used power amp under 1500


I started with a great system and I managed to downgrade it to an OK sound through a lot of trades, sales, questionable decisions and shrinking budget. (No regrets, it's been a fun journey.) I ended up with very low sensitivity, hard to drive speakers and now I need more power. Will 100 Watts be enough and is it OK and safe to buy used? Any brands that are a good value at $1500?

parkergetdean

Thank you for the kind words @parkergetdean , I buy almost everything used,and my wife is very cool with all the gear. She said one day when I was listening to music,”at least I know where the money is going,and I know you’re not hanging at the bar.” Right then I knew I had to marry her! 

@parkergetdean I am not sure if you said Schiit gear was not your preference. Another amp to consider is the Schiit Aegir v1 at 20-watts in Stereo via RCA. If you buy 2 in mono block form factor, then you get 80-watts via XLR. This is Class A.

I was listening to my used $400 Aegir v1 last night with my RAAL SR1a headphones and that thing was excellent. I have had amps costing a lot more than that on this phone and I kept the Aegir v1. I think the best for this phone is the new Vortex amp at $10k, I am sticking with the $400 Aegir v1 connected to a Schiit Saga 2 preamp (wow, for $279).

The newer Aegir v2 monos gets you over 100 watts Class A. Though I read that the Aegir v1 is slightly warmer and better suited for my bright phones. I have not used the Aegir with my speakers because I need a lot more power.

The Aegir gets compared to the First Watt amps. 

BTW - on the SR1a I use a $12k Imersiv D-1 DAC. Those 2 very low-cost amp and preamp scale nicely with great gear, such as the D-1.

 

 

What is the efficiency of your speakers? How many db at 1 watt into 8 ohms? 

For $1200 you can buy a brand new Audio By Van Alstine NP1 power amplifier, which is very conservatively rated at 55 wpc. It uses AVA's new nesting architecture and it's received several excellent reviews. 

The PS Audio S300 is super and can be had for about $1000. Can't go wrong with that.