i want to get an ok amp to play mp3/cd n vinyl. and run speakers into 2 rooms + outside.

i'm a total hifi dunce.. any suggestions on brands for amp n speakers????.. i'm looking for smallish size with a bit of umpf..

I'd go into a hifi shop and ask but i suffer from Arachibutyrophobia!?!

hi windymiller,

yamaha amps are awesome. you can also pick up second hand ones that have great sound quality. NAD and Harmon Kardon as well are excellent and also older model marantz. usually amps with lots of whistles and bells don't include good sound quality within those whistles or bells. plus don't buy anything that says surround sound. cd's and vynil aren't mixed in surround so they sound crap when played back through surround. you just need something with A & B channel speaker outlets for the 2 spaces (rooms). i am guessing 360w min.

ditto what mackay says about the phono pre-amp stage. turntables also use different cartridges so a MM/MC switch is handy too.

you will need enough lines on the rear of the amp for cd, phono, aux

ditto again mackay with the speakers, i myself really like B&W. also celestion, Infinity and JBL. 3 way speakers are a must. and something with a 12" woofer. also, ported speaker boxes tend to get better bass frequency.

just to be a trouble maker i thought i would express my opinion that tubes sound better.....[}:)]

edit, re-read your post... so you need 3 spaces. you will need to add up the ratings for each speaker to get an amp powerfull enough. it is possible to stick 2 sets of speakers through the one channel if the amp is powerfull enough. for the outside powered speakers may be the go.

my personal weapons of choice are a nad amp ( which runs two sets of speakers no worries ) and mission spekers . i have had this system since 1990 which speaks a lot for the quality of the gear . at the time i also bought a yamaha cd player which was the biggest load of crap i have ever owned.

Windy, I suggest you do a search on 'Nelson Pass' or 'Pass Labs' (same guy) if you want to see some decent amps.

Regards,
Harrow.

Damn, I couldn't help myself but to throw in 2c...

Tim has some great points.

For off-the-shelf with a phono input for vinyl, get something off ebay. The newer <@$1000 amplifiers are usually crap. They quote 5x100WRMS, but thats usually the max for each channel, and the total might be only 120W at any one time. This should be enough but check the distortion! Most of these things quote 0.5%... Bluuuurgh. My speakers have lower distortion than that!

There is a lot of older stuff on the market. Steer clear of anything pre 1980. The parts deteriorate. Especially switches and the volume controls- they get scratchy and noisy.

Yamaha, Sony, Technics, NAD, Harman Kardon, all made pretty good stuff in the mid-late '80s. It went downhill from then when manufacturers realised the mass market didn't gve a sh!t as long as it went loud. The high end products got better, but these stay expensive and are uncommon.

As for speakers, B&W are the most consistently good. They are built to last. Again, buy 2nd hand. Bose are fine if you dont care about sound quality...in which case you might as well buy an amp with >0.5% distortion. Bose speaker distortion figures are rarely published because they are usually greater than 3%! But they make noise.

Harrow, guys like Nelson Pass make some great amps but a lot of it is overkill, and a lot of his designs are rather impractical. He tends to set trends in the esoteric market. Which is loaded with snake oil... Guys like Linkwitz are more practical, and make some superb designs, based on standard technology that measures and sounds great (as it should).

Hey SlowBoat, I agree with what you said about the Bose. They don't sound the greatest but you can dial them up to 11 and they don't sound any worse. Exactly why we've got them, they are the only speakers I have had that have passed the Jurassic Park Test at the level my kids like! This thread sux 'cause I've looked at the gear I've got and I'm starting to think "Ooh! I could get that new NAD amp with a million watts and set up those 9 THX certified Jamo speakers and subs that vibrate at 7 Hz and make you want to crap and it would all only cost less than 20 grand and those nice people at GE credit said I could spend that much and they know all about money and......"
What I really want to know is how come I cant get 24 months interest free at my preferred windsurfing shop! Sign me up!

Hi Grumplestiltskin,

definately throttle it back. only go about 3 decibels above green at max. otherwise you will create digital clipping in the soundcard and will hear clicks, pops and general noise out the other end.