Amp, On A Budget?

Parasound

I have heard all of the amps mentioned and they are all very musical....but the only budget amp I have heard that does some of what the high end amps do both transistor/fet and modern tube amps is the last version of the Hafler amps....with Jfet driver stages. My favorite is the Hafler XL-280. It has 6 mosfets per channel and easily beats the 140 watt per channel spec. I have three to lend to future audio buddies and they have never let me down. They all test at over 180 watts per channel...but I am not pushing the high output but the transparent deep sound and these little guys will play bass and control speakers really well. I have hooked a 280 (blind test) up to several of my friends systems with hard to drive speakers..such as Infinity's or DQ10, etc, speakers and they are amazed..they own BAT, Threshold, Pass Labs etc. Just my 2 cents worth....Good Luck.....

11-28-12: Peter_s
"Aragon 2002. Great sounding inexpensive amp."
Peter_s (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

I could not agree more. I have an Acurus A200 which is the same amp as the Aragon 2002. They are well built, powerful, punchy, and very detailed, and can be found in the range of $300.00 to $400.00 on the used market.

Bill

I wouldn't dream of recommending an amp for mystery speakers.
Let's use the previously recommended B&K ST 140 as an example why: true it has the sound qualities suggested, but...it also is a very poor match with low impedance speakers.
Unless someone has experience with your DIY speakers (and the extra variability that might more typically come with such gear), I would take any suggestions with a grain of salt. Perhaps if you could provide us with some insight (links?) about these speakers, we could provide a better idea of what might work with them.