Hello!
I have started to look at amps for a pair of older hifi speakers that I got from my dad (the pair in question go for about 400$ used). My budget for the amp is about 500 - 700$ and been thinking of the Rega brio and the NAD amp1. I mainly listen to vinyl but the speakers will be plugged in to the TV and used for some movies and casting music aswell. And in a year or so I dream of upgrading to the ls50 meta.
Any toughts or recommendations?
Setup right now: Pro-Ject debut carbon and Edifier s1000 active speakers.
Thanks in advance
Hello there! Welcome to the forums! I was in a similar situation where we dug some older speakers out of a closet in my girlfriend’s grandmother’s old house, and they still work great.
Anyway, I currently have them hooked up to an Emotiva A-100, which cost me about $200, and I’d definitely recommend it for the price. I know you said you have budget for something higher-end than that, but I’ll let others speak to what’s out there for $500+ since I don’t really know personally.
Would be great if you can give us the model of the older speakers so we can make the decision easier
Probably if you gonna be listening to vinyl more than other source probably you will to buy a separate phono preamp
I can vouch mysefl for the AXA35 (35 watts into 8 ohms) and vintage pioneer (sx 680 exactly, also 35 watts into 8 ohms) that are very good and you can get them cheap (both have phono so you can save for a better one down the line), but they are gonna be a little out of juice if you plan to get the LS50, maybe a Rotel A11 with 50 watts can be sufficient for the LS50, you can always look to the used market to get good stuff cheaper
Thank you, looking forward to find some fellow hifi-nerds to discuss with
In Sweden, where I live, the emotiva sells for about 400 usd which is kinda expensive for that amp…
But thanks for the recommendation I’ll consider it!
The speakers are a pair of sonab oa-14 from the eighties, they have a very intresting design! It is a swedish brand an I don’t know how known they are outside of scandinavia, but in sweden they are very well regarded in the senior hifi-community! The recommended wattage for these are 40 watts according to the manual and I’m very exited on giving them a listen.
When it comes to the phono pre-amp, right now I’m running a cheep 50 usd one. I have plans to buy a proper one (like a pro-ject one) later, so a integrated preamp in the amplifier is not necessary.
I’m a bit hesitant to buy second hand to be honest, but ill check out the rotel one!
Thanks for taking the time to write!
Hi, a 50w amp will be sufficient for the retro speakers but not for the LS50. The rotel or a brio would be ok, they will also drive the LS50 but not loud. If you want to future proof I would look if you can score a used rega elex-r, great sound with some meat on the bones, decent phono stage and good pairing with the LS50.
