Wezzor Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 (edited) Hello! I just got myself introduced to the hi-fi world and bought myself my first pair of hifi-speakers which ended up to be the Klipsch RP-160M. I'm currently struggling with finding a stereo amplifier that is a good match with the 160's, and that's why I ended up here with you guys. I really have no experience at all when it comes stereo amplifiers, just the basics, but I guess we all started down this road at some point in our lives. I'll mainly use the speakers for listening to music, perhaps sometimes it can happen that I watch a movie or two. I listen to all types of music, but mostly I'll end up with something that has a bit more bass involved. So I guess what I'm after is an amplifer that is a bit on the warmer side? My budget is around £350, but I wouldn't mind if I could get away with much less. I could also add that my source will be my PC, which also has S/PDIF. If I forgot to mention something important, just let me know! I really appreciate any help you guys can provide. Edited March 3, 2017 by Wezzor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Hello Wezzor and welcome to the forum. I have no experience with the RP-160'so that you have. But it shouldn't take a lot to power those guys. Are you looking at new amps or used? I take it your across the pond Good luck..... MKP :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezzor Posted March 2, 2017 Author Share Posted March 2, 2017 (edited) 51 minutes ago, MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE said: Hello Wezzor and welcome to the forum. I have no experience with the RP-160'so that you have. But it shouldn't take a lot to power those guys. Are you looking at new amps or used? I take it your across the pond Good luck..... MKP :-) Thank you! Oh, I see. Does it really matter which model it is? Shouldn't just the series matter? Let's say you've heard the RP-280F's and they go really well with Denon for instance. Shouldn't all speakers within the RP-series go well with Denon then? I'm most likely aiming for a new unit. Haha, I certainly am my friend. Edited March 2, 2017 by Wezzor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Hey Wezzor I'll throw this out there.... other might chime in..... I'm not the knower of all audio...... but I've own quite a few amps and speakers in my day and I have yet to hear a "bad" amp that was working properly. Some amps do sound different than others.....mostly in the bass dept .....imho..... Right now I just paired up my LaScalas with a Carver 4.0t amp and it sound great...... this is one of the best combos I've matched up in quite some time. The bass is more punchy with that amp compared to the Adcom 555II I was using with them. Do the Adcoms sound "bad"? No they don't the Carver just give the LaScalas a different sound in the bass dept..... and I like it. I understand I'm talking about a much larger speaker than what you have... just trying to make a point about how amps differ. One of the only amps I didn't care for was a Adcom 545II that I had for a few months..... That amp ran out of power for how I listen to most music. It had good sound at lower volumes but it couldn't drive my speaker to higher listening levels with out clipping..... So down the road that amp went... Again with the Klipsch that you own it's not gonna take a whole lot of power to drive them. IMHO I think any 75-100 watt SS amp will drive those RP-160 with out any issues. 75-100 watts is a good bit of power for those smaller speakers. I hope some others will chime in with there thoughts..... but anyway, jump in..... what have you been thinking about for amps? MKP :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racebum Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 do you have a pre amp or are you looking at receivers or integrated ? the cats meow under $1000 used for a 2ch integrated amp is probably the harman kardon HK990. they are fairly new, sound great and hold their value. this was the last piece of high quality ever produced by harman. it sounds amazing older seperates can also be had inexpensive. i paid $250 for an adcom gfp 555ii pre amp and 5300 power amplifier not long ago for a spare room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezzor Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 19 hours ago, MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE said: Hey Wezzor I'll throw this out there.... other might chime in..... I'm not the knower of all audio...... but I've own quite a few amps and speakers in my day and I have yet to hear a "bad" amp that was working properly. Some amps do sound different than others.....mostly in the bass dept .....imho..... Right now I just paired up my LaScalas with a Carver 4.0t amp and it sound great...... this is one of the best combos I've matched up in quite some time. The bass is more punchy with that amp compared to the Adcom 555II I was using with them. Do the Adcoms sound "bad"? No they don't the Carver just give the LaScalas a different sound in the bass dept..... and I like it. I understand I'm talking about a much larger speaker than what you have... just trying to make a point about how amps differ. One of the only amps I didn't care for was a Adcom 545II that I had for a few months..... That amp ran out of power for how I listen to most music. It had good sound at lower volumes but it couldn't drive my speaker to higher listening levels with out clipping..... So down the road that amp went... Again with the Klipsch that you own it's not gonna take a whole lot of power to drive them. IMHO I think any 75-100 watt SS amp will drive those RP-160 with out any issues. 