Upgrade from Topping MX3 to ?

turco

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I run MA Bronze 2 from Topping MX3 and it does the job, listening to music via Bluetooth (TIDAL). I bought MX3 because I listened to a high quality video comparison where they compared MX3 to Denon PMA 600NE, felt very close in audio quality so with price factor I went for MX3. Now in the future I am thinking to stream music via Allo Digione > Topping D10s > Int. Amp.

Looking for an amp suggestion around (and below) 500-600€ range. Was checking Yamaha AS701, Marantz PM6007

any suggestions? tia
 
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Anyone?
 
I have the Yamaha A-S701 and find it a superb amplifier for the money having tried several other amps. The CD input is very clean and even cleaner with CD Direct engaged, I run my DAC through it. Smooth and neutral sounding to my ears. Plenty of power. Measures well in tests. I feel I would have to spend quite a lot of money to improve on it. Someone was selling an A-S701 in the classifides here a couple of weeks a go, it might still available. It should pair well with your Bronze 2's.

That being said, I feel I should mention other amps or I may come across a bit biased ;) You've already mentioned the Marantz PM6007 which should serve you well, but these should fit within your budget if you shop around and to my knowledge are well thought of.

Cambridge CXA 60/61 (might not pair too well with your Bronze 2's though unless someone here knows better)
Rotel A11 Tribute
Rega Brio
Musical Fidelity M2si
Audiolab 6000A
Arcam SA10

A few of these amps are available with reductions from Peter Tyson's open box clearance - Hi-Fi Amplifiers - Open Box - Clearance

Perhaps figure out what you want from an amp. How it sounds, how powerful you want it, what type of connections, looks etc. Bear in mind the Bronze 2's are a tad bright (from my experience) so you might want an amp to balance that a bit.
 
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I have the Yamaha A-S701 and find it a superb amplifier for the money having tried several other amps. The CD input is very clean and even cleaner with CD Direct engaged, I run my DAC through it. Smooth and neutral sounding to my ears. Plenty of power. Measures well in tests. I feel I would have to spend quite a lot of money to improve on it. Someone was selling an A-S701 in the classifides here a couple of weeks a go, it might still available. It should pair well with your Bronze 2's.

That being said, I feel I should mention other amps or I may come across a bit biased ;) You've already mentioned the Marantz PM6007 which should serve you well, but these should fit within your budget if you shop around and to my knowledge are well thought of.

Cambridge CXA 60/61 (might not pair too well with your Bronze 2's though unless someone here knows better)
Rotel A11 Tribute
Rega Brio
Musical Fidelity M2si
Audiolab 6000A
Arcam SA10

A few of these amps are available with reductions from Peter Tyson's open box clearance - Hi-Fi Amplifiers - Open Box - Clearance

Perhaps figure out what you want from an amp. How it sounds, how powerful you want it, what type of connections, looks etc. Bear in mind the Bronze 2's are a tad bright (from my experience) so you might want an amp to balance that a bit.
thanks for the reply.

As AS701 is a great amp, I believe the dac they use inside should be high quality also. Do you feel a huge difference between your dac connected vs running your music via its digital source?
 
the A-S701's internal DAC is OK, it's a Texas Instruments from what I remember. It's been ages since I tried it, I liked it, IIRC it sounded a bit on the cold side and I found it engaging enough. It didn't have as good detail as the Arcam irDAC-ii I had at the time though so I didn't carry on listening to it.

If you'd like I can do a proper listening test and give you more feedback on how it sounds although I imagine your Topping D10s would be an upgrade. Very good DAC from what I hear.
 
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