

How about an amp with built in bluetooth? Stream directly from mobile devices without wires.
 Or something like Sonos/Cambridge portable speakers?

His budget is £50. Not gonna happen. 

gusman2x

boogieman said:

DaveMon said:

How about an amp with built in bluetooth? Stream directly from mobile devices without wires.
 Or something like Sonos/Cambridge portable speakers?

His budget is £50. Not gonna happen. 

Yeah pretty much. Looked at new mini systems by Cambridge audio and Marantz, but the total cost was a bit higher than I can justify. They were ending up around £500 once you'd added in speakers and a turntable. Plus a lot are Bluetooth, and I was told that it's noticeably lower quality than WiFi. I don't know if it would be noticeable for me though, but I was put off.

Budgie

Just get a Chromecast audio for the wifi streaming solution, they work a treat and only cost about £30, or less if on offer. As for the rest, an amp with a phono input (or buy a separate phono stage preamp if your amp doesn't have the input). A CD player, turntable and speakers and all the cables... job done..... and then keep your fingers crossed that two thirds of your system doesn't stop working at exactly the same time like mine just has

robgilmo

Integrated is pre and power in the same box. If you can find a Wharfedale 2050a for that kind of money, which they do sell for sometimes snap it up, really its a sleeper,
Marantz are also a safe bet, speaker wise you cant go wrong with Mission for budget speakers, M71s are fantastic speakers for the money.
Try and stay away from vintage, vintage will be expensive or rubbish. Have you look at richer sounds yet? Sometimes they do sales and you can find real bargains sometimes.

This isn't you is it?

http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/123726-budget-amp-with-phono-stage/

If not that's a pretty good forum to buy gear from or just enquire about gear.

ICBM

gusman2x said:

Plus a lot are Bluetooth, and I was told that it's noticeably lower quality than WiFi. I don't know if it would be noticeable for me though, but I was put off.

Only if the connection can't support a reliable data rate of more than 1.4Mbps. That might apply to very old systems but anything with Bluetooth v2.1 or later should be fine.

And that's even for full CD quality - it's arguable that it's very hard to tell the difference with mp3 at 320Kbps, which is easily possible on Bluetooth - especially with a fairly cheap amp and speakers.

fields5069

robgilmo said:

You have a Mac, you can use the headphone socket on the mac to connect to an aux input on a hifi amp then stream to the mac and listen through the hifi, simples. A much cheaper option.
I use my PC running through my HiFi and can stream to and from it from any device in the house.

Or you do it wirelessly. The old plug-in Apple airport things have a 3.5mm audio jack on them. But one of the airport things for 20-odd quid and a 3.5mm to dual RCA cable for a fiver or so. It's what I'm using with my ancient Denon "consumer seperates".

gusman2x

robgilmo said:

Integrated is pre and power in the same box. If you can find a Wharfedale 2050a for that kind of money, which they do sell for sometimes snap it up, really its a sleeper,
Marantz are also a safe bet, speaker wise you cant go wrong with Mission for budget speakers, M71s are fantastic speakers for the money.
Try and stay away from vintage, vintage will be expensive or rubbish. Have you look at richer sounds yet? Sometimes they do sales and you can find real bargains sometimes.

This isn't you is it?

http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/123726-budget-amp-with-phono-stage/

If not that's a pretty good forum to buy gear from or just enquire about gear.

Thanks @robgilmo . No it's not me, but seems to have a similar requirement. @Budgie I'll look into chromecast. I Have apple TV, but use it fr the TV, plus it's often really arsey about connecting to my iPhone. Really hit and miss and I don't know why.