75-100 watts is a good bit of power for those smaller speakers. I hope some others will chime in with there thoughts..... but anyway, jump in..... what have you been thinking about for amps? MKP :-) Oh, I see. This will really be my first "real" system after all, so keep in mind that I have no idea what to except to be honest. I come from Logitech Z623, I think that tells you a lot. I think that my "inexperienced" ears, won't really hear much difference between an amplifier that's let's say cost $200, and one that cost $500, but I might be wrong. That's why I'm trying to figure out at which price point I should aim at. Anyway, those are the amps that I've been checking out lately: * NAD D3020 * Yamaha A-S301 and A-S501 * Onkyo A-9010 * Denon PMA-720AE + DAC * Marantz PM6006 8 hours ago, racebum said: do you have a pre amp or are you looking at receivers or integrated ? the cats meow under $1000 used for a 2ch integrated amp is probably the harman kardon HK990. they are fairly new, sound great and hold their value. this was the last piece of high quality ever produced by harman. it sounds amazing older seperates can also be had inexpensive. i paid $250 for an adcom gfp 555ii pre amp and 5300 power amplifier not long ago for a spare room I'm looking for an integrated amplifier. As I'm mentioned before, I'm really new to the hi-fi world, so even if I could look after older amplifers, I don't know what to look after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Do you have a max budget for an integrated amp or integrated amp + DAC? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotelpower Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 (edited) Hi! First of all, sorry for my english I have a pair RP160 too with Denon PMA-860. Sound not bad from an A.C ryan HDmini media player analog out but (I think LOL) this is a cheap media player so I have developed. I buy a DAC, Topping D30 few weeks ago. The sound become more detailed but very tiring and harsh. I know my room acoustisc is very bad too. I think going to try with marantz ot yamaha amp or other DAC. Before I buy the RPs, I try with yamaha n602 and marantz and sound very good but these amp are more expensive than the old denon. I don't know what way to go. Edited March 7, 2017 by Rotelpower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racebum Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 9 hours ago, Wezzor said: Oh, I see. This will really be my first "real" system after all, so keep in mind that I have no idea what to except to be honest. I come from Logitech Z623, I think that tells you a lot. I think that my "inexperienced" ears, won't really hear much difference between an amplifier that's let's say cost $200, and one that cost $500, but I might be wrong. That's why I'm trying to figure out at which price point I should aim at. Anyway, those are the amps that I've been checking out lately: * NAD D3020 * Yamaha A-S301 and A-S501 * Onkyo A-9010 * Denon PMA-720AE + DAC * Marantz PM6006 I'm looking for an integrated amplifier. As I'm mentioned before, I'm really new to the hi-fi world, so even if I could look after older amplifers, I don't know what to look after. will's question about budget is the real piece of information needed for sound advice {pun intended} out of your list it would be the marantz 6006 the thing is, that pm6006 is 699 and a used hk990 is 850ish http://www.stereophile.com/content/harman-kardon-hk-990-integrated-amplifier-page-2#rezgPi4uPRjYSQfz.97 link if you have not heard of these. basically you get all the modern bells and whistles with a really high end amplifier section. sonically it's not even on the same planet as what you're considering and it's not much more money. you also will have better resale if you want to get off it in a year or two. the drawback is you have to hunt for one on the used market i did not like the yamaha as301 when i had the chance to play with one for a week. it had no depth what so ever. another thought would be a used marantz sr5005+ receiver. if you just need the optical and don't need 4k or the most modern av gear the sr5005 and newer marantz receivers really aren't bad. they sound better than that yamaha as301 and audessey can be disabled in lue of the 7band eq. i sold an sr5006 in good shape last year for 200 dollars locally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezzor Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 On 04/03/2017 at 2:54 PM, willland said: Do you have a max budget for an integrated amp or integrated amp + DAC? Bill I'd say around £500, but remember that I live in Sweden too, so I'll be using something like the brittish or german amazon. 19 hours ago, racebum said: will's question about budget is the real piece of information needed for sound advice {pun intended} out of your list it would be the marantz 6006 the thing is, that pm6006 is 699 and a used hk990 is 850ish http://www.stereophile.com/content/harman-kardon-hk-990-integrated-amplifier-page-2#rezgPi4uPRjYSQfz.97 link if you have not heard of these. basically you get all the modern bells and whistles with a really high end amplifier section. sonically it's not even on the same planet as what you're considering and it's not much more money. you also will have better resale if you want to get off it in a year or two. the drawback is you have to hunt for one on the used market i did not like the yamaha as301 when i had the chance to play with one for a week. it had no depth what so ever. another thought would be a used marantz sr5005+ receiver. if you just need the optical and don't need 4k or the most modern av gear the sr5005 and newer marantz receivers really aren't bad. they sound better than that yamaha as301 and audessey can be disabled in lue of the 7band eq. i sold an sr5006 in good shape last year for 200 dollars locally. Well, I found the Marantz PM6006 for £279 on brittish amazon, but it might be the wrong one? Can it really be such a difference in price? Marantz PM6006 You can actually still buy a new unit here for £850, it really looks like a solid unit, but way too big. I won't really have the space for it, and it's over my budget anyway. Thanks once again guys for taking your time to help me out, it's really appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldred Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I really like my Yamaha MX series amp from the 80's. I run it with a Yamaha C-70 preamp. It sure makes my Chorus II's sing. George, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racebum Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Wezzor said: I'd say around £500, but remember that I live in Sweden too, so I'll be using something like the brittish or german amazon. Well, I found the Marantz PM6006 for £279 on brittish amazon, but it might be the wrong one? Can it really be such a difference in price? Marantz PM6006 You can actually still buy a new unit here for £850, it really looks like a solid unit, but way too big. I won't really have the space for it, and it's over my budget anyway. Thanks once again guys for taking your time to help me out, it's really appreciated! that seems like a good buy. we have to pay considerably more stateside. that's what, roughly 400 us dollars for new with a warranty? that's not a bad choice and it's a decent sounding amplifier for its price point. it would be my choice of your list without question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboKlipsch Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 I'm more of a Home Theater guy but I do own a pair of RP160Ms and listen to a lot of music with them. You want an AVR that has low distortion, that is all you really need to look for when selecting your amp imo. Try an old one or borrow one from a friend as a starting point, listen to them and see what you think. As stated above, if the amp is decent and set up properly, you should get excellent sound. There's a rabbit hole you can go down, wanting a really nice amp, wanting to treat the room, wanting....:) For Home Theater, Denon, Marantz and Yamaha are well respected lines of integrated AVRs. For pure music, I would lean towards the Yamaha from my own experience. For HT/music I would lean towards Denon/Marantz as I really like Audyssey correction. Don't complicate it, just get something and go with it. Make sure you pay a fair price so if you want to change you can get something else without losing much $$$. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezzor Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 4 hours ago, RoboKlipsch said: I'm more of a Home Theater guy but I do own a pair of RP160Ms and listen to a lot of music with them. You want an AVR that has low distortion, that is all you really need to look for when selecting your amp imo. Try an old one or borrow one from a friend as a starting point, listen to them and see what you think. As stated above, if the amp is decent and set up properly, you should get excellent sound. There's a rabbit hole you can go down, wanting a really nice amp, wanting to treat the room, wanting....:) For Home Theater, Denon, Marantz and Yamaha are well respected lines of integrated AVRs. For pure music, I would lean towards the Yamaha from my own experience. For HT/music I would lean towards Denon/Marantz as I really like Audyssey correction. Don't complicate it, just get something and go with it. Make sure you pay a fair price so if you want to change you can get something else without losing much $$$. Thank you! I'm actually going to a hifi store in town tomrrow and my idea was to audition both Yamaha A-S501 and the Marantz PM6006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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